Travelling makes me happy | Sinikka's snippets

July 2, 2015
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I’d prefer some service, please!

Why is it that departures on major journeys almost invariably occur in the middle of the night? As thrilling as travelling to exciting places as, having the taxi drive at your door at 2.30am is less thrilling. Then, in my case, usually a a coach ride of 2.5 hours to Helsinki airport. To cut a long story short, arriving at the airport, after dosing off on a chilly coach, doesn’t make me a happy camper.

And then, you are forced to do the check-in yourself at a self-service automat! Everybody seems to have some problem with it, and the young assistants there just don’t have enough time to help all passengers quickly and efficiently, no matter how hard they try. Somebody has their boarding passes crumpled and stuck inside the machine, while others are struggling to get all the information of their final address typed in correctly.

The robot-like check-in assistants at Tromsø airport in Norway

Travelling to Hawaii recently, and wrestling with the wretched automat, I could feel my blood pressure rising, and my mood getting lousier by the minute. What finally broke this camel’s back was that there was no way to proceed if you didn’t know the zip code of your address in the US! I didn’t have the zip code! The unfairness of the situation and customer neglect was palpable, in my fuming mind at least. How could airlines do this – reduce staff, to make more profits to the owners and share-holders?

Finally, after trial and error, lots of sweat and frustration, and even being reprimanded by the assistant for using foul language in front of child passengers (!), I got our boarding passes printed. Phew, after all that you’d expect the baggage drop to go nice and smooth. Fat chance! There was a long, slow queue in front of us, and it turned out we had to still see a flight attendant at the check-in desk, to get our bags tagged and ready to go. In the end, it took more or less as long for the attendant to do this, as it would have done to print the boarding passes at the same time. And doing that, how much happier would customers be with the check-in experience, and the general performance of the airline!

Self-service seems to be the norm at Scandinavian airports now. I wonder how foreign tourists to Finland, for example, feel about this inhospitable lack of service at Helsinki airport. I would imagine, it doesn’t promote a very positive country image, does it? What a pity, it’s only money that seems to rule in this part of the world these days. Or maybe I’m just getting more miserable with age, and the younger generation of self-contained globe trotters find nothing strange about this.

How pleasantly different our flying experience was coming back from Asia at the beginning of this summer. I and hubby flew back from Hong Kong, again early in the morning. No shortage of staff anywhere! In fact, I particularly noticed people proudly wearing vests with ‘trolley assistant’ printed on the back. (Needless to say that at Helsinki airport you are lucky to find a trolley anywhere, and usually have to walk quite a while to spot one.)

What’s more, instead of the cold, uncompromising machines, we had real people with friendly smiles doing the check-in for us. And to help us avoid queuing even for a while, we were swiftly directed to the priority check-in, even without any priority tickets. Finally, the real icing on the cake was that the efficient VIP assistant managed to secure my long-legged, tall hubby extra legroom for the long-haul flight to Europe. How awesome is that!

May 26, 2015
by sinikka 2 Comments

Hanami – adoration of cherry blossoms

My first encounter with cherry blossoms was back in the mid-90s in Washington DC of all places. I was working as a Fulbright exchange teacher in Virginia for a year, only 30 minutes by metro from the capital. There are some 1,700 cherry trees around the Tidal Basin, donated as a sign of friendship by the mayor of Tokyo in the early 20th century. They offer a spectacular display of beauty in spring. I remember going there several times, to admire the first small pinkish blooms, through to the peak time and all the way to the end of the fragile petals falling on the ground, white as if it was snowing. At the weekend, we also saw a lot of Asian, and other people enjoying picnics under the blooming trees.

Ever since then, cherry blossoms have held a special place in my memory and heart. They are an annual reminder of the fleeting nature of life. So breathtakingly beautiful, but so short-lived at the same time! Recently, I have been more than pleased to see that some cherry trees have been planted along the riverside, and elsewhere, here in my hometown of Turku in Finland. This spring I have been cycling around with my camera to capture some of this floral splendour. It’s good for your soul to just sit or stand underneath a canopy of blooming trees, taking in the subtle colours of the petals, which quiver helplessly in the slightest breeze. So fragile that you feel as if you need to protect the tiny blossoms with your hands.

One Sunday, I happened to be cycling along the river, and came across some cherry trees that I had never even noticed before. The blossoms were already coming to the end of their time, and had turned gorgeously white. They made me think of a full, lacy wedding dress – what a lovely thought!

My project for next year is to start early enough, probably towards the end of April, and go round all the different trees I now know of, and enjoy the whole, swift blooming cycle. Unfortunately, our town doesn’t enlighten us of the different species of cherries they have planted. So, finding that out will be part of this project, too. ‘Mindfulness’ is one of the new fads here, and I feel enjoying the nature around us is the best form of mindfulness you can engage in – and it’s all free!

HANAMI FESTIVAL IN HELSINKI

I was lucky to notice an ad for a cherry blossom festival in Helsinki somewhere in my social media feed. It falling on a weekday religious holiday, made me convince hubby that we needed to go. It was actually the 8th time this festival was organised in the suburb of Roihuvuori in Helsinki, where over 200 cherry trees have been planted along a hill in a park. It was interesting to find out on a website that just as in Washington DC, these trees, too, are thanks to donations, this time by Japanese nationals residing here in Finland.

According to Wikipedia, HANAMI, or “flower viewing” means:

the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers, flowers (“hana”) in this case almost always referring to those of the cherry (“sakura”) or, less frequently, plum (“ume”) trees

It was a windy day, and a bit on the cool side. We even had a hail storm pour over us in the afternoon! But the weather didn’t prevent thousands of people from having a good time underneath the trees. Arriving by train, after a two-hour journey, we were there early, and managed to see the trees better than later on when all the participants were milling around and setting up their picnic spots.

I was especially pleased to see people of all ages taking part in the festival. Too often the Finnish custom is to separate the generations, each to their own specific activities. Lots of young families came with their babies, toddlers and pre-teens, many of whom wore creative fancy dresses for the occasion.

The cosplay and anime crowd were there, too, with the most elaborate costumes. It was all quite delightfully unexpected for us but, of course, so much part of Japanese culture. Made me remember our trip to Japan, and a visit to Harajuku district in Tokyo where imaginative teens gathered to show off their sometimes quite outrageous fashions and styles.

Initially, I had a very stereotypical expectation of the festival: a sophisticated, serene, almost solemn occasion, with possibly some faint, traditional Japanese music in the background, and people staring at the blossoming trees in quiet awe and adoration. Couldn’t have been more wrong! Little did I know, that people would bring boom boxes and other music devices, and play really loud rock and pop. What’s more, there were also music and Japanese martial arts performances on a stage, which added to the noise. Well, why not! Everybody to their own, and possibly this is the way ‘hanami’ is celebrated in Japan.

Definitely an occasion to mark in our diaries for next year. It was refreshingly different for Finland. Firstly, so crowded, and such a diverse and colourful group as well, with happy faces all around. Secondly, the joyful activity all through the day, Japanese food being cooked and sold in stalls, all the fascinating shows and performances. Thirdly, meeting friends for a chat and picnic on the lawn. And last but not least, the feeling of wonder, magic and fairy tale, thanks to wonderful creatures such as this spring butterfly, for example.

The message of the cherry blossoms for me was ‘carpe diem’. Seize the day, and ‘gather ye rosebuds while ye may’ as it’s all too soon over.

May 13, 2015
by sinikka Leave a comment

Want some cake in Turku, Finland?

Gaggui (Humalistonkatu 15, www.gaggui.com)

Many of my female friends had been praising this new café for some time but it was reading the story behind it that finally got me to give it a try. Two identical twins, one a biologist, the other one an artist, joined forces to create this café, and change their careers at the same time. A brave move but apparently successful! It all started as one of the sisters wanted to create the perfect cake for her wedding. After lots of experiments, she had accumulated an interesting collection of different recipes, which the two of them then sold on one of the so-called “Restaurant days”. The cakes of these two sisters turned out to be so popular that they then ventured into business together.

What I really like about this small café is that it’s really a local Turku place through and through. Their coffee is rosted locally, and a small tea shop up the road provides their teas. What’s more, they use our local dialect in all their signs. Even the name of the place “Gaggui” is a Turku variation of ‘kakkuja’ (‘cakes’). And cakes are definitely the speciality here, one more decadent than the other! Needless to say, all the cakes are their own original recipes and creations. How does “heaven on örth” (‘heaven on earth’ written in Finnish phonetics) sound to you? I can assure you, the cake really lives up to its name!

This café is small and intimate, basically just one room. The decor is quirky, with nice little touches of originality, even in the restroom. If you visit around midday on a weekday, the place tends to be full of groups of mothers with their kids, and even dogs. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for inclusion, and everybody’s right to go out to socialise. But if you are not accustomed to the Scandinavian lifestyle of public breastfeeding, and toddlers running around screaming, maybe you’d want to choose a time later in the afternoon or early evening to enjoy your coffee and cakes.

April 8, 2015
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The plight of Arctic minority peoples

During my Easter trip to northern Norway, I learned a lot about minority peoples here in the Nordic countries, especially the oppressed history of the Sami people. The Sami are an indigenous people, in fact the only one in the whole of Europe, living in Norway, the north of Sweden and Finland, and the Kola peninsula in Russia. There are about 100,000 of them, speaking several different varieties of the Sami languages. The overwhelming majority live in Norway. I must admit that I had quite a stereotypical, touristy picture of them. You know, people wearing their colourful traditional costumes, herding reindeer in the wilderness of Arctic Lapland, just like the pictures on this Norwegian tourism website. Only Santa Claus is missing to complete the picture!

Yet, a visit to the Sami ethnographic exhibition at the Museum in Tromsø, and listening to the many stories and insights of our hosts, opened my eyes. After decades, and centuries of oppression, and shame about being different, a minority in a country, the Sami are gradually getting recognition and rights to their language. In the past, Sami children in Norway, for instance, used to be sent to monolingual Norwegian schools to learn that language, being mocked and discriminated against in the process. It didn’t help that most of them were also members of a very strict religious sect that forbade them a lot of the activities that other Norwegian children enjoyed. Luckily, things are gradually changing, and about time before yet another small minority language disappears from this earth. Sadly, some varieties of Sami have already become extinct.

In Norway, it wasn’t until the 1990s that bilingual road signs (Sami and Norwegian) were introduced in the north. But as you can see from this one above, displayed at the museum, not everybody was happy about this development. During the night, Norwegian opposers went ahead and shot at the signs long enough to make the Sami name undecipherable! And this went on and on, as soon as the authorities replaced the destroyed signs. The hatred and narrow-mindedness of some people!

My limited idea of the Sami was shattered at the museum, seeing huge photos of all the different people with Sami roots. Of course, they are all their own individual selves even if there are still some of the traditional reindeer herders left, too. I was deeply touched by the stories of people who had totally buried their Sami ancestry to protect themselves and be accepted in Norwegian society, only to find out later in life, sometimes through serendipitous coincidences that they were actually Sami.

I must say I felt even worse when I learned about the Kven minority in Norway. I hadn’t even known about them! And they are my compatriots, descendants of Finns who moved to Norway back in the 19th century. Their fate has been very similar to that of the Sami, or even slightly more difficult as they didn’t have the special indigenous status. Many of them totally denied their Finnishness, and did their utmost to become Norwegian and not stand out from the crowd. These days, though, they are becoming more active, having their own little societies and meetings, and claiming their rights together with other minority groups. It is a triumph in the north that you can now see even trilingual road signs – Norwegian, Sami and Finnish!

How has the status of these minorities improved then? In Norway, the Sami have their own Parliament and are recognised as a minority group with their own language. Here in Finland, Sami children finally have the right to education in their mother tongue. Since 1986, the Sami even have their own flag, which I saw proudly flying on the poles together with the Norwegian national flag in Tromsø. Still, there is a lot to be done, not least about the attitudes of the majority.

How many tragedies and sad fates have these people suffered over the years! And similar injustice is still rampant all round the world. ‘Different’ equals ‘worse’ and ‘a threat’ – let’s suppress it. When in our country, be like us, behave like us, become one of us, at any cost! It’s frightening, in the wake of yet another general election here in Finland, how the extremist anti-immigration parties and ideas gain ground. Will humankind ever learn from history?

During this highly enlightening trip, I was also introduced to Mari Boine, a Sami singer and musician, who has been promoting the Sami rights, culture and language through her music ever since the 60s. Here is a song by her, where the rugged and challenging arctic circumstances and the Sami issue are ever present. The music is magical and haunting. The northern dimension, with all these ethnic tensions, will certainly be haunting me for a long time.

The lips of the silenced people burst out in speech
The stream of words once again were flowing
Over the frozen riverbanks when we finally came together
My dearest son of the wind

(Taken from Lyricstranslate)

March 28, 2015
by sinikka Leave a comment

A grocery store to die for

I fell in love with ‘Whole Foods Market’ during our holiday in Hawaii. We first learned about this ingenious grocery store chain from our friends that we stayed with. As we were getting ready to go to Kailua beach on our second morning there, our friends told us not to miss a visit to ‘Whole Foods’ in the centre of the town. Thank you for the recommendation! It became one of our favourite hang-outs – after the breathtakingly beautiful beaches, of course. Here is, in a nutshell, what the company is all about, from the company website.

Who are we? Well, we seek out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry, and have an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture. Add to that the excitement and fun we bring to shopping for groceries, and you start to get a sense of what we’re all about. Oh yeah, we’re a mission-driven company too.

Started in Austin, Texas, in 1980, this flagship of fresh, pure, organic, ecologically and ethically sound, and as far as possible local food and products has since spread, by acquisitions and mergers, all over the US, and also to Canada and the London area in the UK, too. The company ethos is being “buying agents” for shoppers, to ensure that they can shop with a peace of mind that strict standards, and the store’s own “Responsibly grown ratings”, are always followed. There are several stories about farmer partners and suppliers on the company website, all testifying to the care and attention paid not only to the quality of the produce but also to sustainability, conserving the environment and animal welfare, for example. I really can’t praise this store enough! Coming from winter in Finland, when fresh produce is always imported from thousands of miles away, and where the grocery selection, on the whole, is quite limited, this place was paradise. Everything was beautifully displayed, the selection was out of this world, and so much to choose from, I didn’t know where to start! In addition to all the mouthwatering food, there were also organically produced soaps and other cosmetics, as well as some lovely clothes. (Unfortunately, I didn’t dare to take photos inside the store. From our 1-year stay in the US in the 1990s, we remembered having been forbidden to take pictures inside stores so often that I didn’t even sneakily try!) Finally, the real icing on the cake, to make this shopping experience so convenient and “civilised”, if you like, was their prepared foods section. In fact, ‘Whole Foods Markets’ are also restaurants. You can select your food from their salad bar (all fresh and super tasty), or warm dishes section (lots of vegetarian dishes, too, and nice, surprisingly exotic ones), and to finish with a lovely selection of fruit and desserts, too. You either stack your choice on a plate or in a cardboard box, which are then weighed at the check out, to get the price. How delightfully easy and simple! There was also a bar, with a nice selection of wines and draught beers (hubby was very pleased!). And best of all, you can take all the food and drinks outside, and enjoy it on the terrace straight away! The terrace in Kailua was great, with people of all ages mixing together quite happily – families with small children and pets, big groups of women, probably spending their lunch hour from work together, with glasses of wine and chirpy chat and laughter, couples for coffee and cakes, young people immersed in their smartphone worlds, and then tourists like us. We are missing so much in our country of strict regulations and closed and limited areas for different age groups and functions!

The only disadvantage, if you can call it that, were of course their high prices. But hey, it’s a choice, and if I can afford it, I gladly pay extra to enjoy the great tastes and healthy alternatives while being environmentally-friendly at the same time. Sadly, the consumer markets for anything here in Finland are very small, so I can’t see stores like this catching on here any time soon, especially in the present gloomy economic climate. Still, hopefully one day a Finn will come up with a similar business concept. Can’t wait! In the meantime, I will have to just be happy with our memories from Hawaii, and keep checking out the recipes of the ‘Whole Foods Market’ website.

March 26, 2015
by sinikka Leave a comment

Romantic mini-break in the south

For couples of any age, a romantic weekend getaway every now and then is a must, in order to relax and have some carefree time together. Working weeks are busy, with often so many chores and duties to attend to that by the evening, you just crash into bed, exhausted. Conversation gets reduced to quick ‘how are you’s’ and a few rushed daily anecdotes or fixing schedules and car sharing. You know, how it is – running your daily life is almost like an extreme sport, as one Finnish columnist wrote the other day.

Somebody (Mr Google or Facebook?) must have guessed my thoughts, and sent the offer of a weekend mini-break for two to my news feed. I literally jumped at the chance! Even better that hubby had never been to Hanko, the southernmost town of Finland.

The deal included one night at a hotel, breakfast included, and a bottle of bubbly waiting in the room, plus a 3-course meal at a seaside fish restaurant. Continuing the evening at a local pub with live music was also recommended.

And so, off we jolly well went last Saturday morning, full of anticipation. It was only a 1.5-hour drive, along quiet country roads. To boost our enthusiasm, even the sun was out, although the lovely early spring weather of earlier in the week had changed back to chilly wintry winds.

THE TOWN

Hanko is a small seaside town with just under 10,000 inhabitants, about half of whom speak Finnish and the other half Swedish, making the town truly bilingual. It’s a summer town, really, so even at the weekend in late March, the streets were quiet, and the atmosphere idyllically sleepy. The town is best known for its history as a swinging spa resort in the late 19th – early 20th century. The many picturesque wooden villas in all their pastel colours and lacy decorations date from around the same period, and give an oldey-worldey, nicely nostalgic, feel to the place even today. It’s easy to imagine summer visitors – among them prominent political figures, wealthy Russians, the Finnish elite, and artists – flocking these streets in the past. We were sorry to see some of the magnificent villas deserted, at different stages of decay. Hope somebody will be able to afford to restore them soon!

First and foremost, it’s the sea and, for Finland quite rare, sandy beaches that give the town its character. Being the southernmost tip of the country has made Hanko a strategic military area all through the history of our country. Interestingly, it was also from Hanko port that some quarter of a million aspiring Finns left, on steam ships, for a better life in America, Canada or Australia at the turn of the 20th century. During our stay, the beaches were still deserted, the water cold and the rocks covered in wintertime green moss. Nevertheless, the gorgeous glitter on the blue sea in the spring sunshine made me giddy with dreams of summer. Should perhaps come back then, to see all the sailing boats and yachts in the harbour and the open-air terraces of the cafés and restaurants.

Worth mentioning is also the very professionally designed Hanko website, which provides a wealth of useful info also in English.

HOTEL BULEVARD

We were accommodated at Hotel Bulevard, only a few steps from the seafront. We only found out on the day of arrival that it is actually a converted old police station! Quite funny as we’d stayed in a converted prison hotel in Helsinki just last year.

Some rooms were in the actual cells of the old station but ours was upstairs, possibly one that used be an office. A nice detail is that most of the rooms are named after famous Finnish designers, and the interiors get their inspiration from each artist’s work. Our spacious room was dedicated to designer Birger Kaipiainen, who had designed the wallpaper, with his signature style birds on it. In addition to the bedroom, our abode had a small separate ante-room plus a bathroom with a shower. Quite a retro feel in the whole place, and very quiet and peaceful all through the weekend.

The buffet breakfast was typically Scandinavian, quite alright. However, it was the bowler hat light fitments in the breakfast room, aptly named ‘The Commissar’, that especially took my interest.

A big plus was the friendly and personal service, in particular for the chance of having a “private” sauna heated for us in the afternoon. It really was a lovely addition to a romantic couple’s weekend, in particular as we were quite frozen after walking around exploring the town in the icy sea wind.

Can fully recommend this hotel. It’s interesting, clean, good value, centrally located – and they even rent bikes in summer, which would be ideal for getting around in such a small town.

PUB GRÖNAN

Not far from our hotel, in the same street, we spotted the evening venue, Pub Grönan, during our afternoon walk. Couldn’t resist checking it out straight away. Quite special, Anglo-American ambience welcomed us inside. Must say, the black leather sofa in front of the music stage looked especially inviting! Later found out on their website that the inspiration for the pub had struck two Finnish guys during their road trip in the US, crossing the Rattlesnake River somewhere in Arizona. No wonder then! There would have been a Swedish troubadour performing that night but the fresh sea air must have taken the better of us, and we had to forego the night out in the pub.

RESTAURANT ‘PÅ KROKEN’

In the evening, it was time for dinner in the restaurant ‘På Kroken’, which is Swedish and means ‘on the hook’. It is a cosy little fish and seafood restaurant right by the sea, on the other side of the railway tracks, in Hanko village. Our hotel landlord kindly offered us a lift there, and we arrived just in time to enjoy the pinkish hues of the sunset in the horizon.

Most of the fish served is local, and smoked on the premises. The abundant archipelago buffet is served in a boat in the middle of the room, and consists of one delicacy after another. Hubby’s absolute favourite was the pastrami spiced smoked salmon.

I opted for ‘blinis’ as a starter. They are Russian-style yeasted pancakes made of buckwheat flour. At ‘På Kroken’ they were served with a variety of fish roes, chopped onion, sour cream, mushroom salad, and gherkins. Unbelievably scrumptious!

Super service all through the evening, delicious food, great atmosphere, good selection of wines and beers and interesting, rustic decor! We enjoyed all the dishes so much that could hardly manage dessert at all. Their menu is definitely worth checking out! Apart from the restaurant, there is also a fish shop, and a café that serves, for example, their popular salmon soup with the special, dark, malty archipelago bread. Hmm, a revisit in summer is getting even more tempting!

GREAT STAY

How about the romance then? In the words of very wise Bridget Jones: “a mini-break means true love”. A weekend away is really worth it! It even got us, after being married 25 years, bold enough to walk barefoot on the empty, sandy beach, holding hands like teenagers. What a giggle, though, as otherwise we still had to wear winter gear! Was it the bubbly, or the sea wind and the spring sun? No matter, probably a combo of everything. Yet, all in all, having pampered ourselves, and devoted some undivided attention and quality time to being together, we came home happy, rested and relaxed.

February 27, 2015
by sinikka 2 Comments

Bussing Hawaii

“You must be joking!” That’s what we constantly heard when I and hubby told friends that we were going to spend two weeks on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, and not rent a car. It was actually by accident that we ended up carless. You see, we didn’t realise that, here in Finland, it now takes at least a week to get an international driver’s licence (a requirement, we were told, for renting a car in Hawaii) and we only started inquiring 3 days before departure. Oh well, we thought, we don’t mind public transport, we’d be alright.

And we were alright, regardless of our local friends’ doubts and reservations. They had been living on Oahu for 6 months, and never once ventured onto a bus. Yes, we knew what a must your own car normally is, anywhere in the States. After all, we had spent a whole year in Virginia back in the 90s. Yet, in hindsight, even there, in the Washington DC area, the metro trains ran frequently and reliably. But of course, when in the US, you do miss a lot, and life is a pain at times if you aren’t mobile with your own private car.

On the whole, I must say the Oahu buses exceeded our expectations. They were modern and clean, and took you practically all round the small island. Recorded announcements and led screens kept you informed about each approaching stop. NB. a bus stop is usually named after the two closest crossing streets (it took us a while to work this out!). And what an ingenious system they had for passengers to get their bicycles on as well!

On the drawback side, sometimes (especially coming home late at night) the AC was too efficiently cold but that’s easily solved with layered clothing. Also, if you were unlucky to just miss a connection, often the next bus wouldn’t come until one hour’s time. Needless to say, we spent quite a lot of time hanging around bus stops! But hey, when you’re on holiday, you are not stressed with time, and those waiting times were excellent opportunities for people and local life watching.

For $2.50 a piece, a ticket gave you two transfers within a restricted time frame. For example, one day we travelled round the whole southern part of the island, from Kaneohe, through Honolulu to Hanauma Bay, and back round to the north through Kailua – and all this, for the two us only cost 10 bucks! Great value, I would say!

Finding your way (even without a proper map!) was no problem! On some evenings, we checked the routes on Google maps and timetables on TheBus website in advance for the next day but, mostly, we just played it by ear. The bus drivers were extremely helpful, and willingly shouted out for us to get off when we’d reached our desired destination. One useful piece of information we learned after a couple of days was that on Oahu, people look at direction based on the trade winds blowing across the island. Thus ‘windward’ buses go north of Honolulu (i.e. the side of the island where the predominant wind blows from the sea) and ‘leeward’ buses go south (i.e. the predominant wind blows from the interior of the island to the sea). Quite a few times, people would talk to us about ‘windward and leeward buses’, without us having the faintest idea what this meant. Talking about friendly and helpful people, though, they are the best thing, all over America! I’d totally forgotten this since our American year, but how lovely to be, once again, surrounded by talkative and sociable people who don’t ignore strangers amidst them. We only needed to look a little bit lost or bewildered, and soon enough there’d be a friendly face asking if we needed any help. This happened so many times, on every single day of our stay, that it truly filled us with great gratitude and warmth. Sure, there were times when we, more reserved Europeans, would have appreciated our own peace and quiet after the initial small talk and not hear the whole life stories of our fellow passengers but, positively thinking, never a dull moment at a bus stop or on the bus in Hawaii! You’d always have somebody to talk to if you so wished!

Oddly enough, perhaps, we didn’t miss having a rental car during our Hawaiian holiday. True, our friends, who hosted us, took us around in their car during the weekend but we did cover long distances on our own on the buses on weekdays. One more advantage for hubby was being able, for once, to sit back and take in and enjoy all the breathtaking scenery, instead of sweating away behind the wheel on busy roads. All in all, Hawaii on public transport is doable, affordable and even entertaining. Go for it, and travel greener!

February 15, 2015
by sinikka Leave a comment

Time travel

It’s ages since I have travelled far to the west. This morning, we left Finland at 2.30 am and watched an orangey winter dawn just about to break when taking off from Helsinki for the first leg of today’s long journey.

Many hours later, the very same Sunday dawned on board a transatlantic plane somewhere over Greenland. Strange feeling. As if travelling back in time. At first faint, glittery – orangey again – streaks underneath. Then the bright light chasing away eerie clouds of mist -some hardly noticeable, thin whips, others slowly undulating blankets. The morning making the ghost of the night disappear. And then, suddenly I was blinded by the brightest sun in the horizon behind the wing of the plane. Good morning again, Sunday!

My daughter has climbed several high mountains in different parts of the world, camped on top to be ready to greet the first rays of the morning sun. I have loved seeing her wonderful photos of these special moment, but never actually experienced it myself. This morning I was lucky to have a vantage point high above the clouds, to stop and stare at the wonders of this magnificent universe that we inhabit.

November 17, 2014
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Pop-up “Restaurant Day” in November

November 15, a grey and windy Saturday morning. The temperature here in southern Finland barely above zero celsius, but no sight of snow or ice, thank goodness! The beginning of another pop-up restaurant experience in my town, and around the world. Following the online map, with venues popping up all through the week, I finally found 20+ to choose from, noticeably fewer, though, than on the lovely late summer day in August, which I blogged about earlier. Not surprising, given the season and weather, but enough, however, to plan an interesting tour. According to the event Facebook page, there were still all together 1698 pop-up places opened in 35 countries, which is quite an achievement!

Our rather colourless riverside scenery in November

Two major differences to our previous experience: this time, we drove around in our car, at times parking and walking from place to place. Still got some fresh air and exercise although, I must say, I did miss my bike, but the distances along our planned route just were too long, unfortunately. Secondly, most of the November events took place indoors, which nicely added an extra interest in actually being invited into people’s homes. Very un-Finnish and brave! Compared to the open-air garden events in August, the indoor cafés and restaurants were far more intimate, and sparked even more impromptu conversations and interaction between the strangers whose paths crossed by chance, around coffee and dinner tables for fleeting moments . Great for us private, and often sullen, Finns! And what a way, for anyone, to “seize the day”, and make each unexpected encounter count.

I and hubby started by the riverside, at ‘Curry in a Hurry’. A simple canopy-covered place, offering 3 different curries with naan bread. Just the right hot treat, temperature and spice-wise, on a nippy winter day! Turned out that the friendly and welcoming curry chefs were also a mixed Finnish-British couple, just like us, so we felt right at home.

Warmed by the nice and tasty curry, we then walked to a 1920s block of flats up the road, and entered the enchanting ambience of “The Yellow Salon Café”. This was a family endeavour, put together for the third time already by a father, keen on antiques and design, an enthusiastically baking mother and a daughter enjoying the customer service. The whole front room had been totally reorganised for the day, with a lot of effort and care to create just the right atmosphere for a Christmassy coffee break, down to the finest detail. I was especially impressed with the oldie-worldie outfits of the two ladies, not to mention all the scrumptious pies, cakes and goodies, which literally melted in your mouth. I would definitely go again, and can recommend this venue, both for culinary and aesthetic enjoyment. I’m still wondering, though, about the elegant and enigmatic young lady, quietly having chocolate cake while reading Molière in the corner. Just one of those intriguing stories of this great day!

We finally ended our tour with another Christmassy experience. A summer hut in a garden, aptly named “Café Charm” for the day, with a view of a small, local lake. On offer was our traditional Christmas delicacy: rice porridge, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar on top. Here, too, Christmas carols were played in the background, and flickering candles added to the warm feeling in the darkening afternoon. I can understand people wanting to tap into the Christmas theme as there is no Restaurant Day closer to the holidays, but for me, maybe it was a little early for all the jingle bells, santa figures and decorating gingerbread cookies, lovely ideas and activities as they were. Next this café, there was also a quirky little boutique, boasting the world’s smallest cinema (in a toilet!) showing a 1920s documentary about the area, in the times when the adjacent broadcloth factory was still working. So, not only food and meeting people but learning about local history at the same time!

The above mentioned “cinema” on the left

Hats off to all the hard-working and creative volunteers for organising this great day for the rest of us! Looking forward to the next edition on February 15, 2015!

November 8, 2014
by sinikka Leave a comment

A great Finnish food carnival

Are you keen on cooking or baking? So much so that you would even like to sell some of your culinary creations to others? But, obtaining the required licences and going through all the red tape has prevented you so far, plus the fact that you really couldn’t imagine this as your full-time career. Or would you just like to have a fun, novel experience sharing food with people for one day? Well, wait no longer – there is a way: THE POP-UP RESTAURANT DAY. In the words of the inventors, this is what it is:

Restaurant Day is a worldwide food carnival when anyone can set up a restaurant, café or a bar for a day. It can happen anywhere: at your home, at the office, on a street corner, in your garden or inner courtyard, at a park, or on the beach – only your imagination is the limit.

For your pop-up restaurant, café or food stall, you won’t need to apply for any permits, nor do you need to let the taxman know what you’ve earned, for as long as you only charge enough to cover your costs. The first ever “Restaurant Day” was organised in Finland in May 2011, and since then the concept has spread to over 50 countries worldwide. Quite an achievement! If you got interested, here is one of the three men behind the concept, Timo Santala, explaining to you in English what it’s all about. It’s well worth sparing 17 minutes to watch the video as it’s is full of heart-warming and funny stories about interaction, participation, open cities, active citizenship and, above all, the creative madness of people who are given the freedom and trust to organise something extraordinary for a day.

I couldn’t agree with Timo more when he asks:

Is there a better way of meeting new people, experiencing a country as a tourist or integrating to a new place as an immigrant than around a shared dinner table?

Yet, it still amazes me that this phenomenon was actually invented and given the green light in Finland, the promised land of rules and regulations! In fact, the inventors have revealed that it was exactly their frustration with all the Finnish restrictions for setting up restaurants that gave them this idea. What adds to my amazement is that, in general, we Finns are quite private people. Many of us are not particularly keen to open our homes to strangers even though we often do invite friends over for dinner or coffee. What’s more, we very much tend to keep ourselves to ourselves, and shy away from socialising with people we don’t know. I believe this is partly due to our culture of politeness, according to which it is good manners to basically leave people alone, and not bother them with unnecessary small talk. This cultural background makes the concept of the Restaurant Day, where you suddenly expose yourself to dealing with strangers, often in your own home, even more incredible. Maybe it is a positive sign of people longing for a change, and a new sense of community spirit in these highly individualised times. This great day takes place four times a year – in February, May, August and November. Obviously, here in the north, our seasons affect the organisation a lot, with May and August being much easier and more convenient for outdoor venues. I and hubby had a wonderful day last August, cycling around all Sunday to a few places we had picked from the list beforehand. Even the weather couldn’t have been better that day! Our picks then were a Polish-Finnish couple’s pierogi restaurant in their yard, raw cakes by the riverside, a garden do with several main courses and desserts, and with live music, too (in fact, two well-known Finnish musicians, which was an interesting bonus) and another garden café with traditional Finnish coffee and cakes. Not only was the food highly affordable and interesting to sample, but the tour also introduced us to lovely, new neighbourhoods of our hometown that we had never been to before, not to mention the healthy exercise and fresh air and meeting and talking with lots of people. There’s hardly a better way to spend an autumn Sunday!

My “red lightning transport” for the day

If you have never heard of this idea, why not jump on the bandwagon in your village / town? You can find all the information you need on this webpage (and in several languages, too). I can’t wait for the next experience on November 15. I’m even toying with the idea of having my own little café in May next year. Let’s see what happens!