9. June 18, 2024: From Rovaniemi to Helsinki
Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
June 18, 2024
Following breakfast in Rovaniemi, we headed to explore the city before going to the airport to fly to Helsinki. As we got into our car we heard loud aircrafts –low flying jets—above. The bellman who was helping us with our luggage saw our curiosity and said, “Those are American aircraft.” We looked at him quizzically and he continued: “They are here to train Finnish pilots, now that we are in NATO.”
We decided to drive rather than walk around Rovaniemi so that we could avoid the rain and also leave from wherever we might be to get to the airport directly rather than having to stop back at the hotel. First, we headed to the public library and city hall which were both designed by Alvar Aalto (who also came up with the master plan for the city—the one that is based on reindeer antlers, so there are many dead-end streets and no grid to follow) in the 1960s. Given our disdain for “starchitects,” we never went to see these buildings on prior visits to Rovaniemi. Well now, they are under pretty major renovations and reconstruction, so we were unable to get inside, and the exteriors were blocked with mesh fencing.
We then meandered around town looking at various housing projects and then went to the Arktikum—a truly amazing science center and museum that focuses on northern nature, culture, and history. Normally there is a trail that goes along the shore outside the museum, but it is currently closed due to some flooding, but will reopen next week. The center is a linear skylit structure stretching the full 300 ft length. It is on two levels with a soaring atrium. There are exhibits on both sides of the walkways (on both floors) and then there are doors interspersed which lead you to large spaces with three dimensional exhibits of history and nature of the region. Currently there was also an exhibit of old maps which showed the evolution of the northern countries and land above the Arctic Circle. It was obvious from the text complementing the maps that the curator (and the museum) took great pride in the explorers, mapmakers, artists, and others from the north. Several text passages talk about the efforts and defeat of British explorers and the successes of the Norse explorers. Beautifully detailed exhibit design set inside an elegant, simple space that goes out of its way to be the backdrop rather than the focus of the experience. The architect for the building was selected through a competition. Oh… one thing I forgot to mention is that within the exhibits one can hear the chirping sounds of birds. These sounds are also often piped into public restrooms. Speaking of restrooms, the images pointing to different restrooms (gender, handicap, etc.) include one for the baby changing room and the picture is of a male with the baby.
We had a simple lunch at the museum (mostly vegetarian options) and by then it was time to head to the airport (lentoasema). We returned the Sixt car (totally caked with mud from yesterday’s drive) and then went through security which turned out to be a bit of a fiasco (for me). First, after I scanned my boarding pass on my phone, I walked through and pulled my rolling computer bag, but it got caught on the door and next thing I knew I was on one side of the security door and my computer bag was on the other side; the handle of my bag was still in my hand and attached to the bag. There was no way for me to go back and start again as the doors were now closed and an alarm was ringing and a red light was flashing. After what seemed like an eternity (but was probably about 4 minutes) security came to open the door so that I could get my bag. But she couldn’t get the door to open either; then she talked to a passenger who was going through the adjacent security door, and she had him get my bag and pull it through. All was good after that.. except I was pulled out to have my bags inspected. Given the U.S. policy with TSA, if you are PreCheck, I am no longer accustomed to taking off shoes, removing computer, and removing liquids. So, I needed to redo their security process.
The flight from Rovaniemi to Helsinki is short, like Oakland to LA. We landed at the Helsinki airport at about7:30 pm and taxied to our hotel (a hotel we had stayed at twice before), Hotelli Kamp, a former bank that has been a hotel for about 15 years. Continuing the theme about immigrants in Finland—the taxi driver was from Afghanistan. The Kamp is one of those hotels with impeccable service and has an air of elegance (just like us!!). At 9 pm we met up with good friends from the days we lived here and had dinner at Café Savoy. Lots of conversation about what has transpired personally, politically, professionally in the last 5 years. Much discussion about Finland joining NATO, Europe’s move to the right politically, and a lot of laughter about Finland continuously being named “the happiest country in the world.” And of course, much discussion on the political situation in the US, the religious right, Trump’s prospect, Biden’s situation, etc.
It is truly nice to have friendships where the relationship just picks up after each five-year period as if no time has lapsed. We closed out the restaurant and strolled to the hotel. We will meet up again tomorrow.
Happy Juneteenth.
Fern
8A. June 17, 2024: Inari to Rovaniemi
Monday, June 17 2024.
Greetings from Rovaniemi—
Today was truly a car day. We drove about 240 miles from Inari (left after breakfast) using a route that took us a bit further west than the way we came to Inari on Saturday. This route was longer (about 40 miles more and about 90 minutes more). Figured it would be boring to see the exact same lakes and trees as we had seen going north. Definitely a good idea !!?? Over the first two hours we counted just 20 cars in either direction. But we saw lots and lots of reindeer. They are not very smart and do not really move off the road, or at least not very quickly. Or perhaps they are very smart and realize that they were here before us and also that we will stop for them. They sort of linger a while and then dash off. We saw whole families of reindeer as well as a few very independent ones (or maybe some lost ones). This route was really slow since huge parts of it were unpaved and later in the journey we came upon large swaths of road that were being re-paved so we were driving over gravel for long stretches. I guess they do all road repairs in the summer months so as to have good roads by wintertime. As I’ve mentioned numerous times, the roads are excellent and this is why. They invest in infrastructure!
Given the infrequency of seeing another person or another vehicle, we were extremely glad that we didn’t get a flat tire or need assistance. Not sure how we’d describe to any service people where we were. Maybe “98th tree to the left?”
We had intermittent drizzle and bursts of strong sunshine, but the drive was fine. We drove past Pokka, a town of just 90 residents—with its reputation as being one of the coldest villages in Finland: the place where the lowest temperature ever in Finland (and in Europe, they claim) has been measured: “MINUS 51 degrees in January 1999.” Today it was about 60 degrees. And we stopped for lunch in Kittila, which has an interesting history.
In 1991 a group of French and Belgians formed a community (some say a cult) in Kittila. They were called “the Iriadamant” The residents dressed in Native American clothing. They arrived in Finland with help from a professor at the University of Oulu, to “study living in nature” and to learn about self-sufficiency. They founded a camp near Kittilä. Even though they were Europeans, they were referred to as “Kittilä’s Indians” or “lifestyle Indians,” Initially they were seen as a positive element. But within a year or so, that changed. The professor called off the relationship when it was obvious that no research was being done at the camp. Supposedly, the conditions were miserable; the camp was cold and dirty, and residents lacked food and healthcare. It was revealed that the group was dependent on food from outsiders, and it turned out that the founder of the Iriadamant, Pierre Maltais, did not actually live in the camp; rather he lived in a hotel in Helsinki. Then the movement began to be seen as a negative force and an eco-cult. It was thought that the leadership deceived the outside world and its members. By 1993, the Iriadamant were deported, and the community disbanded soon after. All of this in little Kittilä a town with 6,000 residents.
The Iriadamant camp was actually founded by Pierre Doris Maltais, a French Canadian who also used the names Norman William and Alpjoine, and who claimed he was of Métis ancestry (mixed European and Indigenous background). In 1973, Maltais founded an ecological group and moved to Paris to sell natural products. A few years later, the group went on a worldwide tour to plant trees and spread their philosophy. Basically, the members lived a simple and somewhat primitive lifestyle. They rejected modern diets, medical care, and even the use of tools. The name Iriadamant is some kind of derivation of “lifestyle painters.” Anyway, we didn’t run into any descendants of the group in Kittila.
We were hungry by the time we got to Kittilä. It was about 2:30 and we were starving. We drove up and down the main street and could only find one place to eat—a pizza place. They had 38 different kinds of pizza, but we had a hard time finding a simple one (without lamb or pineapple). Finally, the guy behind the counter, who had been hearing us discuss ingredients, suggested a simple tomato, pepper, mushroom, onion pizza and we said fine. He asked us whether we wanted small, medium, or large.. He recommended medium for two people. About 10 minutes later, our pie arrived and it was literally 24” in diameter. We could have fed 10 people. We did what we could but basically could only eat about half of the pie.
Turns out that the guy behind the counter, who was fluent in Finnish and English, is from Kurdistan! We asked why he came to Finland (meaning why Finland? Not too many Kurds here), but he took the question to mean “Why did he leave Kurdistan?” Anyway, he said “My family had an argument with a neighboring family, so we had to leave.” Mmmm I think the disagreement was a little bigger than that. In any case, here he is—a Kurdish immigrant in Finland and in this tiny 6,000-person town in the middle of nowhere, serving gigantic pizzas.
We then headed to Rovaniemi and here we are. Just finished dinner at the hotel. We hadn’t planned on that and strolled to check out two restaurants, but many restaurants are closed on Mondays, so the hotel turned out to be the best bet. Tomorrow we will explore Rovaniemi. Last time we were here–about 15 years ago– we had come from the far north—having crossed into Finland from Norway at the most northern part and drove down to Rovaniemi.
Fly to Helsinki tomorrow late afternoon.
Best
Fern
PS – The photo of the car shows just how dirty our rental car got on today’s drive. Thanks for all the supportive comments on the travel notes. Some of you asked questions which I promise to answer as soon as I can pull them all together.
8. June 16, 2024: Inari to Rovaniemi
Sunday, June 16 2024.
GREETINGS from Inari/ Day 2
We set off today to see the small wilderness church called Pielpajarvitie. We drove to the parking area (which was sparsely filled) and then set out to walk into the forest to find the church. However, we did not really ever look at precisely where the church is located. We began to hike in on the muddy, meandering path which required great navigation skills and balance since the tree roots had spread out radially such that they were above ground making the hike a bit treacherous. And there were lots of rocks and boulders to navigate as well. At one point we ran up against a fence and we thought the path was closed. But a sign explained that the fence was to prevent reindeer from taking that path, and it was OK to go through the “gate,” which turned out to be a purple sheet that you could duck under. After about 30 minutes we saw a map—and learned that the hike to the church (which is one of the oldest structures in all of northern Finland) was another three miles in and then 4 miles back. We decided to turn around for fear we’d get to the church and be too tired to walk back to the car (4 miles more). So, we headed back, trying to carefully avoid the mosquitoes. Then we headed for SIIDA, the Sami Museum.
Sami Museum (SIIDA) here in Inari is incredible. Exceptional exhibit design and concepts that truly take you through the history of Sami people as well as the ecology of northern Finland. While it is clear the Sami are a strong, independent, and engaged population, they have gone through difficult times which some would describe as colonialism, much the same way Native Americans and other groups have been marginalized and had aspects of their culture removed. Many Sami were sent to boarding schools to get “educated” but where they also lost aspects of the culture and their language. Its one of those museum exhibits where you feel like you will never have enough time to get through with the information—which is all presented very visually through digital means and also with great text.
After grabbing a simple lunch at the Museum, we headed to the Sami Cultural Center but it was closed so we moved on to drive to Nellim, a small fishing village about an hour from the site of the museum. In Nelim we saw a wonderful wood Eastern Orthodox church built in 1987 out of Lappish logs. Nellim is only 6 kilometers from the Russian border so now that Finland is in NATO we looked for signs of military tanks—didn’t see any. Along the way to Nellim we stopped at another church in Ivalo that we saw from the road and which looked interesting.
It was our day of religious structures; On our way to dinner later that night we stopped at a very sweet roadside church (there are 400 roadside churches—kirkotie) in Finland. We didn’t go into any of these churches as they were all closed so we only saw them from the outside.
Dinner at Ukko about 3 miles from our hotel was quite lovely in a great space with soaring ceilings and panoramic views of Lake Inari. Drove back to the hotel at about 11:00 and the sun was still above the horizon. Sunset was probably around midnight and sunrise at 2 am… but it’s never dark. Makes for wonderfully long days.
All is good here, except for the mosquitoes. The Finns are complaining too. They say it is the worst year for mosquitoes (well maybe a good year for mosquitoes and a bad year for people trying to enjoy the outdoors). Our waitress at dinner was born, schooled and lives in Inari. She spent two years in Malta where she learned English and then spent some time in Helsinki and Tampere, but returned to live in Inari. We chatted about changes due to increased tourism and global warming. Years ago the entire lake would freeze in the winter (and yes cars drive across it in winter), but now there are spots that do not freeze so one needs to be more careful driving. (We did drive on the ice on a lake in northern Finland when we lived here; it’s a very eerie experience with no sense of scale or direction… Like driving in the desert without any roads, except the tracks of other vehicles.) By the way, the most popular tourist time here is in the winter. Most tourists coming up north are from Germany and Austria and some from the Netherlands. And the area gets a lot of Finnish tourists coming from the south.
We head back to Rovaniemi in the morning and onward to Helsinki the next day (flying to Helsinki from Rovaniemi.)
All the best –
Fern
Saturday, June 15 2024. : Greetings from Inari (above the Arctic Circle)
Terveisiä pohjois-sumesta (Greetings from Northern Finland)
We left Rovaniemi at about noon. It was drizzling and about 58 degrees. My quick comments on Rovaniemi… much like I felt on the two or three other times we were there: sort of chintzy and touristy. Its proximity to the Arctic Circle (about 6 kilometers) and a decision made decades ago to become known as the year-round location for Santa Claus, and I suppose all the elves too (and the reindeer). So there is a whole village about 5 or 6 kilometers from the city totally devoted to Santa. You can have Santa’s salmon and take pictures with Santa and god knows what else. The city itself has grown but of all the Finnish cities I’ve been to over the years it’s the least attractive (and ofcourse being there when it was overcast and drizzling didn’t help). Still if you are going north it’s hard to avoid Rovaniemi. The airport is there, and although we were driving, we will be dropping off our rental car and flying from Rovaniemi on the 18th. So we will actually be back there again on the night of the 17th. There are a few things we actually want to see when we get back— most especially the new science museum.
When we lived in Finland, we had a Finnish friend named Seppo who was a traffic planner. He told us that the plan (layout) for Rovaniemi is so chaotic because Alvar Aalto did the master plan. His concept for the layout of the city was tied to reindeer horns. So no streets go straight or through and it is impossible to get from one place to another. Every time I’ve been here I laugh because it’s true. No grid! Aalto also designed many of the important civic buildings in town. Another thing to note is that northern Finland seems to have attracted many foreigners as workers. One salesperson I chatted with in a shop was from China; two workers in our hotel were Black; in tonight’s hotel the reception clerk is from Spain and our waiter is half-Greek/half-Finnish.
We headed north and drove about 200 miles. Once again, a wonderfully paved, pothole-free, billboard-free drive alongside and over untold numbers of crystal-clear lakes and rivers, always with forested woodlands on either side of the road. Green, lush, and fairly low. Finland’s trees never grow very tall because of the climate and up north trees are even shorter. We only ran into one lone reindeer (strolling along the road and minding his/her own business. The road is one lane in each direction with speed limits set at 100 kmh (60 mph). We shared the driving and stopped a few times to either admire the view or to get a snack or to take a 15-minute power nap or to stroll in one of the small towns along the way. We stopped for a simple lunch at some café where we had salmon soup that was fresh and quite good. It also came with what was described as a “pancake” but we would call it a crepe.. with cloudberries (lakkoja). Turns out the woman working at the café grew up very close to the café (which was 75 miles north of Rovaniemi) but had left and lived/worked in London for 35 years -– in banking!; she returned just 5 years ago to take care of her ailing father. She talked about the difficulty of adjusting back to Finnish life.. and especially the challenges of adjusting to life in very very rural northern Finland.
We stopped in a small town (Sodenkyla) that was having some kind of street fair— there was a big tent serving different Finnish dishes; high school kids were performing; and there were booths with different foods and stuff to buy (lots of candy). Interesting, this very small town of about 8,000 people has a bookstore! Actually, three are bookstores all over Finland. What is wrong with the US when we can barely keep independent bookstores alive? (Yes, I know, Americans don’t read!)
Then we continued our journey past scores more lakes. Indeed, there are 188,000 lakes in Finland that are at least 5 acres large; they don’t even count smaller lakes. And 10% of Finland is comprised of lakes, many with very small “islands” popping up all over the lakes. We finally arrived at Wilderness Hotel Juutua in Inari. It is quite lovely. Our room faces the river (Juutuajoki) which runs extremely fast although we can’t figure out why since there aren’t any real mountains in Finland. We think the water is coming from a very large lake (Paatera) and perhaps that lake is at a high elevation ?? We have our own in-room sauna, which is very nice, and the room and the hotel are both very tasteful and well appointed. Simple, lots of wood. And totally opposite our hotel in Rovaniemi which was filled with so many mirrors in the lobby I was getting dizzy and also got lost finding the elevator. The room was similarly decked out. Tonight’s hotel is like its setting… simple, tasteful, woodsy.
Tonight we had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant Aanar which turned out to be a great choice. Floor to ceiling glass with tables along the river edge. Wonderful menu and preparation was fantastic. First a tiny plate of reindeer tartare (compliments of the chef). We chose two starters to share: pickled whitefish with roe, marinated onions and fish cream; and smoked reindeer heart with lingonberry sauce, marinated mushrooms and reindeer bone marrow. Both dishes were great and presentation of each was a visual delight. We then shared two main dishes: arctic char (caught today in the Inari River) prepared with crispy skin but totally buttery fish underneath. It was served with potato puree and dill cream and some baby root veggies—another winner; and reindeer done sous vide with pine needles, mushroom puree, reindeer black pudding, and lingonberry red wine sauce… Oh I forgot to mention that the fish came with a literally paper thin, translucent, sculpted thing on the top.. It was really that thin and covered the whole dish. It was some kind of “potato chip”.. or the chef’s interpretation of a potato chip. This guy knows how to prepare food. We shared a dessert that had chocolate sorbet and some berry concoction. A good way to end the meal and head to our river view room to try out the sauna.
Tomorrow we will explore the area in a leisurely fashion and probably try one of the other nearby restaurants, although I think we will likely compare it with tonight’s meal and that’s just not fair. The Wilderness Hotel has a “sister hotel nearby. We may try their restaurant. It is supposed to be good but doesn’t compare to Aanar. There’s also a pub with burgers and pizza “if we want to step down a notch!” the reception person told us. We just might do that and hang out with some locals.
While I cannot possibly imagine living here, I can see the beauty of it all. And it’s so quiet.
More tomorrow when we don’t plan to drive much at all. Maybe we’ll see a few more reindeer. There are 200,000 of them here in Sami (Lapland). That’s more reindeer than people in all of Sami.
Fern
Friday, June 14 (midnight—sun has not set yet)
Greetings from Rovaniemi (near the Arctic Circle)
We left Oulu which was bright and sunny at about noon and began our journey further north to Rovaniemi which is really just a stopping off point before we head further north (about 200 miles above the Arctic Circle) to Inari. We’ve been to Rovaniemi twice before (once in the fall and once in late winter, never in the summer). But of course we could not make this easy since we decided to make a pit stop in Kemi and actually drive northwest of Rovaniemi to Oranki. Thus it was a lot of driving (about 6 hours total with several stops—short and long).. finally getting to Rovaniemi at about 9:00 pm. Of course, all this needs to be punctuated with the fact that it was totally light when we arrived at 9 pm, and now at midnight it is sort of like dusk. The sun will rise at 2 am, or maybe even a bit sooner. Basically, it is never dark. Indeed, the only thing that is making it dusk-like is the fact that it’s very overcast and has rained on and off. By the way, the clouds up here and the sky are amazing—bright blue and huge cumulus clouds that look like giant cotton balls. The only other place I’ve ever seen such a big blue sky was in Colorado.
Anyway, we headed first to Kemi, a small city of about 20,000 and close to the Swedish border. Kemi is home to the world’s largest snow castle which gets rebuilt every year. And it is home to “Stone Age” or as the locals call it “Clonehenge.” Sitting in a park very close to the Finland Sweden border is a modern-day replica of Stonehenge. It’s made of very smooth granite and is about 50% the size of the real Stonehenge, and is oriented toward the same directions as the original. It marks the sunrise of the summer and winter solstices. The artist claims that the stones will remain upright for at least 2,000 years. It was paid for by the owner of a granite mine who saw this as a monument to the granite industry in Finland. After strolling through the park, we found a little lunch place near the Kemi train station and had some kind of reindeer quiche-like thing. And then we were off, supposedly for Rovaniemi, but we wanted to get to Pello and Oranki (which are totally out of the way and north of Rovaniemi). Our plan had been to go there tomorrow but the weather prediction for tomorrow was rain. So, we decided to keep going and get to Pello and Oranki before Rovaniemi.
The drive all day was actually amazing. Again, not a single pothole to be found and only one billboard in about 300 miles of driving. And very few cars on the road. It is incredible that the roads are in such good repair given the harsh winters. I’m sure the billboard was placed illegally. We drove through forests and about a million lakes and rivers and streams—all with clean, clear bright blue water. The roads are lined with wildflowers and there are fences (which are totally transparent… sort of wire grids) to keep animals safe from passing cars. I think there may be tunnels under the road to allow animals to cross safely. Lots of signs about moose (meese?). We did see a baby reindeer on the road who seemed to have lost his way. All traffic slowed to let him go wherever it was that he was headed.
Eventually, we made it to Oranki—sort of. According to the GPS, we were there.. right on the dot. It was drizzling and cold, but we knew we really weren’t there because Oranki has a lot of anonymous sculptures and environmental art scattered about in the forest and there wasn’t any trace of such structures. At one point, after driving on a dirt road back and forth in search of the “art,” we literally walked up the driveway of one of the three houses on that solitary “road” and knocked on the door. It is Finland and we feel very safe. But alas, no one was home, so we were on our own. We almost left to head straight to Rovaniemi, but we were determined. So we drove a few kilometers more on the more “major” road and turned up another dirt road and began to see evidence of the sculptures in the forest. We parked and walked in to see what we could find. By then it was raining, and we were also surrounded by mosquitoes. Either the mosquitoes really like the Oranki art or they love being in this area in the summer months. We walked (pretty covered up with rain jackets and hoods) for a while to see several of the pieces and then bolted for cover in the car to escape from those tiny flying things. But not totally successful as we both got bitten and there were a few pesky mosquitoes who dared to linger in the car—only to be slain by Fern and Mike.
About the “art:” Not too sophisticated, although a few pieces were interesting. Several (perhaps done by the same person) were very morbid with body parts emerging from the ground or maybe the other way around. From photos we have seen, there are some quite wonderful pieces, but we did not stumble on them. Perhaps had it not rained and had the mosquitoes rejected us, we would have been able to find these other pieces. From what I know, there is an annual exhibit where new pieces are installed annually. Around 150 artists from more than 40 countries have produced works over the past 20 years, that are in this forest. Some of the art pieces have already morphed back to nature, which is part of the concept. And this provides space for new art.
We arrived at our hotel in Rovaniemi close to 9 pm and headed to dinner at Gustav Kitchen. Turns out that Gustav is the brother of Alfred who owns Alfred Kitchen in Oulu where we had eaten last night. We did not know this at the outset, but a quick glance at the menu describing the bread that Gustav’s mother made we realized that Gustav and Alfred must have the same mother. Well Alfred is a better cook and the menu and dishes are a lot better than Gustav’s. I think Gustav just tries too hard. Each dish has at least 10 ingredients with lots of pickled vegetables mixed in that seem to overwhelm everything else. But it was all fine and now I am headed to bed. By the way, since Rovaniemi (at the Arctic Circle) is home to Santa Claus and where he takes off on his sled to do his job—-there are a lot of Santa Claus things here year-round… Including inside the elevator in our hotel.
Tomorrow is another day with a long drive—we head to Inari, about 200 miles north of here. We will stay there for two nights and then return to Rovaniemi (need to find a restaurant here!) for one night before flying to Helsinki for three days where we will end our Finland journey. We do truly love Suomi.
Happy Saturday. Hyvää lauantaita!
Fern
5A. June 13, 2024: Oulu and Kärsämäki
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Sunset at 12:15 am (actually that would be Friday morning); Sunrise at 2:13 am (just two hours later)
In reality it is never dark; the hours between midnight and 2 a.m. are sort of like dusk. Picture that shows window frame taken from our hotel room at 12:30 am. I guess all this daylight is good for our walking steps—averaging between 10,000 and 16,000 steps a day.
Greetings from Oulu-
After breakfast, we headed to Kärsämäki, about 110 miles south of Oulu to see a very interesting church dubbed the “shingle church of Kärsämäki.” First you need to understand that although Finland is a very non-religious country, there remains a religion tax of about 1%. With this money, it appears that the government (or maybe the church itself) commissions the construction of lots of churches throughout the country. Officially, the majority of Finns are Lutheran, but churches are empty on Sunday mornings. Most Finns say they are agnostic (at least those we know). But they keep building new churches and many are exquisitely designed. So, I suppose this tax keeps many architects busy. We had read about this particular shingle church and decided to make the journey. The 90+ minute drive took us through miles and miles of forested roadways and streams, rivers, and lakes. Not a billboard in sight! No potholes. And amazingly well-maintained roads with great signage. As you drive through all of this unbuilt land, you truly get the sense of Finland’s reality: 5.5 million people living in a country whose land mass is the size of California (population about 40 million). We made a little pit stop at the Marimekko Outlet store nearby, which is in a small mall. And as elsewhere in Finland there was a well-equipped large room in the mall that was for kids to play–supervised by a qualified “teacher” so that parents could shop without distraction.
Anyway, we had considered driving to the church when we were planning the trip a few weeks ago and reached out to find out if we could get inside since we knew it was a pretty special interior. We couldn’t find a contact for the church, so we sent an email to the city clerk; we figured that in a town of 2,500 people, the city would be able to either tell us what to do or have the information. It’s pretty rural out there so I knew getting a response in English might be dicey. I did get a response saying that the person I reached out to no longer worked for the town. So, without knowing whether or not we’d get inside we decided to make the drive anyway. In the end, we could only see the church from the outside, and peek in to see the interior. But it was still worth it. Nestled in this little forested area, a stone’s throw from a stream, sat the shingle church.
The story of the church is interesting. In 1999 the local municipality, sponsored an open student competition to rebuild the original 1765 church that was demolished in 1841. There weren’t any documents showing the original appearance of the building, so the competition, which was organized by the Department of Architecture at the University of Oulu, asked for entries that would create a new, modern church using traditional 18th century methods. The final design of the church, the award- winning solution, is based on Anssi Lassila´s winning entry “Cantata.” The task was “to design a contemporary sacred space to be constructed with traditional handicraft methods.” The goal was “to achieve a sense of serenity and sacrality, an ecumenical atmosphere that would feel compelling and natural to all people.” The building style emphasizes the natural roughness of the wooden elements which were all hand crafted.
While we didn’t see the interior (if you want to see pictures of the interior, check it out on the Internet), we have read that one enters through a dimly lit space and then emerges into a lighter colored main space that is lit by natural light from a skylight. At dusk, the interior is lit by movable, candle-lit glass lanterns and tin lanterns carried by churchgoers. All seating as well as the altar are movable. It is my understanding that the labor was all local, everything is handmade, and lots of volunteers helped complete the structure.
They used traditional methods of construction requiring a good deal of research and learning about these old-fashioned building techniques that had all but disappeared. They also needed to find new solutions based on old traditions. Apparently, many hours of discussion with builders and designers in diverse fields were critical to figuring out solutions step by step. Really sorry we couldn’t get inside… perhaps next time.
One thing we discovered while walking around the outside of the church is that Karsamaki has mosquitoes in June. We headed to a small supermarket to get “hyttyskarkote” (mosquito repellent). We also stopped at a gas station that had a large shop and cafe attached. Inside was an array of cheeses that you’d be more likely to find in a really good specialty market in the states. By the way, sales tax is 24.5% and Finns are taxed on income at about 35% on average (with many paying about 50%). But the use of their taxes is visible: they get excellent healthcare, free education from preschool through university, well paved roads, and more. When we lived here their military budget was 1% of their GDP. I imagine with entry into NATO that is probably no longer the case.
We reminisced about our previous trip to Oulu when we lived in Finland— We had taken a week-long trip to Lapland with our good Finnish friends. We stayed overnight in several towns and cities along the way and in one cabin in the woods where we needed to cross-country ski to get to the cabin as it was snowed in. We skied in, carrying packs of beer and food and also a Monopoly set to teach our Finnish friends the game. It was March and the country was totally covered in snow. It was beautiful.
Anyway, Antti made all the ”hotel” reservations. As the four of us approached our ”hotel” in Oulu, we couldn’t stop laughing. The building was some kind of office building and they rented out two rooms on the first floor as hotel rooms (I think), Anyway, those two rooms each had big streetside windows and had a deep showroom type ”shelf” at the window (large enough for a person or a set of mannequins to be on display at the window). We got there pretty late and wound up staying there. We all felt like we were on display the entire night. Don’t think that ”hotel” exists any more. The purpose of that trip was to see more of Finland and to cross country ski in Lapland. Many funny stories about that, including my personal encounter with two reindeer on the trail.
At about 8 pm, Mike and I headed to dinner at Alfred Kitchen, a small upscale restaurant (ravintola in Finnish) and shared three small courses: beef tataki, asparagus risotto, and salmon. Quite good. The menu is very autobiographical with family stories (fortunately they had an English version) of Alfred’s childhood and his mother’s cooking and his desire to emulate her simple, fresh, recipes and to update them with modern cooking techniques and ingredients.
We strolled back to the hotel at about 11:00 pm in light that felt like it was about 6 pm.
Hope you are well and that you are enjoying your own upcoming summer solstice.
Tomorrow we head for Rovaniemi
All the best- Fern
PS – I received a note from one of the recipients of this travelogue to say that Finland’s placement as the best school system in the world has plummeted. I did a little research and it is sort of true. The explanations are also complicated and contradictory. I’m interested to hear what our Helsinki friends have to say about this… Regardless, it is amazing to be able to have such deep and thoughtful conversation with any Finn, regardless of education level, so something is working. And every Finn can have that conversation in any one of (at least) three languages, with those who are university educated being able to easily converse in at least five languages.
Hei Hei !!
Hectic morning having early breakfast, repacking, and getting off the ferry at the port in Helsinki, but we arrived exactly as promised at 10:30 a.m.; found taxi immediately to take us to the Helsinki Airport (perhaps a bit of a circuitous route we are taking in Finland, but it made sense based on when we wanted to be back in Helsinki). It’s been 5 years since our last visit, and the country remains as peaceful and beautiful as ever. The roads are perfectly paved; there’s a lot of new construction (with each building being more architecturally well designed than the next); no evidence of homelessness as housing is a major priority and the government has been successful in drastically reducing the numbers (which were extremely small to begin with); their public schools are rated among the top in the world; and health care is free for everyone.
Anyway, we flew to Oulu which is on the west coast of Finland, about one third to the north. We used Oulu as our driving starting point since we are headed north of the Arctic Circle and this eliminated a lot of driving. We had been to Oulu once before—many years ago when we lived in Finland—but that was in the winter when the city was covered in snow. Oulu is a city of about 215,000 and is often called the capital of Northern Finland. It’s also considered an innovative city where new technologies are embraced and where residents see themselves as part of a living laboratory when it comes to the environment, healthcare, and the arts. It’s compact and walking is easy and encouraged. Pedestrians reign supreme and cyclists as well as drivers stop for pedestrians and obey all traffic laws. Oulu is also home to a large university (by Finnish standards), a professional theater, and many music venues.
From what we can see, there is a thriving art scene…and of course the fact that the sun is now setting at a little before midnight and rising at 2 a.m., it’s easy to see the city at all hours of day and night. At least one of the photos in this email was taken at 11:45 pm and the sun had not yet set completely.
After picking up our rental car (we used Sixt after having a terrible argument with Hertz on our last rental in Cleveland a few weeks ago), we headed to our hotel—Lasareti Nordic Art Hotel, which turns out to be very pleasant, new, and situated at the edge of a lovely park and on the river (which we can see from our room).
Lasareti is located within an arts complex, so as we arrived to check in there was a concert right outside. It’s also very central so we can easily walk everywhere. Right after checking in, we headed out to see the town—passing the art museum and the history museum, the main church, and many pedestrian-only streets. We also traversed a wonderful park with numerous bridges that enable you to move easily over small lakes and the Oulu River which meanders through the park. Finnish cities tend to have numerous, large, very well-maintained parks so this was not unusual, but it was delightful. There is public art scattered throughout the city. Finland invests heavily in promoting the visual as well as other arts, so the products of those investments are visible. Frankly, although the design quality of products, graphics, and buildings is extremely high, the visual arts (painting, sculpture, etc. done as “art”) has never been at the standards of Finnish fabric, clothing, dinnerware, furniture, and other consumable products.
From the market area, we wandered across the bridge to Pikisaari, an island that is part of Oulu. It was historically the location of shipyards, and the only inhabitants were the workers of the companies. Today, Pikisaari is an artists colony with studios and housing for artists and craftspeople. Some time in the 1970s the city turned over the site of a former wool mill to the Arts and Crafts School and later a new school building was completed. It was fun to walk around and find sculptures and other art forms along the waters edge, in the forests, and on the walking paths.
From Pikisaari we headed back toward the center of town to have dinner at Hugo – a restaurant we had read about. While we hadn’t intended to order the full six-course meal, we got very tempted when we read the menu. And the six courses, they promised us, were each quite small. Thus, we convinced ourselves it was OK since we never had any lunch. What they didn’t tell us was just how wonderful every morsel would be. From the asparagus soup that was presented initially as a medley of trout roe, small pieces of asparagus, tiny toasted malt bread crumbs, crunch brown bread crumbs, egg whites and fresh chives—on top of which they poured this amazing asparagus puree…. To the beef tartare with marinated cucumber juice, crispy egg, horseradish, parsley and egg yolk…. To the wild garlic risotto with scallop and scallop foam… to the wagyu beef with fried cauliflower.. to the amazing dessert—–the meal was memorable, and Hugo is a sweet place with very friendly staff. We sort of rolled out of there, very happy we had to walk about a mile to get back to our hotel. Hopefully, we walked some of those calories off (??) By the way, there are a lot of stories about cauliflower in Finland; I’ll try to relay the point tomorrow. Too tired now. By the way, this gourmet Finland is also something that has emerged in the past 15 to 20 years. When we lived here, there were very few (if any) restaurants exploring creatively with food. Food was pretty basic. Of course we didn’t have any money, so maybe we just didn’t know what was out there. But I truly think these kinds of places have come into being in recent years.
One last thing about being back… some of my Finnish is returning !! I was never fluent and could barely converse, but I did know a lot of words and could string them together to (sometimes) make myself understood. Of course when we lived here only those with higher education spoke English. Many workers actually knew English but were embarrassed to speak (perhaps they way I feel about speaking Spanish). Nowadays (and for the past 20 years or so), everyone speaks English and they speak well. Of course they are also fluent in both Finnish AND Swedish since Finland is a bilingual country and speaking both languages is required. But still it is nice to begin to bring back all those words that I knew (some very essential ones like ice cream and how much does it cost, and numbers, and the niceties like hello and goodbye and thank you and how are you).. Actually, I’m pretty good at reading menus and getting directions. But people realize right away that we are foreigners, and they immediately flip to English, so I don’t get much time to practice my minimal Finnish.
I’m signing off now. More tomorrow when we explore more of Oulu and also drive south to visit a small town we want to see.
Fern
PS – As in years past, we are continually impressed with how well versed everyone is on world politics and US politics (from the guy at the rental car desk to truck drivers to people on the street). And economic concepts that baffle typical Americans are often discussed by Finns with ease. Perhaps because they are such a small country they feel it is a necessity to understand world dynamics.
4. Stockholm to Helsinki: June 11, 2024
On the Baltic to Helsinki and Oulu from Stockholm
Terve Terve….
Hope all is well.
Just a reminder: Feel free to delete these daily travel blogs; I know sometimes they are long. Frankly, I mostly write them so I can remember where I’ve been and what I saw and did when traveling out of the country. I started doing them in 2005 (I think) and I believe the collection includes more than 35 countries and an untold number of cities. Some of you have been reading them for nearly 20 years. While I had traveled a lot before 2005 (I think total countries visited by now is 75 or so), it was in 2005, when I was heading to Romania with a friend, I was asked by someone who grew up in Romania and hadn’t been back since the 1950s to send comments about what I was seeing. I did that daily for the whole trip and sent the notes without photos to him and about 5 other people. Those people passed the notes around to others who then asked to get these travel notes. Thus began an almost 20-year (and counting) travel diary. And I have put about 80% of them on a blog, but I have never had time to get the photos onto the site, so I have not publicly ‘launched” the blog; a project for me once I retire! – but you can find many of them on fernstravelnotes.wordpress.com.
Today (Tuesday, June 11) began leisurely with breakfast at the Bank Hotel; finally, a bright sunny day (or at least at the onset). We had planned to head to Victoriahuset, the botanical garden which supposedly has the largest water lilies in the world. It sounded like a good plan. But we had to pack carefully so that we wouldn’t really need to repack while on the ferry from Stockholm to Finland. So once packed, we just strolled the neighborhood near the hotel, focusing mostly on the waterfront and the blocks that lead up to it. We strolled past wonderful art nouveau-era apartment buildings and cafes and lots of people taking advantage of the crisp, sunny day. Then suddenly, open-air truckloads of teenagers passed by— screaming and jumping and waving. They had all just graduated from high school; some were wearing their “white hats.” There are a lot of traditions surrounding high school graduation in Sweden—beginning with a champagne brunch at home with family. Also, I’m told, that after the graduation ceremony as students branch out to find their families, families hold up large photos of the graduate as an infant! How embarrassing is that! And then with flowers in hand and more champagne, students go onto these big open trucks—all standing—that have banners and signs (given my lack of Swedish I have no idea what the signs said). The trucks drive around town playing loud (very loud) music and the grads drink (and pour champagne on one another’s head) and sing, and honk horns and I suppose have a good time. Other drivers honk and people on the street (including me) wave.
We stopped for lunch at an outdoor café and then headed to get our bags and get to the “ferry.”
We have a lot of memories taking this ferry when we first went to live in Finland decades ago. We had arrived in Europe (first time for both Mike and me)—first in Hamburg, Germany to buy a Volkswagen which we used for the year in Finland and then for a few more years in the states, having brought it back with us on the SS France. From Hamburg we drove to Lubeck and then through Denmark and then a short ferry to Stockholm to visit Mike’s brother who was living in Sweden at the time. And from Stockholm we drove onto the overnight ferry in our VW and arrived in Helsinki the next morning. In all the years and all the trips, we’ve made back to Helsinki we never again took the ferry because it just seemed like it was a bit too leisurely and we’d lose an entire day and night from our travels. But we remembered the ferry fondly—especially the extraordinary smorgasbord dinner. So, for this trip we decided to relive that part of our journey.
So here we are, and here I am typing in our cabin on the “ferry.” I’m using the word “ferry” very loosely, because I always think of a ferry as a casual vehicle that moves passengers and goods on a regular basis. The ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki is now sort of an overnight cruise ship (or at least my sense of what a cruise ship must be like, never having experienced it). It’s huge—at least twice as high and twice as long as the ferry of our past. There are 12 floors; our cabin is on the 11th floor. On the 6th level is the “grand buffet” which is like the smorgasbord we remembered but on steroids… with cutesy names at each food “station” letting you know if it’s Italian or French or whatever. When we took the ferry years ago, it was just a very typical Swedish/Finnish smorgasbord. In those days, many people (especially Finns) took the ferry back and forth because booze was really cheap… so by evening you had a lot of drunks on the ferry. Now, there are literally more than 70 items at the buffet. They have two seatings, with the latest being at 7:30. We opted out of this buffet in favor of one of the two small “restaurants” on the ship. So, we will eat late (as opposed to the buffet whose last seating is at 7:30.)
Our cabin is sweet, with a large window to watch the passing countryside filled with forests and little weekend cabins. That is a big step up from the first crossing where we must have been somewhere in the bowels of the ferry with a little porthole for a window. A few other new additions that were difficult to take in… there is now a karaoke club, other entertainment (somewhere if you can find it), a swimming pool, several jacuzzis, of course saunas, and a small casino with legalized gambling. And while years ago, there was a little liquor store on the ferry which was always crowded as I recall because passengers could purchase liquor tax free…. Now there is an entire level of the ferry (7th floor) that has what I would call a “mall.” There are shops galore lining two sides of a walkway that goes the entire length of the ferry—complete with Tommy Hilfilger and Marimekko and assorted chain stores. There’s even a MacDonald’s here (in case you cannot live without a Big Mac for one night). The view from the interior rooms is of the mall. Glad we didn’t go that route.
And because of the time of the year (almost midnight sun) it’s fascinating to watch the sun go down (at about 11:00pm!
Ah how the times have changed. Anyway, it’s a nice smooth crossing with just one stop in Mariehamn (which was always the case). Mariehamn is the capital of Åland which is an autonomous territory somehow under Finnish control (I think), although the residents use Swedish as their primary language (long story). Population of Mariehamn is about 12,000. Åland, which is situated in a Finnish archipelago, is comprised of about 6,000 islands; most people live on Fasta. Population of Åland is about 30,000. The term “autonomous” refers to the fact that the kind of decisions that are generally made by representatives of the Finnish government on provincial matters are actually made by Åland’s own government. Åland has its own flag and postage stamps and runs its own police department. Åland has a seat in the Finnish Parliament.
I always wanted to visit, but somehow, we never did. Maybe next time.
OK… signing off for now. If you receive this on Tuesday afternoon NY time (early afternoon California time), you’ll know the wi-fi on the ferry works.
Best..
Nakemiin (Good bye) and Hyvää yötä (Good night).
Fern
PS: Mike says that I should have described the train stations as having a Fred Flintstone quality.
3. Stockholm: June 10, 2024
Hanging Out Underground; Avoiding the Drizzles; and Eating Very Well
Forgot to mention in yesterday’s post… Stockholm’s subway system is not only fast and efficient…. it’s also like moving through a series of art galleries, with large-scale works that are integrated into the design of each station. In each of my posts I’ll show a few of them. Some are clearly more sophisticated than others. And the stations are no where near as amazing as Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Greetings from Stockholm where it has been raining on and off (nothing serious, sort of showers but very overcast) and where it is cold; temperatures in the 50s and 60s. Perfect to spend most of the day underground, checking out the subway “art,” but more about that in a bit. [Total steps today 15,000; 8 flights]. By the way it is still light out… sort of like dusk… and it is 11:45 pm. We just got back to the hotel after a great dinner at Rolf’s Cok (escargot, veal tartar, and lamb ribs cooked in an Indian style sitting on a bed of roasted tomatoes, spices, and feta). Rolf’s is a small cozy place about two metro stops from our hotel (although it was one stop on each of two different lines). We’re pretty expert at the Metro now. One comment—they have the fastest escalators I’ve ever seen. And some of the stations/tracks are pretty deep… about 100 meters deep (like a 30-story building at some stations). To get to some of the platforms you can take little funiculars; at others it’s elevators, stairs, and those very fast escalators.
But the big news here and throughout Europe is all about the European elections and the strength of right-wing parties, especially in France and Germany; there is concern about Macron’s call for parliamentary elections. The leader of the Right-wing National Rally Party said this was “day-one of the post-Macron era.” Far-right parties made big gains in the European Parliament election. In addition to the situation in France, Germany’s extreme right Alternative for Germany party wound up in second place, with the Social Democrats placing third. While I believe the European Parliament’s powers are mostly to approve or amend EU rules and trade deals, the vote is probably a sign of Europe’s political mood. These results point to trouble for things like environmental goals, immigration, and support for Ukraine. Analysts seem to be pointing to immigration as a key reason for the shift to the Right.
It will be interesting to talk with our Finnish friends about what all of this means for Scandinavia, which seems still to hold onto a more left position, although even their voters in recent years have shifted to less progressive candidates (but not to far right candidates.)
On a more personal note, following an unexpectedly good breakfast at the hotel, we headed out for our Metro crawl to see the “art” in the subway stations. Note, Mike is in many of the subway photos to help provide “scale.” I think we visited about 18 stations…. Just hopping on and off the train and switching from the Red Line to the Blue Line to the Green Line.. and back again. Actually, we first went to see the Stockholm Public Library which is nearly 100 years old, designed by Gunnar Asplund who was inspired by the Barrière Saint-Martin (Rotonde de la Villette). But the library doesn’t have a dome. It is really a rotunda with a tall cylinder (where the curved book stacks are located) surrounded by a square— pretty straightforward geometric shapes. Naturally, we went by subway.
From there we headed to the Ostermalms Saluhall, a market built in the late 1800s. Because King Oscar was going to come to the inauguration of the brick building, they had to work quickly so it is said that about 400 men were employed to get the work done in record time. Apparently, they showed off the building just six months after construction began. It was to be “a temple for the culture and preservation of good food.” And that remains today, although the hall also houses several restaurants. We ate at Lisa Elmqvist, which is a well-known eatery with people lining up for tables. Fortunately, we had made reservations weeks ago, so we were set.
The story is that the restaurant had its origins in the 1920s when a fisherman’s daughter sold wares at a street market near the waterfront. Her fish, shellfish, and cooking skills were exceptional, and she moved up to Östermalms Saluhall. 100 years later, the fourth generation of the family continues in the same stall, albeit adding a a lot more space. We had a great lunch—pickled herring (prepared with chopped egg, chives, red onion, and brown butter); trout roe with toast, incredible sour cream, and red onion; Lisa’s salmon tartare with cured and smoked salmon, Dijon mustard, shallots and cucumbers, and shipped chive cream cheese. It was great and we were fished out.
Then we began the subway trek… on and off the trains to see the station art. My short take… it was fun and the stations were certainly colorful, but the quality of the concepts and design were very uneven. The idea was fantastic, but many artists missed the real problem (as I see it)— to design through paint and other materials a totality taking into consideration the entire space. Some did that; others just used the space as a wall on which to paint or tile separate elements and “things;” a few stations tried to provide some “education” through information and graphics. Given that about two years ago we were traveling in Uzbekistan, and we saw their subway stations—which were done under the auspices of the then-Soviet Union, it was at times hard not to compare the two. Uzbekistan’s stations (throughout Tashkent) were amazing works of art. They truly were all encompassing and marvels of skill and craftsmanship as well as visual format. But Uzbekistan’s stations lacked whimsy! Whimsy was plentiful in Stockholm.
We finally emerged into cloudy daylight to walk back to the hotel…. To get ready for dinner and to take the Metro once again.. this time with purpose, to head to the restaurant.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) we head to Finland…
Terve!
Fern
2. Stockholm: June 9, 2024
God kväll (Good evening)
After our very long day yesterday (about 32 hours of travel—door-to-door), we sort of settled into our room at the Bank Hotel which is located in a very central area of downtown Stockholm and about a block from the water. The hotel, as its name implies was originally a bank. The building is from the art nouveau period and actually has gone through a few incarnations, but it was a bank longer than anything else. Built in 1910, it was the head office of the Södra Sverige Banking company, but later housed a succession of other banks.. and for a time was an exhibition hall and a law library. It’s quite impressive with very large, very heavy bronze double doors. At the entrance there are stone sculptures of an owl (wisdom?) and a squirrel (thrift?).
We got a bit of a late start, but headed to Fotografiska for brunch. We took two different Metros and then walked a bit (actually our total steps thus far today—and it’s not over yet is 14,250 steps and 9 flights… I think my phone app is in shock). Fotografiska is a photo museum that has a really good restaurant, known for its Sunday brunch and for its commitment to sustainability as well as fine dining… and has a waterfront location (how can you go wrong?) Located in an old warehouse with high ceilings, the museum’s restaurant (not sure if it has its own name) is proud of its plant-based menu which is supplemented with farmed fish and sustainable meat. There’s an on-site composting system, and all the salads come from a hydroponic farm that is in the basement of the museum. When we ordered our mimosas they told us that the orange juice (which was a bit bitter) comes from Rescue an NGO that uses what we call “ugly fruit.” They had a nicer name for it.
OK… Brunch was quite wonderful… with things like slices of potato bread topped with crème inglais and roe; baked eggs with bread crumbs, asparagus, and some kind of cream; lingonberries with coddled cream. After brunch we strolled through the photo museum which had both a Cindy Sherman exhibit, some of which was devoted to selfies, and also an impressive exhibit that highlighted 10 award-winning photographers who created images to help explain climate change.
Then we walked to Slussen Station, where I was determined to find “Humor,” a sculpture I had read about—a manhole cover propped up with a hard-hatted worker (made of bronze and wood, I believe) with barricades all around. Public art so real that people walk right by thinking it’s actually a worker poking his head up from the ground. I walked and walked exactly where it is supposed to be, but could not find it. The funny thing is that this “art” has been located there for several years; when I couldn’t find it I asked several people who work in the area daily—the florist, the guy who sells the transit passes, and the hotel desk clerk who works in the building that is literally just behind the location. No one had ever seen it. But there is a lot of real construction going on all around that area, so perhaps it has been relocated… ??? Anyway, if you are headed to Stockholm in the near future, try to find it and send me a photo! https://www-stockholmkonst-se.translate.goog/konst/humor? _x_tr_sl=sv&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc&_x_tr_hist=true . Very frustrating…
A quick stroll back to the Metro and we are in Gamla Stan, the old section of Stockholm. The little neighborhood of Gamla Stan was the actual city of Stockholm in the early years. While the area dates back to the 1300s, most buildings that are still standing are from the 1600s and 1700s. It’s one of those totally charming sections of an old European city with tons of narrow lanes lined by houses and shops, and streets lead up to the palace and the church. We strolled for a few hours and eventually headed back to the Metro to our hotel… but not before we went to Ramsgarden to see the “ants”— giant sculptured ants in front of some kind of office building. And then the rains came as we made for cover in the metro and back to the hotel…
And then we went for dinner to a little place called “Woodstockholm” – not sure where we heard about it. But it was a great choice. We thought that perhaps the name of the restaurant had something to do with Woodstock NY, but we were wrong. The story is that there was a group of friends who were really good woodworkers, and they formed a small company making wood furniture. They sold the furniture to some restaurants and then, because they all liked to cook, they decided to open a restaurant (in 2012, I think) and they used furnished the restaurant with their handmade furniture – they built all the tables and chairs, etc. (quite nice and great craftsmanship). They also had a concept for the restaurant: use locally sourced food and have a theme for the menu which changes every two months. The themes have been things like “trains,” or “a favorite country” or “a particular chef,” etc. This month’s theme is “E4,” the major highway in Sweden that goes from the north to the south of the country and passes through most major cities. In addition to the well-crafted furniture, the restaurant has a lot of funky stuff around.
So we had the Haparanda (named for a city way up north) — whitefish roe and horseradish wrapped in kohlrabi roll. And we had Kebabenkase (lamb and tahini and a spicy pepper and some other stuff sitting on a flatbread) for starters. We followed this with reindeer tartare with lingonberries and spruce and some paper thin chips (dish was called “Danger for Reindeer”) which was great with a lot of “kick;” and then we shared one main course: baked sole (that was incredibly tender and melted in your mouth) with asparagus and au vin blanc sauce (called Kungena Kurva). We couldn’t help ourselves so we had to order one dessert: the “Self-Pickling” which was strawberry, lime and wild chamomile which was created like fine ices… By the way, they carry the two-month long theme into decorations at the restaurant, so we were surrounded by road signs and construction helmets and maps. It’s a tiny place—probably only 5 tables for two and then one long counter which seats about 12 people, and a small bar where you can also have dinner. Highly recommended.
Public transit back to the hotel and now I’m exhausted. Many more to tell, but it will have to wait.
Adjö — Fern
Fern's Travel Notes 