Nea Barman (1978)

There is always room for one more sushi place in Helsinki! Itamae Sushi is the latest newcomer in Helsinki sushi restaurants.

I have now visited this new place 4 times for lunch sushi and must say I will continue having my lunches here!

For lunch they have two sets: small € 10.00 (12 pieces) and the large € 14.00 (15 pieces). I eat my lunch quite early – around 11:00 – 12:00 and every time I have visited this place we have got our plates quite fast and I consider the small set enough for me.

And since I know the sushi scene reasonably well in Helsinki – these prices are very good value for your sushi money – especially with this location!

I also like the fact that most restaurants are not so full of light as Itamae is. If I were eating there alone I would not mind since you can always watch the Helsinki people walking by.

I would not consider this as a restaurant where you spend lot of time – its more like a great sushi stop between shopping or so – with a great (perfect) location! But this sushi place saves my day. Must visit some evening or weekend as well

Almost forgot to mention – if you don’t like a particular piece in your lunch set they usually change it with no questions asked.

If you happen to be in Helsinki Saturday and Sunday 26-27th of May 2012 you are very very lucky! During that weekend you don’t need to think about what to do in Helsinki since the World Village Festival (Maailma Kylässä Festivaali 2012) takes place in the very heart of Helsinki city center.

The World Village Festival takes place in a large area from the Railway Square all the way to Kaisaniemi Park and in the evenings some clubs are covered with tents and stages – full of free festival events!

Great bands and well known artists from different areas of performing arts – from all over the world come together!

This festival has been held in Helsinki since from 1995 and the main organiser of World Village Festival is the Service Centre for Development Cooperation – KEPA. It is the umbrella organisation for nearly 300 development organisations or other NGOs working on issues concerning development and globalisation. KEPA itself is a politically and ideologically non-aligned organisation.

There are so many great artist performing at this festival – but our family will definitely go to see Jukka Poika & Sound Explosion Band since they are THE name and pioneer of Finnish reggae. In order to choose what you want to see at the festival - please have a look at the extensive festival program here. You may also get familar with the sterling stars and their music via World Village Festival Spotify list.

Hope to see you there!

Rome has its famous shopping streets like Via Del Corso and here in Helsinki our main shopping street is the Aleksanterinkatu.

It is shorter than Via Del Corso but as good as the famous shopping street in Rome!

I think the we are missing Disney store and huge GAP -store in Helsinki, but then again we have H&M, Lindex, Kapphall, Vero Moda, Aleksi 13, Halonen, Monkey and many more wonderful Finnish and Nordic clothing stores offering great everyday fashion for inexpensive prices.

Those are just few clothing stores to mention, but don’t miss my favorite shopping centers Kluuvi and Kämp Galleria and of course in the other end of Aleksanterinkatu is the famous Stockmann department store and Forum shopping centre.

While you’re shopping you can explore Helsinki’s history by starting the tour near the Presidential Palace, past the famous Ritarihuone, Helsinki Cathedral and Senate Square and past the University of Helsinki and many more beautifull old buildings.

Don’t forget to explore the side-streets as well. The good thing about this street is that in the middle only trams and taxis can go and there is plenty of space to walk around. No narrow streets!

Want to do some shopping in Helsinki? The best ways to shop in Helsinki is of course to shop in the down town are or shop like we locals do – it use to be the LARGEST fully enclosed shopping centre in the Nordic countries!! And its still quite large!

Its not actually a shopping experience – its more like a full day excursion or a trip. This mall has pretty much all the same brand shops and departments stores we have in the city centre – except for Louis Vuitton – which is just located in city.

This shopping complex has over 250 shops, 30 restaurants and cafes located two main shopping floors. So be ready to shop and walk around total 96,300 square meters!! All this is actually also very comfy.

So it make sense that we have the largest shopping mall in Helsinki – because of the extreme weather all year round we have here. During summer this is good place to shop because inside it is not so hot.

Itäkeskus (East Centre) is also very easy to access by metro. It takes around 15-20 minutes from the city. Take a metro line to the east – and don’t worry you will be lost; you won’t. In Helsinki the metro goes only two directions: east and west! So you take the metro going East (Vuosaari or Mellunkylä way). Stay of in Itäkeskus and have a great shopping!

There might special opening times during summer and holidays like midsummer – check the website.

Every city has a starting point. When you come to Helsinki and you want to follow the steps of history – then this spot is a perfect place to start to explore Helsinki.

Take your Helsinki city guide with you or just get our Helsinki city guide application on your phone. Go to Old student house have and a cup of coffee or beer. The café-Bar itself is modest, but you go there because of the history and the location – it is in the middle of everything and it´s never too crowded in this place.

I bet you did not know that The Student Union of the University of Helsinki was founded in 1868. It currently has 32,000 members and is one of the world’s richest student organizations, with assets of several hundred million euros. And the Union owns several (half of the city we say) remarkable buildings in the city.

Old student house is one of the buildings and it inside they have modest Cafe Bar called Vanhan Kuppila, but since it is a festive house they also held several events, concerts, clubs, seasonal markets and many more.

They have sunday fleamarkets until 1st of April from 09:00 to 15:00 and the Café is open as well!