Sunday, April 1, 2018

Today the day started a bit later. We decided to explore Helsinki on foot again today. Well, it was already morning! On recommendation, we had breakfast in an incredibly cute and very unique café called 'Tin Tin Tango'. The entrance room is adorned with many Tintin and Snowy pictures. The service was nice, the coffee was free, and the atmosphere was very cozy. The breakfast is recommended, very diverse, and really delicious!

The actual plan included visiting the Helsinki Icehall, called 'helsingin jäähalli' in Finnish. We also walked past the Olympic Stadium, but unfortunately, the stadium was not open for visitors due to construction work. When we arrived at the ice hall, we found out that there was a concert rehearsal and a flea market in the entrance area, among other things. I have to admit, it was my wish to see the ice hall. I would have also liked to see a game, but there was already a home game the evening before our arrival. The Helsinki ice hockey team HIFK played away on Saturday. Too bad. That means we'll have to come back!

Well, we just walked back again. We passed snow-covered parks and headed towards the water. Of course. That was somehow the constant goal of our stay! Among other things, we made a little detour to the building where Sunrise Avenue's recording or sound studio is located... I'll leave it at that.

We continued, as we were getting a little hungry. We walked along the sea, along the beach promenade, and enjoyed the view of the vastness and the impressive ice floes. Beforehand, we researched where we should definitely go for dinner and came across Löyly. Löyly is a sauna with a restaurant right by the sea. After a sauna session, you can immediately jump into the sea, as a staircase prepares the direct way there! We didn't go to the sauna, only for dinner.

We were surprised by the price, as we expected it to be higher, and the food was extraordinary. My starter was, for me, something to get used to! A beetroot tartare with sour cream and fried onions. Bibi had whitefish. For the main course, I had elk meatballs and Bibi had fish again. She really enjoyed it. I was also satisfied.

All day long I carried my laptop with me and hoped to find a nice, cozy café where we could prepare our blog entry undisturbed. Quite late, just before closing time, we finally found one. It's called Paulig Kulma. It's pretty 'stylish'. Some seating areas are on platforms at different heights, upstairs you can linger in hanging seat baskets, and lounge chairs bring coziness. Definitely a beautiful and adventurous place to stay. Oh, and the coffee was pretty good too!

The evening had arrived and we were looking for a location where we could spend our last evening. We found some options on the internet and decided to find them. After taking a few glances into the locations that didn't convince us, we decided to go to the bar called Ölhus, next to our hotel. And that was the best decision. It was also a great bar with a cool atmosphere, a wide selection of beers, and motivated staff, whether at the bar or security. The security person told us that in Helsinki it is customary to get drinks at the bar yourself and not be served. That was very attentive of him! Luckily, we already came to this realization!

The evening came to an end and we finally went to taco bell, at Bibi's request. It was my first time there. Completely exhausted, we fell into bed, ate our taco bell things, and looked at pictures. We hadn't even left yet and we were already homesick!

Tomorrow we're heading back home.