The next leg of our journey took us across the Baltic sea, from Rostock to Helsinki, by ferry. This option gave us the best compromise between time/money/comfort (except maybe for the comfort bit – since we decided not to take a cabin – it was expensive enough as it was without it!). The voyage, which lasted about 24 hours (but the early morning departure time meant we had to spend 2 nights on the ferry, in practice), sort of brought back memories from my youth of wild nights spent on the ferries to between Finland and Sweden. Except the clientele for this ferry is obviously not the same – the bar closed at 11 I think. All in all, apart from the lack of sleep, it was quite relaxing, especially since the sun was shining all the way...
We arrived in Helsinki on Thursday morning, bright ‘n early. The first stop was obviously my parents flat in Fredrikinkatu, where we deposed our luggage, before setting off to do a bit of shopping and socialising. Our first rendez-vous was with my good friend Jocke, with whom we had lunch with at a Chinese restaurant my parents had recommended. Nice to catch up with him – we were most impressed to hear about his latest investment (a Rolls Royce!). After a bit of more shopping, I sped off for my next meeting, with Jani, in one of our old haunts in Helsinki, Kaisla, for a couple of pints of nice Czech pils. He was off to Sweden for one of his “old army buddies drinking weekends”.
From Kaisla we sped on drop off our shopping bags at my parents place, and then ran down to Torni, where we were supposed to meet my parents and Aki for another drink. The Torni bar, which is located on the top floor of the hotel, is I suppose the place in Helsinki where you can enjoy the best view over the city whilst enjoying your drink. After the drink we headed down to Pizzeria Dennis (where, as everybody knows, the best pizza in Finland is served), where we were joined by Aki’s better half Maija. The occasion was a grand one since not only had I ever met Maija before, but also Aki and Maija had just gotten engaged! After a pleasant evening of wining, dining and chatting, it was time to head back home to catch some sleep. Quite exhausting, all this socializing!
We had a long drive all the way to Kitee in eastern Finland ahead of us on Friday (where we were attending my cousin Eeva’s wedding on Saturday), so we decided to set off early-ish. We decided to make a detour to the “Finnish design outlet complex” at Arabia, to continue our wedding present hunt. The usual suspects; Marimekko, Iittala, Pentik and Arabia etc. were well represented. Unfortunately the prices were nearly as shocking as downtown Helsinki (I do like Finnish design – but paying 20 euros for a plate is still asking for a bit much, if you ask me. I guess I’ve been “Ikeanized”).
So we carried on, empty handed. Our next stop was Lappeenranta, which was conveniently kind of half-way on the way to Kitee. It’s a nice enough place, with a couple of wooden houses preserved. The top draw is the military fortress in the harbour. It was interesting enough, but if Finnish military fortresses is your cup of tea (for some odd reason), I would recommend Suomenlinna, rather. A salmiakki ice cream later, it was time to hit the road again.
We arrived in Kitee by early evening, and settled into our room; we were staying at the polytechnic where Eeva is working. Having settled in, we decided to go restaurant-hunting downtown with Janne and Katja. Unfortunately, the choices were rather limited. There was a pizzeria-kebab place and Ravintola Karhu (which, not atypically for my country, seemed to be more oriented for drinking beer than having dinner). So we decided to go shopping and cook ourselves instead. Having wined and dined, and welcomed the rest of the Turtiainen clan, we hit the beds quite early, so as to be ready for the big day.
After a rather early breakfast, and a sauna & swimming pool session (of course!), we decided to explore Kitee for a bit. Unfortunately there wasn’t that much to see – Kitee is one of those typical Finnish towns which has been almost completely reconstructed after the Second World War – with predictable end results when it comes to aesthetics. Unfortunately the Kitee museum was also closed (where we no doubt could’ve learnt about “Kiteen Kirkas” – which is the local moonshine Kitee is famous for). So, we soon came to the conclusion that there isn’t much to do in Kitee. We then met up with the clan for an ABC lunch (welcome to Finland!).
And then it was time for Eeva’s and Henkka’s big event. Things kicked off with the usual ceremony in a nice old church (the priest was a bit more “suited for the job” than the one at Eeva’s sister's wedding - he was actually also Eeva's Ph.D project supervisor), after which we moved on to the main party venue. Once again, the place was great; an old wooden country house by a lake - just right for a Finnish summer wedding. All in all, it was a really great party, with good food, fun and games, and great weather. Everything was just perfect. And the proceedings were remarkably civilised for a Finnish wedding (this is the third Finnish weddings in a row now without any alcohol-inspired outbreaks taking place – what’s happening to my country??).
Great catching up with the relatives as well, like Ulla, Maikki (and little Aapo of course who was decidedly more mobile than last time), Mikko (with cute kids) and Jukkis (who entertained us with his crayfish business stories...). The night culminated in a very Finnish way – with a post-party sauna. There’s just nothing quite like it; having a good “löyly” in the sauna after all that merry-making, followed by a swim in a moonlight-bathed lake. So all in all, thanks to Eeva and Henkka for a memorable night! And of course to poor Jukkis, who was delegated to the role of “taxi driver” again…
We arrived in Helsinki on Thursday morning, bright ‘n early. The first stop was obviously my parents flat in Fredrikinkatu, where we deposed our luggage, before setting off to do a bit of shopping and socialising. Our first rendez-vous was with my good friend Jocke, with whom we had lunch with at a Chinese restaurant my parents had recommended. Nice to catch up with him – we were most impressed to hear about his latest investment (a Rolls Royce!). After a bit of more shopping, I sped off for my next meeting, with Jani, in one of our old haunts in Helsinki, Kaisla, for a couple of pints of nice Czech pils. He was off to Sweden for one of his “old army buddies drinking weekends”.
From Kaisla we sped on drop off our shopping bags at my parents place, and then ran down to Torni, where we were supposed to meet my parents and Aki for another drink. The Torni bar, which is located on the top floor of the hotel, is I suppose the place in Helsinki where you can enjoy the best view over the city whilst enjoying your drink. After the drink we headed down to Pizzeria Dennis (where, as everybody knows, the best pizza in Finland is served), where we were joined by Aki’s better half Maija. The occasion was a grand one since not only had I ever met Maija before, but also Aki and Maija had just gotten engaged! After a pleasant evening of wining, dining and chatting, it was time to head back home to catch some sleep. Quite exhausting, all this socializing! We had a long drive all the way to Kitee in eastern Finland ahead of us on Friday (where we were attending my cousin Eeva’s wedding on Saturday), so we decided to set off early-ish. We decided to make a detour to the “Finnish design outlet complex” at Arabia, to continue our wedding present hunt. The usual suspects; Marimekko, Iittala, Pentik and Arabia etc. were well represented. Unfortunately the prices were nearly as shocking as downtown Helsinki (I do like Finnish design – but paying 20 euros for a plate is still asking for a bit much, if you ask me. I guess I’ve been “Ikeanized”).
So we carried on, empty handed. Our next stop was Lappeenranta, which was conveniently kind of half-way on the way to Kitee. It’s a nice enough place, with a couple of wooden houses preserved. The top draw is the military fortress in the harbour. It was interesting enough, but if Finnish military fortresses is your cup of tea (for some odd reason), I would recommend Suomenlinna, rather. A salmiakki ice cream later, it was time to hit the road again.We arrived in Kitee by early evening, and settled into our room; we were staying at the polytechnic where Eeva is working. Having settled in, we decided to go restaurant-hunting downtown with Janne and Katja. Unfortunately, the choices were rather limited. There was a pizzeria-kebab place and Ravintola Karhu (which, not atypically for my country, seemed to be more oriented for drinking beer than having dinner). So we decided to go shopping and cook ourselves instead. Having wined and dined, and welcomed the rest of the Turtiainen clan, we hit the beds quite early, so as to be ready for the big day.
After a rather early breakfast, and a sauna & swimming pool session (of course!), we decided to explore Kitee for a bit. Unfortunately there wasn’t that much to see – Kitee is one of those typical Finnish towns which has been almost completely reconstructed after the Second World War – with predictable end results when it comes to aesthetics. Unfortunately the Kitee museum was also closed (where we no doubt could’ve learnt about “Kiteen Kirkas” – which is the local moonshine Kitee is famous for). So, we soon came to the conclusion that there isn’t much to do in Kitee. We then met up with the clan for an ABC lunch (welcome to Finland!).
And then it was time for Eeva’s and Henkka’s big event. Things kicked off with the usual ceremony in a nice old church (the priest was a bit more “suited for the job” than the one at Eeva’s sister's wedding - he was actually also Eeva's Ph.D project supervisor), after which we moved on to the main party venue. Once again, the place was great; an old wooden country house by a lake - just right for a Finnish summer wedding. All in all, it was a really great party, with good food, fun and games, and great weather. Everything was just perfect. And the proceedings were remarkably civilised for a Finnish wedding (this is the third Finnish weddings in a row now without any alcohol-inspired outbreaks taking place – what’s happening to my country??).
Great catching up with the relatives as well, like Ulla, Maikki (and little Aapo of course who was decidedly more mobile than last time), Mikko (with cute kids) and Jukkis (who entertained us with his crayfish business stories...). The night culminated in a very Finnish way – with a post-party sauna. There’s just nothing quite like it; having a good “löyly” in the sauna after all that merry-making, followed by a swim in a moonlight-bathed lake. So all in all, thanks to Eeva and Henkka for a memorable night! And of course to poor Jukkis, who was delegated to the role of “taxi driver” again…
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