Helloooo Helsinki!

With Christmas over, it was now time to find ourselves a white new years. Where better to find such a thing than Finland? We had a fairly short itinerary for Helsinki so we spent most of the week sleeping in and relaxing (like a proper holiday).

Our first day in Helsinki was New Years Eve. We waited until the afternoon to head out, hoping that this would help us to stay awake well beyond our usual bed time (which I am too embarrassed to specify). Our first stop was at the Church in a Rock. As the name suggests, this church was built inside a rock, with a copper dome over the top. This was such a beautiful and peaceful place (with ave maria playing in the background), that neither of us were in a great hurry to leave - we could have sat there for quite a while.

Church in a Rock (outside)

Church in a Rock (inside)

We now didn't have anything left to do but to get ready for the big New Year celebrations in the Senate Square, so we headed there hoping to get ourselves a prime position. We needn't have worried though. Arriving there at 10pm (far too late to get a good position in Sydney), we found just a handful of people there. When they did the countdown at about 10:30pm, we soon realised that we were watching the rehearsal. Two rehearsals later, it was time for the actual big event. Standing right in front of the stage, we were in the perfect position to: be captured on camera as part of the live television coverage, dance enthusiastically to the Ricky Martin medley, watch the lights display, tut tut over the poor fashion choices of the singers and fully appreciate Helsinki's very own gay choir. The piece de resistance however came at the end and despite the numerous rehearsals had not been planned... We counted down... we gazed wonderingly heavenward at the fireworks... and then... it snowed! Amazing!

The Stage

Ricky Martin - eat your heart out

Worst Outfits Ever

Out N Loud

Lights Display

More of the Lights Display

Enjoying the Show

Fireworks

Happy New Year!

This New Yeas is going to be a hard one to beat and after this we were more than happy to take it easy for the rest of the week knowing that the whole trip had been worth it just for this one experience.

New Years Day loomed with not much to do, so we went to stare at a monument in a park (Sibelius Monument) and Sally poked a stick at a frozen pond.

Sibelius Monument

The Ice that Sally Poked

The Olympic Tower that I
desperately wanted to climb

The next day was freezing, but we didn't want to waste it... so we ventured on the long trek to the zoo. We could have handled the cold (maybe), however it also began to snow and this was the heaviest snow we had yet experienced. After wandering around half of the zoo, we discovered a rather familiar yet unexpected animal. Shivering in the snow, far from home, was an emu! We felt so sorry for it, although it seemed to be handling the climate better than we were! We then decided it was time to defrost and have a hot chocolate. After getting warm again (it's all relative), we couldn't bring ourselves to face the freezing snow in our faces again, so we headed back to the market hall for some light shopping, and then back to the hotel.

At the Zoo

It's Freezing!

I'm Not Cold!

Our second last day was spent brushing up on Finnish history at the National Museum of Finland and some more shopping.

National Museum of Finland

We spent the last day ice-skating in Station Square - now being the international ice-skaters that we are.

Pfft... I've clearly done this before

Gearing up for a fall perhaps??

We loved Helsinki and came home preparing for our last winter holiday before heading home.