Hei, Suomi (Hello, Finland)

Helsinki, Finland

Hotel: Scandic Grand Marina

Weather: Sunny but a little chilly and windy

4 days in Helsinki was perfect! Although I was here for work- I was able to sneak away from meetings for some city exploring and even some time at the sauna! At the Allas Sea Pools, which is a must-do in Finland.

The majority of my time though was spent in the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting so I explored when I could to get a sense of this beautiful city.

First, I had to go shopping of course, because traveling with a carry-on only meant I took out a pair of black pants that I had for the conference but then I decided I wanted some black pants, anyway so I went to Zara. For dinner, I tried Social Burger, which was actually really good and had a nice view of the tram and train station. Had to stop by the iconic Helsinki Cathedral, built in the 1850s, the inside of the Cathedral was simple but very impressive still. Helsinki is insanely walkable, plus I was in a central location, but still. It's flat and easy to get around by foot or bike, so I only took the tram once. Which was easy but I had to use the app to get my ticket and that was kind of a pain. There are ticket machines, just not at the stop I used. Also the hotel had free bikes to use so after the first day I only used the bikes to get around and it was great.

The second night I went to dinner with one of my colleagues, and I found the best sushi ever. Restaurant Kiku86. Amazing. And super underpriced. The owner was the only one working- he said they had to cut back since the fish prices increased so we left them a good Google review because he asked us to. It was seriously so good, we ordered more before we even finished our first plates.

The next day, after the meetings ended at 6pm, I went to the Allas Sea Pools which was lovely. I ended up eating at the cafe/terrace after doing a few rounds of pool, sauna, pool, sauna. I couldn't muster up the courage to dip in the sea pool though..which was 9 degrees Celsius but I'm sure that would have been nice...

Although, sunset is at 10ish, it never really gets dark up here so wandering around after "dark" is not too bad.

The last day in Helsinki I had the whole day free.. so I slept in, much needed. After sleeping in (thanks blackout curtains), I made my way to lunch at Cafe Engel, which looks out at the courtyard in front of the Helsinki Cathedral. I finally tried salmon soup and I'm so sad I didn't get to try it earlier- I loved it! Salmon and potatoes, what's not to love?? This cafe was no frills and so so delicious, and the pie display inspired my later endevours.

After lunch, I made a stop by the National Library and the Cathedral to pop inside. Then I took my bike down the coastal bike path, as recommended to me by a woman at the sauna and someone from the meetings that mentioned an they found impressive scoop of ice cream along the way. It couldn't have been easier to find a) ice cream, as there was a stand every 50 feet, and b) Cafe Ursuala, the other stop that was recommended. I biked a little further down to explore the coastline more before stopping.

I did have more work to do so I sat at the cafe for awhile, trying pie, a smoothie, and a local beer before heading home for the evening.

I really enjoyed my time in Helsinki! I hope I can come back one day because there's so much more to see here. Something I wanted to do but didn't have time was visit the sea fortress and UNESCO site, Suomenlinna because the ferries run by the market every hour and tickets are part of the public transportation system.

Enjoy this 4am sunrise!