Helsinki, Finland

Published by Gemma – Part one – Sight Seeing

Helsinki is an amazing city; it is a mixture of eye catching Russian architecture and effortless Scandinavian cool.

I personally have visited Helsinki on two occasions and it is one of my favourite cities to visit.

The Helsinki skyline is dominated by the picturesque Lutheran Cathedral (Tuomiokirkko). The pure white building is a must see and is the focal point of the central Senate Square, flanking the Cathedral are the Government Palace and main building of the University of Helsinki.

Central Railway Station
Hands down is one of the most unique designs I have ever seen and I think it sums up the quirky and fun personality of Helsinki. The main entrance to the station is flanked by 4 “Stone men” holding spherical lights. The Clock tower is also quite striking and is hard to miss as well.

Suomenlinna

Is a small sea fortress a short distance from the mainland and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  You can get to the island via a ferry which you can catch from Market Square and you can walk around the island within half a day.
Places of interest on the island:
King’s Gate
Great Courtyard
The Suomenlinna Church
Bastion Zander

Uspenski Cathedral

Uspenski Cathedral is a perfect example of the Russian architecture with its deep-red brick walls and green-and-gold onion domes. The Orthodox Cathedral was completed in 1868. The Cathedral can be found next to Market Square on the Harbour front.

The Old Church of Helsinki

The Old Church of Helsinki (Helsingin vanha kirkko) is another beautiful snow-white building. The Church was only supposed to be temporary until the Lutheran Cathedral (Tuomiokirkko) was complete. The grounds surrounding the church were once a cemetery and some of the  tombs and memorials still remain.

Sibelius Monument

To be honest the real reason we wanted to visit the Sibelius Monument was because of the giant bust of Jean Sibelius, we had decided it would be hilarious to have photos taken with the giant head as our own.

The Park grounds give you an opportunity to take some nice nature photos especially in Autumn (fall) as the leaves on the trees have started to change colour and have fallen to the floor.

Old Market Hall

The Old Market Hall can be found at The Market Square, the red and creamed brick hall has been open for over 120 years. The Vendors in the stalls sell a collection of traditional gourmet foods as well as some unique souvenirs.

Harbour Front

Another good place to see for photography purposes, in the winter the Harbour freezes over which makes for some nice photos with the city as a backdrop.

Melbourne, Australia ~ Part Two

Published 1 July 2013, by Jess

Getting To and From the Airport.

A taxi from the Melbourne airport into the CBD will set you back approximately $70-80 AUD including the toll fare. This depends on the time of day, as traffic will obviously play a big part.

The Skybus runs to and from the Airport to the Southern Cross Station on Spencer Street in the CBD and costs approximately $17AUD for an Adult one way and takes approximately 20 minutes.  See the link below for schedule times.

 http://www.skybus.com.au/fares/

 The CBD

 Melbourne’s CBD is energetic, fast paced and quite beautiful, with a mixture of historic and modern architecture co-existing in close proximity.

Flinders Street Station is the CBD’s hub for the train network. A truly beautiful building, and a perfect centrepiece for the city. 

Federation Square is located opposite Flinders Street Station, it is the culture precinct of the city and civic centre and opened not long ago in 2002.  A strange building I must say, but somehow it works and marries the mix of modern and historic architecture that I spoke of earlier being so closely built to Flinder Street Station.

Queen Victoria Markets opened as a small market in the 1850’s, it is now the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere located on 17 hectares. A major tourist attraction, the markets offer fresh fruit and vegetables, hand made arts and crafts, clothing and shoes. The markets have a great variety of products.

Laneways – Melbourne have some really cute laneways that they have made excellent use of, including for Shopping, Restaurants and Bars.  During Christmas, the Royal Laneway in the CBD is beautifully decorated and a great place to walk through to get into the festive spirit.  Hardware Lane is a fantastic option for bars and food.  Do yourself a favour and checkout Hardware Lane, you won’t be disappointed.

Royal Arcade Laneway

Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Built in 1853, and known to locals as ‘The G’ – The MCG hosts Test Cricket and is home to the Australian Football League (AFL) hosting games throughout the year and the Grandfinal each year. 

In 1956 it also hosted the Olympic Games for track and field events. Besides sporting events, the MCG also holds music concerts including U2, The Rolling Stones and Madonna to name a few.

Whether you are a fellow Australian visiting Melbourne, or an overseas traveller, I highly recommend catching an AFL game at the MCG.  The atmosphere is fantastic, the stadium is well set up and it’s a chance to see our National game played in the largest stadium in the country with a seating capacity of 100,018.  Recommended games due to atmosphere would be Carlton vs Collingwood, or Essendon vs Richmond.  Friday night football also tends to draw a big crowd.  With most of the leagues teams residing in Melbourne (10 out of 18), games against two Victorian teams naturally draw a larger crowd at the MCG.

Make sure you rug up at the G – It gets cold!

Having a beer during Friday night footy!

The MCG is a short distance from the CBD, a short tram or train ride or approximately a 20 minute walk.

The Great Ocean Road

While I am yet to do this one myself, it is most definitely on the bucket list and therefore I had to add it as a must see. Australian Heritage Listed, the Great Ocean Road stretches between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool for 243 kilometres.

The road was built by soldiers who had returned from war between 1919 – 1932, it is the world’s largest war memorial.  It was built in honour of World War 1 casualities. 

A highlight I’m told is the 12 Apostles limestone stack formations in the water.