Light Intensity Drizzle, 3°C

Katrinegatan 3

Museum, Markets and Meals

After lunch we visited the Helsinki City Museum which was located right opposite Senate Square and a mere 5 minute walk from the hotel. It looked quite unassuming from the outside, however kept is all entertained for the entire afternoon.

It was spread over 3 levels and we started in a Virtual Reality Time machine. We got to don VR glasses and were transported to Helsinki 50 years in the past and then to a futuristic home. There was a display called “Smell”, where you wore noise canceling headphones, closed your eyes and tried to identify the smell of Finland. There was a whole level dedicated to the development of Helsinki and life 30-40 years ago. Interestingly almost all the displays were interactive and the kids could touch, feel and play with it all.

The coup-de-etat were the 2 level of kids play rooms. They had classrooms, kitchens, dress ups, toys as well as a activity centre. It was all based on life in Helsinki last century and the kids got to sit in classrooms with old style desks and chalk boards, or play with olden day toys, or pretend to live on a house from the 60s. Emily spent quite a while cooking a roast dinner while Matthew found a room with a train set. Ben found some puppets and did his own show for the others.

After the museum we visited the largest Christmas markets in Helsinki and browsed through ornaments, handicrafts and knick knacks.

We had booked dinner on a moored boat on the harbour, called the Katrina. The food was excellent and the ambiance was unique.

Our hotel is across the road from the original chocolatier in Finland and the store is rated as having the best dessert in the country (according to TripAdvisor). The store has been in the same spot for the past 125 years and is called Frazers Chocolates. Emily stuck to chocolate ice cream while Matthew sampled Liquorice ice cream. Ben and Bron tried a collection of chocolates and truffles, while I had a cup of their local brew.

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