Thursday, June 27, 2019

A Baltic Adventure Part 1 - Helsinki

I've been meaning to post this blog post for a while now, but to be honest, it's quite a bulk post. My mum and I decided to go on a Baltic adventure a couple of weeks ago where we went to Helsinki, Tallinn and Stockholm in the course of a week. It was one seriously knackering trip but we saw some truly amazing places along the way so thought I'd give a run down on each of the trips over the course of 3 blog posts. 



Friday

Afternoon | I arrived late afternoon (we were on separate flights as my mum was travelling from Zurich) and headed into Helsinki to get settled. I find myself walking pretty much everywhere in a new city as it's the best way to get your bearings. I dropped my stuff at the hotel and took a walk around the area. 

Evening | My mum arrived and met me at the hotel and got herself settled in. We then had a reservation at Pompier Espa which was absolutely amazing. I found it a real struggle to find restaurants in Helsinki where a) they weren't all booked out 4 months in advance and b) which weren't extortionate. I had the most gorgeous salmon salad to start, escalope and asparagus as a main and eclair for dessert. Definitely a must go.
Helsinki Cathedral

Saturday

Morning | We met the Free Walking Tours Helsinki group which is a 2 and a half walking tour around the city. We had such an amazing guide with us and what I loved is that they gave you time to actually go inside the cathedrals which a lot of tours don't do. We learned some great facts about Helsinki, and although it was a free walking tour, you can make a donation to your guide, whatever you see fit. 

Afternoon | We then strolled around the shops in the city, and made our way through the Old Market Hall which was full of lots of baked goods and if you're looking for some souvenir reindeer jerky...you can find that there too.. we went for meringue which seems to be quite a big delicacy in Finland? We then had lunch and wrote some postcards I know I'm still one of those people and headed on a long walk to The National Museum of Helsinki. After the long walk we headed back to our hotel, but not before stopping off for a quick coffee and cake at Kakkugalleria where I got very on board with the korvapuusti (cinnamon buns). 

Evening | We then headed out for dinner and then came across this bar called Pub Ek which had live music in both Finnish and English but by 11pm we were absolutely knackered and with our next stop being Tallinn tomorrow it was an early-ish night. 

Kauppatori
Friday

Morning & Afternoon |  I know what you're thinking, you've missed an entire week somehow. Well, we actually came back to Helsinki for one more day after Tallinn and Stockholm, so thought it would make sense to add in back here. After dropping our bags back at the hotel we headed down to Kauppatori where we picked up the ferry to take us to Suomenlinna (I kept calling is Semolina) which is an island and 18th century sea-fortress. We pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon as it was absolutely massive and so picturesque. 

Evening | We were pretty knackered after our entire trip so we just had a really chilled evening in and then went to a restaurant called Frida's which is very new to Helsinki and was basically like Wahaca. Had the most immense steak and cheese tacos and the churros were, divine. I think I really fancied another cuisine at that point and plus, you can never go wrong with Mexican! 

Suomenlinna
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4 comments

  1. wow this place looks sooo beautiful!
    xx jen
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  2. If you get a real taste for the region, there are plenty of opportunities to extend your trip beyond the borders of the three Baltic states.
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