Lost in Scandenavia: Fish Markets and Cathedrals

So Doug and Brianna headed back to the hotel again today and once again I decided to head off on my own to visit the White Cathedral and hopefully the fish market I've read so much about. Unfortunately there were only two fish mongers out there, it being winter an all here, but one of the guys was just fascinating. He'd been fishing and selling next to the docks for over 20 years, and his father and grandfather had done it before him. He was just chatting away with the three of us who had braved the rainy weather, gutting a fish, philosophizing on youth today and how he couldn't imagine doing anything other than fishing and selling at the market and that even with the tough economy he still made a good living to support his family and wife and all that sort of stuff.

It was like something out of a tour guide book, almost felt like it was staged. He was an interesting man though, with a fantastic salt cured face that had seen more than it's fair share of sunny days on the water.

After that I headed over to the Lutheran Cathedral which sits right in the Senate Square. It was really beautiful against the grey skies. Not the best light for picture taking, but really beautiful nonetheless. Not a bad way to end out my trip to Helsinki.

Lost in Scandinavia: Markets and Reindeer Kebab

As always, I have to track down whatever food goodies possible when I travel, so of course I dragged Doug and Briana over to the Old Market Hall to check out the gourmet goodies.

The hall was small, not even half as big as the Kleinmarkt Halle in Frankfurt, but instead of being filled with fresh vegetables and Metzgerei butchers and Turkish drit was filled with all sorts of fresh fish and reindeer product goodies. There were a few oddities in the market, most notably the bear meat pate and the snow goose pate. Then again I suppose for a region that has bigger animal populations up north it's not so strange. . . I just love checking out local food spots like this, somehow I always feel like it gives me some type of insight into who the people are that live in the city and what they're like.

Anyway, probably the most entertaining random food for Reindeer Kebab that I ended up having for me was the lunch. I mean I'm all for consuming Rudolph just like we did over dinner the other night, but somehow it seems like it kind of defeats the purpose eating it as a kebab. Honestly, after all the kebab cooking it just kind of resembled any old kebab meat, well maybe a little chewier but still very tasty. It's kebab, imported street food at it's finest and most random here.

Lost in Scandenavia: Food, glorious food

As Doug and I winged our way to Finland last night, we decided that we wanted to check out the only Michelin 2-star restaurant in Finland: Chez Dominique. Unfortunately they were booked solid. So we went for the next best thing (in my mind the better choice), a restaurant called Pos3.

Now the thing about Pos3 (pronounced Pos Tres is that was started by two of the sous chefs from Chez Dominique who defected right after the restaurant received it's second star. And they took a fair amount of the front house staff along with them. I love places where the chefs are young and hungry (please forgive the horrible pun), but honestly, these are the guys who always work the hardest to come up with a memorable meal. And it was definitely memorable. Completely worth the almost four hours we spent dining. We skipped the full wine tasting but there was a wine from Le Cedre (a 100% Malbec vintage) that was quite exceptional.

Anyway, I highly recommend checking out Pos3 if you happen to find yourself in Helsinki sometime soon.

Here's what our 7+ course meal looked like:


Pressed shoulder of lamb with Fennel and Truffle Oil








Duck Foie Gras Terrine with Brioche and Saffron Vegetables









Seafood Stew with Brill and Crayfish in a Potato Shell with Lobster and Fried Scallop, garnished with Asparagus Foam and Spinach Puree






Sorbet of Lemon with Champagne








Roasted Deer with Black Truffle, Shepard's Pie and Wine Roasted Pear








Goat and Sheep Cheese Selection






French Macaroon with White Truffle and Hazelnut Mousse**
Rose Marmalade Turkish Delight
Vanilla Marshmallow

**These were so good that we asked for extra macaroons to bring back to the hotel with us.



Peach Melba with Vanilla Ice Cream, Raspberry Sorbet with Fresh Peaches and Raspberries, and Raspberry Juice








Chocolate Ravioli with 12 Chocolate Sorbet

**Note 12 Chocolate is apparently a Venezuelan brand of chocolate

Lost in Scandenavia: Suomenlina

Since Brianna doesn't have a Russian visa and that has essentially squashed Doug's and my idea of heading to St. Pete's for the day, we decided instead to head out of Helsinki and take the ferry over to an island called Suomenlinna. It's only about 20 minutes away from the city and as it's a UNESCO world heritage site it seemed like a nice idea.

The island itself is still a working fort as I understand it, it's certainly been around quite a while now. Anyway, we arrived off the ferry (filled with totally random people and a school trip of all things), it was raining, the wind was blowing, and it was freezing. So we bolted for the visitor center and pretty much decided after 30 minutes that it was too cold so we were heading back.

As we hurried back along the paths, the sun broke through the clouds for the first time since we arrived in Helsinki. The sky was so pale, that looked like it was just trying desperately to muster up the strength to be a different color than the clouds before the winds covered it up again.

It was nice to see the sun for a while though, but honestly it was even nicer to get back onto the ferry and head across the harbor to coffee and warmth. Mmm, warmth.

Lost in Scandenavia: Helsinki, Finland

So I've arrived for my Helsinki adventure with Doug and Briana. It is January, we are officially bordering Russia and there is NO SNOW!!

Can you believe it? Rain, rain, rain and no snow and no sun. What kind of nordic country is this? I guess the effects of global warming are a bit more noticeable up here. Anywho, it is a gorgeous citiy. Beautiful architecture and some very cool stores to check out.

Everything here is on "Ale" this week too. We're guessing that means sale since all the prices are marked in red. . . .

We've spent most of the day walking around, although Briana and Doug decided to head back a little while before me because they got kind of tired of walking around in the rain. I was bound and determined to see a bit more of the city though because it is quite pretty despite the rain. I managed to get unbearably lost on my way back though. It took me three maps and three times asking directions to figure out where I was in the city at night I managed to make it back to our lovely Hotel Glo though in the end.

Briana is now off to the hospital with strep throat and I'm passed out in my little room watching BBC. Joy.

Not a bad first day for me in Helsinki, land of vodka and reindeer. . . .