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!

Senate Square

The downtown area we saw in the previous post is literally two blocks from an open air market, where items of clothing, lots of trinkets and souvenirs, and several booths of food are for sale. But we could not take the time to visit there for long, as the town itself is perfectly beautiful. In the bright Sunday sunshine, we saw statuary and fountains, shops and cafes, all along cobblestone streets and walks surrounding Senate Square.

And we kept crossing several tram lines, knowing that we had plans for a special tram ride after noon, one that we had seen on a Travel Channel visit to Helsinki featuring Samantha Brown. We knew we had a few things to see first, but the tram ride would certainly be worth it. Our next post will be away from downtown at a powerful memorial sculpture. We will return for a cold one on the tram after that.

The Good Czar

On a brilliant Sunday morning, our trip into Helsinki started at Senate Square, a public square right along several of the tram lines. The square is dominated not by a government building as the name might suggest, but by a Lutheran Cathedral atop of mountain of steps.

But in the center of the square itself is a statue to Czar Alexander II, the so-called "good czar." His image was erected in Senate Square as a protest to another czar, a wise strategy for Finland to take. How could a group express displeasure with a powerful monarchy, do so in public, and not be disciplined in any way? By building a monument to the predecessor. Apparently everyone on every side knew the intent, but the selection was perfect. No one could complain. And now Alexander II stands tall over a free Finland and its beautiful Senate Square.

More from Helsinki in the next post.

Flock Welcome to Finland

Stepping onto the balcony of our stateroom in Helsinki Harbor, I noticed a flock of seagulls. This is not uncommon in cruising, and the gulls often mass in huge flocks obviously looking for food. This flock was fed by several people out on the balconies and they came much closer to the ship than most do.

Grab the Nikon and start shooting! Truly, if Richard Bach is considering writing a sequel to the photo-studded JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL, he could negotiate with me. I think I have enough photos to support another novel, and some of them are among my favorite bird photos ever.

My backlog of Europe photos was so huge I just gravitated to double posts most days in August. Now that September is here I plan to get back to the single post most days. Tomorrow we head into Helsinki.

DaVinci

The Hermitage was quite crowded, the galleries were packed, and our guide told us we would be going to see the DaVincis. I feared the worst, a slow line to be packed in an not able to really see the works. I was wrong, magically and wonderfully wrong.

The lines moved smoothly but without pressure, we saw the DaVincis and so many other works clearly and were able to take the photographs we wanted. In some ways every art museum grabs your heart for various reasons, and one is usually seeing some of the works of a favorite artist. In Chicago, I always go out of my way to see the Hopper (NIGHTHAWKS), the Seurat, and as many Picassos as I can find. In the Hermitage, I saw many great masters, but I still find it hard to believe I was two feet from two DaVincis. A wonderful moment.

As we left the Hermitage, we were exhausted and drained after two days in St. Petersburg. We would have only the one night to get some sleep before arriving in Helsinki. The results will be in the next post.

Romanov Throne

Coming from Chicago, I have been blessed with the great good fortune to have a world-class art museum available to me at all times. I have been smart enough to take advantage of that location and I somtimes rue the fact that I have not done so often enough.

At any rate, one of the things interesting about the Art Institute of Chicago is the building itself. In St. Petersburg, the world-famed Hermitage is also as much a work of art as the collection. One image of the lacey-look ceiling backs up that claim.

Another interesting thing about the AIC is their collection of armor and medieval weaponry. Filling a transitional gallery that most patrons go through, many people wonder about such items being in an art museum. But of course they belong. And in the Hermitage, there is a large throne room featuring a throne of the Romanovs. Also clearly a work of art, but not necessarily what art patrons usually expect to see.

Some paintings from the Hermitage collection in the next post.

Russian Weddings

Both Friday and Saturday, we encountered several wedding parties at the Imperial Palaces, all looking for great wedding party photographs. It turns out that young Russians will marry almost any day of the week in July and August, just to give them the best chance to have great weather.

After seeing several groups, I noticed this couple walking away from Catherine's Palace toward the gardens. How often does a couple have a photo with their photographer? As they turned to head for the backdrop they were planning to use, the light hit them so perfectly I had to take a couple more. Never having shot a wedding, I felt pretty happy with the result.

Lunch followed, then a bus trip to the Hermitage, one of the great art museums of the world. Look in on the next post to see some images.