We spent a week in Portugal with Mom & Dad, and I'm still working on all of those pictures. We had a great time and saw so much of Lisbon and the surrounding areas. And of course ate & drank too much all week.
But in the meantime, here are a few pictures from our 1-day layover in Helsinki.
Because of the G20 meetings in St. Petersburg last week, they shut down the airport for 3 days and only had limited (and very expensive) tickets available in the days before & after the meeting. So crazy!!!! So instead, we went to Finland & stayed in town an extra day, then traveled home by train on Monday.
It was Sunday, so the weekly market was happening at their "Market Square" (what a boring & obvious name!). The market is year-round, but the late Summer is always the best time to visit. It was very busy all day, with everything from fish, fruits & vegetables, Finnish crafts, furs, and prepared food to eat while strolling through the market.
If you read my blog regularly, you know that I LOVE markets!
The fried vendace (basically smelts).
I wished I could have smuggled some of this back to Russia with me, because the quality, variety, & freshness is so much better! In the US, we know that we can get good quality fresh food and whatever we want. I no longer take that for granted
I didn't try this, but it looked tasty! Reindeer and boar stew
Chanterelle season! 5 Euro per kilo is a steal
The only food I did buy was some cloudberry jam. Cloudberries grow in the Arctic regions, and people in the Scandinavian countries & Russia look forward to them every summer. They look like orange raspberries, but are a little softer, and have a sweet/sour taste (they remind me of warn Riesling wine). are a treat in Finland & northern Russia.
You can see them towards the bottom of the picture. These are from the Lapland region. The lady who sold me the jam told me that she lives 600 kilometers (375 miles) north of Helsinki, and drives there every weekend for the market.
It was a beautiful day, so we spent it walking around the city, mostly along the shoreline of the Gulf of Finland
No idea what this is, but I saw it & thought it was pretty cool.
We discovered that Sunday is football day, even in Helsinki. "Real" football that is (or soccer to us Americans).
These kids were organized!
Portugal pictures coming soon!!!!
thanks for bringing back the memories I have of the market in Helsinki, seems like only yesterday and it has been 8+ since last we were there. thanks again , be safe and have more fun. Nancy Elder-Staaf
ReplyDeleteOh, the berries look wonderful ! You wouldn't really eat Rudolph, would you ?
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