Sibelius & the Sky

We looked at the traditional viewpoint for the Sibelius monument in the previous post, but I think the reason I remember the monument so powerfully is that it is inviting and open to exploration. As I climbed up and through the pedestal, I saw the bright blue sky and some wispy Sunday clouds as the background. Some monuments are nice enough to look at but this one wants to show off the sky, the openness, and the beauty of the area.

Tell me another composer who has a monument so active and so alive; if you can do so, I will put that city on my travel list!

Next post visits a Lutheran Church in a special location.

Olympic Park & Composer

A short bus ride away from downtown Helsinki took us by the park area where Helsinki hosted a Winter Olympics. Interesting to see the site but of course from the bus this photo is the only vista we saw. Closest I have ever been to an Olympic venue, though; perhaps that will change in 2016 if Chicago hosts the summer games.

We were on the way to another park area, a rambling beautiful park area teeming with tourists and citizens alike on a Sunday morning. The focal point of the park is a creative and interesting monument to the classical composer Jean Sibelius, certainly the most famous musical artist in Finland's history. Sibelius died in 1957 at the age of 91, an icon of a time of fierce nationalism in Finland despite Soviet political domination. I have an excerpt from his most famous work on my iPod; the title is FINLANDIA.

This sculpture, reminding me of a bright silver set of pipes for a massive outdoor pipe organ, is eye-catching and wonderful. And worthy of another visit in the next post where we can have a few closeups!