Shopping Day in Helsinki

Both of us are still dealing with waking in the middle of the night and struggling to stay awake during the day. While I slept this morning, Earl went out and explored. This afternoon the two of us went to the shopping area of the city.

Helsinki is a city with about 500,000 people. Metropolitan Helsinki is about 1 million. The entire country has only about 5 million residents. We feel so lucky to have an apartment that is close to the center of the city. There is so much that is within easy walking distance.

For example, this is one of Helsinki's train stations close by.

Trams are part of the public transportation system in Helsinki. There are overhead cables everywhere. So far the weather has been so lovely that we have not been tempted to try the trams or buses. We'll see how that goes when we venture out to attend Church on Sunday. We might decide after one day that it is too far to walk even in pleasant weather.

On our trip to the grocery store at Stockmann, we came across an open air market. Earl had seen it earlier in the day but it was locked up. Both of us enjoyed strolling among the booths and looking at the various foods for sale to eat or to take home.

Yes, that happy farmer is yours truly. I couldn't resist. If in doubt check out the flip flops.

Picking wild mushrooms is still a popular activity in Finland. After seeing these mushrooms at the open market, I saw a woman at the grocery store pushing a cart loaded with cases of mushrooms. I was surprised to learn that many of the mushrooms come from Estonia.

One of the first stalls that we stopped at was this one where meat was being cooked and served with mashed potatoes and some type of red chutney. I wondered if it was lingonberry but didn't ask. Earl did ask about the meat and found out that it was bear. Suddenly my stomach felt a little queezy and my appetite disappeared. I hadn't realized that the mere mention of a "food" would cause me to react so physically.

At this tent the women were cooking and serving fish or meat with huge servings of vegetables. The frying vegetables looked so tempting. They were so colorful and everything smelled good. This time the meat was elk. Am I just a coward? I rather think so. I was not tempted. And Earl said he was not hungry enough to eat a big plate of vegetables with salmon or trout.

Not only did the sign attract me, but I was very interested in the way that the dispensers for the mustard and ketchup were hanging. Felix seems to be a big brand in canned foods and condiments.

We did not buy anything at the food exhibit. Including chocolate. I really like the concept of a Chocolate room. Everyone should have one.

This is just a sample of the way that lettuce is package for sale at the grocery department in the Stockman department store. They are wrapped in the same way that we wrap flowers for sale. I am used to Romaine lettuce being one of the less expensive ones at the store when you buy it in a package of three heads. The only Romaine lettuce for sale were very young tender heads that were very small and very costly.

Before leaving the United States I went to the local grocery store and bought a 15 ounce jar of creamy peanut butter. I cost around $2.50. I am not a huge fan of peanut butter but I have found that if I have a piece of toast with peanut butter and jam in the morning, I can go for a long time without eating again. When I started to pack, I became really concerned with weight of my suitcases and the peanut butter is still in Provo, Utah. When I saw the cost of a small jar of peanut butter, I really regretted that decision. We paid over four Euros for a tiny jar. Oh well. Some day we will be able to go shopping without feeling shocked.

Home again to number 6 Liisankatu, Apartment 4.