I love my stopovers in Helsinki on the way to Italy. It feels like coming home. I am now very familiar with the city and enjoy visiting my favourite places.
The weather was a bit overcast, but the temperature was good, perfect for wandering.
First stop was Johan and Nystrom for a coffee and an interesting breakfast.
The view of the harbour is lovely from here.
Esplanadi park never disappoints. Summer is over and it is officially autumn, but the gardens are still looking pretty.
The change of season is coming.
Street plantings in Helsinki are beautiful.
Lunch at Fazer.
There is always something new for me to discover in Helsinki. This time it is the new gallery Amos Rex. It is underground on the site of an old bus station. The above ground bit is stunning and creating a lot of interest…a novel way to get light into the gallery below.
Here is the entrance to the gallery. The guide book I was given is written in Finnish, so I can’t give too much information, but come for a walk through the rooms.
The first room is called Black Waves. Ever changing waves surround you.
The next is called Graffiti Nature: Lost, immersed and Reborn. Here in an enchanted garden the viewer, part of the scene, wants to reach out and touch the plants and wandering creatures.
Walk on to the Vortex of Light Particles. I felt as if I was inside a jellyfish.
In the last of the special effects rooms…Crows are Chased and the Chasing Corws are Destined to be Chased as well, Transcending Space…the audience is invited to stand for 4 minutes and listen and watch.
There is a more traditional room with impressionist art, the collection of Sigurd Fosterus. He admired and collected Colourism that emerged in Europe in the first half of the 20th century.
The collection is amongst the earliest significant private collections of foreign and domestic modern art in Finland mostly gathered between 1905 and 1915 when Fosterus was an active art critic and essayist.
On the way out I noticed a few things I had not seen on the way in. The ceiling is stunning.
Now I am now in Italy for the next part of my adventure.