The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi

As you know, I was in Copenhagen last weekend visiting a Danish friend, Lene. It was lovely, albeit extremely cold! Where did the summer go?

Copenhagen was very eventful with lots of walking around the city. On Saturday morning we went winter swimming at the harbour near Lene’s house. She swam around in the freezing water for what seemed like 10 minutes!! I’m sure it wasn’t more than eight degrees celsius. I only managed a quick dip and even then I felt strangled for breath.

I had wished we visit the Karen Blixen Museum and Lene was lovely for taking me there. It was fantastic!

We also visited the Louisiana Modern Art Museum which was in the most stunning setting. In addition we climbed up a church tower, strolled around Christiania, ate a lot and shopped a bit. Did you know that fanny packs are back??

I found Malaysia chicken satay at Reffen – Copenhagen Street Food and tried a white chocolate flødeboll (so sweet!) at Lagkagehuset among other interesting discoveries.

On Monday I visited Cafe Regatta with my son. It is my favourite cafe in Helsinki – the view is beautiful and everything they serve is delicious. He had a salmon sandwich and some blueberry pie and I opted for a “korvapuusit” aka cinnamon bun. Unfortunately it’s a bit out of the way but this time I was able to park really nearby. I’m sure that won’t be possible in summer though, as it is a popular spot with the Sibelius Monument right next door.

On Thursday I met up with my friend Lilli for a visit to the Lonna sauna. Lonna is a small island, just 10 minutes by ferry from the Helsinki Market Square. There is a restaurant and a cafe and it also offers visitors the possibility of a Finnish sauna experience (for a fee). If you plan to go, make sure you reserve your place beforehand, as only 12 people are taken in at one time. It was a chilly and windy evening but nevertheless, we braved the freezing Baltic Sea and dipped in not once, but three times! It was great to catch up with Lilli, as we hadn’t seen each other for ages. I do think the ferry should be free if you have booked the sauna, as with paying seven euros for the ferry, 17 euros for the sauna and 13 euros for the waffle we had at the cafe, the expenses start to add up.

On Friday hubby and I visited a new bar in Espoo, Sidewalk. Espoo doesn’t really have many places to spend an evening if you don’t count the beachfront cafes. I had read about Sidewalk in the newspaper and wanted to check it out as the review was good. To get there, we used Uber for the first time in Finland. Uber is really expensive here but for short distances the price is still manageable. The first car we had was extremely beat up and didn’t really make an impression. The second one looked like a taxi but wasn’t one even though there was a taxi sign on top. The driver waited for us in the wrong spot and seemed annoyed when we came looking for him. I’m not sure if I will want to use Uber here anymore, perhaps it’s just better to stick with public transport. Oh, and to get back to the bar, it didn’t impress me either, so I don’t think I’ll be back.

The latest audiobook I finished was The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray. I listened it to while scraping off the peeling paint from our railings, preparing them for a paint job (it’s been endless, thank goodness for audiobooks to keep me entertained!). The book looks into the complex relationships of what is family, as some members go from being respected members of the community to the total opposite. The family tries to function and cope through all the change and drama that ensures and find their way. I loved the book and it was a great decision to listen to it, as the narrators were really entertaining.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day in Finland! Happy Mother’s Day to all of you out there ❤

How was your week?

xx