A couple more examples of the Finnish architecture are the parliament building, the concert auditorium and the opera hall. Both the concert auditorium and the opera hall are faced with white granite which our guide said resulted problems in the winter.
Next stop was a very unusual church. The Temppeliaukio Church was blasted out of pink granite. It is a VERY modern and unusual church. The inside dome is made entirely of copper. The walls are just the rough, pink granite. You can see from the pictures that this is truly an unique building.
Off again. This time to a park and the Sibelius Monument. I think Jean Sibelius was probably the most famous Finnish composer. There are numerous references to Finlandia. I don't know if Sibelius was the first to use the term but it is certainly associated with him now. The monument is done in 2 parts, the organ and a head. I'm not too taken with the "head" but the rest is very nice and the setting in the park is beautiful.
The last stop for the tour was out of the city a ways to the small town of Porvoo. This town is one of the few older towns that still has a lot of the original buildings. Most of the towns were built with wooden structures and over the years were lost to fires. Fortunately Porvoo has avoided this. The setting is idyllic. It is a very peaceful, beautiful setting on the water with parks and a least a portion of the town consisting of old wooden buildings. This is a popular tourist spot and the old section of town depends on the tourist trade.
It was early afternoon so we stopped in a little shop for a bite to eat. However before we did that, we visited the church. For the most part, it was a non-descript building and just another church. However, a couple of things inside were very interesting. There is a "plaque" over the crucifix with the writing in both Hebrew and what I think is Russian.
Also the writing over the pulpit is in Hebrew. We have never seen that before.
Our last day! It was Monday and our flight to New York was scheduled for just after 2pm. So, after breakfast, we made a quick tour of the market across the street from the hotel. We didn't realize that it was a food market. I think we were expecting more along the lines of what was in the Market Square with handcrafts, souvenirs and food. A few booths warranted some pictures. First was a fish store. We were taken by the number of ways that the salmon was prepared. A slight backtrack. At breakfast, I had some of the smoked salmon. It was fantastic. Not what we normally get as lox. I don't know how it was cured, but ir was really delicious. So when we got to the market and saw all these salmon preparations, we wished we had seen them earlier. I thnk I can count at least 10 different salmon preparations.
And a couple of sure fire hits for the fast food market.
And finally, many thanks to the wonderful concierges at Hotel Haven. We were able to get a picture of Tero but we didn't get a picture of Jeanette. Thank you both for a lovely stay.
