Our border has been closed, travelling has been restricted, we were told to stay at home. I walked almost every day to see sakura (cherry blossoms) in Helsinki. I remember I travelled to other countries to see sakura but this year, situation was pretty difficult. Instead of going abroad to see them, I fully enjoyed sakura in Helsinki.
20 March, Vanha kirkkopuisto 
20 March, Vanha kirkkopuisto
20 March
I walked through Vanha kirkkopuisto（Old church park）and noticed sakura had just started blooming. It’s much earlier that ordinary years. We had warmer winter and I think that’s the reason why sakura started blooming that early in the spring. It surprised me but at the same time, it made me happy! I thought I would come to see the same sakura tree and take pictures every day.
5 April, Vanha Kirkkopuisto 
5 April, Vanha Kirkkopuisto
4 April
Though it wasn’t really “every day”, I visited Vanha Kirkkopuisto almost every day. I saw more flowers were blooming. More flower and blue sky made me happy.
10 April, Vanha Kirkkopuisto 
10 April, Vanha Kirkkopuisto 
10 April, Vanha Kirkkopuisto
10 April
I could see sakura flowers were blooming even at bit far away. And gain, it was a lovely weather. It wasn’t only me who was taking pictures of sakura anymore. (previously, it has been only ME ;-))
17 April, Vanha kirkkopuisto 
17 April, Vanha kirkkopuisto 
17 April, Vanha kirkkopuisto
19 April, Alppipuisto 
19 April, Alppipuisto
19 April
I walked for long distance. For me, one of the two best places to see sakura in Helsinki is Alppipuisto. I walked all the way from Kamppi where I live to the park. There are two different kinds of sakura in Alppipuisto. One is by the pond and more photogenic（left）. It was already blooming a bit. Another kind of sakura trees occupy the bigger area of the park. They hadn’t bloomed yet（right）. I decided to come bak here in one or two weeks.
Meanwhile, sakura at Vanha Kirkkopuisto was blooming more and more.
1 May, Lauttasaari 
1 May, Lauttasaari 
1 May, Lauttasaari
1 May
Again, I walked a lot on the May day. I saw that friends posted sakura next to kiosk in Lauttassari in Social Media. So, I headed to Lauttasaari to see sakura. I had coffee with a friend living in Lauttasaari in the park. I got excited to find more sakura on other locations in the same island unexpectedly.
2 May, Meripuisto 
2 May, Kaivopuisto
2 May
I walked towards Eira. Sakura at Meripuisto hadn’t reached the peak of blooming and I continued to walk to Kaivopuisto where I found shiny yellow flower carpets. It was early morning and there were only a few people in the park. I sat on the bench and enjoyed the beautiful morning for a while.
2 May, Ullanpuisto 
2 May, Ullanpuisto
Further, I walked towardsTähtitorninvuoren puisto and found sakura at Ullanpuisto. I walked thourhg Tähtitorninvuoren puisto to the city center to get home. It was a lovely morning walk!
3 May, Alppipuisto 
3 May, Alppipuisto 
3 May, Alppipuisto 
3 May, Alppipuisto
3 May
I visited Alppipuisto again and this time, sakura was blooming nicely. Having coffee at the bench, a friend and I enjoyed hanami
3 May, Pikkuparlamentin puisto 
3 May, Pikkuparlamentin puisto
On the way back home, I passed the Parliament building and noticed young sakura trees that had been planted quite recently in the park next to the Parliament. They were blooming a little bit.
3 May. Lastenlehdon puisto 
3 May. Lastenlehdon puisto
Sakura flowers in the park which is in front of my apartment started to bloom. I am lucky to be able to see sakura whenever I go out from the apartment.
My sakura walk continued… but I will tell you more about it in the next post. I created sakura map using Google MyMaps. I have seen sakura at some other places as well as those in the map but unfortunately can’t remember the exact location. I have to wait till next year to add more pins.