Making My Odyssey: Finland

Showing posts with label Finland. Show all posts

11/15/2011

Pirates of the Archipelago :)

Here are some photos that were taken on my small sailing trip with the Swedish brig "Tre Kronor". Princess Victoria of Sweden and her spouse prince Daniel were in Turku for an official meet n' greet in September. They faked their "sailing" to Turku, but I guess it was a fancier way to arrive... Read more about it in my previous post.

So, me and my colleague took the opportunity to sail on Princess Victoria's ship. It was the last perfect day of autumn, take a look!

We were met with a happy Swedish flag!

BW photo of Turku's most important industry: ship building.

Wärtsilä is a big Finnish company. They build ships and engines and stuff:)

Ship's bell, detail. Learn more about it here.

It was cold outside so it was nice to have hot coffee and treats.
(Princess crown was napkin accessory on the table;)

One photoshopped test photo.

Hard working sailors!

This is what they're supposed to look like.

Photo-au-naturel aka no editing.

Sneak photo. I like it a lot! Man and daughter looking at cruise ship going to Turku harbor.

Me and some of the crew. Can't remember the boys' names, but the girl was Amanda.

Detail.

Ruissalo (where they have Finland's oldest music festival) looked like it was on fire!

The sky is hostile. The geese flee.

An old ship, now transformed to a hostel. Bore.
Love the nostalgic, vintage soft lines of the ship!

The pride of the Finnish Navy, Swan of Finland (Suomen Joutsen).

10/11/2011

Tall Ships' Regatta 2011, Turku

Because of the European Culture Capital year, Turku also had the big ships visit this autumn. This event is usually during the summer and it's (usually) called Tall Ships' Race. So, to avoid any misunderstanding, this event was called Tall Ships' Regatta 2011...

Whether the name was a good choice or not, I leave it up to you to decide, but here are a few photos from when the ships were leaving (28/8/2011)... It was such a grey day, so it's only appropriate that the photos are B/W.

Russian "Akela" leaving (click name!:)

Decorative (Russian "Shtandart").

Russian "Shtandart" behind the pier on the left leaving (click links on the names:).
Right ahead/in the middle, Russian "Sedov".

Sails down.

Curious people with a view to the river Aura.

10/05/2011

Summer adventures vol. 6: Slutwalk

A friend of mine came to visit Turku (06/08/11) and she asked me to go experience "SlutWalk" with her. I had planned to see the event because it was for a good cause and so on - and yet I might not have gone, but now that my friend was coming to town, I definitely wanted to see this cool parade with my own eyes. Here is a little bit I found on Wikipedia (read the whole article here):

"The SlutWalk protest marches began on April 3, 2011, in Toronto, Canada, and became a movement of rallies across the world. Participants protest against explaining or excusing rape by referring to any aspect of a woman's appearance. The rallies began when Constable Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto Police officer, suggested that to remain safe, "women should avoid dressing like sluts." The protest takes the form of a march, mainly by young women, where some dress in ordinary clothing and others dress provocatively, like "sluts." There are also speaker meetings and workshops. Some objectors have remarked that this approach is an example of women defining their sexuality in male terms."

The protest march started from the market square, went over the river on Aurakatu, past the river boats, back over the Theater Bridge and via Kristiinankatu and Yliopistonkatu to Puolalanpuisto, the park behind the city Art Museum. I was really happy that I participated! They had quite a few loud women shouting in megaphones and that helped the shy Finns to start shouting!:) After the march there was a gathering in the park with speakers and music. The atmosphere was engaged and slightly aggressive (in a good way) :)

I hope these photos do not offend anyone.
But also, I stand behind my statement and totally agree with the ideology of the SlutWalk.

Here are a few photos!

Flyer with cheers and slogans

"Why is rape the victim's fault?"

People getting ready to march.

Girl with a message.

Up on the hill, outside the City Art Museum.

Young girls that want to grow up without fearing violence.

Friends enjoying the atmosphere and the last rays of sunlight.

Minna's pill box! :)

9/11/2011

Summer adventures vol.3: Hanko (Finland)

A few days after I got home from Estonia I had to gather all my energy to go to the town of Hanko (Hangö in Swedish), the southernmost place in Finland. The town is known to be a summer town and very popular among people who like to sail. There's a strong majority of Swedish speaking Finns in Hanko.

This time the "hankoish" summer weather was not present (it was raining) and towards the evening I was getting nervous whether we would actually get the chance to attend the kayaking course we had signed up for...

We stayed at Hotelboat Hanko. The kayaking course was (Saturday & Sunday) quite heavy but a lot of fun! Two of us girls took part in it, and a few other friends came with us just to see the town of Hanko and attend "The opening of Hanko Casino", dresscode: coctail dresses mandatory;) So on Saturday evening we had dinner at Origo and then checked out the local night club, the Casino.

Here are a few photos of that adventure (the kayaking photos are in my mobile phone, and I hope to upload them later - naturally I couldn't take my big camera with me in the kayak!).