Terve! (Hello in Finnish)
As I promised, I have a lot of pictures from my trip to Helsinki and Stockholm last weekend. First I will share the ones I took in Helsinki. Friday morning I went to my Dermalogica appointment (I will tell more about that later) and after it I had time to explore the city on my own before boarding the ship with Scott and our friends.
To be honest, I was bit nervous about getting around Helsinki by myself because I hadn't done it before but I managed just fine. I bought one day pass that allowed me to use the buses, trams and metro as much as I wanted. It only costs 7 euros and is very worth it! I'm also glad that I have a smartphone because I was able to use Helsinki Region Transport's journey planner while I was on the go.
It is a great online tool for people who don't know how to get around Helsinki. You just type the location where you want to go and where you are leaving from, and the tool maps out the journey for you with bus/tram/metro stop names and numbers along with times. It is so handy!! If I can use it and not get lost, then everyone can. Besides going around the city on the public transportation I walked a lot to get familiar with the streets and buildings. It was fun! Anyway, here are the pictures with little captions...
On a bus. I sat on the right side, so I was able to see the bus stop names and I could follow the journey planner's route perfectly. I knew exactly when my stop was coming up.
A bridge to Lauttasaari, which is one of the islands in Helsinki. Lauttasaari is mostly a residential area. It is close to the city centre but it is still known for its preserved forest areas and rocky outcrops.
Residential buildings in Lauttasaari.
I checked out couple shopping malls too. Here's a picture from Kauppakeskus Kamppi which is a mall right downtown of Helsinki.
This is a square right front of Kamppi.
Front of Kamppi.
Hotel Scandic is right next to Kamppi.
The weather was pretty grey and wet on Friday. The snow was starting to melt and everything looked dirty. Helsinki looks much prettier in the summer.
I like how this building looks.
Stockmann is one of the most iconic department stores in Helsinki.
Virgin Oil Co. is an Italian-American food restaurant.
Svenska Teatern, Swedish Theater.
I'm not sure what building this is but it looks cute.
Esplanadin puisto, Park of Esplanade.
Details on a building.
This one is really different looking building.
I just had to take a picture of these squirrels.
More fancy details.
The sun came out and all the buildings just lit up with colors. It looked so much prettier!
Riittalicious tourist!
One city in the world gets to be The World Design Capital every other year. The World Design Capital is designated by Icsid (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) and the chosen city uses design in an exemplary fashion to promote cultural, social and economic development.
Presidential Palace.
More pretty buildings.
There you go! That's what I got to see on my exploration day of Helsinki. I hope you enjoyed my pictures. I sure had fun taking them. I will also make a post about Stockholm later on but for right now I will just wish everyone a happy Monday!!
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