Escapology

As I have pointed out in previous posts, travel in Covid times presupposes careful planning. Here is another tip: the Rantapuisto hotel in Eastern Helsinki. 

It used to be a private getaway for a bank. Now it looks like a beautifully forgotten conference center in the woods by the seaside. Very David Lynch. The spirit of the past (especially the ‘80s) is preserved. The hotel is large, and it is very easy to avoid close proximity with other humans.

The hotel is a stone’s throw away from one of the most beautiful places in Helsinki: Kallahti (picture). It is a small bay, next to a peninsula, perfect for a Sunday walk.

Special mention for the friendly staff, a wonderful restaurant, and the authentic saunas. The best rooms are spacious and they have a view over the bay.

Bored to life

This pandemic is terrible for a traveler. You desperately look for safe ways to travel. In the middle of the summer, it occurred to me that staying in an immobile boat might be one way in which you can travel and respect the rules.

The Bore hostel in my hometown, Turku, is a place where you can pretty much go as you please. Almost everything can be done online. You are placed in a cabin, and the only time you’ll meet other travelers is over breakfast that is very generous. They might have changed the rules now that the pandemic is getting worse. The bar was closed already in July.

The prices are a bit steep for a hostel but being at the northwestern riverside bears specific significance for me, since it’s close to where my parents lived before they had me.

htpps://www.turku.fi/ss-bore

Camp pleasure

For obvious reasons, this travel blog has been very quiet lately. I decided to fight boredom by going back to my early days as a traveler. Since I was totally broke back then, I spent a lot of time in various camping sites in Scandinavia and the UK.

Strangely enough, my heimat in Eastern Helsinki (the upper side of the attached picture) is just across the bay from a wonderful camping site, Rastila Camping. It is a five-star site with all the amenities you can think of, a great restaurant, a beach, and five fabulous saunas that you can rent even if you’re not staying at the site.

For anyone interested in city life, there is a also a metro stop that takes you to central Helsinki in about 10 minutes. Very fond memories from Bredäng Camping Stockholm sprang to mind.

Hôtel de détente

Organising a relaxing hotel is not difficult. All you need is a gym and a spa/sauna.

Here are a few tips for anyone interested:
1. Make sure the facilities are open and functional as long as possible throughout the day.
2. Ensure cleanliness and sufficient supplies of towels, snacks, fruit and water at all times.
3. Make sure that someone can turn on the sauna at the opening times if it is not on. This can be done at a distance.
4. Preferably have a hamam and sauna separately. People usually like the one or the other. If there is a sauna, make sure people can make it as hot as possible.
5. Ensure the availability of cold showers.

Melia Luxembourg (pictures) has pulled all of this off in a very small space. Hats off!

Heat it up

A travel blog is not worth its name if it does not advocate something. So here is my take on travel: we need more saunas.

Of course, you would expect that from a Finn. But here is my take on the best sauna areas in the world:

1. Rauhaniemen kansankylpylä, Tampere (rauhaniemi.net) (photo)

Their website sucks but they do have the best sauna in the world. It’s large, and you can choose from cool to steaming hot since the sauna has four levels of seating. Perfect with kids. Swimming available in a beautiful lake.

2. Mondorf Domaine Thermal (mondorf.lu), Luxembourg

This place has about a dozen saunas with Finnish names (it wasn’t me...). The perfect place to explore what we Finns call German sauna culture (swimming suits are not allowed but anything else goes). Swimming in an apparently natural warm and salty source available.

3. Uimastadion, Helsinki

A public swimming paradise built in the ‘40s for the Olympics that only took place in 1952. This is how saunas should be for a real enthusiast: small and tight. They have a website organised by the city but let’s not get into that.

Park life

As I’ve said earlier, I don’t particularly like boutique hotels. But whenever I find a smaller independent hotel that pleases me, I’m more than happy to spread the word. I found one in my own hometown.

Park Hotel in Turku, Finland is a very strange but profoundly entertaining hotel. The building itself is a jugend-style villa in the western centre of this beautiful small town. The hotel is a stone’s throw away from the main railway station, which is a big plus. The central market square can be reached in 15 minutes by foot.

The rooms are all unique. I advise to book early and to go for one of the more expensive rooms. They come with full-blown last century kitsch furniture with a lot of detail and a balcony opening up to a beautiful park. The only thing you'll hear are the the birds singing.

There is a small and cosy breakfast and an excellent sauna that you’ll have to reserve beforehand. The reception houses a well-stocked bar and no-nonsense staff that will cater for your strangest desires without blinking.

I also like the social media advertising of this hotel. They emphasise that conductor Leif Segerstam is one of their regulars. He is known for his regal behaviour in Helsinki restaurants. If they can house him, they can house anyone.

Such a strange vibration

Here’s another review of a city I know very superficially.

First of all, thanks to Finnair for opening two direct routes from Helsinki to California. The horror of the return flight is much more bearable when you get to experience it in its entirety in the same airplane.

San Francisco went straight to the Top three of my favourite cities with Cape Town and Chicago. A wonderful collection of authentic neighbourhoods by the water. My favourite spot is Pacific Heights that apparently is one of the richest neighbourhoods in the world. Maybe that’s why they also have the best bookshops.

Hotel Boheme is a surprisingly authentic trip to the ‘50s beat SanFran, with pictures of the writers and free sherry before dinner. I loved the experienced staff who really knew how to strike a conversation with the strangest of customers.

I have a weak spot for Sausalito because of Fleetwood Mac. If you manage to get there, you might as well explore the Redwood Forest. It really is as amazing as they say. Take the bus.