A sure sign of Spring in Finland is when people start getting their boats ready to lower them into the water. So – if we were having coffee – I’d tell you that Spring is finally here!
Saturday was my son’s school’s event “Aprillia”. Aprillia means “April Fools” but the day is not about playing tricks on each other. It’s a early event. First the children have a normal schoolday and then parents join in the fun. This year my son’s class was in charge of the French café – Café de Paris. I was selling goodies for two hours but as it happens, those two hours were vey quiet. The queues started right after I left. I hope the long queues meant a lot of profit for the class’ school camp.
On Sunday I met two girlfriends for brunch at Krog Roba. This restaurant is located in the most gorgeous hotel in Helsinki – Lilla Roberts. I haven’t stayed there yet but hopefully I will get a chance soon. Even though I live very near Helsinki, it’s sometimes fun to play tourist in the city and check out the hotels. Other hotels in Helsinki which I personally like are Hotel Fabian and Hotel Haven.
The restaurant setting is beautiful. I adore the floor tiles. Interesting fact – the building was initially a power plant and later a police station!
I was expecting a lot of this brunch but have to say it was only mediocre. A lovely place to spend time with friends and family but that extra something was missing from the food on offer. Of course the best and most important thing was catching up with friends.
On Tuesday our new boat was lowered in the water. Unfortunately I missed the whole thing as I had to be at work. As there was still ice in the harbour, it could not be taken to it’s own “parking spot”. That needs to be done this weekend. It looks like our boat was one of the first to arrive in the harbour this year.
I have been very busy thinking of things we need for the boat. Hubby can take care of the serious stuff and I will concentrate on decorating. I found cute oven mitts (blue with a single star) at the Riviera Maison store in Helsinki, star duvet covers online and utensils at Ikea. There’s still a lot to get for the kitchen like pots and pans and the like.
Spot the name of our boat from the picture below!
On Wednesday I took a day off work again. If you are wondering why I keep taking days off almost every week, the reason is that from February, I’ve had eight holiday days that must be used by mid-May! This is a very unusual (but welcome) situation for me as usually I run out of holiday days instead of having too many of them.
I had a lot to do on Wednesday but still managed to go to the Weegee Exhibition Center in Espoo. There are actually four museums there. This time I did not have time to visit them all, as the center really is quite huge. First I visited KAMU, which is the Espoo City Museum. I have wanted to see the exhibit on the history of Espoo for quite some time. I really enjoyed it and suggest you visit that first and then the Glims Farmstead museum if sightseeing in Espoo.
The reason I had come was to see the Espoo Museum of Modern Art’s (EMMA) exhibit The Sea Separates Us by Camilla Vuorenmaa. What is unique about her work that it’s carved wood paintings. Her work on show was inspired by the time she spent observing Icelandic fishermen during their daily work at sea. The idea is that the sea separates AND unites people.
There was even one painting you could touch!
I had a quick look at what else EMMA had to offer and these pieces caught my eye.
The girls are fascinated with the painting in front of them – it looked like locks of shiny black hair.
I really need to go back when I have more time.
The great thing about this week has been that most of the snow is now gone thanks to rains.
This weeks’ best lunch was homemade palak paneer. I love Indian food but this is my favourite. I don’t have one certain recipe I use, so if you have a surefire recipe for palak paneer, let me know.
I am looking forward to a fun weekend as it’s my 40th birthday on Saturday!
How was your week and what do you have planned for the weekend?
xx
The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi 
How exciting, your boat looks great. Here’s to many happy adventures on board :). Although a tad late, best wishes for a wonderful and happy birthday ……hope it was amazing x
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Thank you, heheh my actual birthday was quite calm but I am trying to make this year special with many fun things ☺
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Happy Birthday, and welcome to the club 🙂
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Thanks Kat! ☺😘
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Happy birthday! 🙂
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Thanks 😀
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Thank you for the very exciting tour of your beautiful Finland. Happy birthday to you, I hope you have a great season on your beautiful new boat. Our family came from Finland two generation ago. I wish I would have learned to talk the language, but I missed my boat there. One thing I do like to eat is kulla moyaka, spelling is no doubt wrong. Thank you for the tour. Best wishes.
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Hello Leland so lovely of you to comment and visit my blog! How cool that your ancestors are from Finland 😊 I cannot imagine what is kulla moyaka though? Can you describe it so I can try to figure it out?
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It is basically onions, boiled water with big fish heads in it, that was my grandpa’s favorite. We changed the recipe to salmon, milk, potatoes and onions. It makes a very good soup, similar to clam chowder.
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Hmmm.. Kalanpääkeitto would be fish head soup but maybe it used to have another name back in the day. Its an old recipe for sure. We also love salmon soup as you describe it, it’s my son’s favourite 😀 (lohikeitto in Finnish).
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Thank you for the reply. Looking at the word that you wrote for fish head soup, that word is exactly as my grandfather Kalle Wayrynen would have spoken it. I should feel ashamed of myself for not learning the language. My parents and grandparents talked it most of the time. My grandmother was of the Sami people. Her name was Vertinen. The reindeer people were a hardy group. I almost wish I could’ve been part of that era, I imagine I would of been a little bit soft for survival though, it sure is fun reading about their experiences.
Thank you again for your blog.
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Don’t be so hard on yourself Leland 🙂 Finnish is such a difficult language! I am fascinated to hear about your roots, thank you for sharing. On our holiday in Florida around Christmas, we met a gentleman on the beach who also had Finnish relatives. It’s great to have these encounters. I wish you a great week!
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Happy Birthday! Hope you have a lovely day 😀
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Thank you Rhio 😀
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Happy birthday! And happy sailing when you get there 🙂
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Thank you so much Patricia 😀 Maybe next week!
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Happy Birthday Suvi! Sounds like you had a wonderful week, very exciting your boat is in the water!
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Thanks so much! Heheh, we spent my birthday preparing the boat all day. I took some photos, so I can show you what it’s like soon 🙂
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I understand there is a birthday coming along? Happy Birthday!
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Ooh yes 🙂 Thank you very much Leya!
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Krog Roban miljöö on kyllä hieno, kerran siellä olen pyörähtänyt, mutta brunssi on vielä kokeilematta, harmi jos se oli pettymys.
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En tiedä olenko jotenkin liian kriittinen, mutta ainakin tällä kertaa myös seuralaiseni olivat samaa mieltä 😄
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Happy Birthday, welcome to the club 😀
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Thanks John 😊
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Wishing you a very Happy Birthday for tomorrow Suvi! So nice too, to see your boat in the water, what a lovely summer you will have sailing round!!
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Thank you so much Marion! I am quite apprehensive about our new adventures with the boat but it will be interesting for sure. And I guess it’s never too late to learn new things 🙂 Wishing you a sunny weekend!
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