Finland part II

So....as promised....enough about food....let's see some pics of Provoo and Helsinki....Provoo is about a 40min drive from Helsinki and it is like a picture book...the old town is so beautiful....wooden houses in all different colours...so pretty.....and the stores have such quaint little things....i really loved it....we went to one of the restaurant pubs and it was so nice inside...wow...have a look at the pics from Provoo....

The old town
Famous candy and choc store....Brunberg....but I just love the board with the name...we also went to the factory...and you can taste all the goodies...yummie
The pub
Kim and his sister Katja

Porvoo also has a very pretty church with a clock tower and we also went inside the church....

Clock tower next to church

I just loved strolling around Porvoo...Helsinki was also very pretty...it remined me a little bit of Zurich...one main street with all the big shops and then a lot of side streets....the city is right on the sea and that is also where kim showed me the ferries he first worked on....we also found the stall with small fishes at the harbour and Cafe Ursula was just a small distance away...situated right on the sea....a really nice venue...must be packed in summer when it is warm....

Kim outside Cafe Ursula
Me outside Cafe Ursula

I also saw the Lutheral Cathedral (Tuomiokirkko)....so majestic and beautiful, we did not go outside...but just seeing the outside was wow...next time...when we have some more time i do want to go inside though.....it is neoclassical style and stands on top of a high bank of steps at Senate square...it was built between 1830-1852 designed by Carl Ludvig Engel...it was used to be called church of St Nicholas (tribune to Russian Tsar Nicolas) but this was changed when Finland got its independance in 1917......

Me infront of the Lutheral Cathedral

I also saw the Uspenski Cathedral (Orthodox cathedral)...this was designed by Alexey Gornostaev but was only built after his death between 1862-1868...it stands on a hillside and really looks impressive....

Uspenski Cathedral

As you can see the buildings were really beautiful as well as the towns...i definitely want to go back...also Kim's family was rally welcoming and i really enjoyed meeting them all...my few days in Finland were fabulous....

 

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