Back towards the West via Helsinki

After a few very relaxing days spent in Savonia, it was time to head back west, towards Helsinki. We stopped at Lappeenranta for lunch. Dad had been craving for some "muikkus" (vendance) - a Savonian speciality. Well, he ended up having some at a Greek restaurant in Carelia instead ;-). The Greek restaurant was unfortunately the only nice-seeming place that was open in Lappeenranta, as we arrived a bit late. Decent enough food, but not quite up to the high standards we'd had recently in Tampere and Savonlinna.

Our appetites sated, we carried on towards Helsinki. We stopped at Langinoski, near Kotka, as this was one of the first places mum and dad went together to after they met. So the place has emotional resonance for my dad, so to speak. The Langinkoski rapids are an excellent place for fishing salmon, an opinion also held by Tzar Alexander III in the 19th century, so he decided to build an imperial fishing lodge here, which we visited. Quite an impressive little "cabin" I must say - without being over the top either! Quite a nice little place to stop by after a long drive (if you can find it - the signposting is rather poor!)

We arrived in Helsinki quite late, but dinner was called for, as our stomachs were grumbling (well, mine was, anyway!). After some investigations, we decided to continue with our exploration of modern Finnish cuisine by booking a table at Juuri. Juuri specializes in what they call "Sapas" - essentially Finnish tapas. I like the concept, and the food was good - even though Mathilde complained there weren't enough veggie options (maybe more a problem for her than me). Yet another reason for me to re-evaluate my opinion about the Finnish culinary scene - there is definitely something stirring up there in the northern kitchens!

We had one day to spend in Helsinki, so me and Mathilde headed out early-ish in the morning to explore town, walking around as we always do. We started off at Kauppatori, the market square by the harbour, and then headed across Kaivopuisto towards where we were having lunch with my dad - a cafeteria called Carusel, by the seaside (where I had a pretty decent burger). We then made our way towards Atheneum, where we were planning to check out an exhibition. We walked through Kaivopuisto again, checking out the nice embassy buildings located around there (which I'd actually never seen before!)

The exhibition, dedicated to the life of Tove Jansson (the creator of the moomins!), was pretty interested. Seems that she was a pretty versatile artist who tried her hand at a lot of different styles of painting. Still, I reckon the illustrations for her moomin books are her most evocative work...

In the evening, we went to one of my favourite haunts, Kaisla, to grab a few beers with Jonas and Jocke. We had a very nice evening indeed - playing board games!? (they have a pretty nice collection - we tried Ticket to Ride and Carcassone). Good to catch up with Jonas and Jocke as well!

The next day, it was time to head back towards Pargas. We stopped by at Maija's and Aki's place in Sundsberg to meet the latest arrival in the family, Eetu. Robert - Aki's friend from California, whom I met a couple of times, was also there. Great to meet everybody, especially little Eetu!

The next stop was Hanko, which turned out to be a bit of a detour (on the map it seemed to be more or less on the way...), but oh well. We started off with lunch (what else!?) at På kroken (= on the hook), a rather famous fish restaurant. The food was pretty good, but I wouldn't say I was overwhelmed (perhaps the expectations were too high). No complaints about the food - the fish was excellent - but we were a bit put off by the fact that the catch of the day came from Norway!? Maybe I'm becoming too picky at old age...

We then went over to explore Hanko town centre - really nice! Definitely a place to visit again - during the summer of course! I really liked the area by the seaside, with the old villas and the casino. And the nature around there looks very nice, and quite different from the archipelago around Pargas. Our visit was way too quick, unfortunately, but time was pressing...