Helsinki and the countryside

After sleeping 14hrs straight, I woke at 6.30am to a brilliant day. I had a wonderful breakfast ( supplied by Serena) and decided to go for wander around the neighbourhood. Many of the buildings in my area of Helsinki, Toolo, are built around the 1930's in the "Art Deco" form. Mostly apartment buildings and an upmarket area. I took time to walk around the local lake taking in the views. I then called into a local Cafe to sample delicious pastries and had a coffee. Sadly Finland is not known for its coffee compared with NZ.
Serena came by the apartment at 9.30 and we planned the day starting with a walk to the seaside and partaking in a hot chocolate each, now Finland is known for its hot chocolates, yummy! After a walk around the seaside and a local park, we went to the train station to get a train to Espoo, then on a bus to meet some real live fair dinkum reindeer. That was a highlight as the reindeer park was magic. At the park, Serena and fed the reindeer lichen and then we went into a traditional Finnish tent (like a Yurt) with an open fire and drank tea and ate a traditional pastry.
I bought a traditional drinking mug made of wood by the native Yasami people. This is the tribal people of Scandinavia that used to herd reindeer across the top of Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
The day was full on with a walk around the lake to going out to the countryside to feed and watch real reindeer (in training for Christmas 2023).Read more