I was in Helsinki over the weekend to visit a dear friend of mine. Ol’ landlubber me was of course very impressed by the sea and all the huge ships, haha! For the first two days we looked at all the tourist-y spots in the city, like the churches and all the other important buildings. I was especially fascinated by the Temppeliaukio Church, which they built into the rock and has a great atmosphere about it! Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of it, but here are some pictures of the other landmarks:

 

The gossiping giraffes at the Natural History Museum are basically my favourite thing ever. You can just hear them say “Do you see that person over there? Dear me, what is she wearing?!” “Impossible!”.

We also went to Suomenlinna, the sea fortress on six islands in front of Helsinki. It was very rainy and windy that day, but I still wanted to go because old fortresses are awesome. Despite the weather it was very beautiful! Loved the sea and the nature. I can just imagine how gorgeous it is in summer! We climbed around quite a lot so I could get a good look at all the old stones. 😀 (It’s a wonder that I didn’t fall down at any point, the ground was quite slippery.) Later we had a hot chocolate to warm up again. Successful day!

I’ve discovered the Shire!

And here’s what I brought home with me: a print of an old map showing the Gulf of Finland from the 18th century. Three skeins of yarn from Menita – Wetterhoff Silvia (70% wool, 30% silk) and DROPS Baby Alpaca Silk (70% Baby Alpaca, 30% Mulberry Silk), which I had to buy the moment I saw it because BABY ALPACA. Also a little box from Marimekko for my hairpins or maybe my sewing needles, I haven’t decided yet. And my favourite, which isn’t from Helsinki, a weekly planner from Bomo Art in Budapest for 2013. I couldn’t buy it last time I was there, so my friend brought it for me. Isn’t it just gorgeous? 🙂