Well we may have found the perfect place to shop. Helsinki is a beautiful city with lots of quirky boutiques and designer shops . 
We stayed at a great Hostel called Domas academia that only operates in summer. The rest of the time its a student hostel which means it's also a great place to wash our clothes go to a swimming pool and sauna ( a very Scandanavian thing to do ) and we didn't have to worry about messing up anyone elses house ( or stepping over their toiletries ) as you sometimes do with air bnb. After the washing done Harley and I had to hit the city streets hard because Bridie and Amy had already headed off on their own ( hush hush ) tour . After a little catnap for Jen ( an essential tool for keeping up with tour leader H ) we managed to do all 4 things recommended for a day in lonely planet in 3 hours ( world record) . The two cathedrals facing each other, the market area on the wharf and design shops .
When Amy suggested her " Go map for young people " had better eating out ideas than the "lonely planet " tour leader " h" almost went into toxic shock but he ( eventually ) bravely agreed to follow Amy 's map suggestions for dinner and conceded that possibly the char fish salad was the best he had ever had. Helsinki is a city of circles ( I found) we seemed to be travelling round and round in them no matter which map we were using. 
When Harley sent me off on my own to find my way back to the hostel ( and check on the washing - very important holiday job ) I found myself in a spot well north ( or south or east or west still not sure which ) of my destination. Feeling a little traumatised ( not a quivering mess as some would suggest ) I met a lovely English, swedish, Finnish and German speaking lady who guided me back on the right path. ( Yes the multilingual talents of all locals is putting us to shame ( except for Brides of course) 
The girls reported that the modern art museum Kiasma has been the highlight of their day. ( with an exhibition by well known Finnish fashion designer Mariemekko). We headed off there happily the next day. ( yes tour leader H has conceded that maybe the " go map" had some good points) before getting on our boat for St petersberg .
Dom turned up in the middle of the night ( which is actually still daylight so it doesn't seem quite so bad) so now it the famous five heading off together ....
1 comment:
Now you are really making me jealous. I adore Marimeko. I have a beautiful tunic I bought in NYC. I wore it to the IBBY congress in London. We have their new shop in Sydney but so far I haven't seen anything as cute as my NYC Item. I also adore their fabric. Oddly I talked about the Nobel prize this week with Year 5 as we are talking about Martin Luther King. Having H as your tour director is making me laugh. Also I relate to doing the washing always such a relief to get that sorted.
Love your blog!
Post a Comment