Thursday, June 9, 2011

Helsinki



Helsinki was the city we spent the least time in, and it really was the city with the least to see. Don't get me wrong--it's a beautiful city. It's just not a big tourist destination. The Uspenski Cathedral is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe.

We took a little ferry out to Suomenlinna ("Castle of Finland"), an inhabited fortress built on 6 small islands. In addition to Suomenlinna, there are many islands in Helsinki with houses and restaurants on them. It's really beautiful boat ride into Helsinki's harbor.
We trekked over to the Sibelius monument, which honors the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The monument itself is really interesting--an abstraction of over 600 organ pipes. Sibelius is pretty cool too. A post about Helsinki wouldn't be complete without some photos of Helsinki Cathedral, the beautiful iconic landmark of Helsinki.








2 comments:

Nancy said...

Rachel, I just happen to be taking piano lessons and in one of my piano books "for the older beginner " :) I am practicing "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius. As I started playing it the first time for my piano teacher I said, "This is basically, Be Still My Soul!" So we looked in the hymn book (page 124) and sure enough he is the composer of the music! Then a few days later I get on your blog and you mention him! Still love reading your blogs! Can't wait to see you in August!!

Unknown said...

Nancy--we sang the tune to the "Be Still, My Soul" part of Finlandia as we walked to the Sibelius Monument! Good luck with your piano lessons--sounds fun!