Helsinki. August (Elokuu) 29, 2014

Terve Terve –

For the foodies.. our sapas were quite wonderful, although small and requiring at least one main course (which we shared)… Began the meal with cocktails.. me: gin with some spruce sprig and gooseberry soda.. Mike a traditional scotch. We shared a bunch of “sapas” including: Trout sausage with roe and horseradish; Baked porridge with smoked Baltic herring and cucumber; potatoes from Herttoniemi with onion; “Cabbage pie” with kohlrabi; Organic beef, dill and beetroot; and beef on a stick with fennel.. and for the main course we had some kind of pork with black currant leaf and marinated onions.. followed by a dessert which was a “cheese” cake (not actually cheese) with local berries.

That was dinner.. in a very cute, neighborhood place with a name chef (something unheard of when we lived here and food was quite basic.. meat and potatoes or fish and potatoes.. and maybe cauliflower soup.. )

On to Friday (perjantai).. our last day in Helsinki (viime päivä)… By the way, absolutely everyone speaks English now.. and I mean everyone.. and they speak it very well. When we lived here only a few (mostly the most educated) spoke English. It’s useless for us to even try to use what little Finnish we remember as everyone immediately flips to English.. It’s embarrassing. Especially since most of them speak other languages well (beyond English.. and they all speak Swedish fluently.. that’s a requirement.) I might have mentioned earlier that since Finland is a bilingual country.. all signs are in both Finnish and Swedish.. and if you go to a town where the Swedish Finns are the majority the signage is in Swedish first and Finnish second.. But when you are in a city where the Finns are the majority Finnish is on top.. and Swedish second. Same in the cinema where the titles are also in both languages and priority is based on majority population. It’s been wonderful to be back.. It does feel like a second home.

Today we are off to see a new library for the University, a new church in the downtown which is the result of an architectural competition (as are many of the building here).. and to the market and random places in between. Hopefully no more shoes (especially ones that I am unlikely to wear after my foot heals). By the way, yesterday, as we were in the taxi, the Presidential “motorcade” passed by and traffic stopped.. Motorcade consists of the president’s car and one other car.. Not much of a big deal. The taxi driver was laughing as we couldn’t figure out where the President was coming or going.. “so maybe,” said the taxi driver, “he’s just going shopping” as he was very close to Stockmann’s, the major department store!

Fern