Outlandish

Finnish people go nuts for asparagus in the Spring. And they do have a point; those long, green goodies taste awesome in a pie, accompanying a steak or just boiled with a knob of butter. But as always, I don’t like to be too mainstream, I don’t like to do or wear what everybody else is doing or wearing. And it applies to food as well; instead of asparagus I’ve gone a bit nuts for spinach. My main lunch item at work is usually a spinach and feta cheese pastry. I never grow tired of it, it’s just too good. And one day I was flicking through programs available on telly and put on some Jamie Oliver. I don’t usually like to mimic his cooking because he has too many, often weird and unusual ingredients in his recipes: each ingredient or spice costs money and since I rarely cook anyway, I don’t want to get all those rare herbs and spices to waste space from my limited drawers. But this time he made something that was easy and only had five main ingredients + salt, pepper and a lit...

If you like to choose your travel destinations according to food culture and great restaurants Estonia is probably not one of the options that pops to your head straight away. But it should be. Tallinn alone is bursting with world-class fine dining restaurants and awesome, innovative hipster cafés and restaurants. The restaurant that has been ranked number one in most travel apps and websites is Rataskaevu 16 in the middle of the beautiful Old Town and I must admit, I had nothing to complain last time we were there in March. The restaurant is in a very old stone building with narrow halls and small stone-walled rooms. The atmosphere there is quite dark but still cozy. Food is amazing of course and the most interesting feature is probably the toilet (at least the ladies’ one); it has a glass floor and underneath it there is a drop to a stone well. I’m not afraid of heights but in the toilet I didn’t feel exactly comfortable and I must admit I sat on the toilet sideways so that I ...

International women's day! Still in the 21st century, even though we in Nordic countries don't put much stock on it, it is a very important day, in my opinion. In my several travels I have realized how much work we still have to do even in Europe to reach equality between sexes. In Southern and Eastern European countries women are still too often seen as baby dispensers and as someones whose only purpose in life is to make a man happy. Also in Western countries this can be seen unfortunately much and it's not necessarily a man's fault that a woman is in such a repressed position in a relationship. Eventually we have to take charge of how people around us perceive us and not let them determine that for us. In Finland I have followed how we have slipped backwards worth several decades in just a year or two when it comes to attitudes towards women. Internet has given men an easy and faceless way to attack unknown women who dare to think differently from thems...