Houses of Helsinki

I would like to share something with you that I really like a lot about Helsinki. These old houses! You find them in many parts of the town, most of them are maybe in Eira, close to the seaside. Rents are astronomical in Helsinki just to begin with, so if you´re dreaming of renting or (as it is the Finnish habit) buying a flat, maybe even a house in this particular area, start to play the lottery and keep on dreaming - unless you are a millionaire or something. Helsinki is full of art nouveau architecture, over here they call it jugend. Us Krauts talk about Jugendstil and that´s the design era I like the most. Walking through the streets I always admire these buildings without fatigue, wondering how it would be like to live in one of them. Well, not in this life, that´s for sure. But today was a really bright and shiny day, so I grabbed my camera and went down to the coast to take some pictures. Here is a small selection and I hope you enjoy it:

This is a doctor´s office. Dr. Jekyll? Dr. Love? Dr. Acula? Dr. House?

Art Deco fonts are cool. You see the Egyptian influence. Or what people thought it might look like. 

This house is facing the seaside. Guess I have to rob a bank to afford living there.

Kivilinna means stonecastle. Aha, and I thought it was made from marzipan.

All these houses were built before 1910.

Next I went back to my hood, from riches to rags so to speak, cause - believe it or not - also in notorious Kallio we have some nice jugend houses:

That´s some kind of museum. Couldn´t really figure it out yet. 

The shop is abandoned, only adds to the mystique of it all.

Unfortunately, this beauty stands in front of a fire department. Wakey-wakey!

SONG FOR TODAY:

Die Goldenen Zitronen - Häuser der Reichen