Final Day in Helsinki

Today is our final full day in Helsinki and is also the shortest day of the year. We headed out at about 11 and the sun was only just starting to rise. After a visit to some souvenir shops we headed to the local markets for lunch.

Salmon soup is a local delicacy and is specific to the area. We ordered a couple of bowls to share and it was excellent. It was a really creamy soup with lots of salmon and potatoes and everyone loved it. We followed it up with some reindeer and Santa cake tops.

After a lazy afternoon we visited a few more local shops before going out to dinner. Finland was part of Russia till only a hundred years ago and there still is a strong Russian cultural influence. We decided to go to the most recommended local Russian restaurant for our dinner. It was almost a 15 minute walk, mainly uphill, but everyone coped very well, especially Emily.

The restaurant was very authentic and I felt like I had been transported to the Soviet Union. The food was very interesting and the meal portions were huge. We only ordered 3 meals and shared it amongst all of us, which included wild boar.

We did our nightly visit to Fraser’s chocolates for the final time and everyone tried different truffles and chocolates. I tried a sweet Christmas bun.

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