Baltic Herring Festival

After living in Helsinki for over a year, I think I have had time to attend the festivals that appeal to me. And I think that my personal favorite is the Baltic Herring Festival, held each year in early October since 1743. It takes place at the South Harbor in the Market Square where most of the cruise ships dock and one of the outdoor markets is located.

For one week, fishing boats dock in the harbor and the fishermen sell their goods from their boats. The most common things to buy are of course, herring (pickled with anything that you can imagine), salmon (raw, smoked, cold-smoked), rainbow trout, and loads more.

We went last year at the urging of my coworkers. It was toward the end of the opening hours and we didn't really know what we were doing. We both grew up in land-locked Iowa where we didn't eat a ton of fish, and had very little idea or practical experience of what to do with the raw materials.

At this point last year, we had only been in Finland for about 6 weeks. Knowing very little (more like none at all) Finnish, we were a bit nervous to go. Lucky for us, the signs came in multiple languages and the fishermen knew enough English to help us out. One was even trying to get rid of his goods for the day and cleverly talked us into a jar of pickled herring that 'smelled like summer' when opened.

This year, it was marked on our calendar so that we did not miss it!

Fish is not the only thing you will find at the Herring Festival. There are also people selling Åland Island style bread, called svartbröd, or blackbread. Nearly black, this bread is dense and sweet, made with sour milk, rye and graham flours, malt and molasses, it is the perfect edible shovel for the fish that you buy.

Svartbröd

Delicious chunk of cold smoked salmon

My favorite Finnish food has been cold smoked salmon. Unfortunately, it is on the blacklist of pregnancy foods since it is not cooked. All of my salmon this year went into scrambled eggs, which is not a terrible way to eat cold smoked salmon. 

My salmon in eggs, atop a slice of the edible shovel

There are also these temporary shacks set up from which people are selling all kinds of things. But what they are all selling are sauces and juice made from sea buckthorn berries.

Stall, selling mostly sea buckthorn berry products (the orange stuff)

I had never heard of sea buckthorn berries until I got here, but they are touted for their health benefits, namely a high vitamin C content. Apparently the berries taste terrible on their own, thus it is more common to see them sold as a processed product. If you really want to acquire the berries in their raw form, you can find them at the outdoor markets this time of year, or perhaps go foraging on your own to find them under the everyman's right provision.

Like last year, we had to find a balance between eating too much fish and making the fish last as long as possible. This lasted approximately 2 days, and if you listen to the recommendations for amount of fish to eat during pregnancy, I was nearing over my limit for the week. We can find all of these kinds of fish in Helsinki year-round, but the taste just does not compare to that of the fish from the Herring Festival. Until next year...

Autumn in Helsinki

Summer is definitely over in Finland. We have traded shorts and sandals for jackets and pants. The nights are becoming cooler and longer. We are losing about 5 minutes of daylight every day, and this week we will be at 12 hours: half-way between the longest and the shortest day. 

There are fewer cruise ships making stops in Helsinki and the tour boats have quit coming into our harbor. Less people are out in their boats, and I saw the crane for the first time today, removing boats from the slips and setting them on stands for winter storage.

The geese (Barnacle geese here I think, rather than Canadian geese), it seems, have quit practicing flying in formation and are actually leaving. The seagulls left long ago, but I certainly am not complaining about the loss of these flying rats.

Depressing, no? It is not all doom and gloom here. For example, the scenery is still beautiful:

Some hardy roses, somehow still providing us with their beauty

Maple tree with tinges of reds and yellows

Colorful sunrise after a rainy night

Another reward after a rainy night

Most striking to me: the birches with highlights of yellow leaves. This one is from 2 weeks ago

Birch tree last week

Birch trees this week

Just as football season is in full swing in the US, hockey season is starting up. There are also many weekend festivals to attend. My favorite is in a few weeks: The Herring Market. It is also apple season and mushroom season here, and soon to be lingonberry season. Everyman's Right still applies and mushroom hunting in the forest is a favorite pastime. People also go picking lingonberries, but my impression is that this berry is not held in the same revere as strawberries and blueberries. I also get the sense that picking apples off of any tree you find is frowned upon as most of these trees belong to someone. However, and it is often the case, if the owner has more apples than they can handle, they set a bucket of them on a door step or in an area of high traffic with the sign, "sää ottää" which roughly means, "you take".

These are just a few signs of autumn in Finland. What signifies fall to you where you live?

Open House, Helsinki edition

How many Finnish products are you familiar with? Did you know that Nokia is (was) Finnish before the sale of it's phone division to Microsoft a few weeks ago? Maybe if you are into fashion, you know Marimekko. Maybe you never purchased one of these products, but I would guess that you do have a Finnish product in your home, or that you have at least used one in your lifetime: Fiskars scissors. It was the one item on the list of school supplies while I was growing up that the schools recommended by name. If you own a pair you know why: they are high-quality and you have probably had them forever.

But the iconic orange (trademarked, by the way) scissors are not the only thing that Fiskars makes. Indeed, they also make kitchen cutlery and outdoor tools such as axes, shovels, and gardening tools. In addition, the Fiskars company has also added Iittala/Arabia, Hackman, Gerber, and Royal Copenhagen to its product portfolio.

This week, Helsinki is holding its annual Design Week. There are many events around the city highlighting every aspect of the broad term, design. One of them was Open House Helsinki in which normally closed to the public buildings are opened up for tours. We I selected the tour of the Arabia factory.

  


The name Arabia comes from the neighborhood in which the ceramics factory was built: Arabianranta (coast of Arabia). Other than that, I haven't been able to determine why this neighborhood in Helsinki is named Arabia. The company has been around for a long time. 

History of stamps found on the bottom of Arabia products

We took a spin through the Fiskars Company showroom first. This included artistic displays using their products:

Plates from Arabia

 Axes from Fiskars in a 'wood chopping sequence'. As our guide told us, all Finns know how to chop wood in order to heat their saunas.

Saws from Fiskars

Spoons from Hackman

Close-up of the spoons

We continued to the showroom where the most iconic Fiskars Company products were on display:

Finnish cartoon Moomin collector dishes from Arabia

Brent inspecting the array of Fiskars cutting utensils

iittala chalices

iittala vases designed by Alvar Aalto, and their tea candle holders

Royal Copenhagen table setting with iittala wine glasses

 It was Saturday, and so there was not much going on in the factory, only the kilns were in operation. The kilns are operational year-round, except for the month of July, presumably for all of the workers to take their holiday. But, we took a walk around the factory floor regardless (sorry, no pictures were permitted).

Arabia ceramics start out as a mix of earthen components, half of which are from Finland. Once formed into their iconic shapes and dried, the design is added. The hand-painting came to an end in 2005 and now they use decals with the paints embedded. These are applied, the whole piece is glazed, and they are sent for their 19-hour, single firing. Since the pieces are only fired once, the colors are specially made to handle this process.

Process of mug-making; we were told that attaching the handle is the most difficult part

After the factory tour, we were taken to the top floor of Arabia building to wander around the 2-room museum. This mini-museum contained artwork that made use of Arabia products as well as patterns from the discontinued patterns. Note: if you decide to buy any Arabia pattern and want the set, buy it all! I was surprised by the number of discontinued patterns.

Artwork utilizing Arabia ceramics: the robots were my favorite!

If you want to add a tour of the Arabia factory in your trip to Helsinki, it requires some planning-ahead for a reservation and a small entrance fee. Tours are normally only organized on weekdays and during limited hours. The museum would also have limited weekday hours. The factory is a bit out of the way from the center, but is accessible on tram lines 6 and 8. While there, be sure to stop in their outlet store to pick up a Fiskars Company product, or a discounted, imperfect (hardly noticeable in most pieces) Arabia piece.

Finnish Baby Box

Maybe you caught wind of it when UK's Prince George was born this summer. It's something that is otherwise not widely advertised outside of Finland -- I certainly had never heard of it until I moved here. I am talking about the maternity package (äitiyspakkaus: AY-tie-oos-pahk-kah-us) given to all expecting mothers in Finland who have the government insurance, Kela. This includes all residents plus those immigrants who have a 2-year + residence permit. 

The history of the baby box dates back to 1937. The contents of the box have changed some over the years to reflect views of baby-rearing (i.e. bottles were once included, but it was thought that they sent a message against breast feeding), but have largely remained the same. The items inside are unisex which probably saves a ton of work on their end. Even the box is usable: it comes with a foam insert that exactly fits so that the box can be repurposed as a bassinet. They are so popular among expecting families that 95% choose the box rather than the money.

The 2013 box, decorated with a customizable family tree

Since Finland gifted one of these baby goods-packed boxes to the royals, their popularity around the world has taken off. So much so that during the summer, the maternity grant website posted an announcement apologizing that these boxes were not yet for sale. The message has been removed, but I have not heard that these boxes can be purchased. Too bad, it might be a great industry for Finland, but maybe they would have difficulty keeping pace with demand?

How does one acquire this baby gift box? You need to have Kela insurance and have lived in Finland for 180 days before the due date. You must visit the maternity clinic for a check-up at least before the end of the 4th month of pregnancy, and the pregnancy must have lasted for at least 154 days. At this point, the maternity clinic gives you a certificate stating the length of the pregnancy. Submit this along with an application form to Kela that asks for the due date, among a few other things (to come in a future post). Then sit back and wait until the box is delivered to your nearest post office (Posti) sometime during the 7th month. What if you don't want a box? You may chose a one-time lump sum of €140 ($185), which would not even come close to buying all of the items in the box. As I said earlier, the box is overwhelmingly more popular than the cash.

We received our box this week. Do you want to see what's inside???

Baby toiletries (lotion, brush, tooth brush, scissors for nail clipping), bath thermometer, teething ring, book (Finnish and Swedish text), nursing and sanitary pads, condoms (perhaps so you don't need another box soon???)

Sleeping bag

Sheets, mattress cover, bath towel

Duvet

Cloth diapers, hats and balaclava, bib, socks, mittens, and leggings

One-piece suits

Shirts, onesies, and pants

Cold weather suits

Snow suit with insulated mittens and booties

This box is a great starter kit for a newborn of either gender. The clothes are different each year but always come in a variety of sizes, from 50 to 70 cm (19-28 inches): the baby clothes here are sized according to baby's length. Due to this box, the American tradition of a baby shower never started in Finland. However, I am told that they are starting to occur since so many US movies and TV shows have been imported. These boxes are seemingly well-thought out (can't yet speak from experience) and gives us first-timers an idea of what the baby will need. I am feeling quite spoiled and lucky to experience Finland's baby box!

Porvoo

The signs of autumn are here: shorter days, cooler nights, the sound of dried leaves skittering across pavement in the breeze, and masses of geese flying south in formation. Already my co-workers are spending a significant amount of time of our morning coffee break bewailing the coming darkness. I think I now understand the high rate of depression in winter: they spend the last days of summer and most of the fall wringing their hands about how dark it will be. After living here through a whole year and experiencing the extremes of the daylight hours, I now realize the shock to the system when the sun is all of the sudden setting at 8:30 instead of 10:45. However, that does not excuse anyone from enjoying the remaining sun-filled, 65-degree days. Seriously, the last week has been absolutely gorgeous: warm sunshine, 65-70F with a slight breeze, and no one was out picnicking or stretching out on the beach. There were even very few boats in our harbor. This is something that boggles my mind. 

Perfect cooler evenings for hot air ballooning

We, on the other hand, took advantage of the beautiful weather last weekend and traveled to Porvoo, Finland's second oldest city behind former capital, Turku. Porvoo is 35 miles east of Helsinki, reachable by car, long-haul bus (leaves from Kamppi metro station, buy tickets at the office there or from the driver. You may also go by boat (3-hour ride), or bicycle (not recommended, the trail ends half-way there and the road is narrow and actually somewhat hilly). We took the bus (#845) from Kamppi, unaware that the bus would stop only half a mile from our place. The ticket from the metro station was €11.80 per person, one way, and we arrived in Porvoo an hour later. Though the distance is short, we spent most of the journey getting out of Helsinki. We saw countryside on the way, and harvest was in full swing, likely rye or wheat.

Johan Runeberg is on the list of notable Porvoo residents. In addition, Porvoo is famous for it's Brunberg chocolate factory. They make 'kisses,' among other treats, which are nothing like Hershey's kisses in the US. I've had a few and can't believe I don't have any photographic evidence... Here is their website until I eat another one and remember to take a picture before taking a bite!

The bus station in Porvoo is next to the market square. It is much smaller than the markets in Helsinki, with only two coffee and pastry stands, one bakery stand, and a handful of produce stands.

After a coffee and pulla, we walked the short distance to Old (Vanha) Porvoo. This section of town was preserved from shipping days, complete with wooden buildings and cobblestone streets.

We hiked up the hill and admired the quaint wooden buildings that have either settled with time and/or were built without levels or chalk lines or tape measures. At the top of the hill is Porvoo Cathedral. It is a rather understated cathedral and reminded me more of the white churches in every town in Denmark, which makes sense when you recall that the Swedes were ruling Finland when Porvoo was established in 1346. Inside, the church was painted with frescoes. Most were religious in nature, but a first for me was the unicorn next to the altar. 

As we made our way back toward the river there were many little shops to pop in and out of: clothing, home goods, and chocolates. The center of the old town was near the river, it consisted of a town square now used for a marketplace as well as many more shops and restaurants. There is not a lack of options for lunch in Provoo. We settled on a place with outdoor sitting near the river: Fryysarinranta. We both had good meals and it was a perfect day for having lunch outside.

After lunch, we ambled through the shops of the old town as far as my legs would carry me, and then stopped for refreshments at Zum Beispiel. They advertised homemade ice cream and I was not disappointed: blueberry with apricots. Brent's refreshment came from Finland's Malmgård Brewery. 

It was not quite time to go home yet (buses to Helsinki have 1 gap in their hourly departure schedule and it is quite an inconvenient one: either leave at 2:45 or wait until 4:45) and there was more to see. Brent went walking to explore further while I enjoyed an afternoon coffee, my book, and an accordion/violin duo on the floating terrace of the local coffee roastery, Paahtimo, which occupies an old warehouse.

Brent's exploring

Paahtimo, Image from www.visitporvoo.fi

That sums up our day trip to Porvoo. If you have an extended amount of time in Helsinki and the weather is nice, I would recommend a visit. Especially so if you came to Helsinki in hopes of seeing old world European charm. Next time, I think we will try the water route. There is still more to see in Porvoo, including several museums which are just too wearing for me right now. For a relaxing day in a charming little city, visit Porvoo!