While the parade was away, I entered the church. I snapped a few photos before they came back and finished the mass...then I happened to look at the screen of my camera...NO CARD! Seriously? I forgot to put it back in last night after downloading the photos from yesterday.
Luckily, I had my phone and was able to at least get some nice shots of the interior of the Cathedral. The first Orthodox church I have ever been in.
I was lucky enough to capture the chandelier in all of its glory shortly before they shut it off.
Nice sunbeams showing you the smoke from the incense just burned.
The ceiling was pretty awesome.
Especially the inside of the dome...gold stars on a blue sky.
Couldn't resist this one. I got tons of Icon photos too...
I then headed out to buy a memory card for the camera because I was NOT going all the way back to get mine out of my computer. I asked at the tourist information center and they recommended Stockman's...so I ended up there again.
Card in hand, I decided to treat myself to lunch as I had not had anything not cooked by myself since the salmon soup a couple of days earlier. I ended up at Restaurant Savotta at Senate Square, directly across from Helsinki Cathedral.
This was the view from my table. I decided that herring tastes good, but I can't handle the bones. I tried...I really did...but the rest of the salad was yummy. So was the creamy fish soup served in a traditional wooden cup. But the best was the desert.
This is Restaurant Savotta's signature desert. "Ice cream flavoured with Finnish Sisu liquorice,
served with berry compote and liquorice meringue." Also apparently with lingonberries, blueberries, and edible flowers. Holey deliciousness!
Refreshed and in a better mood, I went to my second cathedral of the day...
Helsinki Cathedral. No wedding today, no crowds. So, I went inside.
Of course, being a Lutheran church, much less ornate and showy, but still beautiful in its own way.
Better view of the altar.
And the amazing pipe organ.
Originally, I was considering going to the Finnish Design Museum and Finnish Architecture Museum, but I didn't feel like going that far, so I had a spur of the moment impulse to take the ferry out to Suomenlinna/Sveaborg (Finnish/Swedish) to see the fortress.
The fort is built on 6 islands directly off the coast of Helsinki. Originally build by the Swedes while they were in control of Finland, it was occupied for over 100 years by the Russians.
Some fort-y photos
What's a fort without some cannon?
View out over the Baltic Sea...wooohoooo!
Grave of the man who was responsible for building the fort, Augustin Ehrensvärd.
This is Suomenlinna Church. Originally built as a Russian Orthodox church, complete with onion domes and all, it was renovated to become a Lutheran Church after the Russians left Finland for good.
One interesting thing I've noticed here is the number of churches that do not have bells in the steeple over the church...like this one. It's in a separate little building. It is also the biggest church bell in Finland.
Another crazy cool thing about this church is that it doubles as a lighthouse! Really, that's a lighthouse there under the cross.
I spent about an hour doing the "blue sign" tour (following the recommended path) and I was tired. Unfortunately, I just missed the ferry and had to wait 20 minutes for the next one...just as the temperature started dropping. It had been pretty balmy all day.
Got back to the mainland, back to the flat...and I'm beat. That was a lot of walking. Gonna start packing. One more day...
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