Back to Helsinki

July 27, 2009 was the last day of our North Europe trip.  Before leaving Helsinki, we spent the morning visiting another UNESCO World Heritage site, Suomenlinna.

To get there, we took a ferry in the morning from Helsinki port.
It was a beautiful day, and I took some photos near the dock before embarking the ferry boat.

The Presidential Palace


Ferry boat


Tsarina's Stone in Helsinki Market Square


Documentary on sales booth on a boat


Old Market Square








Reflection of Statue of Amanda


Statue of Amanda




Suomenlinna is a sea fortress built in the 18th century by the Swedish Kingdom.








Church Park


Church Bell







Grave of Augustin Ehrensvärd, who built the fortress.





























Ferry back to Helsinki mainland

Arctic Circle

On July 23th, 2009, we entered the Arctic Circle by flying from Oslo to Alta, Norway.
This collection of photographs were taken during our 3 days of contiuous daylight.

The Rock Carvings in Alta Museum is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
These carvings date to as early as 4000BC.


Since many of these carvings are very faint, they added this red color to make is more visible.








Hammerfest, which claims to be the northernmost city in the world


Hammerfest Church




View of Hammerfest from Salen


The Meridian Column, listed on UNESCO World Heritage List


Reindeer in the Arctic Circle


Watching the midnight sun at Nordkapp, the northernmost point of continental Europe






Reindeers causing a road block.




Fish Drying Racks






Midnight sun at Ivalo, Finland






Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland
















Sammi people at Reindeer Park in Finland








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