khiemtran | Helsinki

And so we come to Helsinki, which is a very attractive city, at least in the summer...

Actually, I wish I had gotten a better picture of the cathedral, but that was the best of a bad bunch. It's the people that make the difference.

"Stockmann's department store is on the corner of Mannerheimintie and Alexanderinkatu."

So went one of the exercises from Chapter Four of Teach Yourself Finnish that I listened to each day as I drove to work.

And, sure enough, so it is...

Lots of people out enjoying the sun... In Australia, Melbourne prides itself on having a "Paris end" of Collins St. As it turns out, they've got a way to go to even get a "Helsinki end".

Even the train station tries that little bit harder...

After Naantali and Turku, big city Helsinki was just that little bit more rushed and impersonal, but also more cosmopolitan.

The market square ("kauppatori"). Those peas on sale at the front are actually for eating as you walk around. If you look closely you can see strawberries too, for the same purpose. And if you come back after the market has closed, there'll be pea pod shells scattered over the cobblestones.