Never pass up an opportunity to eat something weird when you travel. That’s my motto. If the locals eat it, there’s no reason not to try it. Rotten shark? Yep. Cobra blood? You bet. Grasshoppers? I’ll have seconds please.
So you can imagine my excitement when we learned that the restaurant around the corner from our Helsinki hotel specialized in traditional Lapland food. And apparently that translates into heaps of reindeer. To be fair, a reindeer is simply a caribou enclosed behind a fence, so one can feel slightly less guilty (or so we told ourselves) for mauing down on Santa little helpers. But that was before a steaming plate of sautéed reindeer with mashed potatoes and lingonberries was set on our table. Once we smelled the lovely aroma, there was no turning back, and I will never again hear a song about Rudolph without salivating.
Some might think Finland is a backwards country for butchering reindeer, however Helsinki is anything but. In fact, the city is one of the most stylish and progressive places on the planet – filled with designer furniture shops, fashionable shoes and an essence of clean. Nearly everyone speaks flawless English, and not even coffee shops open before noon on weekends (presumably because everyone is too hung over from the night before).
As an example of Helsinki’s style, check out the photos from the Rock Church. Originally, it was going to be a normal looking cathedral, but a few days into construction the Germans bombed the city, and plans were scrapped. When the Fins finally got around to building it again, they decided to dig down, and carve the thing out of bedrock.
After only a few short days in Scandinavia, we kicked off the first leg of the Trans Siberian railway with a quick 3½ hour trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. In that brief time, ease and familiarity were replaced with grittiness and gibberish Cyrillic writing. Stay tuned…
For more Finland photos click here
Finland Facts:
Lapland is in the northern part Finland above the arctic circle and is one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights in the winter. It can be reached by a double-decker overnight train from Helsinki
Helsinki is connected to Estonia by fast ferry and the capital Tallinn can be explored as a day trip
Omenahotels are modern, affordable hotel in the heart of Helsinki. There is no on site staff, and everything is accessed with a keypad code that is e-mailed or texted to you the day before you arrive.
