Favorite cafes: Hämeenlinna

” COFFEE because aldulting is hard.” – UA

Café Laurell : Near the town square. They have the best pastries and quite the selection of sandwiches and snacks, a lot of lactose and gluten free options as well. The café is so cozy and quiet.

Café Kauno : Hidden in the town center, this little coffee shop has the best cappuccinos in my opinion. They also have lunch and snack options.

Café Tiirinkosken: BEST waffles I’ve ever had.. No joke, they are extra fluffy and made with bean flour which is really high in protein. The store is the cutest I’ve been to here. You can shop around or just enjoy the atmosphere. They also have a variety of teas that you can choose from, and other snack options as well as GF and dairy free options

Kahvila Kulma: Newest shop in town. I love this place because the interior is so nice, its quite spacious and modern. You can buy sparkling wine, snacks, and of course coffee.

Café Kukko: Near Goodman shopping center. Decent spot with a quiet atmosphere, quite popular… With a decent drink selection.

Café il Mondo : Inside Goodman shopping center. Friendliest staff and the best lattes, the food portions are huge and they have really good salmon burgers. Their chocolate cake is my favorite. Perfect place to people watch (that’s right)

Pancake House:  In what used to be an old sauna located outside of Hämeenlinna, only open on Sundays from 11-4.  You can order a sweet or savory Finnish style pancake and enjoy a cup of coffee outside if the weather is nice. They also have GF and dairy free options.

Christmas weekend in Tallinn

 

Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.” – Anthony Bourdain 

Medieval Old Town

We took the bus to Helsinki as this was the easiest way of getting there and we didn’t have to worry about the car. After a 2 hour ferry ride we arrived in Tallinn.

THURSDAY EVENING
Our Airbnb apartment was only a 10 minute walk to the Old Town. After dropping off our bags we headed out to Hells Hunt pub to grab some appz and drinks, Annicki and I had some Estonian ciders and the boys had wine and beer.

For our first dinner we went to Pegasus, we had a nice view of an outdoor skating rink. After we finished eating we decided to ordered shots of vana liquer the traditional Estonian drink … probably one of the worst ideas we had.

We headed back into the Town Hall Square to see the annual Christmas Market and enjoy the magical atmosphere. The square was beautifully transformed with a
Christmas tree, lights, a carousel and many little wooden stalls selling traditional Christmas arts, knits, hot drinks and baked goods.

Market at night

A bit of history…

This charming Old Town is very unique and it is also a part of the UNESCO  World Heritage Site. As you walk down the cobblestone paths you can see the history, from the many churches to the medieval courtyards, gothic spires, guard towers and city wall.

-Dating back to the 13th century , also known as “Reval” back then
-This ancient well-preserved walled city is the oldest capital in Northern Europe

FRIDAY

We got really lucky with the weather this day as it was supposed to rain all weekend. Our first stop was Alexander Nevsky, a Russian Orthodox cathedral completed in 1900.

Most beautiful Cathedral

 

Pink building are my favorites

Narrow paths

The beautiful architecture, eye catching colorful buildings and cobblestoned narrow paths  make this town seem like its come straight out of a fairy tale book.

Medieval costumes… Taking you back in time

Lookout point

 

St. Olaf’s Church on the left side

Fun fact: St. Olaf’s Church was the tallest building in the world from 1549- 1625 and it is also Tallinn’s  biggest medieval structure.

Tuomiokirkko Church

We basically saw everything we wanted to see within the Old Town so we ventured out and went to  see the Russian Market. This area of Tallinn was a contrast from the walled city.

Industrial looking building outside the Old Town

For lunch we checked out another restaurant in the Old Town,  Rataskaevu 16. The food did not disappoint and the bathroom floor was crazy.

Craziest floor.. Some kind of cave

For dinner we went to Restoran Ö and had a 7 and 11 course meal.

SATURDAY

Unfortunately it was raining all day but that didn’t stop us from exploring, we went to see the Russian castle Kadriorg-palace. It was so windy out that my umbrella actually broke after we took this picture.

Beautiful Baroque architecture

Because of the rain we took a 2.50 Euro Uber back into town (ya that’s right… Uber is so cheap here) and stopped at Reval Café for lunch and some coffee.

Cloudy day at the market

Shop stands

Part of the wall

For our Christmas dinner “Leon” made us a delicious batch of mussels and some veggie fries, we also had three bottles of wine and laughed a lot, we were truly
thankful to have family over for the holidays.

The only christmas décor we had..Kitos Annicki

Christmas in Finland

“To travel is to evolve.”  – Pierre Bernardo

What I love about Christmas in Europe is that there are so many little Christmas markets all throughout the cities. The wintery atmosphere is great and everything is so
beautifully decorated with lights, trees, candles and more.

A bit of history…

Far North in Lapland you will find Korvatunturi (a mountain) where Santa Clauses lives also known as (Father Christmas) and at the bottom of the hill you will find his work shop.

• Santa’s little helpers are also known as “tontut”
• Santa knocks on your door and comes to hand you your presents, unlike some places where you just find your present under the tree.

Some of the traditional Christmas snacks are:

• Gingerbread cookies
• Joulutorttu(Christmas stars)
• Date cake
• Glögi; Spiced with wine or vodka and a sprinkling of almonds and raisins

  

  

  Christmas flowers, gingerbread cookies & date cake

  

  Gingerbread and berry cake

  Some of the popular Christmas foods include:

  • Herring & raw fish
  • Ham
  • Traditional casseroles: Rutabaga, potatoes, carrots, liver & rice
  • Rosolli (root vegetable salad)
  • Rice porridge

Christmas dinner

 

Typical elves and candles

 

Now onto the markets, we visited 3 of the closest cities to get into the Christmas spirit.

Little town market

Tampere

Located in the central square (keskustori). You will find a nice big Christmas tree full of lights and little wooden stalls selling traditional baked goods, glög, wool socks, jams, sausages and crafts. The market is open Monday- Saturday from 10- 8 and 12- 8 on Sundays from Dec 4- 22.

Be sure to grab a Finnish doughnut “munkki” and a cup of glög!

Visit Tampere

Munkki

Indoor market

Munkki & Glog

Beautiful sunset

 

Helsinki

By far my favorite city and the best Christmas set ups. Although you can find a few different little markets all throughout some parts of the city at the Senate Square you will find the biggest one; St Thomas market, with over 100 wooden stalls selling , glögi, coffee, Christmas baked goods, wool socks, jams and crafts. The atmosphere is great and the decorations are so cute. The market is open from December 3 – 22.

Traditional Finnish elves

Small  set up at the Market Square

If you would like to see some beautiful lights head on over to Aleksanterinkatu, also known as the  “Christmas street”.

 Visit Helsinki

Aleksanterinkatu street

Hämeenlinna

Snowy day

This market is set up only once a year both inside and outside the Häme Castle. There are a few vendors all around selling wool socks, hand made crafts, jams, smoked fish and
Christmas decorations. The visit is worth it specially because you get to see the winter wonderland all around.

Visit Hämeenlinna

Indoor part

Winter wonderland

 

Helsinki for the afternoon

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert 

As mentioned in previous posts we are living in a town an hour away from the capital, making day trips to Helsinki possible. We decided to make the trip and do some sight seeing and enjoy the nice fall weather, oh and indulge in some sushi! (always a must when visiting since there are no sushi spots here … Terrible, I know).

We arrived around 2 p.m. parked the car and got ready to walk around and explore. I really wanted to visit Senate Square to see one of Helsinki’s landmarks; the Helsinki Cathedral
(Unfortunately for my pictures, it was under construction) and the other eye catching building surrounding it.

After walking around for a few hours we were ready to hit up the sushi buffet. This was our second time going to Konnichiwa and we really enjoyed it… Stuffed our faces for 15 euros
each! The restaurant is nice and clean and they have a good variety of sushi rolls and other foods, I would recommend this place if you are ever in the area.

As per usual I was too busy eating and forgot to take pictures of the place, aside from that we had a great day and cannot wait to go back… I love Helsinki!

Finland so far

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai

Suomenlinna

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller

Häme Castle

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

Hei Finland!

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide

After 2 plane rides and 6,093 km, I have finally made it to Finland! This mean we get to experience a new place, new home and new adventures.