Helsinki highlights: Rock Church and The Aalto house

Back on to Helsinki… we saw a lot of notable architecture including Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall. It looks like an enormous white marble ship, but was also closed for Easter so we advanced to highlight number 1 of the trip, the Rock Church. Designed by architect brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, and completed in 1969, the church was built into solid rock and its interior has been frequently and aptly described as resembling a Bond villain’s lair.

Approaching it from the street, the exterior was underwhelming and unrevealing of this.

Church Rock | Helsinki | My Friend's House

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Adventures in Finland

Did you know that the Finns have a particular relationship with language, don’t like to waste words on small talk and favour being concise? And now to a blog post about my experience of a holiday there that may or may not pay homage to this fact. It began in Lapland in ‘minus’ conditions, beautiful […]

This Way to The Circus Margate

Pots for plants

I find it very hard, I must confess, to keep house plants alive. I have an issue with the fact I have to run things (like watering) to their schedule rather than mine. This is also what stops me from being like the rest of my family, a set of dedicated and creative gardeners. However […]

Zaha Hadid

Farewell Zaha Hadid

Was Ronnie Corbett not enough for one day? Yes, on the same day that the second Ronnie bowed out, comes the sad news that Zaha Hadid, internationally acclaimed architect, has died of a heart attack aged just 65. Mr Corbett is sad, but Hadid is shocking. I think this is evidenced by the fact that […]