Climbing the mountain in Helsinki

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Mountain. What comes to your mind when you hear this word? For me, as a Swiss, I see the Alps, high mountains with snow all year round. But I've noticed that for some Finns, the meaning is different. The highest mountain in Finland is the mount Halti (1324m above the sea level) in Northern Finland. Very often, they call "mountain" a simple hill, like the hill in Kaivopuisto in Helsinki.

Sonata Arctica's new album is back to the roots

Concert in Tavastia (Helsinki 25.09.2012)

The metal band from Kemi will release on Friday March 28th (April 1st in North America) its 8th album named Pariah's Child which includes 10 songs. According to the keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, the album is hearkening towards Sonata Arctica's earlier days. The wolf-theme is back as a metaphor for the fear. The track 6 What did you do in the war, dad? is the saddest song ever written by Tony Kakko, the singer.

What to do while transiting at Helsinki airport

It can be quite long and boring to transit at an airport. Often passengers just hang around, visit the shops (Moomins, Stockmann and Marimekko, of course, plus Angry Birds if you travel outside the Schengen area) and restaurants while waiting. Very few dare to go outside. Helsinki airport has been voted 5th best airport for its comfort, conveniences, cleanliness and customer service by sleepinginairport.net travelers. Here is a little guide to make your wait more interesting and relaxing.

Movies at affordable prices

Sello Rex is dead! Now it's Finnkino Sello (Leppävaara, Espoo)! In order to celebrate the event some movie tickets are sold for 1, 3 or 6€ for a week (until March 20th). Buy your tickets quite soon as they might be sold out very quickly. You must have a Finnkino account in order to purchase your tickets online.

About the event (only in Finnish)
Find movies (English or Finnish)

Shopping tips of the week

This week I've spotted 2 places where you can take advantage of important price reductions.

1. Expressions Accessories

Expressions is a small shop located in Forum in Helsinki which sells all kinds of jewelery and accessories for women. The quality is average like for Glitter. This week if you buy at least 4 items, you get 50% on the total price. This works as well on the items which are already on sale. You can have a discount of up to 80%.

Expressions website

2. UFF

UFF is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental humanitarian organisation founded in 1987 which has second hand shops in the whole country. This week they are selling all the clothes, shoes, bags, belts and fabrics for a daily unique price: Thursday-Friday 2€ and Saturday 1€. It's a great place to do your shopping. You can find treasures! If you have a theme party, they have plenty of cocktail dresses, suits, traditional costums (especially from Tirol) and wedding dresses. Expect the unexpected!

Where to find the shops

Watch Oscar nominee short movie for free!

Nominated to the Oscars in the short film live action category but din't unfortunately get the trophy, the Finnish movie "Pitääkö mun kaikki hoitaa?" (Do I have to take care of everything?) can be watched for free on Yle Areena until Sunday March 16th: Click here (duration: 6 minutes)

It is in Finnish without subtitles but the story is very easy to understand. It shows Finnish humor in an almost everyday family life situation. It also shows that in Finland women are deciding for everything and men are often following, without saying anything and don't take initiatives.

Great place for a morning coffee and a trendy place to spend Saturdays nights

Mbar is perfectly located at Lasipalatsi between Kamppi and the central railway station in Helsinki. It is a café and salad place during the day where young urban people are working on their laptop, thanks to the free Wi-Fi connection. They also serve the soup of the day for 8€. As written on the pannel under, the take away coffee only costs 1€ until 12pm! It is one of the cheapest places where you can get this beverage.

A taste of Japan in the heart of Helsinki

In the Helsingin Sanomat of Friday March 8th 2014, there was an article about the sushi restaurants in Helsinki city center. Did you know that there are over 40 of them in a square kilometer? After the burgers, kebabs and Nepalese restaurants, sushi is definitively the new fast-food in Finland's capital. I've already wrote a blog about the delicious sushi buffet at Tokyo55 and in this post I will not only write about sushi but about a place that is worth visiting in order to experience the Japanese cuisine.

Dining room of restaurant Koto