Final Thoughts On Helsinki

My few hours strolling around Helsinki on Saturday cemented my view that Finland's capital is a remarkably wonderful city.  A bonus was that Saturday was Restaurant Day -- something that happens I think 4x per year, where anyone can open up a little pop-up restaurant and sell whatever they want.  (I think this happens worldwide (see www.restaurantday.org/en/info/about/), although it seems to be especially popular in Helsinki.)  In practice, it appeared to me like this is mostly about having a whole bunch of food stalls distributed around town, in particular at parks.  I saw lots of Vietnamese food, a handful of Turkish stands, and lots of Finnish dessert purveyors.  It was great.

Speaking of food, I know I mentioned previously how much I loved the food in Helsinki.  But I don't think I've mentioned the Karl Fazer cafe/bakery.  Wow!  I think this is a Helsinki institution, and I get the impression that it is like this city's Fauchon or Zabar's.  I ate breakfast there on 3 of my 4 mornings, and I loved each meal.  They have awesome desserts and delish Finnish fish snacks.  The place just looks good too.  I bet it is especially stunning at Christmas time.  Don't miss this place if you're in Helsinki.

I said this before, but my goodness the architecture in Helsinki was fantastic.  Some of Saturday's sights:

I would love to go back someday, both to Helsinki and to see other parts of Finland.  And these 4 days really make me want to get to Stockholm and Copenhagen and Reykjavik.  ASAP.

This was obviously a WWII memorial.  I could not understand any of it -- in the Finnish or any other language.  But I distinctly saw some Hebrew on this monument.  If you look closely, you can make it out.  If anyone knows what this says, shoot me a line.  Grazie.