Welcome to Helsinki! We are looking forward to experiencing some of Finland’s great architecture and design.Lutheran Cathedral is a prominent landmark. Completed in 1852, it is one of several Carl Ludvig Engel’s architectural masterpieces — German architect hired by Russian czar Alexander I to master-plan Helsinki.We arrived by train (from Turku) to Helsinki’s main station designed by Eliel Saarinen, 1912. Very cool clock tower!‘The Lantern Bearers’ stand proud on either side – designed by Finnish sculptor, Emil Wikström.Finlandia! A great exhibit inside about Alvar Aalto and modernism. Clad in white marble it is a stunning building.The composer, Jean Sibelius wrote the famous symphony Finlandia. This is a fun monument to him and his “love of music” — 600 stainless steel pipes!Standing underneath the forest of pipe organs is interesting. You can hear the wind play the pipes.Helsinki Music Center, 2011, is another fun building and also houses the Sibelius Academy, one of the largest music academies in Europe. It provides the highest level of music education in Finland.We were lucky enough to get tickets for one of their Wind Symphony Concerts. Many great conductors around the world come out of this academy. The metal flame looking sculpture above the Orchestra is the new 2024 Concert Organ — largest in the world and great looking also.Also nearby is the Oodi Library, 2018, which has really fun architecture and a great space to loiter — which is encourage.The unique spiral stair inside lists all the types of people the library caters to — including tourists!Kamppi chapel of silence, 2012 — or is that ‘The Cone of Silence’ — is a little architectural gem in the middle of busy-ness to contemplate some quietness.Temppeliakio Rock Church, 1969, was a unique experience. The circular ceiling dome is 13 miles of copper ribbon coiled. Panarama of the half the round sanctuary that is carved into the bedrock.Rock meets glass and metal detail – Temppeliaukio Rock ChurchWe had a great apartment at the Kalasaastama metro stop. This is the view from the rooftop 30th floor common party deck.It is one of 5 high rises in a development built around 2010 — it overlooks the soon to be completed longest bridge in Finland. Watching the sunset from our 15th floor balcony over the shortest tower.Leaving Helsinki, we cruised 50 miles of the Baltic Sea to Estonia.
