I thought I'd go out and walk around Helsinki city center today, maybe take in some art and do some shopping. The National Art Gallery was a bust, however. Is it some kind of universal art gallery convention that they're closed on Mondays? And free on Tuesdays? Well, that sucks, I was looking forward to spending a couple of hours inside. It's a little too cold (for me) to be bumming around outdoors, so I'm reading my tourist guide to see which building to scurry into next :)
Maybe check out the central train station? Those figures holding the globes at the entrance seem familiar for some reason. (The globes light up at night, btw.) I can't place however whether it's just that I've seen them in some brochure or if there's another European train station with the same or similar statues guarding its etrance. Maybe there was a famous train station designer that went around Europe installing these figures? Anyway, I didn't go in there. Instead I headed for some of the larger shopping center buildings I saw earlier.
Here are some more statues outside Stockmann, one of the larger department stores found here. Lots of nice stuff inside. Very Christmassy as well with a range of Christmas tunes pumped through the radio, and full of Christmas shoppers. The fashions here are varied and very modern-looking with a nice European flavor. More interesting than what we get in Clemson/Greenville. Could just be the novelty factor, but still, it's nice to see this kind of variety.
Finally, here's Kamppi, it's a shopping building, it's a bus/metro station, it's a district. Seems to have all of it in one large building. It seems rather tall, but I only ventured up one or two flights before heading out. I might go back there to find some small casual dining place for dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment