On the same trip as above and right after the New Year, we had few days to spend in
Helsinki before our return flight to Vancouver. While I am from nearby the capital, I actually visit Helsinki rarely and hadn't been to the city center for more than decade! Because of that, this was the perfect opportunity for us to do sightseeing and snap photos with my cell phone.
We took a train to Helsinki, which arrived at Helsinki Central Station. It's a beautiful granite building from 1919.
From railway station we made our way to our hotel, which was located next to Kauppatori. This market square is popular with outdoor markets and during holiday season there is a small Christmas Market in here.
As one can see also from the first photo set, winter is a dark and gloomy time in Finland. The sun sets early and these photos are from 4pm in the afternoon.
The next morning it wasn't gloomy at all and we rose up to a beautiful winter day.
Presidentinlinna, the official Presidential Palace is located next to Market Square and the building was bathing in the glorious morning light.
We decided to check out the Kauppahalli (Old Market Hall), which was starting to get busy with customers.
Built on top of a tall rock in 1868, Uspenski Cathedral is the main cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Finland.
It's a beautiful building from the inside.
From up here, one can easily see Helsingin tuomiokirkko, which is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral in Kruununhaka neighborhood.
The cathedral stands tall on the north end of Senaatintori (Senate Square).
Inside, the catheral is not quite as decorated as one might expect, but it is still a busy tourist spot.
Lux Helsinki is a special light festival that place over the holidays. The festival paints many of city's landmarks in moving light patterns and colors.
We ended our walk by the Sibelius Monument, which is dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It's one of those famous structures one has so see when in Helsinki and it is hard to tell how large it actually is without anyone standing by it.
Our day ended with a dinner at Olo Restaurant, which is a 1* Michelin Star restaurant near our hotel. Needless to say, the food was superb.
We would still spend another sunny day in Helsinki, so more photos to come on another post.
