Whenever I go home with Bus line 14 from my work I come along Pikku Huopalahti and find the whole area simply beautiful. During the last summer I went there often by bike on the way to the office, but did not take any pictures. The sea sends some water to the little bay, which on one side has a lot of colorful houses, that are all beautifully shaped. The area gives a quiet and at the same time modern impression. And that although it is located inbetween two of the busiest Helsinki streets. Still some people in city center might regard this part already as an outskirt.

The round McDonalds tower has it's own character, with the wodden structure in front of it, that is connected by a complex metal construction. Again modern without being pretentious or too flashy.

Still it is very cold these days, so I entered a bus at the next station instead of walking home. Taking the pictures took me less then 15 minutes. Huopalahti is one of the areas in Helsinki that shows that nature and modern architecture are very well integrated here and go peacefully side by side.

Yesterday my new camera, a Canon PowerShot S2 IS finally arrived. German and Finish postal services seem not to work very well together, it took over 8 days until the parcel arrived here.

During the last two days I was out with a friend, who is on a visit in Helsinki and as far as I can judge it, I did not return completly sober to my home after these evenings. This caused that on my first walk with the new camera the day as well as I were hang over. I like grey days, they are so calm and without demand. The sky was resting heavily on the city and I just walked again along Töölönlahti, towards the main station.

Behind Finlandia Hall the way was bloked with water from the meldet ice and snow. My shoes and trousers became soaking wet as I decided that I was too tired to deviate from the route. The walk ended in the main station (Rautatienasema), where I took a bus back.

Click here for a slideshow of all pictures of this little walk. And click here for the song, of which the title of this entry is taken from.

I walked around in the local area for about two and a half hours. We had some fresh snow during the last days and now the sun was shining warm and the sea, that sourrounds Helsinki from three sides, was still frozen. I had no real aim in my mind when I started. So I first walked by the Sibelius monument, which is a five minutes walk from my home. Lots of tourists were there and I took some of the three million pictures that were taken there today.

Further to the Western bay, where saw the blue pylons that hold the electrictiy wires which run between Lautasaari and Seurasaari. During the summer I often sat in the Meeritalli bar and watched the sun going slowly down during the very late hours of the day. The pylons are beautiful during that time, but also now, surrounded by ice and snow, they look tall and mighty, but at the same time - thanks to their color - light and graceful. I went to one of them and the sunlight was just right to make some picutres of it.

Sometime later I came to Töölönlahti, one of the most beautiful bays in the whole city. Finlandia Hall is built next to it. Also this building has it's mystery and ambiguity. The closer I get to it, the more normal it looks, but the further I get away from it, the more it seems big, like a monument that attracts all eyes only to it.

The frozen bay was full of people, having one of the last winter afternoons out, absorbing the sun deep into their skins. It is becoming spring. On days like this, one might even regret this fact.

See more pictures of that little trip here. You can also watch them as a slideshow by clicking here.

I started looking for more blogs on Helsinki and Finland on Technorati and found that, surprise surprise, most of them are written in Finish language. During the last week I found nevertheless some blogs that I enjoyed reading and that all gave me either new information or expressed views that I found interesting. Furthermore all of them are written in very good English and show interesting pictures. So here are my first cross-connections:

"Lewism - About Architecture, Design, and Life in Finland" is a very interesting blog about exactly the things that are mentioned in its title. When living in Finland you will not be able to escape the name Alvar Aalto, who was the most influencial Finish architect in the 20th century. He not only was active in Finland (for example the Finlandia Hall is one of his greatest achievements) - for example in the German city of Essen you can find the Aalto-Theater opera house. Lewism provides information not only on Aalto in a very uncomplicated and interesting way. It is easy to read and every entry provides you something new. For example look at these:

• about Aaltos Villa Carre
• about the Estonian art centre KUMU
• about the Struve Geodetic Arc - this is very interesting, it also lists the finish world heritage sites (guess how many there are before you read the article) and I have to say that I was startled to find out what the Struve Geodetic Arc really is
• about delirous Helsinki - this is my favourite one. It is written in a very pleasent way.

The Finish Gambit is written by an American student who lives in Helsinki. It is a entertaining one, that talks about everydays life in Helsinki and what is all wonderful and to wonder about the Finns and their country. Besides that there are nice pictures and the whole thing is written in a not too-serious way. Some of the most recent entries include the following:

• "trust in Finish society" – this describes a phenomenon I also wonder about and I agree, that Finns are very special in this respect. But I also have to say that you can enter subways in Munich without passing any barrier.
• "todays lesson" is another thing that seems to be specific here - anyhow, I could sing and dance every Sunday, when the supermarkets here are open. This is a thing that will most likely never happen in Germany and brought me on several occasions close to starving.
• I like this for its picutres and this for its humor and truth.

From the Finish Gambit a link is set to Jukka's Blog, in which you will find besides other things also comments on political issues that going on in Finland. There are also lots of reports and pictures from Jukkas travelling.

• recently the Finish paper mills announced to unemploy 3000 people. Jukka's comments on this in Disappearing Paper II are very well thought through.
• I cannot explain what this one is - you have to read it, it's funny and interesting.

That should be enough reading for a day in office - enjoy!

Here are some Pictures I took during a walk through Helsinki in late November 2005, right after the first snow had fallen.



Around Kiasma


Finlandia Hall



Hesperian Pouisto



On the way