That is how Helsinki was described in the commentary for the sightseeing cruise I stumbled across shortly after settling into my hotel this morning. The city was established by a King of Sweden back in 1550 and has been fought over variously by the Swedes and the Russians over the centuries.
Although there was a fair bit of cloud around it also was extremely sunny, glaringly so on the harbour, but at the same time rather cold on the water so the trip around 5 or 6 islands that seem to make up part of this city was a bit of trial for me with only a thin cotton jumper over a short sleeve shirt for protection. I hadn't expected to be on the water and wasn't really dressed appropriately.
I did a fair bit of walking until weariness from the travel and the effort of navigating the uneven stone paving overcame me. If my comments go haywire from here, blame the tiredness.
Some pics;
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| My hotel, with the banners outside |
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| Broad avenues |
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| Cyclists everywhere |
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| Numerous walking streets |
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| Russian Orthodox Church and the waterfront |
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| The Baltic Sea in he distance, I guess |
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| The waterfront |
In the above photo are the City Hall, the Swedish Embassy, the Presidential Palace and (on the middle left) the market square on the waterfront.
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| This couple had just wed, I believe |
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| Tram lines everywhere |
Victor nice shots. And Baltic is our Polish sea.too.
ReplyDeleteYes Gosia, I am in your part of the world now!
DeleteNice looking couple just wed. Yes, Europe and paving. How our friend complained about them. I told him that people who walk on cobblestones live longer. It is something to do with blood circulation. He replied, yes live longer in a hospital bed with knee injuries after they have fallen. I did feel a bit sorry for cyclists though.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, the cyclists have a nice smooth strip to cycle down.
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