Helsinki Island Restaurants – a uniquely Finnish experience

Helsinki Island Restaurants With 100 kms of coastline and an archipelago of some 330 islands within the city boundaries, Helsinki is a maritime city that takes full advantage of its location on the Gulf of Finland. A unique component of Helsinki’s restaurant culture are the Helsinki island restaurants that can … Continue reading

Suomenniemi Museums

Suomenniemi Museums The Municipality of Suomenniemi is near the town of Mikkeli and is part of the South Savo region within South Karelia. Suomenniemi museums are two in number, the Lyytikkälä Museum Farm (open over the Summer months) and the Nikkinen Cottage (note that the Nikkinen Cottage is only open on … Continue reading

The architectural heritage of South Karelia

The architectural heritage of South Karelia South Karelian landscapes The present-day region of South Karelia consists of ten municipalities (Imatra, Lappeenranta, Lemi, Luumäki, Parikkala, Rautjärvi, Ruokolahti, Savitaipale, Suomenniemi and Taipalsaari) which, geographically speaking, form part of the southeastern fringe of Lakeland Finland.  This is a varied landscape, with great variations … Continue reading

Prehistoric South Karelia

The prehistory of South Karelia Twelve thousand years ago, Finland (the area between Norway/Sweden and the White Sea / Lake Onega) was almost totally buried under a continental ice sheet, just as Greenland is today. Gradually, the ice sheet melted, and its southern margin retreated farther and farther north and … Continue reading

Finnish Weather

Finnish Weather: Finland is a land of climatic extremes. Winter and Summer in Finland are poles apart. In 2010, for example, the highest temperature was 37.2ºC (99ºF), and the lowest temperature was -41.3ºC (-42ºF). Despite these extremes in Finnish Weather, summer temperatures are usually even, often reaching the mid thirties in … Continue reading

1925 – The Last Journey of Torpedo Boat S2

Between 1900 and 1908, the Russians built 25 Sokol (“Falcon”) class torpedo boats for the Russian Baltic Fleet. These boats served in various roles in the Tsarist Russian Baltic Fleet in WW1. The war went badly for the Russians and in 1917 the Russian Navy mutinied. The mutiny turned into a revolution and … Continue reading