Pre Tour, June 12-14
Ohjelma suomeksi (in Finnish) (pdf)
Schedule
- The Pre Tour starts on Friday the 12th of June at 12 am
- Arrival to Kotka on Saturday the 13th of June at 2 pm
- From Kotka to Mikkeli on Sunday the 14th of June before 5 pm
Cities by the Sea
The Pre Tour will look at the cities of Helsinki and Kotka, their parks and seafront construction.
Friday program (pdf)
Saturday program (pdf)
Pre Tour Program in Helsinki
Program in Helsinki, June 12th-13th
The pre tour starts in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Helsinki was founded in 1550 under Swedish regime. It became the capital in 1812, when Finland was under Russian regime. Finland gained its independence in 1917. The country now has a population of 5.3 million, of which 570 000 live in the capital. Helsinki is a green, pocket sized metropolis. For further information on the city in English check www.visithelsinki.fi
The pre tour starts on Friday the 12th of June at 12 o’clock. The day happens to be Helsinki's 459th birthday and many events go on in the city center throughout the day. Our group will take the bus to the Sunny Bay area (Aurinkolahti) of the Vuosaari suburb in Eastern Helsinki, where the newest trends in Finnish park design can be seen. We will witness different types of environmental art and new high class housing areas with parks built within. The trip continues to the banks of a brand new water element – the Uutela Canal – and its surrounding park called “Nice Weather's park”.
After lunch the program continues with a cruise to Suomenlinna Fortress island through Helsinki's beautiful archipelago. Suomenlinna dates back to 1750's and is a Unicef World Heritage site. After a short presentation of the area the evening continues with an informal dinner and a getting to know each other -evening in the Walhalla restaurant, with good food and nice programme included. You might even learn to dance tango the Finnish way..!
On Saturday morning the visitors are taken on a guided stroll through the city centre’s three main parks, The Esplanade, Old Church Park and Sinebrychoff Park. Packed lunch is served on the bus. The drive to Kotka takes approximately two hours.
Pre Tour Program in Kotka
June 13th- 14th
After an hour and a halves bus drive we will arrive to the town of Kotka where KymiRiver meets the Gulf of Finland. KymiRiver was also until 1809, a border river between Russia and former Sweden-Finland. The Eastern part of Kotka used to belong to Russia and in the 1790'ies after a big defeat in a sea battle outside Kotka, the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia ordained a number of forts to be built here. For further information on the city in English check www.visitkotka.fi.
Kotka of today was founded in 1879, the population is 55.000, the total area is 950 km2 and Kotka has about 400 islands. Kotka is a logistic cross point between the Helsinki area and St.Petersburg, being Finland’s biggest export- and container port. The town is also known for its metal and paper industry. The atmosphere of Kotka used to be quite industrial and dull. After more than twenty years of landscaping and hard greenery efforts Kotka is nowadays nationwide known for its parks and other green areas.
Among other things we will see on Saturday:
- Sapokka water garden, with is the most awarded park in Finland.
- Sculpture park, awarded twice nationwide - a park where old and new ideas are mixed together.
- Sibelius park, a partly formal garden from the 1930's, renovated a few years ago.
- Grand park, Kotkas eldest park, founded in the end of 1700 century. In the evening we visit the archipelago, also a part of the National park of the Eastern Gulf of Finland. We visit an old fishing island, Kaunissaari, translated "the beautiful island". At the island we have dinner, listen to live music, maybe dance and wonder is the sun never going to set. On Sunday our program is :
- Catherines cape, Kotkas newest park, that used to be a few years ago an oil port.
- Langinkoski Imperial Fishing Lodge, The Russian emperor Alexander III liked the athmosphere by the rapids so much that he had his summer resort built here in 1889.
- After lunch we visit the MoundPark, which has been built on an old dumping place.
At about 13.30 it is time to start a little more than two hour’s bus drive to Mikkeli, our congress town.
Pre Congress in Helsinki 12th and 13th June 2009
Friday 12th June 2009
Helsinki Day
(Helsinki's 459th anniversary, a lot of events in the city centre)
New Park design in Eastern Helsinki, Vuosaari
- at 11.30 bus will pick you up from the hotel Helka
- at 12 we leave from the Railway Station Square to Vuosaari by bus, a light snack in the bus
- at 12.30 arrival to Mustankivenpuisto (BlackstonePark), earth art and play park activities Park Lill Kallvik, a restored park from the 1920´s
- UutelaCanal and FairWeatherPark, new, urban and high class park design and housing
- at 2.30 pm lunch at Villa Solvik Restaurant
- at 3.30 pm a short walk to Sand Pier, where we step into a boat and enjoy the Helsinki Archipelago, refreshments
- around 4.40 pm a stroll in a historical mansion park, Tullisaari from the 1800’s back to the boat at 5.30 pm
- at 6 pm Suomenlinna Fortress, built in 1740’s , a multimedia presentation in the VisitorsCenter, takes about 20 minutes
- at 7 pm dinner at restaurant Walhalla, welcome speech by the City Engineer, Mr Matti-Pekka Rasilainen
- surprise program, home with 9.30 or 10. 30 ferry to the Market Place
- to the hotel by tram 3 T to, stop at Buss station in Kamppi, 300 mwalk to the hotel Helka (by foot from the Market Place to Hotel Helka about 25 minutes)
In case you get lost:
- ELINA NUMMI, tel. +358 50 388 1410, PEKKA LESKINEN tel. +358 40 5550175
Saturday 13th June 2009
The historical parks of Helsinki
- at 9.15. am pick up from the hotel. NOTE! Take your luggage with you!
- at 10 pm the Empire center of Helsinki, Senate Square, brief history of Helsinki
- Esplanade Park, the most popular park in the center
- Old Church Park, a former graveyard, now a popular park
- Sinebrychoff Park, a former private garden, now a popular park
- at 12 o’clock the bus picks us up and we will have our lunch in the buss
- next stop the City of Kotka
Helsinki
Situated on the northern shore of the Baltic Sea (the Gulf of Finland), the Finnish capital, Helsinki, with its extensive green belts reaching right into the city centre, over 300 islands and beautiful inlets is probably closer to nature than any other European capital.
Töölönlahti
Töölönlahti Bay is right near the city centre, at the southern tip of Helsinki’s Central Park. A pedestrian trail some 2 kilometres long skirts the Bay in an environment of cultural-historical interest.
Esplanadi Park
Esplanadi Park in the very centre of Helsinki dates back 200 years, to the time when Helsinki became the Finnish capital and its monumental centre in Empire style was born. Surrounded by dignified cultural buildings, the Park is awash with colourful life in the summer.
The Vuosaari maritime suburb of Helsinki
Vuosaari has been expanding more dynamically than any other Helsinki coastal suburb since the 1990s. A new centre combining established areas with new seafront housing has sprung up around the Metro station. By the end of this decade Vuosaari will have a population of 40,000. Vuosaari harbour and business parks are scheduled for completion in 2008.
Aurinkolahti
Aurinkolahti is characterised by its typical Vuosaari pine trees, the sea, the waterfront promenade, the blocks of flats bordering on the seafront and the park sectors wedged between them. The Aurinkolahti sands stretching nearly a kilometre are the longest bathing beach in Helsinki.
The Uutela Canal
Maritime Aurinkolahti is expanding down to the canal. At the head of the bay surrounded by blocks of flats will be a paddling pool the shape of a raindrop and two waterfalls. The canal is crossed by several bridges. On the eastern bank of the Uutela Canal is a 105-hectare conservation area that also serves as a recreation area.
Kotka
Kotka is the biggest city in the province of Kymenlaakso. Overlooking the Gulf of Finland on the estuary of the River Kymi, it is known for its port, industry and maritime festivals.
Sapokka Water Garden
Sapokka Water Garden is built round an inlet of the sea reaching into the city centre. Its construction began in 1990 and took four years to complete. Water is the dominant element of the garden, in a variety of planes, channels and falls. There are also many hundred plant species. Sapokka Water Garden has won more awards than any other green area in Finland – for its environmental and civil engineering, its lighting and its use of rocks.
The linden boulevard
The 800-metre linden boulevard on Kotka’s Keskuskatu is the setting for sculptures.
Sibelius Park
The formal garden in the centre of Kotka acting as a ‘living room’ for the local residents was given a face-lift in 2000.