🌎📍Helsinki
Welcome to Helsinki!
We were welcomed to Finland with the stunning view of the ocean depicted in the photo on the left.
To be quite frank, I think I speak on behalf of the entire DOC group when I say: WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CITY Helsinki is!
Design District
We took a walking tour of the Helsinki's landmarks and, personally, my favorite site was the Helsinki Cathedral, pictured in the photograph above. Watching the sunset over it was simply gorgeous!
Next, we went to the Kiasma Museum of Modern Art. There were some very interesting pieces of Art — my two favorites are attached below. Some of the pieces of art were a bit peculiar, such as photographs of senior citizens holding a toilet and a rose, and a painting of stomach bacteria. Yet — if you are a weird art enthusiast, you'll surely enjoy Kiasma!
Our second tour was of the Design District of Helsinki, which features a wide array of different artistic expressions, from glass/ceramic objects, to interior design decorations, to clothing. This was my favorite tour, as I was able to understand more about Finnish Art — colorful, vivid, and minimalistic — and compare it to Art in the Baltic countries and in the rest of the world.
Below are some photos of some of my favorite items at Arabia, a very nice interior design store in the center of Helsinki, that has some incredibly classy glass objects.
Marimekko was one of my favorite fashion stores in Finland. The tour guide brought us there, as it brings together the essence of Finnish design: colors, prints, and minimalistic aesthetics, which convey the vivid and happy personality that Finnish designers promote through their clothing and home products.
Pro tip: if you're looking to do some work on the trip (such as writing your Travelogue), you should definitely take a trip to the Helsinki Oodi Library. The architecture is beautiful outside, the inside is super modern and features some awesome seating areas — and great coffee shops!
History
We visited a fortress island called Suomenlinna, which was constructed in the 18th-century to protect the island from foreign invasions. It features multiple trails with a beautiful view overlooking the ocean, which lead to mini-museums that recount the military and maritime history of the island. The fortress island also possesses a submarine from the 1930s, which can be visited and possesses interesting facts about its uses at the time. It is definitely a worthwhile site in Helsinki — and makes a great picnic spot, especially when the sun is out (as it was when we went there!).
A must-do visit is walking around the center of Helsinki, in which event, visiting the Uspenski Cathedral Helsinki is a great stop — it is a Russian Orthodox cathedral from the 19th century, that helps to understand the history of religion and the importance of it to Finnish society nowadays. It also features some gorgeous interior mosaics and paintings with liquid gold.
THANK YOU, HELSINKI!
