French Connection (formerly known as London Connection)

… yep, I finally made it to Helsinki and it was definitely worth the trip. Just for the spontaneity of the decision to fly there and everything, it was great!!!

The city, well, not too spectacular, let's give it a 6/10, just for it being at the sea (always nice) and because the weather was awesome!! Other than that, not that much to see, really… I’ve visited all four Scandinavian capital cities now, and miraculously all of them with perfect blue sky and sun, and if I had to rate them (yep, yankee style, they rate and rank about everything…) here’s how they’d do:

Oslo (April 2005):

With whom?: my Swiss “primo”
The City: Interestingly lots of brick stone architecture. The city is not extremely beautiful by itself, a bit cold but with some neat corners… The fortress, the embassy quartier, Vigeland Park and above all Aker Brygge (the harbour). We also went to see the Holmenkollen (quite impressive and with nice views over Oslofjorden) and down south to Verdens Ende. The landscapes and the fjords in Norway are really something worth seeing and what I saw were just the “average” ones, cause the nicest are on the West Coast of the country, so… 7/10 (ranking just the city)
The Ladies & the Partying: First experience in a Nordic country and I have to say I wasn’t that impressed. But still, when I went there was some quality out there, although the dressing stile in the place was a bit unstylish… Plus I went out on my own and it got a bit boring at one point. 6.5/10
The Food: Nice seafood, salmon and fish but rather expensive. 8/10
Would I go back again soon?: Maybe not soon but for sure at some point, just for the sake of having another latte at Akker Brygge. I’d do Stavanger and Bergen first, definitely, and also the Prekestolen…
Random anecdote: Hmmmmmm… gotta think of something good here…

Upshot: Great experience whatsoever. It was fun, it was the first time in Scandinavia which made it a special trip as I’d always longed for going up there… and I even could find a really cool Troll to add to my collection. :) 8.5/10


Stockholm (May 2005):

With whom?: the whole Icex Troupe
The City: Beautiful. Loved it!! Quite imperial as well. The channels, the bay, the old town, the different ambiences. Sweet! No trips here, except for a boat trip where I fell asleep (shame on me) but the Vasamuseet with its 17th-century ship in full size was spectacular!!! 9/10
The Ladies & the Partying: Couldn’t agree with people to go out to a serious place. What a shame. And 2 weeks ago my flatmate (she’s Swedish actually) told me in Sweden it’s the women who bump into man, ha!! Let’s move on before I start head butting the next closest door or something… Still the ladies were ok but not that impressive either. N/A (7/10 for the ladies)
The Food: Didn’t really try that much stuff as we were on what seemed to be more of an “Erasmus-safe-the-money-and-run trip”. A shame. N/A
Would I go back again soon?: I was considering flying over next month but will postpone a bit, so YES! Thumbs up all the way for Stockholm!!
Random anecdote: Having a latte in a terrace in the city centre I started making funny grimaces to a super sweet baby sitting next to us and who couldn’t get her eyes of me for some reason… The baby’s dad tried to gain back his daughter’s attention which didn’t work at all and the young mum said something along these lines “I think she’s fallen in love with you”, which made me happy for the day, especially considering the father’s “I’m gonna kill the Spaniard” face when he heard his wife. Still giggling when I think of it…

Upshot: One of the cities that makes my short list of “Cities I truly believe should be visited once a year” together with Barcelona and Paris. For me it had some magic but I couldn’t explain exactly why. Just thought it was cool :) Still, could have gotten some more action out of the trip 8/10


Copenhague (October 2005):

With whom?: my Swiss primo yet again. He’s always up for traveling which is good!
The City: Architectonically a very nice city. The city centre was a bit overcrowded, much like some German towns, but it had some flair… Nice squares, churches, the seaside with the fortress and some nice channels, too. Kristiania hippie place was interesting and the Rosenborg Have Park was really nice as well plus they have this famous little Mermaid, hehe… Even the Airport was awesome, hey, it’s about the small details sometimes :) 8/10
The Ladies & the Partying: Reaaaaally cute!! Lotsa sweet faces all over the place. I mentioned this in Helsinki to some Suomi chicks, that the Danish are the hottest of the 4 countries, and the comment didn’t go down that well, as expected by the way. The place we went out to was so-so but somehow I still didn’t manage to get home until 4am. A classic. We had some nice drinks though in a bar before going to the Club and one waitress was, pheeeeeeeew, an angel!!! 8.5/10
The Food: Spectacular dinner in an awesome Fish restaurant for my cousin’s 35th birthday. Nice brunch on Sunday. It was good quality food, definitely. 9/10
Would I go back again soon?: With the right person for a chilling weekend, why not…
Random anecdote: I volunteered to forfeit my ticket for 100€ (that's cheap!!!), as the plane was overbooked, would have flown back through Düsseldorf. Man was happy to get the last seat after all…

Upshot: Nice city where you could sense things going on. I thought for a while it might be a nice place to live but looking back I’m not that sold on it anymore, mainly cause it’s probably the most European of the 4 cities, so not that much change after all from Continental Europe. I liked that they had many darkish small cafés and restaurants in the centre, with a certain touch of authenticity. 7.5/10


Helsinki (September 2006):

With whom?: my 60 year old Swiss uncle who was visiting me in London at the time. Randomly decided to go there on Thursday night whilst having a few pints.
The City: Hm, apart from the Protestant Church, where we actually attended mass, just randomly, the orthodox Church (the biggest one in occidental Europe and few other spots, the city offers a rather eclectic architectural style… Sometimes you could think you’re in Russia, some corners were very reminiscent of Stockholm, everything quite eclectic. We also made a boat trip around the harbour area (freeeeezing wind) which was sort of nice but it’s definitely not a majestic city as for sightseeing 6/10
The Ladies & the Partying: Absolutely awesome. Just randomly met 5 Finnish chicks in a cool venue and one of them, even took me to another venue (LUX) which had some really nice view over Helsinki. It was just a great fun night out partying and it’s even better when you get the chance to party with locals!!! Hardly to top… 10/10
The Food: Ate Reindeer and Moose for the first time in my life and the reindeer filet was awesome I must say!! Apart from that lots of buttery, creamy stuff, which I don’t especially like… 7/10
Would I go back again soon?: I would… but I won’t, unfortunately…
Random anecdote: In some clubs, apparently the funny Suomis seem to have shared bathrooms for both women and men, which basically translates to cueing much longer than expected as the average time for a female is like 27 minutes while a guy needs what, 30 seconds? Just thought there's some thing you need to know in this life... By the way, many Finnish clubs are for +24 age, which seemed a bit odd!
Upshot: I always wanted to go there and just for that it was worth a million times traveling there!! The weather was amazing, the trip was super spontaneous and everything went quit smooth. I wasn’t sold on going at first but looking back to it, hell yes, that’s the things I should be doing more often!!! Just randomly go somewhere, not think so much about everything.That was actually my resolution for the new year (I just turned 27, ufffff) after a looooooong conversation with my flatmate: Seizing the moment!! So yes, awesome trip and great memories and as it’s not always about what you saw or did when you traveled to a new city, but what you feel and will think when you look back, I’ll give it an uncontested 10/10

Labels: Trips