{finland, day 7, downtown helsinki}

day 7 of our trip was spent shopping in downtown helsinki.

i Y these railway station dudes! every time i see them i can't help but smile.


one of aarikka's display windows. aarikka makes highend design stuff out of wood.
i kept wanting to buy these black candleholders (and white ones) but i just couldn't get myself to pay 120 euros (appr. $160 CAN) for one small one.
so all my richer than rich finnish blog readers/friends: feel free to send me some. :D pink ones for sienna please. :D

love the elves!

www.aarikka.fi

next store was iittala. highend kitchen stuff + glass design.

www.iittala.fi

i just realized i didn't take any picture at marimekko. i guess i was too busy shopping there. :)

i Y marimekko!

www.marimekko.fi

also:

www.pentik.fi

www.artek.fi

www.arabia.fi

www.finlayson.fi

between the two shopping streets is the esplanade park. a popular place to hang out for helsinkiens. i just made that word up in case you didn't notice. :D

my favorites from the ice-cream kiosks were: lipsi popsicles(pear flavored) and vanilla/licorice cones.

didn't take pictures of the market square either. we went there for cloudberry jam + whipping cream crepes. in my opinion it's one of those "gotta do it" things if you're in helsinki in the summer.

jay and sienna surprised me by presenting an aarikka necklace for me which i had admired but had been too cheap to purchase. what a nice surprise!

someone had fun carving out this dude. :D

there you have it. another small glimpse of downtown helsinki. did i mention that...

i Y helsinki!

:)