Weekend in Finland

[BennyB]

Being swept away in the excitement of Eurovision, my wife, a friend and I are heading to Helsinki for the weekend (joking - we booked the tickets ages before we knew about Eurovision... luckily we booked the week after though!).

I know there's plenty of Finnish lurkers here - so what's good to do in Helsinki over a weekend? Anything nice that would possibly escape the usual Lonely Planet and Rough Guides?

Cheers,
Ben

ps this is a freedive-free weekend too (gasp-horror!)

 

[jome]

Freedive-free? Damn, Helsinki is one of the finest dive spots in the world! (not ).

Unfortunately I don't know Helsinki that well, but I can point this out for some of the guys who do...

But what kind of things are you looking for?

 

[BennyB]

Was just wondering if there's any nice foods, drinks, restaurants, touristy things that would be recommended by you guys rather than sticking to the guidebooks like we tend to do. The guidebooks are usually fine but it's always good to hear straight from the horses mouth.

You're in Tampere aren't you - that's a bit further north?

 

[jome]

Yeah, some 150km north.

Damn, I can't believe no one replied to this - it's kind of late now.

I guess Sveaborg could be kind of cool, if you're into that sort of thing...
Suomenlinna

 

[BennyB]

Just got back an hour ago (and straight onto DB.... sad little man I am!).

All I can say is wow! What a lovely city. Really lovely area, easy to get around, the people were the friendliest i've come across in Europe, the food is fantastic and the weather was good (too good - I am beetroot red with sunburn). And the ladies... my lord, even the wife and her girlfriend noticed how stunninghly good looking everyone was so I had free reign after that, got a sore neck to complement the beetroot colour rofl

Completely overdosed on salmon, with the occasional bit of Elk. Saw some bear in a can, but I wasn't sure what my ethical stance on eating bear is just yet - the tastebuds said give it a go but the heart said "but bears are nice..." and in the end 26 euro for a 150gm tin of bear meat sealed the deal, the bear is safe from me for now. Lots of strange pelts at the markets too (see below photo)...

We ended up staying the most of today at Suomenlinna, it was absolutely lovely. Howling winds and it was freezing but still really enjoyed it. We were actually thinking of taking the boat to Estonia today but the girl at the hotel reception said the ferries were a bit unpredictable and we might have trouble getting to our flight on time. She recommended Suomenlinna to us instead, then we started talking about the beaches and her boyfriend doing underwater stuff, and then with a few language difficulties here and there it turned out her bloke was a freediver and spearfisherman so she showed me some photos of the pike he caught that day and we were best mates after that

Brilliant place, loved it. We're planning Christmas in Lapland now.

Cheers,
Ben

Ps. When I told my friends I was going to Suomenlinna Island, they said "wear the fox hat".....

 

[maytag]

Welcome back, BennyB. Sounds like a great weekend in Funland. Bears are too cute to eat. Try dog-sledding this winter!!!

Cheers!

 

[Jouskari]

Aalrighty your´re back home already, I just read this post.

Sad though, I could have figured out something for you during your stay as Helsinki city has become quite familiar trough the years as I´m living in the neighbouring municipal.

But let me know next time or if someone else is heading this way...

 

[jome]

Glad you had a great time. I was going to say something like "our food isn't that great", but instead I remembered this joke which I think describes the Finnish mentality rather well

An American, a Frenchman and a Finn are on safari and come across an elephant. The American thinks: “Wow! What a magnificent and powerful beast. Those tusks must be worth thousands of dollars?” The Frenchman thinks: “Such an interesting animal and in what environment...He must have had an interesting life...”. The Finn thinks “I wonder what that elephant thinks of me...?”

 

[Lammy]

Benny,

I wish I'd seen your post before you went - I spent a happy year drinking in Helsinki.:friday :friday :chatup :friday

Soumenlinna is pretty cool, and the whole city gets better and better as the nights get longer (mid-december is v hard..)

Did you dare to eat a late night hot dog from a Kioski ?

lammy