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Sunrise somewhere over Ural.
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Approaching Helsinki-Vantaa.
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Our apartment in Hotel Room
1 at Helsinginkatu 12 B.
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Yellow and orange are the
dominating colors in this hippie apartment.
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It is also a space saving
miracle, both the bathroom and the toilet are in built-in closets.
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Lunch at Maya. We've read
some food bloggers praising this place, but it is quite mediocre
(we visited the place once when living in Helsinki 2006-08).
Helsinki still needs a good tex-mex place.
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The Pullman Bar at the main
railway station --- watching commuters and enjoying a couple of
nice beers.
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Dinner at a restaurant
Tristan in Ruoholahti with our friends Jouni, Satu, and their
daughter Heidi who visited us in Singapore in February. This just
recently opened place was previously known as Basilica and Bistro
Del Mar, especially the latter having been a great nuisance to the
nearby residents because of the loud music played at nights (and
teenager roaming around drunk)
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The food is good, but the
service staff is not quite upto their job.
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Our last stop for the night
is One Pint pub in Ruoholahti, our all time favorite neighborhood
pub.
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Waiting for the tram in
Ruoholahti at 10pm.
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Good morning, Helsinki. This
is what we see at 6am. when heading out for our Saturday morning
run. (it is 11am in Singapore time)
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We run three times around
Töölönlahti. Here we stop to admire
Opera Ophidia, a snake-like monument by three Finnish artists, and
Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom memorial plaque.
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Senate Square in front of
the Cathedral.
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One of our favorite places
to visit in Helsinki, even before we moved out of the country, is
Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. (http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en/) And
that's something we do this time, too, and not only because of the
great brewery restaurant but some unique Finnish arts and crafts
sold in the number of shops and exhibitions.
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Cafe Ice Cellar in
Suomenlinna Sea Fortress.
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Suomenlinna Brewery beer
tasters.
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Toast Skagen at Suomenlinna
Brewery.
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On our last night in
Helsinki we have dinner at Soulkitchen. This is our second visit
to this classy hippie kind of place, and the service is equally
lacking as it was in our first visit. In our opinion, two things one
should never need to wait for long in a restaurant are placing the
order and checking out.
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Some late evening natural
light entering Soulkitchen.
Next
morning we pick up our rental car, Skoda Octavia, at the airport,
and start a countryside tour to Tampere, Mänttä
and Tappuvirta, the summer house of Tomi's parents.
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Domestic pizza chain
Kotipizza claims that their Berlusconi has been voted the best
pizza in the world. The toppings are smoked reindeer, chanterelle
mushrooms, and red onion.
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The roads in South central
Finland are mostly empty.
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We did not try this place,
but it has received great reviews from netizens, visiting the
place from as far as the capital area.
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Summer fashion
Mänttä style from Nanso.
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Street view to Kauppakatu at
night.
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Standard (which means good!)
Finnish hotel breakfast in Alexander, part I.
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Standard Finnish hotel
breakfast in Alexander, part II.
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Exhibit at Serlachius Museum
Gustaf located in the old HQ of G.A. Serlachius Ltd. (paper mill)
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These (paper) figures speak
with the mouths of Serlachius employees over the years. For us who
are from big (or biggish) cities, learning how practically
everyone in Mänttä worked or still works for
Serlachius, and that at one point of time the company provided
everything from education to health care, from sports and
recreation to groceries for the community, is quite an eye-opener.
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Honor mentions in the
architectural design competition for the extension of the
Serlachius Museum Gösta.
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The mural in the entrance
hall of Serlachius Museum Gustaf.
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Our next stop is at Pekilo
for The XVI Mänttä Art Festival (running since
1993). It is an excellent showcase of modern Finnish (and some
Estonian) art by mostly young artists.
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The theme of the festival
exhibition this year is "Respect your mother and father".
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The industrial environment
of Pekilo is impressive.
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Some outside structures of
this former pekilo plant are also used as exhibition spaces.
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Some of the art is not that
easily accessible.
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Mänttä
Club, restaurant and hotel. Another structure initiated by the
Serlachius family. We have lunch at the club.
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Goulasch soup, more shiny
than the day.
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Serlachius Museum Gustaf
that we visited earlier.
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Our final art stop in
Mänttä is Honkahovi Art Center for the
exhibition "Haute Couture." This is another excellent
example of flourishing Finnish modern art, full of great tricks
like Niksi-Pirkka, a column in a staple household magazine.
This is work by Johanna
Havimäki.
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Bangers and mash, crocheted.
("Die röhrende Wurst" by Liisa Hietanen)
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More works by Johanna
Havimäki.
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"Camp" by Jere
Ruotsalainen and Jaakko Himanen.
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Honkahovi viewed from the
lake.
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"You're There" by
Jarno Vesala.
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"PE1 1NO2" by
Jaakko Himanen.
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After the modern art
splurge, we start the drive to Viljonlahti in Southern Savonia
where Tomi's parents have the summer house.
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It has been raining heavily,
so we are a bit worried about how our short lake land vacation
will turn out.
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The dark clouds are
receding.
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The summer house is bathing
in the evening sun as we approach the island.
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The "main building"
of the Silander summer residence.
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The early morning is a bit
too cool to go canoeing so we take a short hike around the island,
which really is not that big.
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Tomi 's parents, Timo and
Eila fishing, their eternal and favorite pastime, especially hers.
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Later in the afternoon we
make a short canoeing trip.
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Afterwards we are taken to a
cruise around the Kaija Island on the new motor boat.
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Next morning we head out to
another short canoeing trip.
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It is impossible to imagine
how quiet it is here. When the wind is still, there is no natural
or artificial sound. Quite a surreal if not disturbing feeling.
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When leaving the Summer
house, we stop for lunch at Restaurant Ruukinranta in Oravi.
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Fried vendace 14,90 € ,
with mashed potatoes, oil with dill flavor and Caesar dressing ,
bread and butter.
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Fish plate 11,90 € ,
smoked vendace, slightly salted white fish, salmon terrine and
salad, bread and butter .
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Puumalansalmi Bridge, the
fourth longest highway bridge in Finland.
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Another view of the sunset.
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Pizza Margherita at Hovi.
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Next morning we hit the
nearby trail system for an early run.
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The trail is built for cross
country skiing; that explains the profile, which is quite
challenging to run. No wonder we don't see anyone else.
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The Puumalansalmi Bridge and
Tei.
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Another Finnish breakfast
buffet.
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Family hotel Kuittiset. A
lovely, neat, clean and quiet accommodation just "downtown'
Puumala.
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The GPS takes us to all
those small rocky roads.
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Late lunch at Johans Summer
Restaurant in Porvoo.
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Clockwise
from top:
Prawns
on toasted archipelago bread.
Spring
cabbage roll and herb sauce.
Johans
warm smoked salmon and tartar sauce.
Johans
new potato-radish salad, mustard dressing.
And
down:
Herb roasted beetroot and
yogurt raita.
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Our final stop before
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is Pikkulintu in Puotila, Eastern
Helsinki. This is our second favorite beer pub.
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Pikkulintu may be better
known of its excellent selection of Scotch than its beers, though.
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A great place to relax, no
music playing.
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Heading to the sunset ....
hmm, the airport.
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A quick bite and a glass of
wine at a quiet lounge before boarding.
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