I’m finally settling into life in Helsinki. It took a while.
Between the kids being sick and the cold weather, I wasn’t really jiving with Finland at first. But now, I love it here!
Let’s jump in to discussing Happy Things from the week!
RICOLA
When we were in Austria, there was a display at the grocery store with a giant tin can of Ricola for a few euros. I bought the container, used a handful in Vienna, and then felt silly for buying cough drops in bulk and having to transport them in our limited luggage space (I know I could have left them behind but that felt so wasteful)!
Well, I was thankful for each and every one of them when our family was sick. We’ve gone through almost the entire remaining supply—Ricola for the win.
TRAVEL PAGE UPDATES
This is something that is of relatively little practical importance, but I’ve gotten my blog Travel page updated. And you know I like a good collage 🙂
EXPLORING WITHOUT KIDS
On Sunday John and I headed out to explore Helsinki for a few hours. The waterfront was beautiful! There were cruise ships and ferries and markets and waterside saunas. Also, sunshine and no kids!!!
Enjoying a bowl of delicious salmon soup!
The stunning Uspenski Cathedral.
The equally stunning Helsinki Cathedral.
We saw a very fancy Audi parked on the street and it made me smile to note a variety of faith-centric bumper stickers and this cross emblem on the front hood.
A stop at the iconic Marimekko.
The textiles are gorgeous.
I came away with a lovely (and practical!) souvenir: a bright floral tote bag.
MINT HOT CHOCOLATE
The kids have discovered a particular hot chocolate powder from Lidl that they love. Within a week we had finished an entire carton. When I picked up more, I decided to get a can of mint hot chocolate for me. I add a teaspoon into my morning coffee and it is DIVINE.
VAPPU + FATHER/DAUGHTER BONDING + MINIONS
Our family spends a lot of time laughing about minions. We watch funny clips on repeat and have a series of catchphrases we use regularly in conversation.
When Belle and John were out for Vappu (also called May Day, which is roughly equivalent to Labour Day in North America), they couldn’t resist picking up a Stuart minion balloon and he has been keeping us company in the apartment ever since.
High school students in Finland each receive a white sailor-type hat (ylioppilaslakki) upon graduation. Generations of graduates keep their hats and proudly put them on at 6 pm on April 30th. It symbolizes academic achievement and the switch from winter to spring.
Current university students all wear mechanic-style overalls in a variety of colours (which reflect their department of study) and covered with hand-sewn patches.
We didn’t manage to get a great picture, but there are literally thousands of people walking around the city dressed like this (picture from here)—so imagine this picture multiply it by many thousands!
It’s very fun and festive and I’m so glad we were in Finland for this iconic event. You can spot the sea of white caps in this photo; engineering/technology students are identified by a large tassel dangling from their hats (teekkari).
BELLE MADE COOKIES
She is SUCH a good baker. After over a month without home baking, she’d had enough and we bought the necessary supplies in Helsinki.
The measurements, the ingredients, and the ovens are all different and yet she managed to create cookie magic. They were so good!
WALES PLANNING
After booking dozens (and dozens) of things over the last few months: hotels, apartments, flights, trains, ferries, museum visits… for some reason, getting things sorted for the final leg of our European trip felt particularly daunting. Decision fatigue? The need to learn yet another system (and download yet another public transport app)?
It took Rachel coaching me over the phone and doing all but holding my literal hand to get it done, but our train from London to Wales IS BOOKED.
Also, Rachel has sent me the most wonderful itinerary for our time in Wales. Bus schedules! Entry fees! The distance from where we’re staying! Basically, she has prepared everything I want in a schedule without me having to lift a finger.
What I’m most excited for is meeting Rachel and the rest of her family. I can’t wait to hang out and I’m pretty sure Belle is going to fall HARD for toddler twins 🙂
CITIZENSHIP PROGRESS
We have been limping along with the process of getting both kids Portuguese citizenship. It’s a handy thing for them to have available as they enter adulthood. (For example, they could access FREE university tuition in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Germany, etc…)
When we had looked into doing things back in Canada it was going to require a long drive (like 24 hours round trip + hotel stays). John wisely looked into a Portuguese Embassy here in Helsinki and we went there this week.
There were a few hiccups, but things are coming together. While at the Portuguese Embassy we learned we needed one final document from Canadian officials. Back home in Canada this had the potential to require some quasi-complicated logistics.
In Helsinki, I walked about 200 m from the Portuguese Embassy to the Canadian Embassy. Even though I didn’t have an appointment (usually required), they buzzed me up and prepared the paperwork we needed right then and there. Woot, woot!
It was also an unexpected delight to see our beloved Canadian flag flying here in Finland.
BONUS HAPPY THINGS
- Sunshine! It makes such a difference.
- Everyone is healthy.
- Technology. What a joy to be able to stream our church service from home from the comfort of our apartment in ________ (fill in the blank lately)!
- Jazz Morning Vibes with Snoopy YouTube playlists that randomly showed up in my feed and have been my go-to background noise lately.
Okay. That’s a wrap on Happy Things for now.
Happy Weekending!
Your turn.
- Happy Things from your week?
- Do you have dual-citizenship?
- Favourite type of cookie? Mine is probably chewy ginger cookies, but a fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie is hard to beat (and impossible for me to resist).
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So much happy! What a good shift from thr sick week!
I love all the churches you show- such a variety of styles and materials people have used to make places to worship.
Happy- I saw a full rainbow arcing over the sky last evening.
Enjoy the weekend!
Yes, there have been quite a variety of churches to be seen on this trip.
I love the promise of a rainbow; we saw a full one last year on a drive home from picking Indy up from a friend’s house and I still remember that moment fondly. We even stopped the car so I could take a picture.
Love the uni hats and outfits. For sure your kids will want to spend the uni years in Europe, esp if it’s free! Don got through his sinus surgery on Monday, now for the long slow healing and hoping it solves the congestion and headaches…
Poor Don, that does not sound like a fun procedure (or recovery). Wishing you both a smooth process (I know he has the pain, but you’ll be caring for him). I do hope he finds it beneficial in the long run!
MINT HOT CHOCOLATE. I feel like European chocolate is superior in every way and in every form to that in North America. It feels like a magical continent with so many options!
I’m so glad you’re settled in now. And it will be great to get the kids their citizenship!
I don’t know Rachel! I must go over and look at her blog. How lovely of her to create such an itinerary!
Oh my goodness, yes the chocolate is so good here! I just finished my morning coffee with a dash of mint hot chocolate. SO GOOD.
Rachel is darling and I cannot wait to meet her. Also, she has four kids, including twin toddlers, so I have so much respect that she stays so cheerful in blog posts. FOUR KIDS. I can barely keep my head above water with two!
SO glad you’re enjoying Helsinki! Yes, sunshine makes such a big difference. Also not being sick. Obviously. The city looks really beautiful. You picked a great time to be there- how fun to be part of the Vappu celebration. And- Belle! Cookies! To answer your question, I really don’t think anything can beat chocolate chip cookies.
For me, the key for chocolate chip cookies is they have to be warm. I mean, I’ll eat a cold one, but it’s never the same. The gooey chocolate chips… yum.
What beautiful photos. I could comment on every one of them 🙂 Love the tote bag and I’m intrigued by the salmon soup 🙂
The salmon soup is VERY famous here. It’s delicious.
Wow, free college tuition to all of those countries with a Portuguese passport? That is incredible!! I would go through the painful process of getting it for them, too. No dual passports in our family. Both sides of our family have been Americans for many many generations!
This was a pretty decent week overall. The high was going to book club on Wednesday night and having an impromptu HH/complaining session with my colleague that day as well. And the weather is finally warming up, too!!
Yes, having citizenship somewhere in the EU comes with a lot of perks.
A good complaining session can be SO cathartic.
I bought a dress from Marimekko in Stockholm many years ago – maybe 20? Well, I STILL HAVE IT and I love it!! Their textile designs are so distinctive, and the cut of the dress is fantastic.
Also, Ricola for the win!! It’s a very traditional Swiss product and they’re great for sore throats!
And I can already see Rachel will have you very well covered for Wales. You are going to love it there for sure!
That’s so fun! I hope I get to see a picture of it sometime.
I love Ricola back in Canada, too, but they’re quite expensive there. Not the case in Austria.
Seeing Rachel’s suggestions gave me the same warm fuzzies I got when you sent me the schedule for our time in Zurich. Blog friends are such gems <3
Can we see the Ricola tin? Tin boxes are irresistible, which might explain why I often buy pencils I don’t need (yet. . . as long as I keep drawing, there will always be a need for more).
Your response to the cathedrals reminds me of how I went gaga over county courthouses when I was in Texas.
Never heard of Marimekko before.
Mechanics coveralls for college grads seems a bit oxymoronic. . . usually coveralls are for the trades, which usually don’t require a university education. And such an unflattering outfit! Weird.
Great plan for the dual citizenship and what an excellent place to get it all ironed out.
That mint chocolate sounds like utter perfection in coffee. Good thing I don’t have any because I have zero self-discipline around mint-chocolate anything.
Happiness:
1. Finally decided on and ordered a new flatbed scanner (but it is in a box and I am afraid to hook it up because if it doesn’t work, there will be no joy.)
2. Husband went to the cabin and I have 4 glorious days of quiet solitude.
3. Found someone to repair a leather stool that Husband uses when operating his wood splitter.
4. Finished an oil painting commission.
5. Caught 2 gophers!!
To cut down on the space it would take, I left the Ricola tin in Austria and put all the remaining Ricola in a baggie.
I’d never heard of Marimekko before I came here, either. But it is FAMOUS in Finland and there is Marimekko merchandise everywhere. The fabric is gorgeous and so striking and iconic.
I’m crossing my fingers and toes the scanner works. Why does technology have to be so stressufl?
I am so jealous of your 4 days of solitude. (Shamefully so. I am sitting her longing for it).
I have been following along with your oil painting progress. I’m so glad you enjoyed working with this particular client and the finished product is wonderful.
YAY for happy things! Making a travel spreadsheet for you was one of MY happy things this week. It was so fun to think of what I did as a backpacker here and also what I’ve done since I’ve lived here and pull together some recommendations. Also it makes me feel better about my on train ticket booking struggles when someone else notices the same chaotic train system we have… how can one train ticket cost £20 or £200??! I’m glad it’s already sorted and the kids and I are all very excited for your visit.
The graduation festival looks so fun and random.
I am very happy that it makes you happy to plan for me. This feels like a lot of happiness out of one spreadsheet (which is exactly how it should be; planning for the win).