Thank you August!

After a cold and cloudy June and July this August has been treating us pretty well and restored our faith in the Finnish summer. Let's hope for a warm September with a lot of sunny hours as well.

Have a good start into the week!

Where Kekkonen jumped

Would you like to spare with Finland's legendary president Urho Kekkonen? Then you should come to Seurasaari. 

At the Southern end of the island on the side towards the center you find a flight of stairs. Those used to be the old president's fitness stairs. As part of his regular jog around the island he would always stop here and see how high he could jump. The goal was to reach the highest, the seventh step. One time he succeeded. Only with the help of the railing though. But without support he made it to the second highest one. And that even until the age of 74. Quite impressive, right?

Now it's your turn. Can you equalize Urho's score or even beat him? Give it a try. And remember, the railing doesn't count.

Whiskey from Finland

Scotch? Irish? Why not Finnish instead? Yes, indeed, there is a Finnish whiskey. And not a bad one. 

Teerenpeli distills it Lahti and sells it in all their restaurants around Finland. It's an 8 year old single malt. The whiskey is made with local barley and a real Finnish product. 

Give it a try here in Helsinki at Teerenpeli either in Olavinkatu 2 or in Keskuskatu 7. Enjoy and have a nice weekend!

Fully equipped islands

Did you know that there are a couple of public islands in the Helsinki and Espoo archipelago? Apart from the ones you can reach by ferry there are also a couple of others that you can visit with a boat.

The amazing thing is that they are pretty well equipped for visitors. You will almost always find toilets, as well as a fireplace with pots and pans. And you will even find islands with a public, always heated sauna. And if you fancy, you can also bring your tent and stay over night.

Find an overview of the islands on Espoo's and Helsinki's websites.

Helsinki in one day

Quite often tourists ask which the best place to see would be if you just happen to be in Helsinki for one day. Not an easy question to answer. There are so many great things to see and do in this city.

Luckily MindfulTravel by Sara has put together a list of 10 must-sees in Helsinki that can be seen within one day.

Have a look and also check out her other posts.

Bye bye chaos, hello regular posts!

Hei everyone. As you might have seen HelsinkiIn is back alive after a two months break. Thank you all for staying tuned.

Since there are no daily posts here anymore though the recent posts have been fairly irregular which makes it tough for you guys to follow up on what's going on.

That is why from now on there will be regular posting days. You can now expect new posts on HelsinkiIn every Monday, Wednesday and Friday as well as one post over the weekend. This doesn't mean that there won't be anything on Tuesday and Thursday occasionally. And as always posts are published around noon.

So stay tuned and have a great Sunday!

Chill at the docks

Are you looking for another nice terrace in Helsinki to hang out with friends and enjoy a great view over the water and the city?

Then off with you to Ihana Kahvila. It is probably one of the most extraordinary places Helsinki has to offer. In midst the old industrial harbor area behind Suvilahti it is build right next to the water out of two big containers. Grab a cup-o-joe and sit down in one of the comfy bean bags. The view is great. The atmosphere is as well. And if the weather is good you probably don't even want to leave anymore.

Check it out and enjoy the summer! Make sure to check the directions before you go there from their website though!

A night full of art

One of the big highlights of every year's Helsingin Juhlaviikot is the legendary Night of the Arts. And today it takes place again.

If you didn't have any plans for tonight so far, now you do. Because the Night of the Arts is definitely something you shouldn't miss. A full night of dance, music, poetry, movies, theater, exhibitions and much much more is awaiting you. The events take place all around town and are all free of charge.

For an overview of what's going on tonight check out the Night of the Arts website. Have a great evening!

Art goes Kapakka

Helsingin Juhlaviikot has a lot to offer. It also brought Art goes Kapakka back to town. This culture city event brings art to the best restaurants, bars and cafes around town.

Experience exhibitions, music, fashion, design, theater plays and much much more in some of your favorite drink or food spots. The program is filled with exciting events every day and still goes on until this Sunday.

And the best thing: all events are free of charge. Check out the official website for more information and enjoy the August in Helsinki!

Ravintolapäivä against wasting food

Today is Ravintolapäivä again. Did you already pick your favorite spots and food stands to go to? As always you can find a list of everything there is at the official website.

Restaurant Day is always special. But this time the people from Froodly have taken the event as an oportunity to do something against wasting food. The food from supermarkets that would otherwise been thrown away the day later and handed them to cooks of the pop-up restaurants for free.

The otherwise wasted food now makes for all kinds of great meals. For more information on the project check out their blog and their website.

Helsinki Festival with 100 guitars

Today the Helsinki Juhlaviikot (Helsinki Festival) starts. And as one of the opening events 100 guitars will play metal together at Senaatintori today.

#100guitarsfromHEL is organized by Alexi Laiho, lead singer and guitarist from Children of Bodom who exclusively composed a song asked guitar players from around the world to send in a video of them playing it. The best 100 will perform at 18:00 on the Senate Square.

Everyone is welcome to watch and listen. The event is free. Don't miss it!

And of course also check out all the other events during Helsinki Juhlaviikot.

Food from around the world

Would you like to try some English fudge, some Italian pastry, a spicy Nepalese dish or maybe a German bratwurst? Then head to Narinkkatori at Kamppi during the next days.

Until Sunday you can get delicacies from around the world here all day until eight in the evening.

Have a look and enjoy!

Flow is coming

The Flow Festival is close. This Friday one of the coolest festivals in Helsinki starts again. At Suvilahti everything is already under construction and you can again expect some awesome art installations, chill-out areas and decoration.

Flow is of course about music. This year you can look forward to acts such as Florence & The Machine, Major Lazer, The Pet Shop Boys, Beck and many more. But Flow is also about so much more. Hang out with friends and just suck in the amazing atmosphere and flair of this extraordinary event.

And don't forget to check out the food. Some of Helsinki's finest restaurants and street food trucks will be there.

You find the line-up of the whole weekend on the Flow website. Tickets are still available for Friday and Sunday as well as three day tickets. For details on prices and dates have a look at Lippupalvelu.

Just hanging around

Did you spot that guy in the center yesterday. He was just leaning against the wall at Lasipalatsi but got quite a lot of attention.

Have a nice Sunday!

10 Things to miss about Helsinki

There are quite a lot of great things about living or being in Helsinki. Ksenia Kosheleva has lived here for several years. Now that she moved away from Helsinki she felt the city deserved more than just a short farewell and wrote down the ten things she is definitely going to miss about Helsinki.

What do you think? What are your ten things you would or maybe to miss about Helsinki?

Have a great start into the week!

Kallio Block Party

Kallio is the place to be today. Because today is the Kallio Block Party. Starting from 14:00 the neighborhood turns into a giant party with lots of stuff to do, see, eat and hear.

Listen to live music from bands and DJs on several stages. Check out some of Helsinki's best street food. Or just walk around and enjoy the vibe of this anyway extraordinary area of town.

The official part of the party continues until 22:00. But it's Saturday and you are in Kallio. So expect the night to be long.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the party!