Helsinki – People Make the City

May 29, 2016May 29, 2016 / Mel_inHelsinki / 12 Comments

As many of you know, I have been working on a side project for the past year with local photographer Laura Iisalo.

Photo: Viola Vertimo

Our book, Helsinki – People Make the City – was launched early May and is available in stores around the city.

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It’s an insiders’ guide to the city and contains interviews with local creative people, sharing insights into Helsinki and the local way of life.

Helsinki People Make the City_Kirsikka Simberg_photo by Laura Iisalo_LOW RES

Kirsikka Simberg at the Winter Gardens – Photo: Laura Iisalo

I wrote the text and Laura took all the photos. She also did a fantastic job with the concept, creating six sections we are very happy to share with you.

Photo: Viola Vertimo

My Helsinki

We interviewed six creative people about their neighbourhoods and they’ve each shared a ‘Day in the Life’ so that you too can explore each area like a local. Neighbourhoods covered are Punavuori, Kruununhaka, Töölö, Kallio, Vallila and Suomenlinna.

Dorit in Suomenlinna – Photo: Viola Vertimo

Alba and Thomas in Kallio & Vallila – Photo: Viola Vertimo

Kirsikka in Töölö – Photo: Viola Vertimo

Makers

Three lovely women have given tips on creative projects you can try at home. These include making your own wildflower bouquet, how to turn a traditional Finnish heirloom into a magnetic keep-safe and harvesting pine sap from the forest to create natural incense.

Justine harvesting pine sap – Photo: Viola Vertimo

Hennamari foraging for wild flowers – Photo: Viola Vertimo

Keepers

Some of our favourite local shopkeepers share their love of what they do and what’s special about the neighbourhoods they work in.

Kaisa at Pelago Bicycles – Photo: Viola Vertimo

Linda at Ansa – Photo: Viola Vertimo

Taste Helsinki

We ate a lot of cinnamon buns to bring you the best! And some of our favourite local eateries were kind enough to share their recipes so you can replicate their contemporary takes on traditional Finnish fare. This include how to make porridge, rye bread, cinnamon buns, blini, salmon soup, meatballs with lingonberry sauce and a cocktail made with a Nordic twist.

Helsinki People Make the City_Meatballs at KuuKuu_photo by Laura Iisalo_LOW RES

Meatballs at Ravintola KuuKuu – Photo: Laura Iisalo

Photo: Viola Vertimo

Winter Cosiness

Laura and I worked hard to do all our shoots and interviews during summer while the light was good and then realised we also wanted to showcase the best parts of life in Finland during winter. The Swedes have a word for it and so do the Danes (hygge), so we chose the Finnish word kaamos as our description of winter cosiness and give tips on how to create your own warm winter nest.

Photo: Viola Vertimo

Romany and Juha from Aan Tafel created some beautiful Nordic dishes for this and their recipes are included in the book.

Black Book

Finally, we put together a list of our favourite places in the city including sauna, coffee, design and urban nature.

Photo: Viola Vertimo

The book is currently available in Helsinki in Nide Kirjakauppa, Suomalainen Kirjakauppa, Akateeminen, Moko Market and Adlibris.

Weighing 700 grams, it’s a beautiful hardcover book, but shipping overseas can be expensive and it is not yet available to those living outside Finland. If you would consider paying for postage please do let them know at Cozy Publishing, as we’d love to be able to share the beauty of Helsinki beyond Finnish shores.

Photo: Viola Vertimo

Helsinki – People Make the City

Concept & Photos: Laura Iisalo

Words: Melanie Dower

Layout: Viola Vertimo

www.peoplemakethecity.com

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101 reasons to visit Helsinki

November 7, 2015November 8, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 8 Comments

There is a pub tram
Helsinki’s pub tram
Visit Estonia & be home for dinner
Tallinn, Estonia
Loads of personal space
Helsinki Metro
These changing sheds
Pihlajasaari
Mushroom season
Market Square
Pop over to Russia
St Petersburg
Inspiring interiors
Helsingin Yliopisto Kirjasto (Helsinki University Library)
Reindeer pate
Vanhakauppahalli (Old Market Hall)
A new kind of hopscotch
Lauttasaari bridge
Forest sauna
Pihlajasaari
Beautiful tramways
Kallio
Really old festivals
Baltic Herring Festival – 270 years old
Rum bars
Navy Jerry’s
Exotic creatures
Sea Life
Picnics in summer
Kaivopuisto
Historical spaces
1952 Olympic’s Swimming Stadium
Growing cafe scene
Kahvipaatimo
Art nouveau suburbs
Katajanokka
Island pizza bars
Skiffer
Beautiful sculptures
Onni by Rafael Saifulin
Summer cabins in winter
Lauttasaari
Blini
Pelmenit
Nude public swimming
Yrjönkatu Uimahalli
Foggy nights
Posti
Galleries for children
Annantalo
Design pilgrimage
Alvar Alto House
Coffee and doughnuts are pretty much staple
Kahvi ja munkki
Oases of Silence
Kamppi Chapel of Silence
Tropical landscapes
Kaisaniemi Botanic Gardens
Sand sculptures just two hours east
Lappeenranta annual sand sculpture event
Frozen harbours in winter
Market Square
Midsummer bonfires
Seurasaari
Modern Art
Kiasma
Great public libraries
Rikhardinkatu Kirjasto
Saunas for hire
Pihlajasaari
Fun at the fun park
Linnanmäki Amusement Park
An old island fortress
UNESCO World Heritage Site Suomenlinna
Death penalty themed cocktails
Liberty or Death
Finding local treasures
Hietalahti Market Square
Huge indoor playgrounds
Snadi Stadi
Long summer evenings
Seurasaari midsummer eve
Pop over to Stockholm
Gamla Stan, Stockholm
Find good falafel
Fafa’s
Walk over to islands
Uunisari
Wooden bicycles
Helsinki bicycles
Central Station
Rautatientori
Rye bread sandwiches
Töölönlahti
Neo gothic architecture
Seurasaari
City sunsets
Sunset
Finnish products
Juuri Rye Whiskey
Views from great heights
Torni bar – on the 13th floor
Seaside cafes
Johan & Nyström
Moomin & friends live just two hours west
Moomin World
World class festivals
Flow Festival
These at every cafe
Korvapuusti (cinnamon buns)
Wild flowers in summer
Suomenlinna
Iconic design
Design Museum
Soviet bars
Mokbar
Wild animals
Natural History Museum
Long golden autumn
Lastenlahdenpuisto
An artist village only 2 hours away
Fiskars Village
Dedicated cycle-ways
Baana
A church carved from rock
Temppeliaukio
Summer kiosks
Seahorse kioski
Colourful festivals
Samba Carnival
An island dedicated to sauna and hot tubs
Saunasaari
Days where the city becomes a restaurant
Ravintolapäivä (Restaurant Day)
Moomin at the library
Pasila Kirjasto
Summer cafes
Kahvila Sininen Huvila
Cute locals
Seurasaari
Cavorting seals
Havis Amanda
Danish sandwiches
Dansk Smorrebrod
Wonderful book stores
Arkadia Bookshop
Less than an hour to Latvia
Riga, Latvia
New ways of commuting
Sledding to school
Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia
Thousands of chocolates
Fazer Cafe
Forest walks in the city
Seurasaari
Boat shed cafes
Cafe Regatta
Oases of green
Talvipuutarha (Winter Gardens)
Sauna boats
Sauna boats
Christmas shopping
Stockmann
So many cakes
Vanhakauppahalli (Old Market Hall)
A cafe named Fanny
Cafe Fanny
Loads of antique stores
Fasaani
Sauna cosmetics
Sauna honey body mask
A day trip to Porvoo
Porvoo
Boat cafes
Relandersgrund – open in summer
Streets that are heated
Keskuskatu – Ice free in winter
You can meet Santa
Joulupukki – Seurasaari
Summer time cruises
The archipelago
Blueberry pies
Mustikkapiirakka
Moss graffiti
Suomenlinna
Meat in a can
Bear & elk
Beautiful islands
Pihlajasaari
Fish n’ chips by the water
Cafe Birgitta
Boating canals
Ruoholahti
Finnish cocktails
A21 Cocktails
The porridge truck
Porridge truck
Spring blossoms
Lastenlahdenpuisto
..and it’s not Vegas
View from Cafe IPI

A Weekend of Festivals in Helsinki

May 15, 2015May 21, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 7 Comments

With spring finally making itself felt around the city, Helsinki’s festival season now kicks off. There is so much on tomorrow, the hardest thing will be knowing what to do first.

Ravintolapäivä (Restaurant Day) – the city becomes a food festival as anyone can open a cafe or restaurant for the day. Download the app to plan your route or just head somewhere like Ruttopuisto (Vanha kirkkopuisto) for a great selection of food.

Cafe Tivoli

Cat Video Cafe – and if it rains you can always duck indoors and watch funny videos of cats while you eat cupcakes.

Photo credit: Helsinki Think Company

Teurastamo (The Abbatoir) – this redeveloped area comes alive in the warmer months and tomorrow marks the opening of the summer season. There will be music, seedlings for your garden, events for cyclists and of course, lots of food.

Arabian Street Festival – in Helsinki you can catch a tram to such exotic places as Arabia without leaving the country. Home to artists and other creative people, the Arabia Street Festival will also host 17,000 visitors according to its Facebook page.

Photo credit: arabiahelsinki.fi

Puu-Vallilan Yard Sale – the suburb of Puu-Vallila is unique in Helsinki as it is full of wooden houses. (Puu means tree or wood in Finnish). Wander around the markets and enjoy the neighbourhood, only a short ride from the city centre.

Photo credit: osuma.fi

Whatever you do this weekend, try not to eat too much before you leave home and take some cash with you. Seems it will be a weekend of food, fun and hopefully more sunshine. Hyvää Viikonloppua!

A Quick Guide to Helsinki

May 8, 2015May 8, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 16 Comments

I get lots of emails from people visiting Helsinki, asking what to do while they are here. So here’s a list of ideas to get you started, which I will add to and update. You can also check out my City Guide to Helsinki, which I wrote for Design*Sponge.

Many museums in Helsinki have one day a month where entry is free. Many places also have different opening hours during summer and winter, so always visit the relevant website before you head out.

City walks

Katajanokka – a suburb of beautiful architecture and great coffee

Töölönlahti – frozen in winter and beautiful in summer, this bay has coffee shops dotted around it’s edge. More photos here.

Uunisaari – an island connected by bridge during winter

Lauttasaari – lovely coastal walk and summer cabins

Baana – a converted freight line is now a cycle and walking path

Five things to do on Fredrikinkatu

Five things to do on Korkeavuorenkatu

Places to visit – outdoors

Linnanmäki – amusement park, free entry, open during summer

Korkeasaari – Helsinki’s island zoo, ferry runs only in summer, bus access otherwise

Seurasaari – outdoor museum on an island, bus access

Pihlajasaari – summer island for swimming

Suomenlinna – fortress island and UNESCO World Heritage Site

Places to visit – indoors

Sea Life – great option for a rainy or cold day in Helsinki

Annantalo – arts centre with exhibitions for children with family friendly book cafe

Yrjönkatu Uimahalli – swimming hall with sauna, men & women separate, only open during winter

Natural History Museum – displays of Nordic and other animals over a few floors

Botanical Gardens – beautiful gardens in glasshouses, good option for a rainy day

Cultural

The Rock Church

Chapel of Silence

Lokal – art gallery & cafe

Kiasma – Museum of Contemporary Art

Alvar Aalto House

Markets

Hietalahti Market Square – summer time flea market & antiques

Old Market Hall – Vanhakauppahalli is a great place for lunch

Day Trips

Tips for Visiting in Winter & Getting Around

How to walk on ice without dying

How to walk under ice without dying

How to dress a child for Finnish winter

Using Helsinki’s Metro

Cultural Events

Saint Lucia – December

Christmas Path – December

Vappu – May

Samba Carnival – June

Baltic Herring Festival – October

All Saint’s Day – November

Cleaning Day – a giant yard sale throughout the city, held various times a year

Restaurant Day – a street food carnival where anyone can open a restaurant for the day, held four times a year

Places to eat & drink

Cafe Regatta – traditional Finnish cafe by the water, for coffee and cinnamon buns

Mockbar – Soviet style bar specialising in vodka and bad service

Moko Market & Kaffa Roastery – cafe and homewares, great for buying gifts and very family friendly.

Freese – owned by Finnish barista champion Kalle Freese, check Facebook for opening times as can be closed if busy elsewhere

Good Life Coffee – great coffee and delicious almond croissants

Skiffer – pizza bar on an island, only open during summer months. City venue during winter

Fafa’s – good falafel and vegetarian takeaway

Riga’s Central Market

April 12, 2015April 20, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 11 Comments

A review on Trip Advisor warned that Riga’s Central Market is good but only if you like the same old stuff. Ha! Depends where you come from really, because what’s same old stuff to you, may not be same old stuff to me.

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Housed in what were once Zeppelin hangars, Riga’s Central Market was opened in 1930 and covers 72,000 square metres.

You can smell the first hangar before you even enter. Not in a bad way, but in a bustling, crowded, bouquets of dried fish on the counter kind of way.

We stopped in the walkway to the next hangar to buy a couple of wooden spoons for our kitchen. Local honey and woollen socks were also on offer in this part of the market.

The next hangar was full of sweets. Latvia seems to have a love affair with pastries and, surprisingly, halva, which we found was also included in our breakfast buffet in the city.

Latvian’s are proud of their dairy production and rightly so. We saw beautiful piles of soft cheeses and curds but opted instead for some hard Dutch cheese we could bring home in our luggage.

Then it was through to the produce market. If you love vinegar like I do, then this one’s for you.

Piles of colourful vegetables preserved in oil and vinegar were everywhere, many displayed in huge vases.

Finally we walked past piles of dried goods: pasta, tea, ketchup and rice. Not terribly interesting products in themselves but still worth taking a photo of, because having never seen this packaging before, they are not the same old stuff to me!

Riga Central Market

This post has been shared as part of the Show Your World feature on the Tiny Expats blog – you can find out more here.

Treasures here and there

March 25, 2015March 25, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 9 Comments

At first glance, Finnish antique stores look just like those in New Zealand: goods piled high, customers sorting through, hoping for a lucky find. But there are a few things here that often remind me that I am in Helsinki.

Nordic animals: bears, moose, reindeer, wolves, foxes and salmon. No kiwi pot holders or tuatara sculptures here.

Light shades: it’s customary to take the light shades when you move house in Finland, even when you are renting. It was a surprise to find bare wires hanging from the ceiling when we moved into our place, but that’s just the way it goes. Of course we have light shades in NZ too, but perhaps we don’t have the need to buy them quite so often.

Glassware: there’s always loads of glassware for sale here, especially coloured glass and anything made by Finnish company Iitalla.

Ceramic kitchenware: Likewise you’d be hard pressed to find an antique store here that didn’t have stacks of kitchenware from Finnish company Arabia.

Tea accessories: including Russian tea cups and tea-glass holders, silver teaspoons and ornate samovars. In New Zealand we tend to have more tea accessories hailing from England than Russia, as well as places such as China and Japan.

Dolls: particularly blonde ones in European costume. In New Zealand stores you’d also find, from a different era, brown-skinned dolls in traditional Maori dress.

I went into another antique store recently that specialises in selling tapa cloth and artworks from the South Pacific. The owner told me that these items are highly sought after here, particularly Maori artefacts.

This store reminded me of the warm home of one of my closest friends who always has tapa cloth displayed on her walls.

I know some people may find the selling of cultural artefacts offensive, but on this grey, wet Helsinki day, it was just really nice to see something that brought memories from home.

Meet me at Old Market Hall

February 7, 2015October 31, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 23 Comments

A short walk from Market Square is Helsinki’s old dame of market halls – Vanhakauppahalli.

Built in 1888,Vanhakauppahalli (Old Market Hall) was recently closed for renovations and reopened in June 2014. The building is a cultural heritage site and protected by the National Board of Antiquities.

On a cold winter’s day, with the wind coming in off the Baltic Sea, it’s a relief to get inside those heavy front doors. Inside, a walkway circles the hall, shouldered on either side by cafes, bakeries and fishmongers.

There are also greengrocers selling seasonal produce from Finland and overseas. It’s a great place to go for specialty mushrooms and berries, as well as big suolakurkku (gherkins) you scoop out of an open bucket.

For lunch I usually head straight for Soppakeittiö (Soup Kitchen) where the menu always consists of one meat soup, one vegetarian and their delicious seafood boullabaisse, served with lemon-infused sour cream.

On my most recent visit however I stopped at Story, where the food counter is sure to whet your appetite. I had a cappuccino (equivalent of a NZ flat white) and lohileipa (smoked salmon on bread).

After lunch I walked the circuit, marvelling at the number of things you can do with salmon. In my mind I always hear the southern drawl of Bubba from the movie Forrest Gump (salmon bbq, salmon cocktail, salmon pie…..).

There are other forms of protein on offer for the more adventurous too, like Russian King Crab and Spanish jamon.

As well as traditional Finnish offerings there is also a vegetarian cafe and a stall selling Vietnamese filled-rolls, spring rolls and salads.

And there’s an Alko, the only store in Finland selling wine and spirits. This one is touted as being ‘the world’s smallest Alko’ (which is a little bit like American teams winning the ‘World Series’ in a competition only open to American teams).

There are other Market Halls in Helsinki but this is one of my favourites. If you get a table by the window you can watch the ferry to Suomenlinna making it’s way past the huge cruise ships churning up the frozen sea.

Go with a friend or go on your own – just make sure you go. I’ll be the one making my way from coffee, to soup to dessert and back as I make my way around Old Market Hall.

Vanhakauppahalli – Eteläranta, Helsinki

Ravintola Story

Note: I was approached by Meetings Booker to write about my favourite meeting place in Helsinki. This is not a sponsored post and all thoughts are my own (as was that open salmon sandwich, which I cannot stop thinking about). www.meetingsbooker.com

My City Guide to Helsinki – for Design*Sponge

January 14, 2015 / Mel_inHelsinki / 8 Comments

Many of you will have lived in Helsinki, live there now or are thinking of visiting in the future.

I’ve just put together a City Guide to Helsinki for Design*Sponge – a design blog run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney. According to the website they currently reach over 1 million readers per day – so if your favourite Helsinki cafes are soon full of international visitors – um, sorry about that.

My City Guide to Helsinki for Design*Sponge

I’d love to know any additions you would make to the list. I’ve tried to include some old faithfuls as well as some new favourites.

You can find the guide here: City Guide to Helsinki for Design*Sponge

Helsinki Christmas Markets

December 16, 2014December 18, 2014 / Mel_inHelsinki / 7 Comments

I’ve lost track of time. When I went to buy our Christmas tree yesterday I couldn’t figure out why it was on sale. And then I realised – there’s only one week till Christmas! A common complaint in NZ and Australia is that Christmas merchandise starts appearing in stores around October but I haven’t noticed that so much here, with things really kicking off just this month.

Helsinki Christmas Markets run from 8-21 December and over 100 colourful cabins have been set up in Senate Square. Nerea and I went down on a cool and crisp day to check them out.

One of the hardest things about the Baltic wind right now is having cold ears! The markets have piles of warm woollen mittens, hats and ear warmers to choose from.

You can see this mannequin is also sporting a knitted neck warmer. Plainer versions are really popular for children to stop cold air slipping down their jackets and are easily removed so they are not too hot once indoors.

There’s a range of food on offer – including the ubiquitous smoked salmon, pickled vegetables, pickled herring, berry jams and sauces.

You can also find reindeer pelts and sheepskins to warm up your home – or why not go the whole fox if that’s your thing?

Finnish baking is on offer, such as traditional ginger biscuits (piparkakut) as is glögi, Finnish mulled wine popular at Christmas.

There are also warm Kareljan piiraka and lihakeitto (meat soup) as well as pulled pork rolls and vegan burgers to be found.

If you are in Helsinki I recommend stopping by before the markets close in five days time!

And for anyone feeling even slightly grinchy I have included below what may just be the cheesiest photo I have ever taken.

Nothing wrong with your herring!

October 13, 2014October 13, 2014 / Mel_inHelsinki / 3 Comments

The Baltic Herring Festival is one of Finland’s oldest events and has been running in Market Square since 1743. This year from 5th -11th October the event was held for the 272nd time.

The festival is made up of stalls and boats that are moored close to the steps leading down to the water. Vendors sell their wares directly from the back of their boats and in some cases you can eat lunch onboard.

For sale was herring in an array of marinades and sauces. There were also delicious homemade pickled beetroots and gherkins on offer.

It seems most the vendors had travelled from the Åland Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Finland near Sweden.

The produce all seemed to come straight from the land and included crunchy fresh apples, sea buckthorn berry sauces and jars of honey.

The Åland Islands lie between Finland and Sweden. More than 90% of the population live on Fasta Åland and there are another 6,500 skerries and islands to the east, one of which shares a border with Sweden. In 1921 the League of Nations decided that Finland could retain sovereignty over the Åland Islands but they should be made an autonomous territory. Residents have therefore retained the right to keep using the Swedish language and their culture and local traditions are protected.

For those of us visiting the markets this means the vendors also brought with them the darkest rye bread I’ve ever seen, which is made with malt.

It has an almost sweet, raisiny taste and can be eaten just with butter.

It was a blustery day that we visited the markets, about five degrees and there was a very cold wind coming in off the Baltic Sea.

We eventually had to retreat into Old Market Hall for hot seafood soup and bread.

We ventured out again though after warming up and brought home rye bread, gherkins with chilli and punajuuri (beetroot) for dinner.

For me, herring is an acquired taste but with the markets having such a long tradition I suppose I’ve got all the time in the world to get used to it.