Helsinki, Finland

After countless times passing through, we finally got to spend a little time in Helsinki. We went straight from several days of luxury in Switzerland to two nights in the smallest apartment ever. And we thought our apartment was small. The bathroom in this place could barely fit one person at a time, literally. You could brush your teeth, use the toilet and take a shower, all at the same time. Luckily, we didn't spend much time inside or I might have gone crazy.

My main objective for this trip was to visit as many Christmas markets as possible. We hit up three and got a good fill of Christmas spirit. Since Joensuu is not exactly a booming metropolis, we decided to get our Christmas shopping done in Helsinki. All of the markets had various stands that sold homemade good and treats, but each one was a little bit different from the others. Glögi, the Finnish version of mulled wine, is found everywhere around Christmas. It's traditionally served with almonds and raisins, in the actual drink. I was initially hesitant about nuts in my drink, but it ends up being a nice little snack when you're finished.

I have really loved living in and visiting some of the smaller towns around Europe. I think it has forced me to take a look around and appreciate the little things. It's nice to feel like we live in the middle of the forest. Whenever I'm in the city center, I always stop and think real hard about anything else I need to do/get while I'm there because if I forget something, well it better be worth an hour long bike ride. But I was raised in the city. Deep down at my core, I'm a city girl. So while we were in Helsinki, this surpressed city girl in me was doing cartwheels and flips. I loved getting to try all the fun restaurants and cafés. I loved that no matter where we were there was a store/restaurant/market/people around us. We went to brunch for the first time since we've moved and it was deeeeelicious. Oh how I miss overly priced food with fancy names. My mouth is still watering just thinking about the mounds of food that we devoured. It filled my compartment designated for big city things. But truthfully, I missed Joensuu. I was so happy to be back to our little apartment where the only thing we can hear is the loud sneezer that lives next door. It's nice to have some quiet time too.