Hyvää syysiltaa, rakas äiti! (Good autumn evening, dear mother!)
I heard you are having hot weather at home!
Here we don´t have that kind of troubles.
On weekend we were on a sightseeing walk in Helsinki, and also went to watch
around in the herring fair - a happening where they´re
selling and eating different herring products.
Before our sightseeing I had been reading
books about Helsinki.
So I already knew a lot about the capitol of Finland, krhm!
For example I knew that the area called Kamppi, from where
we started our walk, was originally mainly used as a military area, with barracks and training fields, which the name refers to.
(The name "Kamppi" is derived from the Swedish word for battle, "Kampen") )
Nowadays there is the bus station, a shopping centre and a culture
house.
But my wide studies about the city of Helsinki had not enlightened
me about the mindblowing fact, that there is ropewalking supermans
residing in its premices!
I wanted to see the Kamppi Chapel Of Silence,
which won the International Architecture Award
For The Best New Global Design 2010.
It was built totally out of wood, and from outside it looked,
to my opinion, like some dinosaur egg!
But inside it was really worth of its name -
cosy and peacefull - really like inside an egg, actually.
We promenaded next to see one of the
most important statues of Helsinki - Kolme Seppää (Three Blacksmiths).
It is a sculpture by Felix Nylund, situated in Helsinki in Three Smiths Square.
I think it is a beautiful statue, but does anyone else find it slightly
odd that the smiths are naked?
We walked along Aleksanterinkatu street.
This is the main Christmas street. Of course there is no hint about
it at this time of year, but at yuletide this street has the most
beautiful lights and decorations, and Joulupukki (Santa Claus)
comes every year to the opening ceremonies.
We strolled past The National Library of Finland, which is the foremost research library in Finland and the most important of the libraries of the University of Helsinki.
Henna almost run past it, saying that she´s become allergic
to it after sitting in it 15 years.
We came to the The Senate Square
(Senaatintori) and saw the Lutheran Cathedral.
The whole complex is a design by Carl Ludvig Engel.
Originally the whole area was a swamp, and when they started to
build the cathedral, people were convinced it would sink.
As a frog, I would maybe prefer the swamp, although the cathedral
is beautiful too.
A statue of Emperor Alexander II is located in the center of the square.
The Russian Czar was greatly loved by the finns, because he gave
to Finland bigger autonomy than the swedes had ever done.
1889 started the darker years, and a long fight over the independence, and the statue became a symbol of quiet resistance, with people of Helsinki protesting to the decrees of Nicholas II leaving flowers at the foot of the statue of his grandfather, then known in Finland as "the good czar".
We climbed the stairs of the Lutheran Cathedral
and watched the views.
The square has always been an important spot for demonstrations,
and the high stairs of the cathedral are a popular place to hang on
on the summer evenings.
On wintertime the stairs are covered with snow and serve as a slide!
Helsinki Cathedral (Helsingin tuomiokirkko), was built 1830-1852.
I didn´t see any signs of it being sinking!
We saw some nice street art when we
continued our walk.
We reached the nice esplanade named Esplanadi, colloquially called "Espa".
It is the number one spot for citizens of Helsinki to come to have
picnics in summertime.
The statue just and just visible in the photo is presenting the National
Poet of Finland, Johan Ludvig Runeberg.
Nowadays he serves as a platform for pigeons.
This cute little statue by Viktor Jansson is
Kalapojat (fish boys).
I only see one boy, unles the fish is a young male too, which
would explain the plural.
There was still some late flowers in bloom.
Soon the winter will be here, and then there is only ice flowers
blooming on the windows.
Here is Havis Amanda, one of sculptor Ville Vallgren's Parisian Art Nouveau works.
It was erected 1908, and its nakedness and seductiveness were considered inappropriate.
It is showing a mermaid rising from the sea, surrounded by four
sea lions.
I think it is beautiful, and I guess the sea lions are quite good company.
We continued our stroll and went to see
Uspenskin katedraali, an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Helsinki, Finland, "dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos (the Virgin Mary)."
Whatever that means!
The cathedral has several valuable icons, among others St. Nicolas – The Wonder Maker, which was stolen on 16 August 2007 between midday and 1 p.m. in broad daylight.
The icon is now being searched for in Finland as well as abroad.
The finder is promised a big reward. So, if you happened to
encounter it somewhere..!
The golden domes of the cathedral were
glimmering in the sun so that pigeons got dizzy.
Better stay on the top of the head of Runeberg.
We went back down to the Kauppatori market
square.
There was even more people than usually
on a sunny day, because of the herring fair.
The herring fair (Silakkamarkkinat) is an annual event held in Helsinki in October every year.
During the herring fair, many archipelagans arrive in the Eteläsatama harbour to sell fish and other archipelago products directly from their boats.
The event is very old; according to common knowledge it was first held in 1743.
The event has been forgotten from time to time, for various reasons, but in the 1980s it was revived and has become very popular.
The fair lasts a week, and it is all about herring.
There are fishermen coming along the coast in their fishingboats
to sell the herring, but most of them also sell different herring
products they´re producing.
There´s herring in glass jars with varying ingredients and spices,
smoked herring, herring pies, kalakukko, of course, and traditional
island bread, called black bread, which contains blood.
It was really hard to get any kind of photos
of the herring stands - there was so many people blocking the view.
I don´t know.. fish is good for our health and some of it is quite tasty,
but I wouldn´t go raving mad about it and fighting to get my herring!
Besides the fishingboats and stands selling fish, there was many boats serving as restaurants selling beer
and fish dishes.
We walked around watching the boats and people and activities going on.
Every year during the fair there´s a jury picking
the best herring product of the year.
How would you like to be in the jury, mom?
Tasting maybe 200 different herringy things in one morning?
Besides the best herring product, there is also
a competition for the most beautiful fishing boat every year.
I personally enjoyed more the blue sky and sea
and the shrieking of the daring seagulls than the herrings.
There was also a nature wellfare organization
giving people information about what fish to eat and what not,
considering that there´s nowadays for example many endangered
tuna species, not to speak of sardins, which have been
overfished the past hundred years.
Then we visited an old lighthouse boat,
which has also been turned into a sailing restaurant.
There was a brass band playing on board,
and it all looked quite nice, but we were starting to get hungry,
and so we headed towards home again.
On our way there we stopped to have some
pancakes with jam and whipped cream.
I wish you´ve had some too!
Unless you prefer herring.
Your
Matcha.
Kisses!