Suomenlinna or Viapori (Finnish), or Sveaborg (Swedish), is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands, today within Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The Sea fortress Suomenlinna is a unique architectural monument, a popular recreation area and museum. Although the island is located off the coast of Helsinki, it is part of the city. The Fortress was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage in 1991!

Suomenlinna Sea Fortress was built over 250 years ago and once had a population of 4600, larger than the population of Helsinki at the time. The Swedish crown commenced the construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against Russian expansionism. All the effort didn’t hinder the Russians taking over in 1808. Finally in 1918 the Fortress became Finnish. Nowadays it is a popular park with museums, interesting flora and beaches.

Today, the island is inhabited by 1000 residents and so you will see some kids biking around. There is a big Visitor Center, which has a 25 minute “multi-vision show” and computers about the fortress.

There are plenty of nice spots for a picnic and you can also swim and sunbathe in various locations on the island – be prepared to walk a bit though. The trip to the fortress in Suomenlinna could be carried out by using the inter-island connecting motor boat from the Port in Katajanokanlaituri.

The Verla Groundwood and Board Mill is a well preserved 19th century mill village. Only a handful of such settlements survives to the present day. It’s now a museum and one of the sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Hugo Neuman founded the Verla Groundwood Mill in 1872, but was destroyed by fire in 1876. Wilhelm Dippell having died in 1906, Verla became a limited company called the Verla Groundwood and Board Mill.

Throughout its unbroken 81-year history Verla Mill produced about 150,000 tonnes of board.

The historical machines were preserved in their places, except for several pieces brought from other buildings.

The Hotel Kakslauttanen in Finland is in fact an Igloo Village, at which you can have your pick of 20 unique glass and snow igloos for your stay. They aren’t ice houses, but 31 well-maintained log cabins – built from a very special thermo glass that keeps them warmth and comfortable. Because of that, the temperature inside the Igloos is always a normal room temperature and the igloos inhabitants won’t feel any of the polar cold.

The Igloo Village Kakslauttanen boasts a World’s Largest Snow Restaurant. You can enjoy a drink at the Ice Bar, or visit the Ice Gallery for local art, or try the world’s largest smoke sauna if you get a chance, or throw the most memorable wedding or christening at the Ice Chapel.

The surrounding Finnish Lapland scenery is incredible – it’s a prime spot for marveling at the northern lights throughout the winter. When sleeping in the glass igloos you are able to for viewing the amazing natural phenomena – Aurora Borealis and the millions of stars in the sky. The experience is also unforgettable when there is a snowstorm…

 Wife carrying is a sport in which male competitors race while each carrying female partners. The Wife Carrying World Championship takes place every year in the Finnish province of Sonkajarvi, but similar events have now sprung up around the world. And the prize is … the winning wife’s weight in beer. Prizes are also rewarded for the most entertaining couple, the strongest carrier, and the best costume. The date of this year’s event is July 4, 2009.

The objective is for the male to carry the female teammates through a special obstacle track in as short amount of time as possible. Several carrying strategies can be used, including piggyback and fireman’s carry (over the shoulder) or Estonian-style (the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the husband’s shoulders, holding onto his waist). If the female partner is dropped, a 15 second penalty is assessed.

Rauma is one of the oldest harbours in Finland. The port has a history of lively commercial relations to other countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. This is one well preserved coherent historical wooden town. There are 600 buildings on area of 28 hectares, the oldest of which date from the 18th century. In 1991 the area was selected for UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. The town is a dream come true for shoppers and gourmets.

Today there is a new form of urban graffiti in the world and it’s extremely interesting and enjoyably – urban knitting. I mean like sweater -wearing tree or all yarn covered corners with some of the best examples of knit/crochet graffiti.

The images display entitled ”tree cozy”. The impressive outfit was made by Carol Hummel and took her 500 hours from start to finish and stood for a 3 years outside clever land heights city hall until just recently.

Top left – a knitted handrail cover near Tullikamarinaukio Square, Finland, by Knit Sea. Top right – a tagged guard chain in Stockholm, left by the prolific Masquerade Crew. Bottom left – a mooring ring tagged in Stockholm, again by the Masquerade Crew. Bottom right – a grateful and warm lampost in Houston, Texas dressed by members of Knitta Please.

The picture display territorial knitting, an unauthorized project by Lauren Marsden. Her aim was to cover the signs of every street on which she has lived in Victoria, British Columbia, with knitted replicas.

Turku is a post-modern city in Finland and today the city has a new library to celebrate for! The new city library in Turku is located at the historical centre of the city. The building is the latest addition to a block with the old library and several other historically valuable buildings.

The library has a functionally clear design. The public spaces are situated mainly on two floors surrounding the opening to the courtyard. The staff premises are located systematically on one side of the building facing the street. The first floor has a reception and lounge area, a children’s and youth section.

The building was made from concrete cast on site and fair-faced concrete was formed with vertical boards to achieve the rough feeling characteristic of the material. Glass was given a seminal role both in the outer architecture and the interior world. Transparency befits this type of building; a public library building should evoke the idea of openness.

Helsinki is one of the most vibrant and prosperous cities in the world with very high standards of living. With all its bays, inlets and shore islands, Helsinki is almost surrounded by water. The city grew up around a natural harbor overlooking the Gulf of Finland.

Helsinki’s offerings are seen best in summer, when the sidewalk cafes and the waterside markets are thronged by handsome, hardy people basking in the glow of plentiful daylight. As well as during this time visitors and residents gather on the steps of Senate Square to soak in the evening.There is summer sunlight in Helsinki 20 hours a day.

Helsinki may be the world’s second most northerly capital city, after Reykjavik, and it may be lapped by the Baltic, but it can feel almost Mediterranean on a fine August day, with soft, golden light bathing the pastel-colored Italianate buildings around Senate Square, a legacy from Russian rule in the 19th century, and ferries, cruise ships and trawlers filling in a lively marine backdrop.

Klaus K hotel is located on the three lined street Bulevardi in Helsinki very close to the cruise ship harbor, train station and less than 20 km to the Helsinki airport by car. The hotel is housed in a 19-th century structure and has really contemporary interior design inspired by the outlook of Finland.

The hotel consist ballroom for up to 120 people, a smaller meeting room and offers a wide range of class food & drinks for every guests specific moods.

But when you get tired from too much drinks and food, the hotel also offers refreshment procidures at the Helsinki Day Spa with an excellent variety of body treatments and beauty programmes. The Klaus K hotel owns 137 rooms, each one with custom beds, comfort designed workspace, air conditioning, LCD TV movies, CD/DVD players, games, easy high speed intenet access (wireless or wired), safe, bar, exclusive bath amenities, robe.

Linnanmaki also has many other big attractions, including Raketti, or “Rocket” (formerly Space Shot ), which is a standard upwards-launched free fall tower, built in 1999 by S Power. Other roller coasters in the park include Tulireki, Linnunrata (an indoor roller coaster built inside a water tower, with a space theme), Pikajuna, and Finland’s first water coaster, Vonkaputous.
The park also contains the “Peacock Teatteri”, known for its musical productions. In addition to the park itself, guests can also visit a Sea Life Centre. Kieppi was placed to a new area Linnanmaki had bought near the southern entrance gate. A kiddie-ride was also placed next to Kieppi and the Hip Hop was moved to that same area in 2004 to make room for Tulireki.

Linnanmaki is now even more fun than before and colours play an important role in attracting people to come there. This is in good agreement with Tikkurila’s business idea. Moreover, the yield from the fun park goes to support child welfare.
There are many restaurants and shops at Linnanmaki, from cheap to expensive ones. You can find a toy museum too – in Helsinki a year ago, they had a really cool Barbie exhibition there. There’s also a theatre at Linnanmaki. Every year they perform a musical there with many famous Finnish artists – nothing special if you don’t speak Finnish well, but otherwise usually rather good.

Downhill skiing and snowboarding can be an exhilarating experience but, as with any sport, safety should come first. Excess speed and loss of control are the primary factors associated with snow skiing fatalities.There are few cities where you find downhill skiing slopes in the immediate vicinity of the centre, as you do in Kuopio. The western run of the Puijo Slopes, only 1.5 km from the city centre, appeals even to the most discerning skiers and snowboarders. The more gentle gradient of the eastern Antikkala run makes it a perfect family slope. There are also four other downhill ski centres in the Kuopio region. The Kasurila Ski Centre in Siilinjärvi, only 20 km from Kuopio, is a great place for snowboarders and families with children. The Tahko Slopes in Nilsiä are the biggest and grandest of the region’s ski centres. The resort is constantly developing its services and facilities and offers an opportunity for a refreshing winter holiday with a wide variety of activities. The smaller ski centres in the region and the Maarianvaara Ski Centre in Kaavi are also delightful destinations for winter outings.