My goal for this year is to get more familiar with my hometown Espoo.

I absolutely love travelling, but often enough, it is so rewarding to find beautiful places near your home. One place I had not yet visited is the Gallen-Kallela museum and the Tarvaspää Cafe next to it, but finally made it today. Akseli Gallen-Kallela is one the most famous Finnish painters (1865-1931), and he had designed and built the Tarvaspää castle, which is now a museum. The lovely cafe next to it is open all year round.

Can't wait to visit this museum and cafe again in the summer!

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Tavoitteeni tälle vuodelle on tutustua paremmin kotikaupunkiini Espooseen.

Niin paljon kuin matkustamista rakastankin, on todella palkitsevaa löytää kauniita paikkoja myös läheltä kotiasi. Yksi kohde, jossa on pitänyt vierailla jo pitkään, on Gallen-Kallelan museo ja Tarvaspään kahvila, ja tänään vihdoin pääsin sinne. Akseli Gallen-Kallela oli suunnitellut ja rakennuttanut Tarvaspään ateljeelinnan, joka nyt toimii Gallen-Kallelan museona ja vieressä on ihastuttava Tarvaspään kahvila, molemmat auki ympäri vuoden.

Tänne pitää tulla kesällä uudestaan!

SANDRO KAMPPI AND OTHER NEW RESTAURANTS OPENED IN THE 5TH FLOOR OF KAMPPI SHOPPING MALL

The wait is over. Kamppi shopping mall opened their new restaurant world in their fifth floor.

The selection of restaurants is excellent and has a stunning variety. They really represent the food scene of Helsinki and offer some the best food you can get in town.

Of course, you loose some of the characteristics of individual restaurants when they are not in their own locations, but a modern and beautiful indoor set up of Kamppi is a very convenient alternative.
Kamppi is right in the center of city, and is easy to access both for tourists and local people, including those travelling with public transportation.

We had the vegetarian brunch, and were really happy with the food. The brunch includes a class of bubbly, huge selection of vegetarian starters, accompanied by warm main courses, cheese and dessert. The waitress did point out that the dessert selection will increase in the future, but we were very happy already what was on offer today.

Kitchen performed well, and empty dishes were filled promptly, and there were no issues with the service.

In addition to the location, the large windows offering a view of Helsinki city center makes this Sandro, and the other restaurants in Kamppi 5th floor very attractive.

Thank you for the lovely brunch!

HELSINKI CHRISTMAS MARKET IN SENATE SQUARE OPEN

Finally, the official Helsinki Christmas market opened in Senate Square. The market will stay open until Christmas.

The weather was windy and cold, and I was so happy to visit the porridge bar of restaurant Grön! I ate their Christmas rice porridge and had their special glogg with pine oil. That glogg was absolutely amazing, like enjoying your hot glogg in the middle of the forest.

Since I was early, all the food stalls where not yet open, but it looked that the selection was improved a lot from last year. I think it will better reflect the food scene of Helsinki today.

You can find a lot of food items, handcrafts, toys and sweets among other things sold in the stalls. I am sure you will find something for your Christmas there.

The main attraction for children is of course the merry-go-round, which had a queue as soon as the market opened.

Here are some photos I took this morning.

TRE CHRISTMAS MARKET OPENING ON ALEKSANTERINKATU

This evening I visited the opening of TRE Christmas Market at Aleksanterinkatu 17 in Helsinki, close to Stockmann department store.


TRE is a design and lifestyle store on Mikonkatu 6, but have now opened a lovely Christmas market in the beautiful, former bank hall of the World Trade Center. The Christmas market contains a wide selection of different Finnish design products, and you'll definitely make beautiful finds for the whole family.  They also have a pop-up café, with a lovely window towards the busy Aleksanterinkatu. The Christmas market will be open until Christmas Eve.

TRE in Facebook

Here are some photos from the opening night!

XMAS IN HELSINKI PART 1

Christmas season has started also now started in Helsinki. Unfortunately we have lost the snow which already covered the southern Finland, and are back to our normal November weather.


Helsinki will have it's official Christmas market at Senate Square opening on 3rd of December until 22nd of December. But in addition to that, there are several smaller Christmas markets or fairs organized in different places across the town, open for only couple of days. Here are some of my recommendations:

• Ateneum, an art museum near Helsinki Railway Station, has a small and intimate Christmas market open 19 - 20 November
  Ateneum Chistmas market in Facebook

• Great opportunity to find gems of Finnish design at the Vanha Ylioppilastalo on Mannerheimintie 3, right in the center of Helsinki on 20 November
  Design Destrict Christmas Market in Facebook

• Opening of the Helsinki Christmas street and parade on 20 November at Senate Square 3 -5 pm
  Opening of Helsinki Christmas Street and parade in Facebook

The first week of December will be very busy, a lot of interesting markets around the city. More on me next blog post!

FEW DAYS IN KATHMANDU

During our days in Kathmandu, we stayed in a lovely Dalai-La boutique hotel in the heart of the bustling tourist area Thamel. The hotel was very nice and staff friendly and welcoming. We really enjoyed our stay there. The breakfast and evening drinks were served in the hotel courtyard.

The streets of Kathmandu were filled with colours, especially when people were preparing for the upcoming Diwali celebration.

Here are some photos I took in Kathmandu.

KEEPING PROMISES

Around 15 years ago, our group of dear colleagues agreed,  that when our Nepalese member turns 50, his party is going be held in Kathmandu. As years past, we always kept referring to this promise and wondered, whether it will ever happen.

This spring, that email came, where our friend reminded of our promise. He said this celebration has been 15 years in planning and now we need to make it happen. I did not hesitate a second, but immediately accepted the invitation. Between the two big festivals in Nepal and India, we found ourselves in Kathmandu in October.

Here are few pictures from our trip showing the lovely colours of Kathmandu.
In my next post I will tell more of our lovely experience.