Magazine disruption
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
HERCANBERRA.COM.AU<br />
Helsinki<br />
Oh how I love this city. Even the<br />
Finnair flight has me smitten<br />
(thanks to Marimekko blankets<br />
and champagne served in Iittala’s<br />
Ultima Thule glasswear).<br />
While we arrive in “summer”<br />
there is a stiff ocean breeze that<br />
sends us rummaging through our<br />
luggage for our Canberra winter<br />
jackets. After all, you are flying just<br />
about as far north on the globe as<br />
you can—next stop Arctic Circle.<br />
The cobbled streets of Helsinki are<br />
pristine, and reflect the incredible<br />
midnight sun (yes, that’s right, in<br />
summer it doesn’t get dark until<br />
about 2am and the sun rises<br />
again at 4am).<br />
STAY<br />
We choose to stay in a prison. That<br />
may sound less than hospitable but<br />
the Hotel Katajanokka has been<br />
beautifully reconditioned since it<br />
started taking inmates in 1837.<br />
HOTEL KATAJANOKKA<br />
Merikasarminkatu 1, 00160 Helsinki<br />
hotelkatajanokka.fi/en/<br />
EAT<br />
The season of white nights<br />
signals a time for Helsinki-ites<br />
to either get out of the city or<br />
eat out, so it can be difficult<br />
getting a table in some places.<br />
For health and environmentally<br />
conscious travellers Helsinki is a<br />
dream—organic, locally-grown<br />
and sustainable food is sold with<br />
passion and food and packaging<br />
waste is suitably frowned upon<br />
(you won’t see Finns wandering<br />
around toting takeaway coffees).<br />
For something really ridiculous, we<br />
try a Viking restaurant Ravintola<br />
Harald. The two meat-eaters<br />
among us (that would be father<br />
and son, not to name names)<br />
shock the other half of the family by<br />
ordering both beaver and reindeer<br />
in one meal. And they eat it.<br />
RAVINTOLA HARALD<br />
Citykäytävä, Aleksanterinkatu<br />
21, 00100 Helsinki | ravintolaharald.fi<br />
PLAY<br />
The prison—sorry, hotel—is a short<br />
stroll from the waterfront of the<br />
South Harbour. There is much to do<br />
at this end of the city, from catching<br />
the views in the massive London<br />
Eye-style Ferris wheel to sipping a<br />
coffee or cocktail by the freezing<br />
open-air pools (dear God, these<br />
Finns are made of stern stuff), and<br />
a large handicraft market heavy<br />
in reindeer products is open each<br />
day, drawing constant crowds.<br />
Of course, now would be a brilliant<br />
time to visit some of the numerous<br />
excellent galleries displaying some<br />
of that unspeakably cool Finnish<br />
design aesthetic. But our stay falls<br />
over a Monday and alas, every<br />
gallery and the Design District is<br />
shut. We determine to come back for<br />
further adventures. Just not in winter.<br />
Next stop Spain.<br />
PAGE 92
Change language