Helsinki

This picture was taken through the window of the coach, on the outskirts of Helsinki - it's modern apartment buildings, with an unfinished playground in the foreground. Not everything in Scandinavia is picturesque.Our tour leader told us we were lucky to see this on this drizzly day - apparently it's the custom for men to wash their rugs here - the platform was specially created for this task. There is a man with three or four rugs on the left side of the platform. This is the entrance to a famous church in Helsinki - the Church in the Rock (literally). It was within walking distance of our hotel. This is the interior - it is quite stunning. The walls are the ledge rock, with a domed ceiling outlined with windows.

This museum was across the street from our hotel (but I didn't go in). It's a good example of the 19th century architecture. A downtown church - again, I didn't go in.Stockman's is the Macy's of Helsinki. Typical 19th century housing.

This is the Design Museum - I actually did go in. The exhibits were completely different from what you would expect from the exterior of the building, with gorgeous modern glassware, pottery and furniture by Finnish company Iittala and others. No pictures allowed, unfortunately. One room was devoted to an exhibit of splendid little birds created by artist Oiva Toikka. A pedestrian shopping street. I purchased a purple print skirt on special sale for about 20% of listed price! This stunning monument was in a small city park - it's dedicated to Juho Passikivi, President of Finland in the 1940s and 1950s.

And this is where our tour leader took our group to dinner on our evening in Helsinki. Very good food, and not all Italian. This sign shows the complexity of the Finnish language. Muumi was everywhere - it's a cute white hippo, and the equivalent of Mickey Mouse in Finland.

And on that silly note, this tour of Scandinavia is complete.