The City Museum of Helsinki
There were a number of museums I wanted to visit in the city. The first one we saw was the City Museum of Helsinki right on Senate Square. It was free too so it was definitely a big welcome to travelers like us who were on a budget. The museum had an exhibit going on entitled "What I Love About Helsinki"
This huge picture of Helsinki in the olden days greeted visitors in the main hall.
A statue of a horse
This was used to melt snow as it was shoveled off the streets.
Believe it or not, this was a full length fur coat for men. Given how cold it gets in Finland, I could totally relate why an apparel like this was made and used.
Finnish fashion. Not exactly couture but pretty just the same.
A scene from a middle class Finnish family's kitchen from the 1940s-1950s.
The freezer back in the olden days
The City Museum of Helsinki had two floors and a basement.
A wooden chest with the wall behind it used as a screen for a film showing a man dressed in 1700's fashion walking around with a candle.
Here's a view of The Cathedral in Senate Square right outside the City Museum of Finland
Of course, no city is complete without souvenir stores. This one had the statue of a reindeer right outside it.
The City Museum of Finland had many branches. Each branch had a different exhibit. The following pictures were taken from its Children's Museum on the adjacent block directly facing The Cathedral on Senate Square. On this particular visit, I was the only one who entered and toured the museum. Other tourists thought it was a nursery given the sheer number of children and their parents playing inside. It was an interactive museum after all where children could actually touch, sit, and play with the exhibits.
This was a recreated school room. Here was the teacher's desk and the chalk board right behind it.
A pupil's desk
More pupils' desks
An oil painting of a child. I was pleasantly surprised to see this inside the museum. Sure, the subject was a child but none of the children visitors paid any attention to it. Too bad. It was a beautiful oil painting.
Another oil painting of children
This was an exhibit in an adjacent room.
This young Finnish boy was totally engrossed in playing with the sand on the table he was seated at.
Education in Finland
Maps on the wall
The closet where children could store their jackets and coats
A painting of children studying under the tutelage of a very stern religious teacher centuries ago.
