On this great tour of Scandinavia, we stopped in Helsinki. My fascination with the city was never sparked, for it didn’t have the same essence and feel as the other places that we’ve been. The poor Finnish country never got a fighting chance because it rained the first full day that we had there and we left a day early.

Though my visit was brief, I found two gems in Helsinki.

The first is a university style cafe. It is called Tiedekulma Cafe & Bar or “Think Corner.” To really understand why this place is so cool, you have to see it in person, but the quirky decorations and the atmosphere made quite an impression on me. I had an Americana and the coffee itself had a good flavor. It was quiet and the staff was friendly.

The second gem was a modern asian restaurant. It is called, Yume. The spring rolls (crunchy and spicy) and LA roll (savory and filling) rocked my world, but what really made an impression was the pork sandwich. The menu offers a variety of small snacks and made for a great stop between lunch and dinner to refuel for a bit. Back to the pork sandwich – It comes on a Chinese milk bun and for someone who doesn’t like pork, I loved it. The milk bread was a shocker, as we originally thought it was tofu, but we quickly found out how unique this sandwich is.

If you ever head over to Helsinki, these 2 places are a definite MUST.