After a restful night’s sleep on the train, we awoke to find ourselves nearing Helsinki. Since we had time, we made our way to the train’s restaurant car and had a hearty, piping hot porridge.
Our hotel was around the corner from central station. We chose it because of our upcoming early flight, which would require taking a train to the airport. Though too soon to check-in, we unburdened ourselves by dropping off our luggage at the hotel.
It was a day of shopping then reading in the gleaming and graceful Oodi Library. The sun was out, and we nabbed some coveted library armchairs by the expansive glass windows on the top floor and enjoyed the panoramic views of the busy square and stately parliament building. The balcony was not open yet. (Later, after returning to London, we saw a Tweet from the library saying the balcony was open for spring; a few days later, it was covered in snow when some of Europe experienced a mid-April cold spell!)
After a few hours in the library, we returned to the hotel, finally checking in, and freshened up before heading out.
We had booked a table at Magu restaurant for an eight-course vegan taster meal. The dishes, expertly crafted and presented, revealed some innovative flavours and most tasted good.
On finishing, we wandered around the town centre in the milder spring air, reminiscing about the time we’d already spent in Helsinki and Rovaniemi whilst we slowly made our way back to the hotel.