Finland: A Love Affair with Helsinki
I am in love. I am obsessed. I still miss it as I write this post. Finland was INCREDIBLE, and we only experienced Helsinki and its outskirts. I am already anticipative about going back, as well as exploring other parts of Scandinavia. I never thought it possible, but Austria, and Vienna, have been usurped.
Honestly, we booked this by happenstance: What city/country was a direct flight from Chicago that also had a direct flight to Venice, Italy, since we couldn’t fly directly to Venice from Chicago (for a wedding). There were only 2 cities that we had not already been do, so Helsinki it was! We started and ended our 2 week vacation here, and it was EVERYTHING.
I had us layover here for 2 nights, to time adjust best we could, and wind down from a VERY stressful few weeks. We stayed at the Scandic Helsinki Aviapolis, for sheer convenience. It had a free airport shuttle, free breakfast, was near a really nice spa, surrounded by parks and good food/restaurant options. It was PERFECT. We spent our time at the Flamingo Spa saunaing, hot tubbing, cold plunging, and playing in the water park. As well as just taking long walks outside to stretch our long-flight/jet-lagged legs and souls. Of note, Finland hotels PUT DOWN for breakfast. I could not get over all of the health-conscious, fresh, homemade options! And went ended up getting all of our meals/food/snacks from the local grocery store because it all looked so good/fresh…and it was delicious!
Coming back for the week, we stayed in the heart of Helsinki at Scandic Grand Central Helsinki, and it was SO grand (and shockingly affordable!). There are super clean/safe trains that run every 10-15 minutes from the airport to the beautiful historic train station immediately adjacent to this hotel, so it was incredibly convenient and easy. Besides everything being well-organized and logical, it was also all in English, since (apparently) 85% of the Finnish population is fluent in English as their second language.
Each day was spent navigating a new neighborhood of the city, eating from the local street markets or more formal food halls, a daily sauna/spa with cold plunges into the Baltic Sea, and just catching up with each other and our souls.
We spent so much time walking and exploring, enjoying daily concerts in the park, the gorgeous grenery everywhere, and just the ease of the city and how it makes you feel.
Also, it turns out that the local libation of Finland is gin and a mixed gin beverage called Long Drink, which is gin mixed with some fruit. It is delicious! We enjoyed all of the different concoctions and a variety of settings, and it is the perfect drink for any occasion and location!
And for our final, cloudy morning, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast and a very long walk along the shoreline, to enjoy the sea air while preparing our long legs for the long flight, and were able to see MANY of the island immediately offshore.
I was looking for a job and shopping for a condo starting the second full day we were there, and would move there in a heart beat. We love the city, the country, the people, and dear-god-THE-FOOD! The weather was perfect, the vibe was perfect, and just the lifestyle was so….us. We we didn’t even really leave the city. But we will next time. And there WILL BE a next time.
