Tag: helsinki

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!

Coworking In Helsinki

This is the first time I am working from Helsinki since I started to work for my current firm – not just connecting here and there, but actually working. When we started planning it in June, I started looking for a coworking space, and I found one close to our place. It’s only a 10-minute bus ride, unfortunately in the direction opposite the city center, but still very close.

In June, we went there to find out all the details. I liked what I saw and heard. I could claim a free day within the first month I sign up for their web app and then pay per day, or buy a series or a subscription (which I didn’t need, but that was an option). Monday was my first day in this coworking space (a free day), and I loved it. I immediately bought a ten-day series for a private office.

Here is what I got:

  • The room is a private office “for 1-2 people”, it has a desk, two office chairs and two stools, a desk monitor, a wall monitor and a white board.
  • It has a private bathroom with a shower, towels, shamooo/coditioner/hairdryer
  • There is an ironning board behind the mirror and an iron
  • Also a mini-kitchen with the sink, the kettle/tea bags/coffe/milk:
Continue reading “Coworking In Helsinki” →

Helsinki Botanic Garden

On Monday, I met with my friend Natasha to discuss the details of their upcoming visit to Chicago. She suggested visiting the Helsinki Botanic Garden. Since I didn’t get a chance to see enough roses this time, I fully supported that idea.

A Long Bike Trip

We went on a long (3-hour) bike trip on Sunday. The weather continued to be perfect, and the sightseeing was gorgeous as usual. I couldn’t take any pictures during the ride because we kept going :), so you just have to trust me! These ones were at made at our turning point.

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 7

On Sunday, we met with my friend Natasha and her family, had a nature walk, and visited the Technical Museum. It was a relatively long hike, mostly on a boardwalk over the salty water marshes. We stopped at a couple of observation stations, but it was difficult to see the birds without special equipment.

The waterfalls in this park are amazing!
Continue reading “Helsinki Day 7” →

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 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

Boris and I had an early morning bike ride, and I was shocked by how empty the streets were in the morning. Even at 6-30, there were almost no cars and no bikers or people. That was a great ride, and I was thankful for Boris because it’s not his favorite time of the day to bike 🙂

Unfortunately, the rest of the day didn’t go like the day before – it was raining on and off, often heavily. we still decided to go to Suomenlinna, which was probably not the best decision we could make :), but what’s done is done.

No good pictures because of that, but a couple of them taken by Anna earlier – on the plane and on the first day: