Midsummer – Juhannus

Midsummer in Helsinki is a curious experience.The city is pretty much deserted, as everybody is in the countryside spending time with friends and family, visiting sauna all night long, drinking lots of beer and Sima etc.. Shops, museums, almost everything is closed and cycling through the empty, quiet streets has a feel of “alien on…

It’s the little things…

…that illustrate the difference between a first-class and “normal class” venue. I work as one of the moderators for Sibelius Finland Experience during the summer months – a beautiful, one-hour concert event in Helsinki where young master students and musicians present music composed by Jean Sibelius to guests from all over the world (piano-violin). This…

Royals in Helsinki

Even if you don’t know what’s going on, an empty marketplace in Helsinki is a sure sign that something is going on, because the marketplace is “never” empty, unless of course, the place is needed for spectators who want to get a glimpse of the nordic heads of state: the three Nordic royals, the president…

Sailing on Cannon Sloop Diana

While Suomenlinna is known as a Unesco-World Heritage site, many people don’t know that a group of enthusiastic shipbuilders has rebuilt one of the original types of wooden warships they invented in Suomenlinna. For educational purposes, we Suomenlinna guides received an invitation to participate in a short sailing trip on the historic “tykkisluupi” and to…

Happy to have it back

For months I have looked for a new wristband for my wristwatch. Even calling the company didn’t help, as they don’t produce the watch anymore and so, there are no wristbands either anymore. I really don’t like this fast-paced ever-changing world of products. My new neighbourhood for the summer, fancy Ullanlinna, is full of goldsmiths,…

Harakka

I almost wouldn’t have written this post! At least I wondered if I would survive after joining a nature excursion to an island that is located only some 100 m from the seashore in front of Kaivopuisto, but felt like being located at the Northpole. I could have done with a few more layers of…

Sisu Day

I have registered for using the city bike. Still, I picked up my ancient (read: even unlocked nobody will steal it) bike from a friend where it had hibernated while I was gone. Being a Finn, even she wasn’t sure whether laughing or getting depressed would be the more appropriate reaction to the weather. You…

Cruise Craze

The season has started and I survived my first tour, taking cruise guests through Helsinki and to Winter Wonderland. It seems that half of the world’s population spends half of their time on cruise ships nowadays. Helsinki gets a fair share of them each summer. Good for me, working as a tour guide is fun,…