Springtime in Helsinki

Since I've recently changed jobs, I've had fewer excuses for going to my dear homeland, Finland. May being the blessed month of public holidays in France (no less than four to take), I decided to take the opportunity to head back to Helsinki for a few days. Not bad timing either, as the weather was surprisingly good for this time of the year.

I arrived Tuesday night, quite happy to have my parents pick me up at the airport. I started off Wednesday by meeting up with Jose and Ulla. Jose was part of my "Virtual team" in Ulm in my previous job, and we had quite a few beers together over the months we worked together (and more than a few last time we met, when we went to Octoberfest!). Great to see him and Ulla again (over a beer naturally!), as well as the new family member, Matilda.

I then headed out to explore Helsinki - quite lovely this time of the year. At Kiasma (the museum of modern art), I was treated to a rather odd spectacle - a horde of rather drunken football fans from the Åland Islands visiting the capital, no doubt to play against the local team, HJK. After some joyful singing, they marched on towards the football stadium. Quite an entertaining and unexpected sight, I must say!

I followed the crazy football fans for a bit, since my plan was to walk around Töölö Bay. It's a very nice walk, taking in some of the most famous works of modern architecture (the Finlandia House, the Opera, Kiasma) as well as some nice traditional wooden mansions. I popped into the winter garden as well. The way back to my parents flat took in some other classic Helsinki sights as well, such as the Senate square. All in all, pretty much the perfect way to spend a sunny spring afternoon in Helsinki!

In the evening, I met up with Jocke for a few beers, and some ice hockey! The world championships were actually taking place in Finland (OK, and Sweden, also...) this year. After a good first period, we lost against USA unfortunately...

The next day, the plan was to meet up with a bunch of friends and relatives at Mei Lin, a Chinese restaurant. An odd choice, one might think - my brother chose the place based on a recommendation from Yang, my cousin Rasse's wife, who also came along. And what an excellent choice it was - I have to admit I was extremely surprised to find such authentic Chinese food in Finland! (well, I've never been to China, but I have been to a fair few bad Chinese restaurants...). A side effect of this was that the food was extremely hot (as in containing loads of chilly). Anyhow, I very much enjoyed my meal (I shared a hot pot with Janne and Katja).

Great to catch up with everybody as well - I was sharing a table with Janne, Katja as well as Jani, who came along with his new partner, Sari (and announced the happy news - he will be a dad!). And last but not least, Riku and Tarita as with their young daughter. And at the other table, mum and dad, Rasse and Yang, and my cousin Maikki, Jarkko and their children. All in all, a very nice meal. Afterwards, some of us headed out to town for more catching up over a few beers. 

On Friday, my plan was to meet up with my good friend Aki for lunch in Hakaniemen Tori (since he unfortunately couldn't make it to the meal the day before). Being in a sporty mood, I decided to walk all the way there, and snap a few shots of Katajanokka, Kruunuhaka and Kallio while I was at it. Pretty nice parts of Helsinki for an aspiring photographer like me (I especially like the urban grit of Kallio). We had a nice lunch at Aki's lunch cafeteria, great to catch up with him as well.

After a walk back to my parents flat, it was time to pack my back as we had a boat to Tallinn to catch!