My summer holiday in Finland

I have returned back home, so my summer holiday to Finland is over. I have collected some of my activities, places visited, landscapes etc. to this post. My Instagram followers might already have a better idea what I've been up to, but here are some more photos for you to see. It was of course a lovely break and I was able to relax and spend time with my family. I'm also happy to be back home.

In the beginning of the holiday I visited the city of Tampere. It's a nice town between two lakes and I was also taken on a lovely boat trip on Näsijärvi (I already posted about it here). In the centre of Tampere there is an impressive work of art by Kaarina Kaikkonen with jackets in different shades hanging over Satakunnankatu. 

I spent most of the time relaxing in the countryside with my family just picking berries, watching crops grow, cooking and eating. Once again I visited the old animals' home in Ylistaro, the 18^th Century Market and Kyrö Distillery Company in Isokyrö (post here), and of course went to nearby forests for walks and foraging. Blueberries are in season and still a few wild strawberries could be found in the edges of forests. Lingonberries are now starting to ripen. I very much grew up picking berries in the forest and it's still a nice activity. However it's hard work, if you want to pick serious amounts.

I also picked some white currants in my granddad's garden. They are as tasty as red currants, only a bit paler. I couldn't think of anything to cook with them in this limited time, but they were nice to eat as vitamin bombs in between.

By the way, the bridge below is on my old way to the primary school and I walked those couple of kilometres again. The bridge is accessible only for pedestrians and cyclists these days.

Before I returned to the UK, I spent a few days in the capital Helsinki and made some incredibly cute shopping and visited food markets and bars. The food offering on the Helsinki Market Square is amazing in the summer, every stall bursting of local produce. I would've loved to buy new potatoes straight from a boat, but unfortunately couldn't have transported them back home. There was also an international food market on Narinkkatori, a very interesting event. In Helsinki I also got to taste a mouthwatering wild strawberry and rhubarb cider.

I decided to make a separate post of my foodie shopping, as I didn't want to make this one too long. There are quite many photos here anyway, but I hope you'll enjoy them, as I wanted to share these different impressions with you.

Your VegHog