Helsinki

Countdown to 2021-23

Tomorrow is Christmas eve. Yesterday we baked s Scandinavian ginger nuts, piparkakut in Finnish, they are tasty as they are but, apparently go very well with cheeses that we have for Christmas. We also wrapped some gifts with Christmas songs playing in the background.

I slept so well last night, after two really bad ones, so I am happy. Feel like a sane person, with clear thoughts. Two previous day were as I was in a blur… Well anyway, this morning I woke up to happy sound of our grandkids in out backyard making a snowman. They came to ask behind the window of my husbands work from home office for a carrot for it, which we did not have. As you can guess, we got a little bit of snow last night. I don’t know if it will last until tomorrow, so we could say we had a white Christmas, but the boys were so happy that they had something to do outside

I will be posting new and old photos somehow related to winter, Christmas and eventually anticipation of new year. My aim is to take one new photo a day, but not going to stress over it, if I don’t come up with anything.

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Countdown to 2021-22

Photography, Still life

Two days until Christmas eve. Yesterday we decorated the tree. Traditionally using the same decorations we have had for years, some that I have inherited from my childhood home.

The lunch was delicious. Always a pleasure to have food prepared by someone else.

Fried salmon and
horseradish yogurt sauce

Mudcake with granberries and icecream

Cappuccino

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Countdown to 2021-21

Flowers, Photography

Today: Sunrise at 9:26- Sunset 15:16- Length of day 5:50 hours – time of dusk 0:58 minutes .Two minute less of daylight than yesterday. Today is winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. It is nothing to celebrate, but it marks the end this years voyage to darkness.

Now towards the next goal counting days until Christmas eve. Today I am meeting one of my friends for lunch. She kindly invited me to meet at out local restaurant for lunch and I was not going to say no, we both have been basically staying home all the time and neither on is having any symptoms. It is so sad where we are with this pandemic. I am in a nice situation regarding this illness, that no one I know has had it, sadly this is not the case with many people, but I am lucky that way. This bubble I am in is small, I have not met many people since March when this really hit us.

Today is also the day we are going to decorate the tree. I will have to take a snap of it, even though it will look the same as it has so many years previously as I have not brought any new decorations for years. Traditionally safe look. There is something to say about traditions, this one is OK 🙂

I am really trying to come up with something to photograph, I had no inspiration. Here is slightly frost covered plants from 2013.

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Countdown to 2021-20

Photography, Still life

Today: Sunrise at 9:25- Sunset 15:15- Length of day 5:50 hours – time of dusk 0:58 minutes . A minute less of daylight than yesterday. A day until winter solstice. Tomorrow!

One more rainy, misty December day with drizzle and temperatures of +5c, no feeling of winter or Christmas. Slept late, woke up at the same time the sun was supposed to rise, if it did I sure have not noticed. We went to grocery store in the hope that it would be emptier today to do some Christmas food shopping. No luck, lots of people on the move, maybe with the same idea as we had to avoid the crowds.

I am really trying to come up with something to photograph. Here are some seasonal lights and a traditional Christmas paper star light.

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Helsinki by night ~2

Cities

On a windy Monday evening I went to take photos of the city by night. First I visited Töölö. After that we drove to the center, I was going to try different locations but the wind was so strong that I decided that it isn’t the best of weathers to be taking photos.

Considering that I have to tripod, I think these night photos turned out OK.

Helsinki by night

Cities

On a windy Monday evening I went to take photos of the city by night. First I visited Töölö. The park between two streets, Hesperia Esplanade, was my main topic, while I waited for my husband to finish his business there.

The name Hesperia is connected to the romantic trend in the early 1800s. Hesperia was the poetic name used by the ancient Greeks to describe the mythical lands far off to the west. Hesperos refers to the evening star, and in Greek mythology the Hesperides were nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world. Hercules is said to have collected golden apples from their garden. (text from vihreatsylit.fi)

Considering how few leaves we have at home I was surprised how many there were at this esplanade.

How to survive November 2020-4

Black and White photos, Cities

I had some errands to run in Helsinki and took my camera with me, so I could take night time. Photos of cities and buildings are something that look good as black and white. In this picture you can see in the front the the old market hall – it is still in use. In the back is the city hall and background the Helsinki Cathedral

If you wish to participate in this survival of the darkest month challenge, use this link to add your post to it. PARALLEL LINES

Hei kaikille osallistujille, minulla on ollut paljon ongelmia postata kommentteja bloggeriin. Blogitse ilmoittaa koko ajan että väärä vastaus… laskutehtävät ovat vielä kuitenkin sen tasoisia että ne hallitsen. Samoin muutama muukin jää epävarmaksi että tuleeko ne näkyviin. esim.
Digi Passions, Parallel lines sama ongelma,

A day walk in Seurasaari

Cities, Landscapes, Photography, Travel

Here are some photos from our day walk on a Beautiful summer Sunday in Seurasaari Island, Helsinki. Hope you have the time to go through all the pictures of this lovely place.

The island provides a lovely setting for outdoor recreation, sun worshippers and walkers. The tame ducks, swans and geese swarming around the white wooden bridge welcome everybody. Notice the baby swans next to the rock

Having crossed a visitors can see buildings from all over Finland that have been relocated to Seurasaari island. The buildings represent various aspects of living in Finland from the 17th century to the 20th century. There are currently 87 buildings in the museum.

The nature is strongly present in the Seurasaari Island, wild flowers, trees , small wood areas. The paths make it easy to walk around without disturbing the nature.

Summer day in Helsinki

Cities, Photography, Travel

Summer day in Helsinki, sitting in the park people watching and enjoying tasty ice cream, having lunch at a restaurant. What a beautiful capital we have.

Looking out the window

Black and White photos, Photography

Sitting in the cafe and watching people in the street

Rainy day joys

Cities, Photography

CB&W – transportation

Cities, Photography

Editing Black and White images is fun, I have a limited amount of photos of public transportation’s but I did find few for CB&W theme this week.

Trams seem to be my favorite public transportation to photograph. So there are trams from Helsinki, San Francisco, Melbourne. Buses and metro from Hong Kong. Ferry from Sydney and Hong Kong. Last but not least a train from Melbourne. I did actually find several as I started to look through my archives. Happy travels in public transportation.

Train at Flinders Street station in Melbourne

Cities

I have looked at Helsinki with a tourist eye as I have seen my friends in the city. Catching up with friends is so much fun, I should take take time more often than I do. Best thing about good friends is that they remain that even if you don’t see that often. Helsinki has not lost its appeal to me even if I visit it less frequently.

Sea fortress 2

Cities, Photography, Travel

I had so many problems with loading the photos into the last post at least 4 attempts to have them in a gallery of my choosing. So I got frustrated and I’ve stayed away for four days. Let’s hope this post is easier. Suomenlinna is a lovely place to visit so I decided to share the joy with you – again .

Sea fortress

Cities, Photography, Travel

Visited on of Helsinki’s most popular tourist attractions today. It has been years since I was here. The place has history Suomenlinna (Finnish; until 1918 Viapori), or Sveaborg , literal translation in Finnish is Castle of Finland inhabited sea fortress built on six islands and which now forms part of the city of Helsinki. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and also it as a picturesque picnic site. Originally named Sveaborg. The Swedish crown commenced the construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against the Russian expansionism. This particular day it was packed with locals as well as tourist as the day was just lovely. Here is some background on the place.

How to survive November~28

Cities, People, Photography

I have to admit, I have been busy at work, so the idea of sitting down and opening the computer again has been rather hard, so here I am catching up. I have taken photos daily, most of them crappy. That is why I am not going to post them, I will cheat a bit. I will post some more from the circus as it was inspiring and it certainly helped the survival of this month.

How to survive November ~25

Cities, Photography, Still life

So tasty, so good. Visited a great restaurant in Helsinki called Toca with work colleagues. Five course meal and wines to go with it. As I said, so delicious. Here are shot iPhone shots from some of the tastings. Herring, cauliflower, celery, all these not so mind blowing ingredients and they were so good…this was a good evening in November, no complaints here

How to survive November ~ 22

Interiors, Photography, Still life

Saturday morning we drove the Helsinki, there is shoe store with very good service and knowledgeable personnel. In May, I one tendon split and other was torn on my left foot, unfortunately it has not healed. So, as our trip to Australia is approaching, I needed to find sandals / shoes that can accommodate my insoles that have been especially made for me. Story short.I got comfortable shoes, but they are not fashionable, that’s for sure. I am not posting photos of the shoes. Lunch, we had lunch and while waiting for the food to arrive I took few photos.

How to survive November ~2

Cities, Interiors, Photography

Music to beat November, Manhattan transfer in consert

How to survive November 2018~1

Cities, Photography

It is that time of the year again that survival is definitely on my mind. The all consuming darkness drains me. I will survive, I have sunshine on the horizon in December. Most likely most of my photos will be by my mobile as the darkness does not really invite you to take photos unless you are in a city. I do not often go to Helsinki, but the day we got the first snow, not officially, it melted ½ hour before it could have been mentioned as first snow. I saw it and for me it was the first snow of the season. I have to admit I was not thrilled about it. Helsinki railway station in the evening is what I will share as my first post for November.

April 2

Cities, Photography, Travel

Two of the most well known Churches in Helsinki. The first one is Helsinki Cathedral is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki, located in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. The church was originally built from 1830-1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland.

Helsinki in Winter (27 of 27)

Uspenski Cathedral is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Helsinki, Finland, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos (the Virgin Mary). Designed by the Russian architect Aleksey Gornostayev (1808–1862). The cathedral was built after his death in 1862–1868.

The statue in the marketplace in front of it is Keisarinnankivi, Helsinki’s oldest monument built in 1835. In the right bottom corner, the ugly square building is by Alvar Aalto, I have always thought is placed in totally wrong place.

Helsinki in Winter (26 of 27)

March 31

Cities, Landscapes, Photography

Helsinki at the end of March. No spring in sight

March 30

Cities, Nature, Photography

Today in Helsinki we saw an unusual sight in Hernesaari, a small seal was on the shore. There were lots of people gathered around it. Looking and wondering and taking lots of pictures of it. I hope this little thing is able to reunite with it’s mother (dam?) when the people are not there. I just heard that people got too close to it, even petted it, so the firefighters ended up taking it to Korkeasaari a zoo in Helsinki.

March 17

Cities, Photography, Travel

When walking in the city, this being in Helsinki there was only some dirty snow around. Cold wind, but sunny skies, here it looks like spring. Don’t be deceived, it on looks like it.

December 16

Landscapes, Photography

SONY DSC

Sea view as I continue with my monthly theme, but photos from previous winters.

How to survive November 2017- 24

Cities, Landscapes, Photography

What can I say, November can look good if you make the effort to be in the nature at the right time, pay attention to color contrasts and details like rocks on the ground or drift wood. If you just look at it – it’s OK, but the wind factor makes the weather very harsh.

November day (22 of 73)