Esplanade Helsinki

Gegen 14:00 bin ich auf dem Flughafen Helsinki-Vantaa gelandet. Wie nicht anders zu erwarten, war das Wetter recht schmuddelig und ... sorry für die deutlichen Worte .. sau kalt. Also nix wie an die Haltestelle vom Finnair City Bus und ab in die Stadt zum Hauptbahnhof.

Ziemlich flott kam ich am Hauptbahnhof an und habe erst mal das GPS …

... had their health. All the transport signs here are written in Swedish and Finnish. Finland is also referred to as Suomi, and Helsinki as Helsingfors. Finland was once owned by Sweden, then by Russia. Now it's independent. It joined the EU in 1995 and ...

Helsinki, Finland -    Right, let's be honest, Helsinki is not a backpackers city. It really isn't! It's very expensive and in my mind more suited to a romantic weekend or maybe part of an actual 'holiday' in Finland, while exploring Tampere ...

... i required i got a bus from Tornio to Kemi for Eur5 and in Kemi i got the overnight train to Helsinki. Unfortunately my student card didn't work in Finland, only Finnish student cards will work, so i had to pay the full fare of Eur70. Still the trains ...

... girls' hotel. Yesterday we went for a walk round the western part of the city. As usual we started walking through the Esplanade (it's the most interesting road off our island), we came across Blues News, a blues festival going on on the bandstand so ...

... ) linked by bridge before heading back to the mainland by boat (Doris). A stroll through the Market Square and up through the Esplanade took us to Forum (rather large shopping centre) which houses, amongst many other shops, a Moomin shop (number 2 of the ...

... smola. Bila je zaprta. Vrnem se do vodnjaka Havis Amanda. Poslikam jo in grem za gručo ljudi. Pridem do parka Esplanade. Promenada, voda, obdana z bujnim rastlinjem in cvetlicami, prikupni lokalčki vabijo, da bi kar sedel in popil kavico. Ker ...

... do with not having a lot of food in the fridge helped that decision!) and went to Kappeli which is at the foot of the Esplanade Park (in the middle of Design District - the shopping area). It's  glass palace which has a large terrace and a bandstand ...

... as it's behind the Marimekko shop, away from the crowds of tourists! There are several other iconic stores on the Esplanade, including Iittala & Pentik, plus Stockmann is on the corner. As it was getting dark, the lights along ...

... sovereignty or during WWII. Finally we caught the public ferry back to the mainland and from there through the Esplanade Park including a statue of Finland's national poet and author of the Finnish National anthem, J. L. Runeberg. It was sculpted by ...

... rugs and wringing them through the machine and then drying them over special drying racks... they call it "sport for women" in Finland. More exploring Helsinki today by bike. We had another great salmon lunch at the fish markets and then off to book our ...