Finnish Culture

Today was a slice of Finnish culture...or was intended as such!  We set out first to the Finnish Parliament.  Finding a bunch of locked doors, we stumbled upon the main door in the center of the building.  Two steps inside, we saw the sign indicating it was for "Invited Guests Only".  We asked if it was possible to do tours, and were told no, but the session opened at 2PM, and it was open to the public.  So, off to the Temppeliaukio Church (Church of the Rock or something).  It is mostly underground, hewn from the rock, with a glass dome roof.


A quick hoof 8-10 blocks, and we got the following two pix!

 

So, we had 2 hours until Parliament.  Not enough time to see the National Museum (our 3rd planned stop for the day), but too much time to just hang out.  We decided to stop in a couple of stores and get some lunch.  One hour 45 minutes later, we were back at the doors to the Parliament waiting for access.

After climbing 110 steps to the balcony, we sat down and saw the parliament start to fill.  Went to take a picture...and had a dead battery.  Of course, it's not safe to have back-packs, so our spare battery was stored downstairs....110 steps down...110 steps back up.  That worked off some of that luncheon beer!

Parliament started at exactly 2pm.  People were still talking and ignoring the presider, when he began his speech.  Of course, everyone who showed up, punched the "attendence button", registering that he or she was actually there.  This by no means implied an intent to stay as within 4-5 minutes, the room was mostly empty (as pictured).  The guy to the left of the presiders gave some sort of speech, followed by a woman.  No idea what the topic was, and nobody on the floor, except about 5 guys in the back row, even cared.  Then came the what we presume was the voting.  The presider read off something official sounding, no one said anything, the gavel banged, and they moved to the next topic.  At 2:25, they were done and it was a mad rush out the door.  There were a hundred or so kids, presumably on a school feild trip, and they had the same amount of interest as the Finns on the floor!  The great thing for us, is that this is the FIRST governement we've ever seen in action.  We have visited several State Capitals (and their legislature buildings), and a few national government houses of legislature and never found one in session.  But, if it only takes 25 minutes, I'm not surprised we miss most of them!
Interestingly (well, to me at least), Finland has a unicameral legislature. 

So, we leave the Parliament, and head toward the Finnish National Musuem.  On the way, we saw the Natural History museum.  Ah, another architectural beauty, plagued with a banner.  :-(  At least this one didn't overpower the whole facade.

Random Street

We finally arrived at the Finnish National Museum (pictured to the left).  They had adequate exhibits for the prehistory era of Finland, the "realm" history, the people, and the "treasures".  I found it curious the heritage of a place that, for most of its recorded history belonged to someplace else.  Regardless, there was the usual pottery and remnants from 8,000 years ago through 1,000 years ago.  There was a good storyline describing the introduction of Christianity, then the Reformation, the rise of the Berghers and the bourgeois versus the nobility and royalty.  Then the transistion to being part of Russia, and that was it.  Nothing about their transition into their own sovereignty. 

There was one of six thrones built for the Russian Tsars, so they would have a seat anywhere in their Realm (pictured here).
Finally, the "Treasures" exhibit included money, medals, and an assortment of gold and silver.  The monetary display was quite rich (ahem).  Actually, it presented the development of coins in multiple cultures, including their own.  It covered minting and details of coins, and metals and valuation.  They went into the use of paper, and where it worked and didn't, as well as inflation and devaluation, etc.  It was quite an extensive coverage of money in forms varying from squirrel pelts to today's paper.  Other than a few loose references, little was covered about electronic money, which I judged left the story incomplete.

From the museum, it was time to head back.  We (finally) stopped off at McDonald's for my (Bill's) "every country McDonald's" agenda.  Big Mac was about 4 euros, as was the quarter pounder with cheese.  But, they were both on a side menu, and featured were things we had never heard of.  They had a "Big Tasty" (which overflowed with lettuce!) and a "Big Bacon", which I think was the same picture.  Theresa got the "McFeast Jr." which was a generic cheeseburger.  I'm not certain where the term "feast" comes in, but she was happy.

So, back here at the lodge...so to speak, they have a sliced mystery meat (tasty, but unidentified).  But, having eaten, we're just drinking now (well, I am; Theresa is doing a puzzle while I type, and getting frustrated).  Tomorrow we head out to Tampere.  Not sure when we'll be able to update the blog again, but hopefully not too long.