A Tower at Sinebrychoff park.

Sometimes you wish you hadn't searched for more information: this tower is mostly used as a warehouse.

Russian Nikolai Sinebrychoff was a successful businessman in Helsinki in the 19th century and he together with his relatives have left their mark on the city: Sinebrychoff park is one of the nicest parks of the capital, they donated a considerable art collection but most importantly they are known for their brewery.

Koff is still one of the most popular beers in Finland and during summer evenings and nights large amounts of it are consumed in this park. Earlier in the day the park is perfect for picnics or sun bathing right in the middle of the city. I’ve heard that during the winter this is a good place for going down the hill with a sled.

Today Sinebrychoff is part of the Carlsberg empire.

Boxing WBA Heavyweight Title Match Cancelled in Helsinki

Nyrkkeilijät (boxers) by Johannes Haapasalo. Uuno Pitkä and Armas Wilkman have been boxing at Hakaniemi since 1932.

WBA heavy weight title match between Nikolai Valuev and Ruslan Chagaev was supposed to be held today in Helsinki. The match was cancelled only a day earlier “after Chagaev was unable to fulfill the Finnish Boxing Federation´s medical requirements.” If you believe what the Finnish media writes, this is not a very normal cancellation due to medical reasons.

Today is also the last day of school here in Finland. The weather is very nice so parks, beaches and bars will be full of youngsters celebrating the start of summer vacation.

Nikolai Valuev

Takeoff

Finnair plane taking off from Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

More Raining

Traveling by bus on a rainy day.

Click here to see more photos from the same trip.

Koskelantie Corridor During Spring Rain

Only someone with a camera is walking when it’s raining…

See the same place during fall and winter.

This entry looks slightly different than the earlier ones as I’m experimenting how to streamline my blog entry publishing process.

National Museum and Finlandia Hall

Two Helsinki icons in the same image.

Escape

Seagulls were fishing at the waterfall of an old power plant.

Sami Hyypiä, End of 10 Years at Liverpool

Sami Hyypiä wore this shirt on a boxing day match against Newcastle United during his first season at Liverpool FC. Later he became #4 and a Liverpool legend.

I wouldn’t have believed if in spring 1999 someone would have said to me that there will be a Finnish footballer who plays at Liverpool FC for ten years and becomes the captain of the most successfull English club. At Liverpool central defender Sami Hyypiä won almost every competition imaginable excluding the premier league. He played every single minute of Liverpool’s 57 consecutive European games between 2001-2006. During that time he became only the second Finn to win the Champions League.

Today Hyypiä plays his last premier league match and for the next two seasons he will join Bayer Leverkusen in Germany. He still wants to play football but that was not possible anymore in one of the best clubs in the world. Liverpool fans are likely to give him a very warm farewall today.

The photo is from the Sports Museum of Finland.

Maailma Kylässä – The World Village

Grupo Kaney performed at maailma kylässä festival today.

Since 1995 maailma kylässä (World Village) festival has given Helsinkians a chance to experience foreign cultures. There is music, dance, food, interviews and presentations from all over the world. Many organisations from Pacific Islands Friendship Society to Social Democratic Youth have their stands in the pretty large festival area in Kaisaniemi park and Rautatientori square.

Grupo Kaney consists of musicians from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia and Finland. The band became second in this year’s Ourvision song contest for immigrants, people of immigrant origins, and foreigners living in Finland. Ourvision was organized for the first time in 2007 as an event relating to the Eurovision song contest that was held in Helsinki.

EDIT 23-May-09: Here’s a photo of the trombone player.

Clouds

Somewhere near Vantaanjoki river.

Lately we have had a lot of clear skies and some totally overcast days so I was happy to finally see both sky and clouds at the same time.