Helsinki!!!

Hi everyone!

We are finally in Helsinki!  This is going to be a long blog so we hope you’ll like all the news.

On Sunday morning we had to rise at 3:45am to be on time for our flight from Istanbul to Helsinki.  We took off at 8:45am and the flight time was 2h50min.  The flight was a weird experience.  As the flight progressed more and more to the north we suddenly noticed the steep curvature of the earth to the north.  Helsinki is almost located on top of the world.  Below are two images to illustrate this.

 

The sunlight also diminished to an eerie twilight as we flew to the North.  We could not see anything from the inside the plane as the entire northern part of Europe and Scandinavia was covered by thick snow clouds.  Only when the plain descended to land did we suddenly see Helsinki, beautifully covered by snow. 

Rudi (the 1^st Secretary: Admin & Consular whom Alex is replacing) welcomed us at the airport with a driver to transport our entire load of luggage.  Somehow our luggage got damage beyond repair during the on and off loading from the plane.  The photos below show the damage.  Well, at least Dirkie can now get rid of the pink polka dot suite case, and we are sooooo not getting another one of those! (skiestog my skattie).

 

On arrival at our hotel (Hotel Haven) we received a warm welcome from Dr Ngwako, the Counsellor (second in command) at the Embassy.  Rudi then took us for a drive through Helsinki to orientate ourselves and to show us a few shops were we can buy basic necessities.  He also showed us the house in which he use to live and we took a few photos of the lovely snow outside as the photos below show.

 

 

As we were completely pê from the flight we went out for a pizza, organised our hotel room and went to bed.

The following morning (Monday, 10-12-2012) Alex had to start work at the Embassy.  Thankfully Rudi will still be here during this week to show Alex the ropes.  Check out the photo below of Alex in his snazzy work suit!

 

Dirkie went out exploring.  What an experience!  The temperature outside was -5 °C, which is a cold that one cannot describe in any other way but as follows (pardon the frankness).  It was so cold that the snot in Dirkie’s nose started to crystalize after walking around for three hours outside.

Here follows a few photos of Dirkie’s first adventure outside.

ESPALADIN PARK

The name of the park is derived from the word “Espa” which means “Empire”.  On Christmas day the St Thomas Christmas Market opens here and on May Day this park is the centre of the May Day festivities.  The park is filled with huge Lime trees.  See the photos below.

 

HELSINKI CATHEDRAL

The Helsinki Cathedral was built in 1852.  The domes on the church are made of Zinc.  Every year Finns gather at this cathedral to celebrate New Year’s Eve.  See the photos below.

 

The following photo is taken to the right of the Helsinki Cathedral.  It is the Helsinki University Library which also houses the National Library of Finland.

 

Right in front of the Helsinki Cathedral is the Senate Square.  In the middle of the square is the statue of Tsar Alexander.  The Tsar was responsible for national reform in 1863.  Every day at 5:49pm the bells of the Helsinki Cathedral chime in his honour.  The following photos are of the Tsar Alexander statue and the Senate Square.  In the photo on the left one can see the Main University Building in the background.  In the photo on the right on can see the Senate Square as well as the Christmas Market (the little red houses).

 

THE USPENSKI CATHEDRAL

On my way as I was walking to the Port of Helsinki I came across a beautiful cathedral called the Uspenski Cathedral.  This is the largest Orthodox cathedral in Western Europe.  It is built of red faced bricks and the cupolas are gold plated.  The architecture is very Russian and is the clearest symbol of the Russian impact on the Finnish History.  See the beautiful photo below.

 

THE KATAJANOKA PARK

This is just a small park that I came across as I was walking around.  It is not far from the Uspenski Cathedral.  I just took a few photos to show everybody how thick the snow is in some areas.

 

THE PORT OF HELSINKI

The final part of my adventure was to go and see what the Port of Helsinki looks like.  It is huge and apparently only one of the smaller ports that surround Helsinki.  The following photo was taken as I was walking from Katajanoka Park to the Port of Helsinki.

 

The following photo is also of the Port of Helsinki.  In the far distance one can see the Saksalainen Church (middle of photo).

 

The photo below is of the Kauppatori plane next to the Port of Helsinki.  In the distance one can see Esplanadin Park.

The next photo is of the Silja Line Ferry boat in the Port of Helsinki.  This ferry takes passengers, cars, busses and cargo to Stockholm in Sweden.

In the following photo one can see in the far distance the Valkosaari Island.  There is a small church located on the island which we would still like to explore someday.

 

On my way back to the hotel I walked through Esplanadin Park again and took some photos.  The following photo is of the Kauppatori Monument, also called the Imperairici Alexandrae Metropolin Finlandia Monument.

 

While I was walking in the park I came across this interesting scene:  a café which has been almost snowed in.  See the photo below.

 

The following photo is of Lönnrotinkat Street just opposite the park.  I took this photo because of the beautiful building that you can see at the end of the road.  This building forms part of a large clothing shop called Stockmann (the equivalent of our Woolworths).

 

The final photo is very interesting.  It is of a car that stood parked outside for a while.  The photo speaks for itself.

 

To all our friends and family:  Things are going fairly well over here.  We are still a bit disorientated but will soon purchase a GPS.  We bought some snow boots, proper gloves and warm coats.  We still have lots do to:  looking for a house, organising Diplomatic ID cards and EU ID cards, EU driver's licenses ect....

We miss you all!

Bye-bye for now!!