Tag: finland

Ateneum

I am back in Chicago, and 200% of the time, I am busy, as anybody can figure out from my silence here. The previous post was drafted during my flight back and was not published because the in-flight internet connection went down in the middle of the flight, and I didn’t have time after that :). Still, I wanted to write a little bit more about what I saw in Helsinki.

Whenever I come to Helsinki, I immediately feel “everything is fine, and ok, and life is normal and orderly.” I know that my Finnish friends disagree with me, but we have different reference points :). This time, I worked every day, so it was not that much time to do something else. The only fun thing I’ve done was an outing with my friend Natasha: we went to the Ateneum Museum, which recently reopened after a major reconstruction.

The exhibit we saw is called Gothic Modern, and it explores the influence of Medieval art on 20th-century modern art. Each room is dedicated to one of the themes common to both historical periods: religion, life, death, sexuality, violence, etc. I didn’t know most of the Finnish artists who were part of this exhibit, and I even purchased an exhibit catalog with the hope of reading more! At some point, I stopped taking pictures because I realized I wouldn’t be able to remember what exactly had drawn my attention.

Munch
Max Klinger. On the Rails
Sasha Schneider. Feeling of Dependency

Getting back to the existing worries about the state of the economy and life instability. I would not say that the worries are unjustified. However, even now, even with all the economic uncertainties, I appreciate the virtual non-existence of homelessness, the accessibility of healthcare (yes, I know, but again – we have different baselines), and the fact that the buses run on schedule:))

A Week Of Working At Valo

I used Valo Work for the whole week, and each day, I loved it more. Both Thursday and Friday, I went there earlier so that I could work out and then have breakfast. Breakfasts were amazing, even better than lunches.

Not pictured: they had overnight oats, and I decided just to try a spoonful, and it turned out that they had fresh (I guess, defrosted, but tasted like fresh) wild blueberries! Absolutely fantastic. Also not pictured: a huge selection of cold cuts and cheese, and nuts/dried fruit/you name it.

Here is a picture I promised last time:

Don’t you love these sitting spots on the stairs?! And electric outlets everywhere. This area is open to everyone, and there are many other sitting areas, like this one:

I kept discovering new amenities of my private office; on Thursday, I found that each office has a fridge 🙂

Although my office rent time was technically from 9 AM to 5 PM, my key worked when I would come at 7-30, so I could leave my things there and go to the gym, and then to breakfast, and then actually start working at 9 AM. I will definitely do it again next time I am there!

Sailing In The Finnish Gulf

Friends took us on a short sailing trip, and it was the best sailing trip of my life! Nothing like motion sickness, enjoyable weather, amazing views and a dog on my lap 🙂 Thank you, Zoe!

Biking In Helsinki

We biked to Ikea yesterday, using a new route that Boris found instead of the one that is half in an under-construction zone. As usual, biking in Finland is amazing, and I can’t stop admiring its convenience and safety. The big portion of the route was through the forest and meadows, with the smell of the blooming flowers and the sounds of the birds chirping following us.

Ikea was just a destination, not like we needed anything specific (although I got some non-essential things, can you avoid it?). And we had lunch there. I do not know anything about other Ikea stores in their native territory, but this particular Ikea in Espoo never spoke any language other than Finnish, so I always struggled to communicate with the staff, including the restaurant. Boris had to utilize his Finnish 🙂

Vacation! As I anticipated :)

During the flight:

Bamboo toothbrush i the care package

Yesterday at the Vantaa airport:

Cardamom bun

In the city:

Newly reconstructed Sibelius park

And sleeping until 6-20 in the morning, and waking up for breakfast, and lots of biking, and more ice cream and Fazer pastries… and (almost) no deadlines 😀.

Helsinki Day 8

That was the last full day in Helsinki, and it was impossible to fit in “everything we haven’t done yet.” The weather was expected to be exceptional, and Anna really wanted to go back to Soumenlinna, so she convinced the rest of her family that it’s the best way to spend the last day.

And you know what – I agree with her!

It was very warm but also very windy, and when we were on the top of the fortress walls, it almost felt like the wind could blow you away. We walked in the water and just set on the stones looking at the Finnish Gulf. This is one of few places in the world where I can sit and do nothing, and think nothing, just taking the world in.

Later in the day, since in was still very warm, Anna & Family went to the beach. I didn’t stay there; the water was cold (although Anna and Nadia went in later). I decided to wait for my Lyola beach :). It’s worth mentioning though that this beach is so much better equipped with all the necessities, like toilets, changing rooms, lockers and even showers! I am jealous!

Helsinki Day 6

On Saturday morning, Anna biked to our place, and we had a two-and-a-half-hours bike ride all over Helsinki. Both Anna and I were tired, but Boris wanted to show us all the best places, so it took a while 🙂

Anna was filming the whole route with her 360 camera, but for now, I only have a couple of pictures:

By the time we were done with this ride, and Boris and I parked our bikes, it was almost eleven, which meant that the ice cream place by the Sibelius monument was about to open!

In the afternoon, Nadia and I went clothes shopping; that was the birthday activity I promised to her many months ago. We also picked up several outfits for Kira and some Moomin toys for both of them. And in the evening, the four of us went to the concert at the Church in the Rock. We sat in the very front row, as close to the musicians as none of us ever sat, and listened to this truly amazing concert!

Helsinki Day 4

On Thursday, we went to the museum island Seurasaari. I thought we would spend just a couple of hours there, but the weather was nice, and there were plenty of kids’ activities, so we ended up staying there almost until closing (or rather until it started to rain).

I just realized after checking my June blog entries that I didn’t even had time to post about Sauresaari in June, when I visited the museum with Natasha’s family. In comparison with the June visit, there were more open houses, more activities for children, and more food available in the cafe, so the whole visit was even more fun than I expected. I will add some of my June pictures to that post.

The Museum was opened in 1909, and it hosts old buildings from different parts of FInland which are being carefully moved to the island and rebuilt/restored there. In addition, each house contant s gigantic collection on different household objects from the correspnding region/historical period. Also, I love it when you can climb the rocks and smell the pines.

The boat shed
A farmstand
Continue reading “Helsinki Day 4” →

Helsinki Day 3

We were so scared of the rain the day before that we ended up spending most of the day indoors visiting different museums.

The first one was a Burger House showing how well-off people in Helsinki lived in the second half of the 19th century.

With Anna at the Senat Square

Then we visited Aethenium Museum and then – The Helsinki City Museum.

Both of them had activities for kids, which made everybody happy. In fact, Nadia was so fascinated with the “classroom” exhibit in the Helsinki City Museum, she didn’t want to go anywhere else and stayed there almost until the museum closed 🙂

Anna at the classroom piano

All these exhibits plus more ice cream made the day, and we were glad we didn’t plan anything else!

Helsinki Day 2 – Dinner

Harald restaurant is an awesome place. I discovered it last year when we had two conference events with my previous company, and this time, I didn’t have any doubts about where we should have a family dinner (what was supposed to be the June birthdays dinner, but whatever :)).

Everybody loved it, both the food and the ambiance. And it turned out that there was a playroom for the kids 🙂