The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi

This week I enjoyed some great pancakes, found a good book and basked in the Spring sunshine.

On Friday when I left work, I caught a glimpse of a tractor demonstration. The whole Senate square had been filled with tractors previously. It must’ve been a grand sight. The reason for the march was the tremendous financial distress the farming sector is in. Google “tractor march Helsinki” if you want to know more.

That same evening, my daughter and I had an Au pairs in Australia -marathon. Au pairs in Australia is a reality tv show about four Finnish young adults (three girls and one boy) who go to Sydney to try life as au pairs. As you can guess, it turns out to be very complicated in many senses. I’m not really into reality tv at all, but it was fun watching their escapades with my daughter since she was travelling in Australia last year and also as the people in the show were her age.

My favourite breakfast was American pancakes topped with strawberries, Turkish yoghurt and maple syrup. I used a pancake mix I’ve bought from Lidl and was surprised how good the pancakes turned out! At least in Finland Lidl has a whole shelf dedicated to American goodies and that is where I found the Mississippi Belle mix.

Lately I have been reading book after book and feeling extremely unsatisfied in the end. This week I finally found a book I couldn’t put down – The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee. It tells the story of three American expat women in Hong Kong. My expat childhood wasn’t nearly as glamorous as the lives described in this book but I did notice some similarities. I like my books to have an edge to them and this had exactly that.

Saturday was my favourite day because of the sunshine and a visit to Uunisaari island and Mattolaituri. The sea is still icy, so no boats were out yet.

On Wednesday my colleagues and I went to the National Archives for a free tour of the stunning monumental building. It’s a hidden gem for sure and I will tell you more about it later, so you can assess for yourself whether it’s worth visiting.

The photo below is not of the National Archives but it is the building I would want to live in, if I were to live in Helsinki. It was built in 1905 and even has a name – Torilinna – which means “market castle”.

This week was actually quite relaxed, as there wasn’t so much going on comapared to my previous weeks. One thing I’m super excited about is that I bought tickets to London for the end of April. I’ve been to London several times, so I don’t really have any sights I should visit in mind. However, I plan to eat a lot! You see, in my knowledge it’s the only place in Europe to get really authentic Malaysian food. I also hope to meet some friends in London and maybe have an afternoon tea somewhere. After, I will be going to Cambridge to stay with friends and meet their baby girl for the first time! Maybe I’ll get to see the Cambridge university and some colleges there too.

Now for the upcoming weekend. If you are in Helsinki, do not miss the Streat Helsinki street food events. Eats is on Saturday at the Tori quarters and note, you can even find Tallinn’s Fabrik‘s divine bao buns there. Grills is on Sunday at Uunisaari island and outside Café Regatta.

How was your week? Have you read any good books lately? Do you have any tips for London (off the beaten track) or Cambridge?

xx