We were excited to return to Helsinki, having previously spent a day there through our Baltic Cruise. We enjoyed plenty of daylight, sunshine, and had an awesome Airbnb home owned by a helpful family that was close to grocery stores (no alcohol sold after 9:00 pm) and the bus line. As we were going to be there for three full days this time, we purchased city passes which covered our in-city travel and gave us discounted or free entry into a variety of museums. Although pricey, we used the passes so much that we definitely got our money’s worth.

During our first full day there, we celebrated Father’s Day by attending the Helsinki Burger Lovers Festival which attracted a huge crowd during a sun-splashed afternoon. We enjoyed sampling a variety of fresh burgers – half-sized portions were sold from food trucks. After our burgers, we grabbed a treat from the lone ice cream truck amongst the burger trucks. It was by far and away the best ice cream we’ve ever had. It was creamy and rich. We each got different flavors and they were all delicious! If you ever have a chance to experience Jaateloa ice cream we highly recommend it.

We also enjoyed the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour that was included in our passes and was a great way to see Helsinki. At the end, we visited the beautiful Helsinki Cathedral, a large, white building that overlooks the harbor.

We also took the ferry to Soumenlinna island–an island formerly used for military defense. Once there, we toured the war museum which boasts an amazing collection of uniforms and does a great job of explaining Finland’s history through the lens of military conflict. We avoided the dive-bombing sea gulls to the best of our ability while enjoying our picnic lunch outside, and then explored the submarine on display. It was the last operational submarine in the Finnish arsenal. Back on the mainland, we made a quick stop at the city museum,  and walked back down to the wharf before the food tents closed up. For dinner, we ate fresh salmon soup with huge chunks of fish and crepes at the outdoor market. On one side of the market we browsed through the jewelry, trinkets, clothing and wooden specialties (including many moose-themed items) that were for sale.

After dinner, we headed to the Merimaailma SEA LIFE  park which was well organized, and had a really nice interactive section about pollution, global warming and plastic waste in the oceans. It was the perfect size, small enough that our kids with short attention spans were kept entertained the whole time but dense with interesting displays. In order to get to the Sea Life park, we walked around the Linaanmaki amusement park. From the outside, the rides looked pretty small. There was no entrance fee, you just pay per ticket ride. H and I rode a few of the rides, and they deceiving! They were surprisingly thrilling! This was one of the best days of our trip. We felt like we were getting our moneys worth from the Helsinki cards, everyone stayed energetic until the very end, we did a lot of unique activities and got a feel for the culture.

Day two was home school for the first half of the day and then back down town to take a chilly but nice ferry canal cruise around the archipelago of Helsinki.

Day three we visited the Architecture museum, which we can’t recommend to those not specifically interested in architecture as it was a bit dry and limited. One room had unique displays showing the progress and plans used to build Helsinki decade by decade. An interesting quote we found was “A room without sunlight will receive a doctor.” Right next door was the Design museum–we loved this one. Really attractive and interactive displays and we liked seeing all the things invented by Finns–Fiskars scissors, ball chairs, Angry Birds, Nokia and much more.

Then we went to the Amos Rex Museum of Modern Art. They were having a contest this summer between about five artists and we got to vote for our favorite via marble track, which was a fun and quirky activity. We then broke up a little bit – some went to the famous Stockman’s department store, others chilled in the sun, and Dad mailed postcards. Our evenings began to creep later and later as the sun barely went down. That evening we attended English-language church service at the beautiful Rock Church, known for its amazing acoustics.

We left Helsinki but continued our stay in wonderful Finland. Our Finnish friends picked us up and we went to stay at their cabin for some “mookki” or the ultimate way to chill or relax by the lake in Finland. During this delightful stay, we learned all about the proper Finnish wood-burning sauna, licorice ice cream (Salmiakki), amazing fresh smoked salmon, moose meat sausages, crepes over the camp fire and all about the gorgeous nature and history of Finland. We enjoyed fresh blueberries and cold oatmeal. Our hosts taught us about moose hunting, how the Ice Age impacted the topography of the country and what it’s like to live so close to the Russian border. We celebrated summer solstice there and were awe struck by how light it was at midnight. An amazing meal of ‘robbers roast’ – cooked in the ground – was yet another highlight. We watched a pair of swans defend their territory in the lake and enjoyed hours just experiencing “mookki”–paddle boarding, picking wild raspberries, gazing at the water. We will forever remember this awesome experience with our friends and how they shared their little corner of paradise with us.

We’d heard from a few others who brushed off Helsinki and Finland as not much to see or do. We don’t get it. We loved it and were drawn to this country, people, and found so much more than we could do in our short time. And perhaps the fact that we had friends who fully showed us a Finnish experience had a lot to do with it. We can’t wait to return. It definitely makes the top five in our final count of 34 countries.

Next up Sweden!