Very cheap offers by VR starting on Sunday!

The Christmas calendar of VR, the national railway company, is back! Starting on Sunday December 1st at 9am, a new trip will be on sale until midnight every day until Christmas Eve. The price is still unknown. Last year it was only 1.50€! With that low price, do not hesitate to jump in a train and visit a new city or visit relatives who lives far away. In order to buy these tickets, you have to be a Veturi member (the registration takes 48 hours and is totally free).

Link to the calendar

Happy coffee day!

Coffee with korvapuusti

Finland is the country that consums the largest quantity of coffee worldwide with 12kg per capita. In order to celebrate this record, November 25th is the coffee day! Until noon, all the R-Kioskis are offering free cups of Paulig coffee. Finnish coffee looks and tastes like American coffee and not at all like Italian coffee. This beverage goes well with a sweet bun (pulla).

Happy coffee day!

The Christmas season has started!

Santa Claus left Rovaniemi to open officially the Chritmas period in Helsinki

Shops are decorated since already a couple of weeks, and the Christmas gifts are everywhere. All the cities in Finland are illuminated by their Christmas decorations, and soon the Christmas markets will open. Only a month is left to Christmas. In Helsinki, Santa Claus is coming to the Senate Square to open officially the Christmas season. The lights in Aleksanterinkatu will shine until the beginning of January as well as the Christmas tree.

Moomins songs and choreographies are appreciated by the children

The event is a tradition in the capital. At 1:30pm, the celebrations start with songs for children performed by the Moomin characters and several choirs are singing as well. Every year, a different Finnish star is invited to sing in front of the crowed. This year, the honor has been given to Jesse Kaikuranta. At 3pm, the 6500 light bulbs will illuminate the streets and a Christmas parade will follow in the center. At 3pm, it is dark enough as the sunset is at 3:30pm.

Christmas parade 2012 on the Mannerheimintie

Antti Tuisku was the guest singer in 2011

Burger King is coming to Finland!

Burger King (second largest fast-food chain in the world) is probably one of the last American "giants" that was not in Finland. Before, Finns had to travel to Stockholm to eat their burgers. In fact, if you ask Finns, visiting the Burger King restaurant was one of the reasons why going to Stockholm. Of course, the main reasons are the tax-free shop on the ferry and the great parties on board. Few days after Starbucks opened its café in the center of Helsinki, the American fast-food chain announced its return in the capital after 30 years of absence. The first restaurant will open on December 13th already on the Mannerheimintie next door to Baker's. The second restaurant will be located inside the central railway station in stead of the Eliel restaurant and open its doors in February 2014. 250 new jobs will be created and 80 are already attributed.

Updated on February 21th 2014: The second Burger King (inside the railway station) has opened its doors at 2pm that Friday.

Start your own business!

Finland is currently encouraging people to be innovative and create new companies. The recent collapse of the giant Nokia, which was contributing to 4% of the GDP in 2000, showed that Finland needs to diversify its economy. Some startups became very successful in the past years such as Supercell (Clash of Clans) or Rovio (Angry Birds - 1 billion downloads!), and are good examples for people willing to follow their paths. Many companies are developing web applications or are operating in the game industry. But also the most traditional handicraft is developing. All new idea is welcome!

In 2012, 8.5 million users are registered worldwide and Supercell is earning 2.5 m$ a day!

Despite the good ranking of Finland in international researches, the reality is that many companies are laying off people, and it is very challenging to find a job. It is even more difficult for immigrants not fluent in Finnish, and youngsters without experience. What are Finns doing when they don't have a job? They are going to study something they like. It is not rare that a person has several certificates. The other alternative is to start your own business! All what you need is a good idea!

For many people, it is difficult and scary to start. Where to start? What to do? How to get a grant? How does it work with the taxes and insurances? For answering all these questions and more, the meeting place of the Think Helsinki Company welcomes everybody to an information session in English.

Where? At Vuorikatu 5 (in Kaisaniemi next to the library of the University of Helsinki)
When? 14.11.2013 16:15-19:00 or 12.12.2013 16:15-19:00

Info about the event
Info about establishing a business in Finland 
Ministry of employment and economy 

Father's Day

Today, all the fathers are celebrated in Finland. Each second Sunday of November (6 months after mother's day), fathers are honoured and get presents from their children. In the morning, their get their breakfast in bed, and later in the day, they eat a special meal. This tradition has been inspired by the American Father's Day in the 50s.

Hyvää isänpäivää!

Don't forget that all the shops are closed.

Beautiful illuminations in the dark nights of Tampere

Horses on Hämeenkatu

For the 49th time since 1965, the darkest nights in Tampere are illuminated by 165 figures in the city center, composed by 23.000 led bulbs. As the days are getting shorter while approaching December 21st, the lights bring a Christmasy atmosphere in the second largest city in Finland after Greater Helsinki. The lights are visible from the railway station to Finlayson and to the church park of Pyyniki. The illuminations are visible daily from 4:30 to 10:30pm until January 11th, 2015. During Friday and Saturday nights, lights are up until 5am. The Christmas market is open from December 5th to December 22nd on Keskustori.

Moomin the national symbol from the books of Tove Jansson has his own figure in Kuninkaankatu

American cartoons such as Tweety, Speedy Gonzalez and Donald Duck have their figures

More information
Christmas market in Tampere

Best spots in Rovaniemi to see the Northern Lights

Northern Lights from the Ounasvaara hill

In order to see the Northern Lights, a combinaison of parameters have to be gathered together: be in the North (ideally as North as possible from the Arctic cercle), have a clear night, no light pollution from cities, be patient and lucky. The Northern Lights are unpredictable but with luck, a magnificient show can enlight the sky. Previously, the article Northern Lights forecast help you to know how high your chances to see them was, based on the solar erruptions.

Life in Lapland has published a map to help Northern Lights hunters who do not have the opportunity to go to the wilderness to chase the lights in the city of Santa Claus. Despite the city lights, the Northern Lights are easily visible from the hills, islands and along the river shores. Do not forget to dress with warm clothes and take a warm drink and a snack if you plan to stay in the darkness and coldness for many hours. Depending of the distance you have to walk from/to your hotel, remember that city busses are not running late. In the worst case, call a taxi to drive you back to the hotel. As an example, you will need about an hour to walk from the train station to the top of Ounasvaara (hotel Sky on the map). Keep your phone in a warm pocket. With the coldness, the battery gets empty very fast. Many locals turn their phone off, and turn it on only in case of emergency. Update your Facebook account when you are safely back at the hotel.

Many companies offer Northern Lights safaris, but you will have to spend between 50 and 90€, depending on the services which are included. Now, it is up to you to decide if you want to pay or to walk.

Click on the map to enlarge

Link to the map

Colorful vegetarian lunch buffet at Silvoplee

Located in Hakaniemi in the center of Helsinki, Silvoplee, owned by Satu Silvo, is one of the only vegetarian restaurants of the city. At lunch time, it is very busy with different kinds of people: students, elderly, and middle-adged active men and women. As it is almost impossible to have an individual table, sharing a meal with a strangers is the rule.

Colorful and tasty meal

From 11am to 2pm, a colorful lunch buffet is served with all kinds of warm dishes, salads, fruits and beans. It is very interesting to try new tastes. There is no price for the lunch. You pay the weight you put in your plate (20.48€/kg). There is also the soup of the day for 15.85€/kg.

Desserts and drinks

Some freshly pressed fruit juices are availble as well as organic wines and beers. Different desserts can bring a tasty end to a colorful lunch. The restaurant also sell some organic product.

Take-away is possible. Just fill in the plastic box.

Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday 11am to 6pm.
Closed on Sundays
Lunch is served from Monday to Friday from 11am to 2pm

Website (only in Finnish)

Sorry for the low quality of the pictures. I took them with my phone.