Christopher Culver: Photos and Travelogues: December 2005

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Finland

Tampere

My principal reason for coming to Finland was to visit the University of Helsinki, where I have applied to the graduate programme in Finno-Ugrian linguistics. However, due to the spotty coverage of budget airlines, I arrived in Finland in the city of Tampere. It was immediately clear that this was not the best time of the year for tourism, due to the five hours or so of daylight each day.

Orthodox church in Tampere at only about 3 in the afternoon.

Helsinki

Touring the university was like walking in some kind of fantasy land. The FU department was quite enchanting.

Mari-themed bulletin board in University of Helsinki’s Department of Finno-Ugrian linguistics.

Having seen the department library here, I just don’t know how I will survive the rest of my undergraduate studies with only the meagre resources in LUC’s library or Cluj’s university library.

After my first day in Helsinki, still suffering from considerable jetlag and always waking up late, I saw no daylight. This gave a strange feeling to my walks around the city.

Uspensky Cathedral.

I visited the rustic-themed bar Zetor to try the juniper-flavoured beer called sahti, which I hopefully will never drink again.

Emblematic tractor in the Zetor bar.

It was nice to finally see the Sibelius Academy, where such important composers as Lindberg, Saariaho, and Salonen studied.

Sign outside the entrance to the Sibelius Academy.

Estonia

Tallinn

I was in Estonia for only one day, stopping there on my trip from Helsinki to Riga. Tallinn’s old town was worth seeing, filled as it is with quaint architecture.

Viru gate to Tallinn’s old town.

Walls around the Old Town.

One gets so tired of mentions of the Hanseatic League and Lutheran churches, though. At least this part of the city holds two Orthodox churches, of which the Nevsky Cathedral is the more impressive.

St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.