Apr 25, 2009 - Suomi - Pastries, Seafood, and a Maritime Tradition

Welcome Back - In response to requests I have a few things to say about food - especially pastries and coffee at those little European cafes. Margaret has specifically requested that I do not mention seafood. However, I will. It is my form of rebellion against my daughter. Suomi - Finland - has been very enjoyable, as long as you don't mind the return to winter weather. It's hovered around zero and add to that an icy wind and it hasn't always been comfortable. So, the solution is to find a comfortable table at a nice cafe or coffeehouse...

Mar 3, 2009 - Ice scream for finland...

It's snowing!!!! Not the tiddly snowflakes you see in England. These ones are coming down thick and fast. Better rug up today. Problem 1. It is a pain in the arse to get dressed in Helsinki. Half an hour, 4 layers of tops, 2 pairs of pants and a bucket full of effort later, I am finally ready. Breakfast in Finland is a mixed bag of breads (rye), cereals, sausages and cold meats with tomato and cucumber. Cucumber for breakfast. Bit odd, but since I can eat cucumber at any time of the day I think i'll fit right in. I usually HATE...

Mar 3, 2009 - Last tango in....Helsinki?

When you think of tango you think hot Spanish nights spent outside barrios lit up by fairy lights...right?...Well, think again. Instead snow falls outside while Finnish people inside raise the heat. The national Finnish dance is a different tango to that of the one we are all most accustomed to. A word of warning....do not go to a tango club in Helsinki, unless you are prepared to dance. My first mistake, sitting

Mar 2, 2009 - Hello helsinki!

First impressions of Helsinki...it's bloody cold; but bloody beautiful. I'm lucky enough to have experienced a fair bit of snow before, but i've never been anywhere that has at least 5 inches of snow absolutely everywhere - trees, roads, cars - it's a white city. It's a fairly easy ride from the airport to my hostel. The hardest part is actually pin pointing the hostel as it's tucked neatly behind, funnily enough, a pile of snow. First impressions of Helsinkites (not sure if that's a corrct term)...they're mixed bag of warmth and...

Aug 14, 2008 - Suomenlinna Fortress

DAY 31-33: Helsinki and Suomenlinna We have, despite the constant threat of rain, really enjoyed Finland. It feels very familiar to us, from the streets of downtown Helsinki to the rocks of Suomenlinna Fortress to the familiar landscapes of suburban Helsinki. Sitting now in the Helsinki airport waiting for our flight to Frankfurt, there are Olympics playing on all the TVs and internet access everywhere. As we drove through the burbs to get here it all seemed like home but with different business names! The landscape here seems to be like a...

Aug 13, 2008 - HELSINKI

Day 31 - Helsinki, Finland This morning we got up in good time, ate breakfast at our hostel [yesterday's supermarket food] and headed over to Raekoja Plats. When we got to the square it was filled with markey stalls, and we didn't escape without Laura buying a couple of scarves! We were in search of a travel agency this morning, having decided it would be easy to purchase the tickets for our Ferry to Finland in advance. When we got there however, they told us they could not sell us ferry tickets so close to departure. So with that, we...

Aug 8, 2008 - Helsinki

I took a bus from St Peter to Helsinki - Finland as I was affraid of taking the train and having my things stolen or dealing with drunk russians... The bus was cool. the problem was to leave Russia.. had to show my passport at least 8 times in 4 different places. 2 times to the Russian militars, at customs, ohhh... and after crossing the border, I had to deal with the finish police that tought I wasn't the same person of the passport... can you belive that?! I agree that my photo is really ugly, I did it after a long day at work, and now...

Jul 28, 2008 - Hanko

We checked out of the hostel around 9 am and began our drive to Hanko. It is labeled as “the sunny south of Finland” and we were hoping it would hold up to its name. The road from Helsinki to Hanko was an easy drive, most of the time we were on a highway that allowed either 100 or 120 km per hour. A little over two hours later, we arrived in the seaside village. Hanko was founded in 1874 and it is still small with only 9000 inhabitants. We made it across the town within minutes. We were looking for a place to get lunch, but since it was...

Jul 23, 2008 - Proovo

For some reason we felt very tired by the time we crawled into the tent last night. Maybe it was the rain and the cold weather. We fell asleep praying for a respite from the rain. We hoped that our prayers were answered the next morning when sunshine illuminated one side of the tent. However, we were both worried in getting our hopes too high, for we have been fooled before. Thus we decided to dress as if it was going to rain, with jeans instead of shorts, and get on the road. As we drove, we watched the sky for rain clouds. Suddenly, no...

Jul 22, 2008 - Imatra

Once again, the rain on the tent canvas made it cozy and we slept very well. Slowly we showered and packed up the tent. The sun was shining and large patches of blue dominated the sky. Optimistically we both dressed in hopes of warm weather. For most of the day it worked out well. Unfortunately, by the late afternoon, the rain returned. We began our drive to Imatra. It is the closest city in Finland to the Russian border, thereby making it also an important trade port. As we neared the city, we passed, literally, thousands of brand new...

Dec 28, 2007 - Last day in Finland

While we thought the ferryride over to Tallinn was bad, the one back made us realise that the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea can be particularly unwelcoming. Thankfully JP and I were a little better prepared this time (sea sicknesses tablets and not much in the way of food or drink before hand) so we managed to return unscathed. There were many other passengers and even one staff member who didn't fare so well. As our flight to Shanghai wasn't until the evening we decided to spend the day visiting the other tourist attractions in and...

Dec 23, 2007 - Reindeer dinner

With the typical rush and stress usually involved racing straight from work to the airport we made our flight to Finland for our first taste of the Scandinavian countries. When we arrived it was 8 degrees below 0, the coldest temperature we could ever recall experiencing. Thankfully there was a Christmas market with lots of good finnish dishes and gluhwein (hot red wine) to keep us happy. After getting a feed we made our way to the Smirnoff Ice Bar for some chilly drinks, sadly the floor was a bit slippery so there was no chance to break...