Wandering Around a Foreign City

I am the kind of person who most definitely enjoys my alone time. When traveling for work, I count the minutes down to the time I can get back to a silent, empty hotel room. Even at home, I'll slip off to just sit by myself. And Layne makes fun of the fact that I have, in the past, taken myself to the movies instead of inviting a friend. So when it came time to strike out into Helsinki alone, I was ready and even slightly looking forward to it.














The first day (Sunday), I stuck to the city itself and just ambled about. Most everything was closed, so it was a great chance to just explore and enjoy. Getting lost was easy - I mean, look at that language. I've no idea what kind of shop this is... and is that a lobster in a hot dog bun? But after a day or so I had pretty much figured my way around.

Helsinki is a city absolutely full of churches. The most famous is the Lutheran Cathedral.

This photo shows some of the amazingly beautiful detail of the cathedral, while the picture below really shows the scale.

I apologize for the slightly odd coloring of this picture. I took this picture from the ferris wheel, and as you can see below, they brilliantly shaded the windows blue. It ruined all my pictures, but whatever. I did my best, but even Photoshop has its limitations (or at least my Photoshop skills do!)

Jerk, blue ferris wheel!

 

This church was my favorite. The oxidized copper with the brick and the gold details were just too much against a bright blue sky.

Helsinki is right on the sea, which really makes it amazing. A lot of the local decor and almost all of the local cuisine is determined by the sea. I had fish for almost every meal, except for when I had reindeer. (When in Helsinki, right?) 

Next post - my adventures on the sea!