Wednesday, August 27, 2008

My favorite view

When I first moved to Finland, I lived in Lauttasaari. This is the west side of the island, near the Espoo border. This has always been my favorite view. There are many small islands in the distance and it's not uncommon to see several sailboats sailing through the area.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Friday evening traffic


Driving east across Lauttasaari to downtown Helsinki on a Friday evening.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Swans

This little family was spotted near Lauttasaari, an island in Helsinki.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

A hole in the ground


When I moved to Finland in June 1997, this was literally a hole in the ground. The area is called Ruoholahti and it contains the Nokia Research Center, a multi-level shopping center, and many other businesses.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Suomenlinna bridge

While crossing a bridge between the islands of Suomenlinna, a young visitor pauses to have a look around.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Arriving at Suomenlinna

Arriving at Suomenlinna, the island fortress off the coast of Helsinki. This ferry is part of the public transport system in the Helsinki area. It travels between Helsinki's Kauppatori, market square, and the fortress. Suomenlinna consists of five islands linked by bridges.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Move your body


Korean tourism ad on the side of the bus from the center of Helsinki to the airport.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Lynx

It was a hot day and most of the cats were in the shade, but this "ferocious" creature came right up to the window and posed for us.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Eteläsatama as seen from the zoo


The view of Helsinki's south harbor (eteläsatama) from the zoo.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

The view from the zoo


One view from the observation tower on Korkeasaari. This is one of several harbors around Helsinki.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

A view from above

Observation tower at the top of a hill on Korkeasaari, Helsinki's zoo island.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Theme Day: Metal

It's theme day again. This month's theme is metal, be it an alloy or a genre of music.

Here's Finland's 2008 EuroVision Song Contest entry, heavy metal band Teräsbetoni(Finnish for "steel reinforced concrete"). I never used to be a fan of any kind of music, least of all heavy metal. But since moving to Finland, it seems you can't escape the nation's love for heavy metal. Their 2006 EuroVision Contest entry was another heavy metal band Lordi which won the competition that year.

I took this on 19.3.08 at Tavastia, a concert hall in Helsinki.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants