Maaseutu - Countryside

In Finland it is the custom to escape from midsummer (June 21st the summer solstice) through August to a summer home located usually on a lake or the sea.  This was near the town of Porvoo about 70k (43 miles) from Helsinki. It was a rainy day and the air was clean and crisp and smelled of fresh apples from the trees nearby.    

Easy Transport

Here are some pictures of the walking and biking paths I was talking about.  This is in the middle of one of the main east west roads that cuts across the city. And when you get to the highway there are specific pedestrian and bike over passes and under passes!  

Herkkusieni - Mushroom

There are several markets in Helsinki each offering something a little different;  Hietaniemen tori is a flee market with spray painted grids over the cobble stones delineating the boundaries of each seller  Kauppatori - the main market is a mix of produce stands, souvenir tents, coffee shops and bakery stands along the central harbor  and Hakaniemen tori is mostly a local produce market where I chanced on a wonderful surprise!!!! I was hoping to find fresh vegetables at half the price of those in the supermarket and was a little disappointed to find similiar quantities for 5 Euros.  Seeing that my Finnish is not quite good enough to haggle I roamed aimlessly around until I spotted these huge bins of mushrooms marked kantrelli.  I wondered if they could be Chantrelles but for 1 liter for 4 euros I thought they couldn't possibly be the delicacy that foodies rave about in the states but are ridiculously priced.  But curiousity got the best of me and so I bought some.   Having only had chantrelles on two occasions that I can remember once in Montana from a friend whose hobby was mushroom picking and another at the upscale restaraunt Salt in Baltimore I remembered that they were quiet tasty almost mouthwatering tasty.  I have cooked three meals with my liter of mushrooms and each has been awesome!!!  I only wish there was crabmeat around here and I could combine my two favorite foods cooked in butter!!!!  I will try to take some better pictures of things and add them to the post.