Sunday, and what a roaster today! It looked cloudy at brekky, how wrong we were! I believe the temperatures were in the mid 70s with a hint of a breeze, wonderful. We went on a bus trip this morning and took in lots of sights, including the Cathedral, the Senate Square, the Presidential Palace (he wasn't taking visitations today), Finlandia Hall, the Parliament Building and Market Square. What did we learn today then about Helsinki and Finland? 60% of HE students are female, students start school at the age of 7, all students learn Finnish, Swedish and English as a compulsory measure, with a drop of French, German and Russian should they so wish, Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809, the language of the elves in the famous movie based on Lord Of The Rings, is based on Finnish, the UN voted Finland as the second most stable country in the world and lots of other facts that I have since forgotten! Best part of the day? For me, seeing the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral, a reminder of Helsinki's eastern heritage. It has 13 gold cupolas which represent Jesus and the twelve disciples. Amazing outside and in, no question. Anyway, time to log off as it is nearly tea time and we have an early start at the College tomorrow. We hope all is well back home and look out for more blogs directly.
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