Barely had we had time to settle back to life on the Cote d’Azur, before it was time to hit the road again. My destination was Finland, whilst Mathilde headed to Angers to visit her dad.
This time I flew with Air Baltic, via Riga. Everything went well on that front, in spite of some slight delays, and I arrived in Helsinki-Vantaa airport safe and sound(?). The plan was then to take the bus for Turku, which is near my parents’ summer house. Unfortunately I forgot the fact that you actually need to take the bus to Helsinki and then change buses on the way – so I ended up waiting for the bus 1 ½ hours in the end (and also once again came to the realisation that the Finnish summer ain’t quite the same as the Cote d’Azur one, at least in August – long trousers might’ve been a good idea…). But anyway, I did eventually make it to Kaarina, from where my parents picked me up.
As always, the schedule was rather busy (so many people to see…). Friday kicked off with my grandma’s birthday (her 94th !), which was celebrated at her elderly home by friends and relatives. And quite a large number of people managed to make it actually, although it has to be said I was quite a bit under the average age (fortunately Janne and Katja came along later to compensate a bit…). After the birthday festivities I headed off with the other youngsters to Turku to grab a few beers with Rasmus (my cousin), Jocke and a few others. Things kicked off in Hamburger Börs, followed By Koulu (one of my favourite bars in Turku – the building used to be a school , and the home-brewed beers are named thereafter). And things finished off with a burger at the snägäri (kind of like a snack bar, plays the same post-pub role as the kebab shop in the UK).
On Saturday my mum had prepared a kräftis for us (that’s Swedish for crayfish party). But before that, we had the opportunity to experience boundbirs’n – which is kind of like “village fare” in the local Swedish dialect. So it’s basically an opportunity to buy the local produce, check out the local animals (we saw an animal which strongly resembled a Llama – which as far as I’m aware is not a traditional animal in the Finnish countryside…), and eat a bit of good n’ healthy country fare. The climax of the festivities was the tractor pulling. Yep, you heard it right. Basically the local farmers turn up with their more or less top-of-the-range tractors, and then have to pull a digging machine. It was rather amusing, actually, especially the “slightly” tongue-in-cheek commentary (“here comes Penkku with his 65hp Valmet S65 tractor – the way the engine growls, I’m sure he’s done a bit of last minute mods…”, or “and there goes Timppa, my god, it’s amazing his hat stays on...”).
The kräftis was a good laugh, as it always is. Basically a kräftis (short for kräftskiva) involves eating large amount of crayfish, whilst drinking even larger amounts of vodka whilst singing drinking songs. If you really want to do it full-on, you should even wear a suit and a tie (I don’t – just gets messy…). The whole family was there, including my nieces Julia and Sofia (who, I'm sure, enjoyed all the trendy drinking songs...). Anyway, a few dozen crayfish and a couple of bottles of snaps later, we were ready for the sauna (and the “refreshing” 15-degrees swimming pool).
Sunday was for resting, definitely… But we did finally get our act together in the afternoon, and headed to Turku, for a rather late lunch on Cindy, one of the boats moored on the Aura river… The food was good, and the views were nice – and the sun even crept out from behind the clouds! After the meal we had a walk around Ruissalo, which is a picturesque island just next to Turku (most famous for one of the main Finnish rock festivals, Ruisrock). After frolicking in the nature for a bit, my parents dropped me off at a park, where I was supposed to join Rasmus and the other lads for a bit of footie. Unfortunately the game was cancelled due to lack of participants, so I went to the cinema instead.
Monday was another day of chilling out, although I am quite proud of my 16 kilometre’s jogging session. And I reckoned I could’ve run quite a few more, even… Apart from that, we didn’t do much else… (I was too nackered to do anything much, anyway!).
On Tuesday it was time to jump on the bus and head back to Helsinki. I arrived in the afternoon, and had time to walk around for a bit, and even catch another movie, before meeting up with Jani and Jocke for a couple of pints. We started off with a pint in the Texas beer garden (some might say that was a bit optimistic thinking again, given the “Finnish summer weather” – but hey, when it’s summer it’s summer, right?). We then followed up with a pretty decent meal of Chinese (the quality and quantity of ethnic restaurants has definitely increased by quite a bit in Helsinki over recent years…), and another couple of pints at Hemingway’s (where Jani treated us to stories of his 12 months in the EU forces).
I had ambitious plans for my last day in Helsinki – I had decided to visit a museum, for once. But I started things off with a run around Töölönlahti, which was pretty pleasant. I had actually never been all around, and quite enjoyed checking out the old wooden mansions that dot the shoreline. There is one positive thing about the underwhelming temperatures – it makes running a lot more pleasant experience than in the South of France… After the run and a quick lunch, I headed to Kiasma for the museum visit I had promised myself I would make. Kiasma is modern art museum. They are not normally my favourite kind (to me a lot of modern art seems suspiciously like the work of drunkards or children – I suppose I just don’t understand it…).
Well, Kiasma didn’t really change my opinion about modern art, a lot of it seemed a bit pointless and, well, arty-farty to me. But there were a few pretty interesting works there, so I reckon it was just about worth the 9 euro entry fee... After yet one cinema session, it was time to go the pub again. A rather quite session this time, with Janne, Katja and Riku in Mr. Pickwick opposite to the railway station.
Well, it was a nice week, all in all, in spite of the somewhat dodgy weather. And I guess you could say I rediscovered Helsinki in a way – it’s a very pleasant city to stroll around in, check out a museum, have a drink, have a dinner, have a coffee, whatever. And it’s definitely a much more international place than it used to be – which is a great thing. I mean, a few years ago, you hardly saw any tourists – now you even see tourist groups!
More photos here.
This time I flew with Air Baltic, via Riga. Everything went well on that front, in spite of some slight delays, and I arrived in Helsinki-Vantaa airport safe and sound(?). The plan was then to take the bus for Turku, which is near my parents’ summer house. Unfortunately I forgot the fact that you actually need to take the bus to Helsinki and then change buses on the way – so I ended up waiting for the bus 1 ½ hours in the end (and also once again came to the realisation that the Finnish summer ain’t quite the same as the Cote d’Azur one, at least in August – long trousers might’ve been a good idea…). But anyway, I did eventually make it to Kaarina, from where my parents picked me up.
As always, the schedule was rather busy (so many people to see…). Friday kicked off with my grandma’s birthday (her 94th !), which was celebrated at her elderly home by friends and relatives. And quite a large number of people managed to make it actually, although it has to be said I was quite a bit under the average age (fortunately Janne and Katja came along later to compensate a bit…). After the birthday festivities I headed off with the other youngsters to Turku to grab a few beers with Rasmus (my cousin), Jocke and a few others. Things kicked off in Hamburger Börs, followed By Koulu (one of my favourite bars in Turku – the building used to be a school , and the home-brewed beers are named thereafter). And things finished off with a burger at the snägäri (kind of like a snack bar, plays the same post-pub role as the kebab shop in the UK). 
On Saturday my mum had prepared a kräftis for us (that’s Swedish for crayfish party). But before that, we had the opportunity to experience boundbirs’n – which is kind of like “village fare” in the local Swedish dialect. So it’s basically an opportunity to buy the local produce, check out the local animals (we saw an animal which strongly resembled a Llama – which as far as I’m aware is not a traditional animal in the Finnish countryside…), and eat a bit of good n’ healthy country fare. The climax of the festivities was the tractor pulling. Yep, you heard it right. Basically the local farmers turn up with their more or less top-of-the-range tractors, and then have to pull a digging machine. It was rather amusing, actually, especially the “slightly” tongue-in-cheek commentary (“here comes Penkku with his 65hp Valmet S65 tractor – the way the engine growls, I’m sure he’s done a bit of last minute mods…”, or “and there goes Timppa, my god, it’s amazing his hat stays on...”). 
The kräftis was a good laugh, as it always is. Basically a kräftis (short for kräftskiva) involves eating large amount of crayfish, whilst drinking even larger amounts of vodka whilst singing drinking songs. If you really want to do it full-on, you should even wear a suit and a tie (I don’t – just gets messy…). The whole family was there, including my nieces Julia and Sofia (who, I'm sure, enjoyed all the trendy drinking songs...). Anyway, a few dozen crayfish and a couple of bottles of snaps later, we were ready for the sauna (and the “refreshing” 15-degrees swimming pool). 
Sunday was for resting, definitely… But we did finally get our act together in the afternoon, and headed to Turku, for a rather late lunch on Cindy, one of the boats moored on the Aura river… The food was good, and the views were nice – and the sun even crept out from behind the clouds! After the meal we had a walk around Ruissalo, which is a picturesque island just next to Turku (most famous for one of the main Finnish rock festivals, Ruisrock). After frolicking in the nature for a bit, my parents dropped me off at a park, where I was supposed to join Rasmus and the other lads for a bit of footie. Unfortunately the game was cancelled due to lack of participants, so I went to the cinema instead.Monday was another day of chilling out, although I am quite proud of my 16 kilometre’s jogging session. And I reckoned I could’ve run quite a few more, even… Apart from that, we didn’t do much else… (I was too nackered to do anything much, anyway!).
On Tuesday it was time to jump on the bus and head back to Helsinki. I arrived in the afternoon, and had time to walk around for a bit, and even catch another movie, before meeting up with Jani and Jocke for a couple of pints. We started off with a pint in the Texas beer garden (some might say that was a bit optimistic thinking again, given the “Finnish summer weather” – but hey, when it’s summer it’s summer, right?). We then followed up with a pretty decent meal of Chinese (the quality and quantity of ethnic restaurants has definitely increased by quite a bit in Helsinki over recent years…), and another couple of pints at Hemingway’s (where Jani treated us to stories of his 12 months in the EU forces).
I had ambitious plans for my last day in Helsinki – I had decided to visit a museum, for once. But I started things off with a run around Töölönlahti, which was pretty pleasant. I had actually never been all around, and quite enjoyed checking out the old wooden mansions that dot the shoreline. There is one positive thing about the underwhelming temperatures – it makes running a lot more pleasant experience than in the South of France… After the run and a quick lunch, I headed to Kiasma for the museum visit I had promised myself I would make. Kiasma is modern art museum. They are not normally my favourite kind (to me a lot of modern art seems suspiciously like the work of drunkards or children – I suppose I just don’t understand it…). Well, Kiasma didn’t really change my opinion about modern art, a lot of it seemed a bit pointless and, well, arty-farty to me. But there were a few pretty interesting works there, so I reckon it was just about worth the 9 euro entry fee... After yet one cinema session, it was time to go the pub again. A rather quite session this time, with Janne, Katja and Riku in Mr. Pickwick opposite to the railway station.
Well, it was a nice week, all in all, in spite of the somewhat dodgy weather. And I guess you could say I rediscovered Helsinki in a way – it’s a very pleasant city to stroll around in, check out a museum, have a drink, have a dinner, have a coffee, whatever. And it’s definitely a much more international place than it used to be – which is a great thing. I mean, a few years ago, you hardly saw any tourists – now you even see tourist groups!
More photos here.
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