Lighting the Christmas Tree

Sunday turned out to be an incredibly bright sunny day. The blue skies were welcome after many days of November gloom. Walking home from church we noticed that with the clear sky had come much lower temperatures. Of course, I was wearing a skirt but I had on tights. I was actually cold on my back and arms. By the time we reached Senate Square which is only a few blocks from our apartment, we had decided that we would not be back to see the lights lit on the huge tree at 3 pm.



The tree is covered with small colored lights which are not very noticable in the day time. Hakaniemi Square has a huge tree as well.

Photo: Katja PantzarHelsinki's Harrods: Stockmann is at the foot of Aleksanterinkatu, the city’s official Christmas street.
Helsinki is a city that truly celebrates Christmas. The lead up to the big day starts in late November, when Santa Claus opens the Finnish capital’s official “Christmas Street” on Aleksanterinkatu (one of Helsinki’s main thoroughfares), famous for its Christmas lighting display. Crowds of children of all ages line the street’s sidewalks to catch a glimpse of jolly Saint Nick, who is a celebrity in his own right here – which is not surprising, for as all Finns know, the real Santa Claus comes from Lapland in northern Finland.

Muumi was one of the celebrities who appeared while we were there. He was accompanied by a "little" girl in a red dress. She did all of the talking. Listen here to Muumi Techno.

The first book about Muumi was published in 1945. He remains Finland's best known cartoon character. His creator was Tove Jansson.