Walking Around Helsinki in a Snowstorm, Part 2 of 3

The Three Blacksmiths of Helsinki, hanging out on Mannerheimintie

At the end of Aleksanterinkatu, where it ends at the wide boulevard Mannerheimintie (named after Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, who we will meet later up the street that bears his hame), across from the entrance to Stockmann's department store, is Kolme seppää, the Three Blacksmiths. The smiths are dressed for the sauna, pounding on an anvil for metaphorical reasons known only to the artist.

Why three? Why the anvil? Why the danger of blacksmithery while naked?

I don't think it's supposed to have any communist overtones, although that always is a possibility in this part of the world. I could be wrong. But the figures have too much life, too much movement, for this is to from that awful school of "socialist realism" art.

I believe this building is the Vanha Ylioppilastalo. Translation (and we know "vanha" means "old"): Old Student House.

It's now an events center.

This is Helsingin päärautatieasema, the Helsinki central train station.

This is architecture from a different era.

But which era? It's art deco, but it's neoclassical. And it's got giant statues paired on each side of the main entrance. If more train stations looked like this, we'd still be riding the rails.

This is the Kiasma, the museum of contemporary art. It is currently housing an exhibit of gay porn. Yes. The drawings of Tom of Finland. Who was Finnish, apparently. Who knew?

So it is appropriate.

And, outside the museum, strangely enough, is a statue of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.

Baron Mannerheim, as we like to call him, was an important military figure in the securing the independence of Finland at the end of World War I. He was the leader of the Finnish military during the Winter War, during which Finland somewhat successfully fought being re-absorbed into the Soviet Union (a fate that the Baltic Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia could not escape) at the onset of World War II. I say "somewhat successfully" because it did lose territory to the USSR and Finland was forced to be a neutral who leaned heavily toward the interests of the USSR in matters of trade and foreign policy (a national emasculation called "Finlandization"). But they kept their independence, remained a liberal democracy, and did not descend into being a socialist hell-hole.

The next stop on the walk up Mannerheimintie is the Helsinki Music Centre. The building is boringly modern, but it does have this huge giant sculpture in front.

Laulupuut-veistos. Song Trees.

OK.

This is Pikkuparlamentti, the Finnish parliament building.

The name means "a small parliament." For a relatively small nation. 

I'm underwhelmed. So many European countries have beautiful, ornate parliament buildings. Finland, known for its design, has a bland box with faux Greek columns that look like a third-rate building for some third-tier government agency in Washington, D.C. Not a winner.

Not even with these weird barren trees on the property. Or this statue of Kyösti Kallio, president of Finland during the early World War II years.

He is the only Finnish president to have died in office. He also was the first Finnish president to have resigned from the office. That was in a prior stint in the presidency. Chronologically, it would have been more appropriate to say that he became president, resigned, later returned to the presidency, then died in office.

Here he is seen with Finland's National Museum over his right shoulder (left side of the picture).

But that's for the next and final episode of my walking tour of Helsinki. At least the snowstorm -- technically a "snow flurry storm," I know -- has temporarily stopped. 

Walking Around Helsinki in a Snowstorm, Part 1 of 3

The Russian double-headed eagle still flies over Helsinki

Today was the day to walk around the tourist core of Helsinki. In a snowstorm! Yes, today, for the first time in my young life, I am somewhere where it is snowing on my birthday of May 4. Even that one terrible birthday when I lived in Upstate New York and there was a foot of snow on the ground on my birthday, it wasn't snowing that actual day. The accumulated snow just wasn't melting. Today there were actual snow flakes which, if I were being truthful, would be "snow flurries." But it is snow falling on May 4 nonetheless.

I mapped out a walking route to hit the highlights, generally following (with detours) the Rick Steves' recommended Helsinki walking tour. I walked out of my hotel and turned right. A block away, I make my first detour off the Rick Steves' recommended route to take a look-see here.

Vanha kirkko, conveniently located in Vanha kirkkopuisto. This actually is easy to translate. "Kirkko" is easily identifiable as the word for church, similar to the word in other Nordic countries even though Finnish is not a Nordic, or even Indo-European, language. "Vanha" is the word for "old," which, again, is closely related to the word for the Indo-European languages with which I have a passing familiarity. "Vanha kirkko" thus is "old church," as this dates back to 1826, which is old for Helsinki, a city which dates back to the days when Chicago and St. Louis were being built, not when London or Paris or Rome first sprouted. Add the last couple of syllables and "Vanha kirkkopuisto" translates to "Old Church Park."

I am walking down to the one-named Bulevardi. Like Madonna and Cher and Prince, it needs only one name. And that name is: Boulevard.

This is the Ahlström Capital building.

There is nothing particularly significant about Ahlström Capital, except that the Savoy restaurant occupies the top two floors of this building. The Savoy is the fanciest, most gourmet (and a candidate for most expensive) restaurant in Helsinki. I was thinking about doing birthday dinner here, since it is the finest restaurant in town. But then I looked at the menu.

The menu is from the "challenging" side of fine dining, which seems to be a problem with "fine dining" establishments in Northern Europe, as opposed to Paris or Rome, where "fine dining" is all about presentation and deliciousness. I don't want to be "challenged" by my food like some member of the judging panel on a Food TV cooking competition show. I want good eats.

This is on the other prominent one-named street in Helsinki: Eteläesplanadi, or the "Esplanade." 

Across the street, still along the Esplanade, is the interesting-looking building above. Does it have a name? I'm sure it does. Do I know it? I'm sure I don't.

The Esplanade ends at Market Square.

At the western end of Market Square is Havis Amanda, a fountain featuring a nude mermaid. The seals, however, we even cooler.

I shall refrain from doing an exaggerated seal clap.

Market Square overlooks the cruise ship harbor.

The stalls are covered. They have to be. There's a snowstorm blowing through Market Square even as I snapped this picture.

Fruits, vegetables and souvenirs are the main items for sale in the market stalls.

The Russian doube-headed eagle looms large over Market Square.

The Finnish name: Keisarinnankivi. Tsarina's Stone.

Just to the east of the Market Square is Uspenski Cathedral, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral built by the Russian czar when Finland (and Helsinki) were Russian controlled.

 

I see references to this being a "Finnish Orthodox" Cathedral. And there are Finns who are practicing Orthodox Christians. But this is a Russian cathedral.

Let's have a look inside.

By the standards of other Orthodox churches in which I've been inside, you could call the interior of Uspenski almost spartan. It is ornate, but I've seen more ornate in Orthodox churchery.

Then it is a sharp turn over to Senaatintori, Senate Square.

This is the home of the Helsinki Cathedral. Lutheran Cathedral. Let's have a look inside, shall we?

That's the side view, which is the entrance.

By the standards of other Lutheran churches I've seen in northern Europe, the Helsinki Cathedral is positively lavish.

Here's Martin Luther.

 

Don't let him near the church door! He'll nail his 95 theses to it! And put you on a Diet of Worms.

It's interesting. This is the most ornate Lutheran church I've seen in Europe. And I just said that the Orthodox Cathedral was the most austere Orthodox church I've seen in Europe. And yet the Orthodox church still is more ornate than the Lutheran.

This street is Aleksanterinkatu. The stretch west of Senate Square is a big shopping zone.

The massive Stockmann's department store is located on Aleksanterinkatu.

The street ends at (one of) the most famous pieces of public art statuary in all of Helsinki. The Three Blacksmiths.

But they're for the next post.