This is Finland - Part II (famous Finns)

Finally we have another post from the “This is Finland” series. This time I want to present to you some Finnish personalities that are well-known around the globe. So let’s start.

1 Formula One drivers

There are nine Finnish drivers in the history of F1 so far. Kimi Raikkönen (aka The Iceman) is my favorite one. I’m so glad that he came back to Formula 1 after a 2-years break (and managed to finish the 2012 season in the 3^rd place!). Besides him, Heikki Kovalainen and Valtteri Bottas (who was recently promoted to a race driver for Williams) are going to race in 2013. I’ve heard Finns are excellent drivers because they have to drive in difficult conditions like the icy roads. And that might be true, since Finland has produced more world champions per head of population than anywhere else. There are three Finnish Formula One World Drivers’ Champions: Keke Rosberg (Williams – 1982), Mika Häkkinen (McLaren – 1998/1999) and Kimi (Ferrari – 2007).

2 Finnish Bands

When I tell someone that I’m moving to Finland, most of my relatives and friends only know that it stays in Europe (although they don’t know exactly where) and that it’s a cold place. But some of my friends have their eyes sparkling when I tell them that hoping that I’ll send them a CD of their favorite Finnish band. Mostly heavy metal bands. I’ve heard few Nightwish songs and a version of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” by HIM, and a nice song by The Rasmus. But that’s it. It’s not my favorite music style, but in Brazil these Finnish bands are pretty famous among heavy metal lovers.

 

3 Sibelius

 

I’m not a connoisseur of classical music, but I always see something about Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) when I’m researching about Finland. The Finnish composer’s work comprises world classical music favorites such as Valse Triste and Finlandia, as well as the most recorded violin concerto of the 20th century. It also includes a symphonic cycle of seven symphonies that has become one of the most esteemed and popular cycles since Beethoven. Sibelius composed small and easily accessible pieces, but also unique masterpieces of great depth, such as Luonnotar and Tapiola. The Finnish 100 mark bill featured his image until it was taken out of circulation in 2002.

4 Angry Birds

Ok, the next famous Finns are not real people, but they’ve recently became very popular all over the world. I’m talking about the cute characters of Angry Birds, a video game franchise created by Finnish company Rovio Entertainment. In the original game, players use a slingshot to launch birds at pigs, with the intent of destroying all the pigs on the playing field. The combination of addictive gameplay, comical style, and low price is the key to Angry Birds’ success. The characters of the game have been featured in many situations, my favorite were the “HockeyBird”, the official mascot of the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships and the “IceBird” in Kimi’s cap.

5 Santa Claus

Last, but not least, we have: Santa Claus! Christmas has already gone… but I’m still in Christmas mood, so I couldn’t leave Santa out of this list. Yes, Santa Claus exists and he lives in Finland, more precisely at Santa Claus Village at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, Lapland. In Finnish he is “Joulupukki”, which literally means Christmas goat or Yule Goat. One interesting thing is that in the 30’s, the Coca-Cola Santa Claus picture used in advertising was designed by a son of Finnish emigrants, Haddon Sundblom.

First time in Finland

My Finnish Residence Permit has just arrived!
=D
I'm very happy about that!
So now it's time to share some pictures of my first trip to Finland in September last year.
I wasn't there as a tourist, so I couldn't explore Helsinki as much as I wanted. But my employers provided me with a nice trip to the city to see some highlights in a hop-on hop-off bus.
I loved my first trip to Finland, especially because it was also my first time abroad!
The weather was nice and we finished the tour with a lunch at a typical Finnish restaurant. I ate reindeer for the first time and I loved it!

Stockmann, famous department store

Beautiful Uspenski Cathedral

Senaatintori (Senate Square)

Fresh berries

View from my hotel room: sunset at 8pm

NY Trip and Visa Approved

Today I received the news that my Finnish Residence Permit is ready and they already sent it to the Finnish Embassy here in Brazil. It might take a couple of weeks before getting here, but I’m so happy that it was approved!

Last week, I was in NYC and it was an amazing experience! I’m in love with the city. It was even better than I had imagined. Luckily, we choose December for our first trip to NY and it was a great choice, since the entire city had that Christmas’ atmosphere, soooo beautiful!

We arrived there on Sunday afternoon, went to our hotel to leave our stuff and then had lunch at Brother Jimmy’s (great place). After that we bought our metro card (with unlimited rides for one week) and went to Times Square! At first, it was a bit overwhelming with so many people and all the billboards, but it’s a wonderful place where you can actually realize that “yes, you’re in New York”.

We left the city on Friday, and below are some highlights of our trip.

Monday

We bought the NY citypass, so our itinerary for the whole week was partly based on the attractions included in the pass (which were the ones we wanted to see the most, anyway). Early in the morning we went on a boat trip to see the Statue of Liberty. Amazing experience! Then we had lunch at Times Square and went to the Grand Central Terminal (which turned out to be one of my favorite spots of the city). After that, we walked to the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was under some renovations. Then we went to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) and spent few hours there. In the end of the day we did some shopping nearby and came back to the hotel.

From left to right: Statue of Liberty, Newlyweds at Times Square, Big Clock at Grand Central Terminal, Pietá at St. Patrick's Cathedral, The Scream at MoMA

Tuesday

After a quick trip to Grand Central Terminal we took the bus to the Upper East Side and walked to MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art). We didn’t know that it was so big and so full of interesting stuff. We could stay there the whole day. We had lunch there and left in the middle of the afternoon. We crossed Central Park, enjoying the walk and the beautiful views of the park in this time of the year. Our plans included the American Museum of Natural History, but it was a bit late, so we decided to leave that for the next day and went to Macy’s.

Coffin at MET, Sister having lunch at MET with Central Park view, Giant Bubble at Central Park

Wednesday

We woke up early and went to SoHo for shopping. The stores there wouldn’t open until 10am, so we had breakfast in a café there and waited until they open. After that we went to our hotel to leave our bags there and took the bus to the Upper East Side and then another one to cross Central Park. At AMNH we had quick lunch (it was already 3pm and the museum would close 5.30pm) and visited some of the wings like the dinosaur wing, the Hall of African mammals, etc. There we saw the Lucy skeleton, the Star of India sapphire and the Easter Island head, so nice! After the museum we went to Rockfeller Plaza and up to the Top of the Rock! Amazing views of the city, and you can actually see the Empire State from there. Plus, they had that giant Christmas tree at the Plaza. So magical!

T-Rex at AMNH, Amazing view from Top of the Rock

Thursday

This was one of my favorite parts of the trip: Crossing Brooklyn Bridge! It was a great walk with wonderful views of the city. We also enjoyed the best pizza ever at Grimaldi’s right after we crossed the bridge. In the afternoon we went to Century 21 located in Downtown Manhattan to buy some things. I really liked the store (and its low prices). I remember I read some comments that it was too messy, but I thought it was pretty ok. In the end of the day we were supposed to go to Empire State, but unfortunately, we had to go back to SoHo to return a pair of boots that I bought in the wrong size. And after that we were so tired that we all agreed to leave the Empire State for the next trip to NY. But that’s ok; we had already seen amazing views from the Top of The Rock on Wednesday.

Sister and I at Madison Square in front of Flatiron, Brooklyn Bridge, Welcome to Brooklyn!

That was our lovely trip to NY. That’s a memory I’ll keep forever.

Next week I’ll come back with some pictures of my first time in Finland!