An Enjoyable Meeting with Santa Claus in the Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi: I never knew that Santa lived in Finland until our visit to the Lapland capital. Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland Province is considered by Finns to be the home town of Santa Claus. Santa has an office in the Santa Claus Village and […]
Christmas is all year round at the Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi
Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi – Claimed to be the Official Home of Santa Claus: If you love Christmas and can’t get enough of it, the Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi is the place for you. At the Rovaniemi Santa Claus Village, it is Christmas all year round! Rovaniemi also claims to be the official home […]
Esplanade Park – Helsinki’s Central Park
Helsinki’s Esplanade Park – A Place for Promenades Esplanadi Boulevard, Esplanade Park… however it’s called, no visit to Helsinki can be considered complete without a visit to The Esplanade. Without doubt, that this section of Helsinki near the centre of town is a tourist delight. A hundred years ago, and for the hundred years before […]
Korkeasaari or Helsinki Zoo: on an island!
Helsinki Zoo Animals Come All the Way from the Frozen Arctic to the Sweltering Tropics: Known as Korkesaari to the Finns, Helsinki Zoo is far from the largest, even in northern Europe, but it is one of the oldest zoos, having been founded in 1889. It may not be the largest, but Helsinki Zoo is […]
Kansallisooppera – The Finnish National Opera
Kansallisooppera – Finland’s National Opera Company: Founded in 1911, Finland’s national opera company was originally known as the Domestic Opera and then the Finnish Opera until a name change in 1956 when Finnish National Opera (Kansallisooppera in Finnish) was adopted. Although opera has been performed in Finland since the late 19th century, the opera company […]
Uspenski Cathedral – Helsinki’s Orthodox Church
Uspenski Cathedral – Modeled after a 16th century church near Moscow: There are many churches in Helsinki city centre and one of the most notable is the Uspenski Cathedral. A visit to this landmark cathedral in Finland’s capital is certainly worthwhile and should be included in your Helsinki things to do list. About Uspenski Cathedral […]
Tuomiokirkko – Helsinki Cathedral
Helsinki’s Cathedral Architecture is reminiscent of its time under Russian rule: Tsar Peter of Russia had a well-known impact on St. Petersburg, Russia, the city that bears his name. What is less well-known is the flow-on influence he had on Helsinki. Tsar Peter had been dead for more than a hundred years by the time […]
The Rock Church or Temppeliaukio Kirkko – Helsinki
The Rock Church – an interesting piece of modern architecture: Temppeliaukio Kirkko is more commonly known by its English name The Rock Church or Church in the Rock. It was designed by two architect brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, who chose a rocky outcrop as the site for their church. The underground Rock Church was […]
The Sibelius Monument – Helsinki
A Controversial Monument in Honour of Sibelius, Finland’s Famous Composer: One of Helsinki’s famous landmarks is the Sibelius Monument which was built to honour Finland’s national composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). Who would have thought that the erection of a monument to honour a famous composer would elicit such heated debate, but apparently the whole of […]