I have lots of things to tell you about Helsinki, but I just got back from a day spent exploring more of the city with John and am about to dive into an evening full of screen-based activities. Namely, watching our church livestream… followed by the Miami F1 race!!!!
Since I’m attempting to post daily (the roll call of MayBloPoMo is now up to Jenny, Kae, Sarah, and Maria), I decided to write about our trip to the Helsinki Winter Garden (Talvipuutarha).
This was the first outing we managed after nearly a week of being homebound by illness and it was the perfect gateway excursion.
On the outskirts of the city, this greenhouse was built in the 1890s and is open year-round with free entry (you know my eyes *sparkle* when I read those words). Apparently, it’s especially lovely around Christmas with flowering poinsettias and azaleas!!
I thought there was a cafe on site and had promised the kids a treat; turns out there isn’t, but other people certainly came prepared to eat. There was plenty of indoor (and outdoor) seating and we saw multiple groups enjoying elaborate picnics.
Side note: I am forever impressed by how intentionally Europeans approach their picnics. Glass flutes for champagne (or, in this case, prosecco), fruit and pastries, meat, cheese, and delicious fresh bread. The kids and I were sitting beside a group of older ladies picnicking together. One of them would even get up periodically to blow bubbles around the garden. At one point I leaned over and whispered to Belle: #LifeGoals.
There were some large plants! (And elderly ones, too. There’s a camellia tree on site that’s over 130 years old.)
Indy volunteered to provide scale.
Long-time readers won’t be surprised to learn the koi pond was a certain someone’s favourite spot. This kid is fascinated by fish and spent a long time watching them swim, periodically piping up with commentary about their behaviour.
Oh look, he’s still at the pond!
Settling in for the long haul.
I had to snap a picture of the empty prosecco bottle—neatly placed by the garbage can for recycling as Finns are incredibly environmentally conscious and have an elaborate garbage system—brought by one of the picnicking groups.
There’s nothing pretentious about it, people just really love to enjoy life. Suzanne asked yesterday what’s behind Finland’s consistent ranking as the happiest country on earth. There are a lot of factors, of course, but I’d say their approach to picnics is representative of how they aspire to lead their lives. They prioritize time spent appreciating good food and good company in natural settings.
Belle admired the water fountain while Indy was falling in love with the resident koi population.
The Palm Room was my favourite space and where the older ladies were having that delightful picnic/gab-fest, complete with bubbles.
It was a crisp spring day outside, but delightfully warm inside. I think I’d spend a lot of time in this space if I lived in Helsinki.
One wing of the building is full of cacti. (Not quite as impressive as the garden we saw in Barcelona, but lovely nonetheless.)
The aforementioned Prosecco Picnic happened on the little terrace above this water feature.
Of course he would find something to climb!
If there’s no inherent danger, let’s invent some!
Belle was passing by a tree and let out a little shriek. When you’re walking quickly, this squirrel looks VERY real.
Full credit to Belle who took this picture of Indy. I think it’s PRECIOUS. More generally, kudos to both John and Belle who allow their pictures show up on this blog regularly without much acknowledgement.
I love, love, love this picture. The little corner was so quaint with a tiny water feature and blooming orchids; I plan to go back, prepared with my own picnic supplies, before we leave Helsinki.
And that’s a wrap. If you happen to be visiting Helsinki and are looking for a warm oasis in the winter, or a colourful oasis in the spring and summer, this is the place to be.
Just be sure to bring a picnic (prosecco optional).
Happy Sunday.
- What do you think would be the key components to a country being ranked the happiest in the world?
- Where does your home country rank? SADLY, Canada has dropped from 18th to 26th over the last year…?
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USA at 23! I bet modern conveniences helped rank it up there.
” Happy ” is very subjective – many of the components of this kind of survey ignore sone of the underlying factors that promote overall happiness. But I would assume good roads, internet, education, and safety would contribute.
Enjoy the race!
True that “happy” is a very subjective term. I think it boils down to life satisfaction.
I was also going to say safety and security (you mentioned there is a great social security network). At this point it might even be reasonable ingrained, and assumed that this is the way society is, but we all know you can’t take it for granted. So I very much appreciate it when it is the case and love to see what other people build on it. And it’s lovely to hear that they practice what they preach!
There are extremely high levels of trust: in neighbours, employers, and the government/police!
What a beautiful garden! I’ll bet it’s gross and humid when it’s hot outside, but in the winter it’s PERFECT. Beautiful pictures, I love that Indy fell so in love with the koi. There’s a restaurant in our town with a little koi pond and there’s a turtle who sometimes comes out to sun himself.
Yes, I don’t think I’d love visiting on a hot summer day (though Helsinki isn’t known as a particularly warm destination any time of year). But in the winter it must be sublime.
Gorgeous! Count me in on the bubble blowing:)
It was so whimsical and she had a giant smile on her face the whole time she was wandering around blowing bubbles. She wasn’t doing it to entertain kids, just to create beauty and delight herself which I LOVED.
That garden is incredible! It made me miss a similar botanical garden near my hometown – some of the pictures I would have believed were from there!
Am massively behind on commenting! I’m not going to go back to the relevant posts and spam you with a bunch of comments, so I’ll sum up my comments I’ve mentally composed but never typed haha!
– Your road trip was truly epic! I’ve been loving reading the recap posts.
– I’m sorry your adjustment to Finland hasn’t been super easy and that you had to deal with sickness too. We had a similar bug a couple weeks ago – a really nasty cold for some of us and a really nasty cold plus high fever for a couple others.
The road trip was epic and while it was a bit of a bumpy transition to life in Finland, we’re feeling much more settled this week!
What a gorgeous location and a delightful visit! I love the photos of your kids — they are so beautiful, Elisabeth. The kids, I mean; well, the photos are gorgeous too. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. Indy’s interest in the koi cracks me up, as I have a kid who would have been all about them too. I find them quite creepy; they get so BIG and they are so EAGER.
I love your point that the Finnish approach to picnics is in some ways analogous to their approach to life. What a lovely perspective. And champagne and bubble blowing with lunch? LifeGoals indeed.
Koi are creepy. Those whisker-like things and giant gaping mouths. He LOVES them.
I mean what adult do you know that randomly brings bubbles to an adult-only picnic? I can’t think of any!!!
And yes, the kids are adorable and the backdrop didn’t hurt 🙂
How does the US rank higher than Canada??? Everyone seems so disgruntled here.
This garden looks beautiful- and I can’t wait to read a blog post about your eventual picnic here. The bar has been set pretty high!
How is it possible that I don’t know Maria??? Well, I’ll get to know her now!
I was shocked Canada had fallen so far down the rankings. I bet a lot of it has to do with our crumbling health care system. It’s in dire straights, which pains me. I believe so deeply in universal access to free health care, but it’s not sustainable for long in our country.
Maria blogs from New Brunswick, so she’s fairly close to me geographically (well, under normal circumstances).
Australia is 15th, which surprised me. I think for happy it would be safe, roof over our heads, food on the table, a solid support network, and not stressing 24/7 about money and living week to week. Sadly the Aussie high cost of living and inflation is definitely an issue, and I count my blessings we have all the ingredients for a happy life. It really helps to reflect and not take things for granted sometimes.
Also, I think I’m going to add “have an intentional picnic once a month” to my list of 52s for 2027. It sounds so lovely!
Picnics for the win!
I was really surprised (and saddened) to see how far Canada had slipped down the list 🙁
The garden looks so lovely—I want those little orange flowers in the pots!
I’ve never been an intentional picnic person who would think to bring flutes with me, but yes: LIFE GOALS!
My friend, the kids look so happy; they thoroughly enjoyed the gardens. I’m with Indy; I could watch the fish for a long time, too. They’re mesmerizing.
America is at 23. I would think it ranked higher than that, but happiness is so subjective, and honestly, people seem so much harder to actually feel happy now than years ago… but maybe this is just my perspective. I do feel as though I live in one of the best/safest areas of the world, just like you.
I am more of a “hick” picnic sort of girl, but I admire the chic European picnics I’m seeing.
The kids loved the Winter Garden. A bit shocking, really, because some other things I thought they’d love more they didn’t. WHO CAN TELL WITH KIDS???