The Finland Files - Week 6
So, as I currently write this on the ferry heading to Tallin, Estonia, I can officially say that our time in Finland has come to an end. But what an incredible opportunity we were given, to be able to spend 39 days immersed in the Finnish ways (and only have to pay for accommodation for one of those nights).
Unfortunately, this week’s files we have to start at the end; Ivan & Alexander Café has officially closed for 2018. For those of you who are interested, the name Ivan & Alexander comes from two Russian soldiers who sought refuge at Krämars farm during the war, in the same building that now houses the café. Overall, I’ve loved being back in a café setting (it’s far more casual than any hospitality job I’ve done before), but I think I’ll remember all the great experiences outside of the café, like going for swims after dinner in Gumbole, exploring around the farm’s property and getting rained on whilst camping up on a rock.
We started the last day of the café by picking raspberries and blueberries with Justus for two hours, filling two massive tubs and comparing the US to Australia. Once the café was actually closed that afternoon, we had one last hurrah and had a pizza party with the whole gang. Special mention to the unreal vegan burger-tasting pizza we had…literally a Big Mac on a pizza (without maybe some of the guilt). It was unreal! We also said our goodbyes to Justus, who had been there from day one of the farm with us.
The next day, we spent most of it cleaning out the café and the house, by washing rugs, scrubbing floors, emptying out fridges and closing up the café doors for the summer. That night with Jakob (Yaki) and Valentina we watched the Bucket-list and had Mårten's homemade burgers (can’t even begin to describe how many burgers I’ve had this week).
The following day was very quiet, we really just packed our bags, donated another couple of kilos of clothes to the farm and worked on the vlog and blog. All very boring, but also nice to take a break from the busy month in the café and prepare for the hectic time ahead in Estonia and beyond.
The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to say goodbye to Nina, Mårten, Jakob and Valentina as they headed off to the Åland Islands for the weekend. It was very weird to say goodbye to them as they drove off, with us standing at the front door of their house (usually happens the other way around!). We took all the farm in for the last time (including a farewell to my chicks), played a few rounds of ping pong and then were picked up by Anna and Jonas (our neighbors and part of our host’s family), who were kind enough to drop us off at Karjaa train station, for our ride to Helsinki.
Upon arriving in Helsinki, we headed straight up the hill past the markets and sat for an hour or so enjoying the weather and not having to carry our bags. We then went for a wander around the main streets, finding a really cool eight piece street orchestra, before getting on the metro to meet up with Madie’s mate from Leeds Uni; Johannes (who'd also fulfilled the role of our personal local guide over the following two days). Upon settling in at his beautiful Nordic home, we went for a walk to the local K-market and stocked up on burgers and bevies for our bbq (burger count @ 2 - not including the burger pizza). It was great to catch up with a familiar face and to get another perspective on Finnish life.
The next morning after coffee (arguably the most essential part of the Finnish lifestyle), we headed on a bus then metro to the city center for a free walking tour. It was a fabulous opportunity to orientate ourselves in Helsinki and learn a little bit about Finnish history…although surprisingly we already knew a lot (thanks Nina, Mårton, Jonas and Anna for educating us!). After the tour we were starving... so we headed to a Vegetarian Food Festival (VegeStreet for those interested), which ironically was held in an old Abattoir turned venue space. After another vegan burger (burger count @ 3) we headed back across the city to the public ferry terminal.
From there we caught the ferry (which was included in our Regional Day Travel Ticket) to the fortress island of Suomenlinna, where we saw the real life Shire (well almost) and a HUGE passenger ship pass through an impossibly small channel. After walking around the island for a bit we hopped on the ferry back to the mainland and headed to our next destination…Maccas. Don't judge, but this is where we tried the infamous McVegan Burger (burger count @ 4), which was fine…but vegan, vegetarian or meat options…Maccas is still Maccas.
After a sufficient feed we headed to our last spot, the Kollio Block Party, but not before stopping at the local shop to stock up on some more bevies. We happened to luck out in choosing this weekend to go to Helsinki, with the Vegestreet festival and the Block Party working perfectly into our itinerary. The block party is an annual volunteer-led street party, where they shut down the roads in a different part of Kallio (a suburb in Helsinki) each year and host gig stages, food stalls and fun activities that represent the local area.
It was definitely a “young person” atmosphere, with loads of students and super alternative people sitting on the grounds, eating/drinking and enjoying the music and events. We got to watch (kinda) a breakdancing competition…and when I say kinda, I mean thanks to the average height of Finnish people definitely exceeding that of Aussies, we struggled to see over the crowds. Thank god for people holding up smartphones so we could watch what they were doing on the ground.
Today we were up early again and Johannes dropped us off at the Eckerö Line terminal, with promises to go into business with us on a sick idea we developed throughout the day in Helsinki yesterday. We then walked through the brand new spaceship-like terminal and bordered the ferry. We just had a lovely catch with Anna and Jonas, who coincidently happened to be off on a two day road trip through Estonia and booked the same ferry as us.
Well, the ferry’s just docked in Estonia and a new adventure is about to begin. Stay tuned for Madison’s Estonia blogs! Thank you to all of our Finnish friends for making this experience so fantastic, we will be back. If you are still reading and can’t seem to get enough, there are now three vlogs up of our time in Finland which you can check out here ->
Anyway that’s all for now, thanks for supporting us,
With love, R xox