One of the charms of Helsinki I think is the combination of sophisticated
street and access to the sea. I was first surprised to find the major port is just close to the main street. You enjoy the city view and convenience and next moment you face the wide and calm openness of the Baltic Sea. Though life at waterfront may be hard sometimes in such northern nation I envied people here could enjoy the convenience of stylish modern city as well as this immediate spaciousness of nature.
Inside the Helsinki Cathedral there were a group of musicians who seemed to be members of an orchestra. They were practising some classical tunes that I didn't know. Some tourists like me and the local citizens were there sitting on the bench or walking around quietly. Nobody cared who walked in and left, nobody paid attention if I sat on and listened to the music or to take some photos. The place was full of warmth and light and comfort which would allow people to drop in casually escaping from outside cold. On the other hand the cathedral never lost its own dignity. I loved the place so much.
This was shot in front of the Helsinki Cathedral at around 5pm on 9th October 2011. I've never seen such a true blue sky like this and even the photograph doesn't fully describe it. Is it because of the high latitude of the city? The color almost shocked me but at the same time it was conformable to see, or more precisely, to be bathed. When traveling, the color of the sky in the city you visit rules the way how the light to be shed on everything you see, so the impact should not be overlooked.
In 2011 October I started traveling around after 5 years of trip-less, uneasy restless era, mostly because of the Financial Crisis and upheaval of my work life that followed. Year 2011 was also not at all peaceful of course due to the disastrous earthquake and economical unsteadiness, but I felt I should go anyway beyond the boundary to regenerate the once knocked down spirit.
So I choose Helsinki, Finland where I had been longing to visit. After 9 hours comfortable flight this beautiful northern sky, breathtaking gradation from ultramarine to horizon blue, welcomed me and started again my wanderlust.
At Orsay I found lots of Paul Cezanne's paintings including his famous still life works. Ever since I got to know his paintings I've been fascinated and curious about what makes people draw these things and makes them worthy to be appreciated. Seriously, what's the matter with apples, pears, vase, table and basket? If I would have studied art history more closely the answer might have be easily found. Or not. I'm still not sure why these normal, ordinary things could emit such deep mythic magnetism.
Paris has such a many attraction for tourists from the world. Only a couple days of stay would never be enough for the legendary city. So I did go to Louvre, Orsay and Rive Gauche but never to Montmartre nor Eiffle Tower. But I was lucky to decide to stay at Argentine, very close to Champs-Elysees, so I could see the Arc, one of the most famous icons in Paris, every day and night without effort.
When I first saw the Arc it attracted me and wowed me. There's something indescribable that fascinated me so much to make me do nothing but staring it for a while. The more I looked at it the stronger it held me captivate. It's beautiful? yes of course, magnificent? yes, historically important? yes. But there was more. Maybe this is what they call the "Golden Rule" stability.
The biggest objective of my visit to Paris was to see Villa Savoye created by Le Corbusier. As one of the students who adore the modern architectures of the early 20th century, surely he was my idol, and Villa Savoye was definite destination.
That afternoon was a perfect happiness for me. What I saw was a ultra-idealistic yet with hands-on touch of human work of art.
"A machine to live": the famous words lead us the images of functionalism or only mechanical side of the maison (the true meaning, not the literal, of the words when Le Corbusier stated them is still on argument, though). But I saw in the machine was a group of many students of all ages and races who sketched, walked casually around the villa and talked with fellows sitting on the LC chair. It was somewhat a heartwarming scene to me. I felt like I was just one of them, and moreover, felt everyone in the room shared the same joy and satisfaction to be in the work. We didn't actually talk each other but we could have been able to be friends with anytime if we wanted. We didn't even have to ask "You studying architecture?" "You like Le Corbusier?", as we all knew it. We kept the bonds in silence.
