To Stockholm by Sea

June 28, 2015May 29, 2016 / Mel_inHelsinki / 18 Comments

One of the best things about living in Helsinki is its proximity to the rest of Europe. While Finns say they feel fairly remote, for those of us facing a 26-hour flight home, anything less is a breeze.

ts_ship_silja serenade © marko stampehl (15)

Photo: Marko Stampehl/AS Tallink Grupp

During the summer months you also have the option of visiting neighbouring countries by boat. By boat, I mean passenger ferries, built to accommodate you and 3000 of your favourite strangers.

With my parents visiting we decided to do the ferry trip to Stockholm, which we’ve been told, pretty much makes us Finnish. We travelled on the Silja Serenade and were welcomed on board by Moomin, musicians and circus performers. The big promenade down the centre of the boat makes orientation really easy.

As well as bars and restaurants, there’s a big play area for children. I sat in there for two hours while Miko played and recommend taking a book, as you need to stay in the area but not really watch your child the whole time. (Magazines in Finnish are provided).

To travel, you pay one ticket price, that covers the fare and accommodation for all those sleeping in your cabin. A cabin with a window costs more, but with the Nordic summer sun visible for nearly 24 hours these days, you may not miss having one.

One of the best things about the trip, that I hadn’t anticipated, was the beautiful views as we drew nearer to Stockholm.

We had a bird’s eye view of the archipelago as we cruised slowly by, fascinated by the remotely set houses and saunas.

Stockholm is a city set over 14 islands, connected by bridges. Once docked, we headed into Gamla Stan (Old Town), via bus.

We passed by beautiful parks full of beautiful Swedish people, before reaching the Royal Palace.

Gamla Stan is full of little streets to lose yourself in, with stores selling books, shoes, waffles and ice cream.

We use the Foursquare app for recommendations on where to eat and were not disappointed with the lunch we had at Under Kastanjen.

After an ice cream in the sun, we headed to the Nobel Museum, leaving Mum & Dad to tour through while we had a drink and people-watched in the Old Town Square.

Later, on board the boat, we got a window seat and enjoyed drinks and the view, which once again was absolutely captivating. By the time we arrived back in Helsinki the next morning we agreed – we all had a case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Good to know:

Silja Line ferries dock a bit further out of town. Allow 20-30 mins for the bus into town, which is very easy to catch.
The currency of Sweden is the krona (SEK)
If you are a Club One member, take your card on board as you can earn points and get discounts
The duty free stores onboard have better prices than the cafes for things like chocolate
There are also big savings on Finnish souvenirs, like Moomin mugs (19€ on land, 13€ at sea)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

June 21, 2015June 21, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 6 Comments

Midsummer ( Juhannus ) is one of the biggest events on the Finnish calendar and is celebrated on the Saturday after June 19. With the biggest events happening on Midsummer’s Eve, we set off to the island of Seurasaari for some traditional Finnish celebrations.

We’ve had a lot of rain this week, but the sun was out and the island is looking beautiful, covered in wildflowers and green.

We love how the landscape here is left untamed and unshaped over summer, just left free to do its own thing.

There was quite an extensive program on, with traditional crafts, singing, storytellers and puppet shows set up around the island.

At one place you could make your own head wreath, choosing flowers from baskets of wildflowers.

We stopped for a while in a clearing and the boys had turns on stilts while I went for a ride on a horse-drawn cart.

Next we went down to the main events area and had our picnic dinner and wine. There was a flag procession and singing and Jonathan got drawn into dancing a Finnish folk dance, much to his discomfort and our immense delight.

We soon followed Jonathan and his band of merry dancers down to the beach for the lighting of the first of the bonfires.

Midsummer bonfires are called kokko, which is also the name of a mythical bird of iron and fire from Finnish folklore, similar to a phoenix.

Despite the appearance that the sun was still rising in the sky, it was soon time for us to head off and get Miko to bed.

For those who stayed there was music and dancing until 1 am and more bonfires lit beneath the midnight sun.

Seurasaari is an open air museum and home to examples of Finnish architecture from across the ages and country. My parents are visiting from New Zealand and enjoyed checking out the different buildings on our way back to the bus.

You can tell by our clothing that it wasn’t a particularly warm night on Friday, with the temperature hitting a high of just 14 degrees. That was 14 degrees warmer than last year however, so in comparison it really was a Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Save it for a rainy day

June 14, 2015June 14, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 4 Comments

Sorry Helsinki – I seem to have made it rain. My parents are visiting and asked yesterday if it rains very often here. I laughed and said ‘No! Hardly at all,’ and it hasn’t stopped raining since. Luckily Helsinki is not only set up for outdoor fun but inside adventures too.

There are a few indoor playgrounds in the city but the one we’ve been to the most is Snadi Stadi. Based five floors underground in the suburb of Ruoholahti, it boasts 3000 square metres of games and activities for children.

There’s an area for children under 3 and the rest of the place is for kids of all ages to basically go nuts.

We first went with Miko’s paternal grandmother who kept accidentally beating him very convincingly at air hockey, no matter how hard she tried to lose.

As well as arcade games and floor hockey, there’s also a big bike path that runs around the centre of the arena. Some of the bikes have room for two kids, which is great for the little ones who want to hitch a ride.

Miko’s favourite thing is the skate ramp which has scooters and skateboards and basketballs to shoot hoops.

There are also these crazy horses that you ride by pushing down on the stirrups with your feet, which propels them around the room.

There’s even a place for children’s hair cuts, complete with distractions for the wriggliest child.

To be honest the worst thing about Snadi Stadi is that it’s a bit boring for adults as your child will just run off and play for four hours and leave you sitting to the side. Take a friend or take a book and take some money for coffee (although your first is free with entry).

Perhaps my favourite thing about the place is this crazy picture near the ball pit of a child, dressed as a bear, walking an inflatable whale on a lead.

Hopefully we won’t be seeing too much of it over the next few months as I have realised the power of my words and their direct impact on meteorological events….*

Snadi Stadi – summer tickets are now 32€, which will get you entry throughout June & July

* I don’t actually believe I made it rain **

** well, maybe a little bit

A great new way to see old things

June 4, 2015June 5, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 6 Comments

I went to Taidehalli (art gallery) for the first time recently. Yes, I had heard their cafe was housed in my favourite restaurant Farang, but I am interested in other things too, like you know, art.

I had a nice time looking around but was a bit rushed to ensure I had enough time left to visit the gift shop before I had to pick up Miko.

I was a bit puffed as I left, but happy that I’d managed some shop time as well as seeing everything on exhibition, leaving me feeling I had achieved value for money from the price of the entry fee.

Many of Helsinki’s museums have a day a month where entry is free. It’s such a good offer and yet when I took Miko along yesterday with his grandparents to the Natural History Museum, it turns out lots of other people think so too. It was super busy.

Which is why the new Museum Card ( museokortti ) launched by the Finnish Museums Association is such a great idea. For €54 you get entry into nearly 200 museums in Finland for an entire year, meaning you can pop into your favourites again and again without feeling you should stay all day.

I’m not sure I’ll get to all 200 this year but there are loads I’d like to visit and I’m grateful to have been given a Museum Card to see as many as I can. Which ironically will allow me to turn my free time into more time by spending less time on each visit – while still having time to visit each museum’s gift shop and cafe.

Special thanks to The Finnish Museums Association for my museokortti and also to regular reader Urmas who leaves great comments and brought the Museum Card to my attention in the first place.

Museum Card (Finnish) – You can buy your museokortti here or at participating museums. Use the details on your temporary card to register online and a plastic card with your name on it will be sent to your address. Registration of your card happens from your first visit, not just when you buy online, and is valid for 12 months. It would make a great gift for someone, including those who visit Finland regularly.

Taidehalli