In Helsinki there is a secret place. It’s a place where the sea surrounds you, the wind taste salty and the city’s luminescent heartbeat pulses with a decadent tranquility.

Making Giant soap bubbles… just because

I’m a city child, I’ve always been. I need the proof of life that comes from the movement and agitation of the city. Yet, from my venture point, as I stare at the immobile White church, the stillness of the sea and the hypnotizing pendulum of the construction sites incessantly mushrooming new buildings, I feel content. Motion & calm all at once. The light here is indescriptible, it has the strange property of taking over the space and give it a shine that seems almost as if coming from inside the objects it touches. It’s overwhelming beautiful.

Yes, I’ll admit it; i’m in love.

How could I not be? What other place can provide me with the urban feeling my heart longs for and still keep the clarity & rawness of Finnish nature all at once?

I’m looking forward to see how this neighborhood will evolve. I just have one hope, that the edginess doesn’t give way to the hype and that the integrity of this place continues to inspire the life of those who care for it.

The most random stuff happens here. Last summer, a student showed up with a truck-full of organically grown potatoes against recipes.. How could I resist? I traded a French Classic : “le Gratin dauphinois” and went home with a grin & more recipes to try.

How about you, which recipe would you have traded?