Helsinki sights part 01

So far I have not really discussed the city in which I am meant to be living, partly because I have been seeing it in small stages and the other being I did not want to start judging the city before I understood it. Well I am glad to say I still really do not understand it! Things like the night life are an expensive investment, the catch being this is when the Finns are most friendly & talkative. I will choose to avoid commenting on the nightlife as I know it’s here and I just need the right people to help me find it. So in these first stages I will discuss sights and activities that have occurred over the past month, unfortunately for some I am about to discuss the architecture and cultural things I have discovered so you can possibly skip though to the picture sections of my blog.

Walking the streets of Helsinki you can see the influences that Russia has had on the development of the city and its buildings. The streets can tend to blend into one another with the pale colour facades before being broken up by a standout building or public park area. Alvar Aalto has left his ink on the city with such buildings like Finlandia Hall with its breath taking marble façade and great horizontal proportions overlooking the lake. One can only marvel in the attention to detail that has been put into the building, marble cladding can even be found on the inner walls of the loading area/ undercover car park. However I feel the presence of the building is undermined by the tarmac car park which is positioned in front of it. Enclosed by a line of trees that obscure a view to an open parkland and baron paved area used as a shortcut to the train station. This famous icon of Helsinki is let down by the space in front of it, one can only suggest that this was not the overall picture Aalto had seen. The addition of the contemporary art museum has bolstered the area but there are vast amounts of nothingness between the iconic links which scream for improvement. The master plan for Helsinki has a lot of promise but my first impressions are clouded by developer style construction.

Another site to check out are the Kansallismeseo or National Museum of Finland has a bear guarding its entry, apparently its cool to have your picture taken in front of it. It has never been open when I have been past but apparently it has Finnish history inside.