Sorry the blog has been a little quiet of late but I’ve been busy out there experiencing life. I mean you’ve got to live to blog. Here are my top 5 things to do while your in Helsinki. I under estimated how pretty the city would be. It has some really beautiful buildings. It’s not the most cosmopolitan city but it is friendly. Ok here we go
5. Finnish Sauna – So I have to admit when I went to Finland this was pretty low on my list of things to hit. Having said that it is such a massive part of Finnish culture you just have to do it. Now for anyone who doesn’t know Finnish people like to have a sauna as a group all in the nude, no swimming costumes and no towels wrapped round you This is quite a culture shock. They just see it as perfectly normal, they do it from such a young age there is no shame in seeing anyone else starkers. For anyone from a more private culture like Britain it is quite something to get your head round. If you want to break yourself in gently book yourself into a private sauna either at your hotel or a private room at a public sauna. However if your feeling brave then jump right in and go for it in a public sauna. In Helsinki there is a nice sauna called Loyly with a sea pool to cool off in after. Either way at some point in your trip someone Finnish is going to ask you if you have been in a sauna so you can’t avoid forever
4. Beach – Now obviously this is assuming that it is warm and your visit in summer. There is a lovely beach just outside the town Porvoo. It is quite small but has toilets, a fire pit area to host a bbq and changing cubicles. It’s located on the edge of forest. It’s very peaceful not overlooked as in front of you are more forests. Some sections of the beach are privately owned so be careful you do t wander onto someone else’s patch.
3. Porvoo – It is one of Finland’s oldest towns. It is steeped in history. Has lots of cute boutique style shops if your looking for more quirky souvenirs. There are lots of bus trips regularly run out there. It is most famous for some red houses which sit on the edge of the river. These are known as spice houses because they were where all imported spices and salt would go through before being sold. Some of these are now houses and some are restaurants. I would thoroughly recommend trying one of the restaurant on the riverbank, the views and atmosphere are very relaxing.
2. Helsinki Town Centre – Surprisngly Helsinki town centre is quite small. Here you will find probably the most well known image of Helsinki the White Church. It’s very impressive to look at, including its immense square. There are also plenty of shops, restaurants and cafes to explore.
1. Summolina – This has to be my favourite thing that I did in Finland. It’s an old naval base off the coast of Helsinki. Plenty of boats run their regularly. I would advise visiting in an evening. Seeing the sunset from their is stunning.
So that’s my round up from Helsinki, I had a fab time there and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.
Love Esmee Jayne xxx
Esmee Jayne Blog 