Chestnuts roasting

The winter has come and the Christmas time begins. And you probably have to still get most of your Christmas presents. So off to the center! But in between all this Christmas shopping everyone deserves a short break. Why not at the cozy hut right in front of Stockmann. 

Here you can take a time out and enjoy delicious roasted chestnuts. They come fresh from the pan and are still hot as they are supposed to be. And since you are here anyway a warm coffee or tea might also be nice. Sit down on one of the small tables underneath the roof and get into the Christmas mood!

Enjoy!

Snow is falling

The night brought a lot of snow. And there is much more to come. Based on the weather forecast it will continue snowing at least till Sunday. 

And also the temperature will drop. Foreca expects between -10 to -18 degrees on the weekend. So get out your warm winter jacket. And if you haven’t done it yet, it’s really time to change to winter tires.

Get on your skates

Last week the Jääpuisto, the ice rink in the center of Helsinki opened again. Bring your skates and do your rounds on Rautatientori. And if you don’t own your own pair you can of course rent some there.

And they also have special programs every week. There is e.g. a skating school on Mondays and Metro wkd party skating accompanied by a DJ on Fridays.

Should you get tired for skating, you can enjoy a cup of hot chocolate or a coffee at the café next to the rink.

Skating tickets are valid all day and are just 6€ for adults. For children, students, senior citizens and unemployed there is a discount of 2 €. Jääpuisto is open daily till the end of March.

24 hours of darkness

This is the darkest time of the year. The days are short and the snow hasn’t arrived yet. And the darkest day of the year is still almost a month ahead. But count yourself lucky if you live in the capital region in the Southern part of Finland.

In Lapland the polar night – or kaamos, how it’s called in Finnish – started yesterday. That means that the night last longer than 24 hours. If you live up there you don’t see the sun for around two months. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no daylight at all. Around midday the so called astronomical twilight occurs. That means the sun won’t rise above the horizon but still will lighten up the sky a bit.

Lights on Aleksanterinkatu

Now the Christmas season finally started in Helsinki. Yesterday the lights on Aleksanterinkatu where switched on after a big Christmas parade with the Moomins and of course Santa Claus who came all the way from Lapland just for this.

Pictures of yesterday’s event can be found from HalooHelsinki. Thanks for sharing!

The first Christmas lights

Even though the Christmas lights in Aleksanterinkatu are not switched on yet, lots of shops and shopping centers – like here at Kampppi – already installed their Christmas decoration. The street lights will then follow on December 1^st this weekend.