Sunday 21 January 2024

It’s morning now -1c and snowing lightly. Staying in and doing admin today. Gave the robot vacuum cleaner another go. More fun than watching TV.

We are locking in some more travel and accommodation to get us from Helsinki to Stockholm, Oslo and Bergen. However, there are some challenges. Four days before we are due to fly to Stockholm, the entire Finnish air system, along with other supporting unions, are going on a two day political strike, shutting down the entire airport system. Hope they don’t extend the strike.

Then there’s the weather. No surprise that we are in the coldest Arctic blast to hit northern Europe in decades. This is disrupting travel of course, so we will just have to go with the flow – not that there is much of anything flowing around here. We saw a family walking on the frozen sea yesterday. On top of the ice there was a layer of snow about a foot thick.

We took photos but there’s no way either of us were going to save them if they went through the ice.

Since you asked – What do they eat in Finland? The restaurants and bistros are much the same as home with everything from Maccas to French, but not much Asian. Italian and French are obvious.

However, to give you an idea of the more traditional Finnish, and particularly northern Lapland style, we are looking at going to Kulta restaurant at the Lapland Hotel in Helsinki. Their menu is derived from the foods and ingredients of the far north of Finland. Here is their menu we spotted while taking refuge from the snow last week: If we get there in the next couple of weeks, I  will of course, report in detail.

BISTRO

TASTE OF LAPLAND

Nordic in its most authentic and modern form, salty and surprising. At the restaurant you can find reindeer, northern fish, small farm cheese and northern berries. Lapland tapas style

• Meri-lapin beef and red root
• Ice Sea iron and sour cream
• Vegetable Salad- Heart salad, roasted potato, pickled vegetables, organic egg and spruce lemon dressing
• Smoked stew
• Cream salmon soup
• Bread and butter

Mains

• Fish of the day
• Reindeer of the day
• Vegetable of the day
• Roasted reindeer cake - mashed potato, pickled cucumber and leek Burger
• Charcoal-grilled reindeer meat patty, brioche bun, pickles, smoked mayonnaise, spruce cheddar, red onion and French fries
• Kasvisburger - Vegetable patty, brioche bun, pickles, smoked mayonnaise, spruce cheddar, red onion and French fries

Dessert

• Snowball A seasonally changing image of a snowy landscape in the form of a dessert
• Dessert of the day
• Jella and vanilla Cheese and Hillahilom

Fish and meat (usually pork, beef or reindeer) play a prominent role in traditional Finnish dishes in some parts of the country, while the dishes elsewhere have traditionally included various vegetables and mushrooms. Karelian Hot Pot (Karjalan Paisti), the national dish of Finland, is a mixture of beef, pork and lamb stew meat seasoned with peppercorn and allspice. Lots of yummy pastries too.

Speaking of food. Check out the size of the cinnamon roll!!

We have now locked in our trip from here in Helsinki to Bergen at the start of February. When I say we, I mean Lady P spent all day on the computer sorting the plane, ferry, bus, train and hotel, to get us to Bergen over 10 days through Sweden and Norway.  Time for the evening GnT.

about 9" long and half as wide.