The zoo at night, Film Festival, exploring Helsinki

Random things tend to happen a lot in Helsinki. On Friday such a random thing occured when I got a text from a friend inviting me to the zoo for a special late-opening. After going a bit over the top on Thursday, it was nice to be able to do something that didn't involve alcohol, so I went into Helsinki to meet her in the evening.

Helsinki at dusk

We got the metro out of the city and then the bus that took us to the zoo, which is on an island connected by a bridge. The last remnants of the sunset provided a spectacular backdrop and the best view of Helsinki I've yet seen, although the picture above doesn't quite do it justice. The zoo itself was very entertaining, although fairly small compared with others I've been to. It was interesting to see the nocturnal animals, such as the owls and some of the cats at night when they are most active. We got the ferry back to the market square in the city where I bumped into some friends and then headed for home.

The Sibelius Monument

I woke up fairly late Saturday and with nothing planned I remembered that the Helsinki film festival was on, so I checked the website and found that a film I had wanted to see for quite a while was on. Which was great, except there was only one showing and it was in 30 minutes, so I ran to the station to get the next train and rushed to the cinema. The film was Grizzly Man, a documentary about the true story of an American environmentalist who lived with bears and was eventually eaten by one. It was facinating, moving and even quite funny at the same time and had some of the most amazing wildlife footage you'll ever seen. I highly recommend it!

Pretentious artistic view of the Sibelius monument

After the movie, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and went exploring around Helsinki. There is still much of the city that I haven't seen, as even though I spend so much time there I'm always heading from A to B and rarely stop to appreciate the surrroundings. I had my camera with me and so I walked to the Sibelius monument which I had heard was quite a sight. It's certainly an interesting shape, as you can see in my pictures but I'm not sure if it was worth crossing the city to see it!

The olympic tower

I wound up next to the olympic stadium and was surprised to find the observation tower still open, so I took the lift up. The view is very impressive and is probably the tallest point in the city. From the top you can see for miles around in all directions, thanks to the flat terrain.

View of Eastern Helsinki from the olympic tower

After walking around the lake visible in the photo above (which is a very pleasant area for a city centre) I went back home, only to come out again later to do another kind of exploring...trying out new clubs!