Helsinki, Finland
grrlscientist | July 25, 2009tags: Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, cities, image of the day
Looking out from the fortress.
Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | July 24, 2009
Talitiainen (Great Tit), Parus major.
Photographed in Hietaniemen hautausmaa (Hietaniemi cemetery), Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 24 November 2008 [larger view].
Now that I am on the plane, returning to the USA, I will share my revised list of birds seen in the Helsinki area of Finland during my three visits (8 days in November 2008, 3 weeks in February/March 2009, and 3 weeks in July 2009);
Helsinki Finland Bird List (new Life List bird species that I first saw in Finland are denoted with red asterix):
*Pikku-uikku (Little Grebe), Tachybaptus ruficollis -- November 2008…
grrlscientist | July 22, 2009tags: Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
I expected to see hobbits running around this part of Suomenlinna,
but alas ..
Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I have returned to one of my two favorite haunts in Helsinki; Suomenlinna. This island fortress was built from stone by the Swedes to protect Finland (a part of Sweden in the 1700s) from invasion by sea.
grrlscientist | July 21, 2009tags: Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinna in summer, 3 [the same place in the winter]
Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I have returned to one of my two favorite haunts in Helsinki; Suomenlinna. This island fortress was built from stone by the Swedes to protect Finland (a part of Sweden in the 1700s) from invasion by sea.
grrlscientist | July 20, 2009tags: Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinna in summer, 2.
Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I have returned to one of my two favorite haunts in Helsinki; Suomenlinna. This island fortress was built from stone by the Swedes to protect Finland (a part of Sweden in the 1700s) from invasion by sea.
grrlscientist | July 19, 2009tags: Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinna in summer.
Image: GrrlScientist, 18 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I have returned to one of my two favorite haunts in Helsinki; Suomenlinna. This island fortress was built from stone by the Swedes to protect Finland (a part of Sweden in the 1700s) from invasion by sea.
grrlscientist | July 14, 2009tags: Munkkivori, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Another view of the woods right outside the door of the apartment building
where I am staying in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 12 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | July 14, 2009tags: lunch, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Lakritsi Iscream, complete with a picture of ME, your penguin whisperer!
Image: GrrlScientist, 12 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | July 13, 2009tags: Munkkivori, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
A view of the woods right outside the door of the apartment building
where I am staying in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 12 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | July 12, 2009tags: Matajoki River, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
A view of an abandoned boat in the Matajoki river (in northern Helsinki, Finland).
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | July 11, 2009tags: River Vantaa, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
A view of a natural waterfall in a park near the River Vantaa.
This waterfall is in the same park that I showed you yesterday.
I believe I was in Vantaa (will check after my host returns),
in northern Helsinki, Finland, when I photographed this.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | July 10, 2009tags: River Vantaa, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
A view of a park near the River Vantaa.
I believe I was in Vantaa (will check after my host returns),
in northern Helsinki, Finland, when I photographed this.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | July 9, 2009tags: River Vantaa, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
A river flows through it.
A view of the River Vantaa. I believe I was in Vantaa (will check after my host returns),
in northern Helsinki, Finland, when I photographed this.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I've been telling you about how gorgeous Helsinki is, but mostly so far, I've shown you photographs of flowers. I hope you realize that I wanted to establish in your mind that it is warm and sunny enough here for flowers to bloom, but today, I just had to share a picture of the River Vantaa (…
grrlscientist | July 8, 2009tags: Potentilla fruticosa, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Is this a wild rose or a close relative?
"Goldfinger" or the Buttercup Shrub, Potentilla fruticosa.
Photographed alongside a roadway in Pitäjänmäki in northern Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
"Goldfinger" -- which has a wide variety of common names, such as the Goldfinger shrubby Potentilla, Shrubby Cinquefoil and my favorite, the Buttercup Shrub -- is a hardy and dense shrub with dark green leaves and bright yellow flowers that are roughly 1 1…
grrlscientist | July 7, 2009tags: Heartsease, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Heartsease is known by a wide variety of names, including the Wild Pansy, Ladies' Delight, Jump-Up-And-Kiss-Me, and Johnny Jump-Up, Viola tricolor.
Photographed on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Native over large areas of Europe and western Asia, this is the ancestor of the modern pansy. I remember Heartsease from watching a live performance of Shakespeare's comedy, A Midsummer's Night Dream in London last year, where Oberon claims that the…
grrlscientist | July 7, 2009tags: lunch, food, Ravintola Helsinge, Tekniikan Museo, travel, Helsinki, Finland
Coffee and Lunch (croissant with cheese, tomato and "rocket",
a tangy green that I've never seen nor heard of before now)
Photographed at Ravintola Helsinge, the cafe on the grounds
shared with the Tekniikan Museo (Technology Museum),
Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I am recovering, albeit slowly, from jet lag. This process is made more difficult because my sleep patterns had been seriously disturbed for several weeks before I left NYC, and further complicated…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2009tags: Finland, Sonkajärvi, sports, wife-carrying world championships, entertainment, streaming video
I am Finnish by ancestry, and I am in love with Finland, having visited this beautiful country three times now. However, I must warn you all that women who marry Finnish men are asking for a fair bit of humiliation. Finnish men like to indulge in a very peculiar sport: wife carrying contests, which are a modern day carry-over from the ancient pass time of wife-stealing. This is video from the 2009 event, which took place yesterday (5 July) in Sonkajärvi, which is smack-dab in the middle of…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2009tags: Black-eyed Susan vine, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Mystery flower, can you name the species?
Black-eyed Susan vine, Thunbergia alata.
Photographed on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
The Black-eyed Susan vine, Thunbergia alata, is a perennial climbing plant in the Acanthaceae family. It is native to Eastern Africa, and has been naturalized in other parts of the world.
grrlscientist | July 5, 2009tags: petunias, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
White petunias, Petunia x hybrida.
Photographed on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Petunias are trumpet shaped flowering plants that are endemic to South America. Botanically speaking, tobacco, tomato, potato, and petunia are all in the family Solanaceae. These popular flowers got their name from the French, which took the word petun -- 'tobacco' -- from a Tupi-Guarani language.
grrlscientist | July 4, 2009tags: Seurasaarenselkä, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland
Looking out over Seurasaarenselkä on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
It looks like it is going to rain today, so I am exploring the open air market in downtown Helsinki. I am still sorting through and labeling all the photographs I took yesterday on Seurasaari. In short, my walk there started out with very nice weather -- sunny, breezy, warm -- and ended up overcast, but still bright (too bright for good photography, as you can see in the above image) and chilly.