Cafe Art in Turku

Posted on by Yumi

While we were in Turku, I decided to visit Cafe Art. I had been there several times but realized I didn’t have photos.
I took a bus from Sokos Hotel Kupittaa to the riverside of Aurajoki. On the sunny day, there were a lot of people walking by the river.

Many people were at the tables outside, in front of the cafe but I stayed inside the cafe. I hadn’t known about it before but got to know “Cafe Art has received the title of `Barista of the Year’ no less than six times” reading the website before visiting the cafe. So, I was definitely up for good cup of cappuccino. Though I had thought I wouldn’t have any pastries or cakes as we were going for dinner just after the cafe. But croissant looks very nice, and I ordered it with cappuccino.

The cafe was very busy and the customers including myself had to wait for coffee longer than we would feel comfortable. A lot of people were around the counter and it felt restless. Nevertheless,coffee was nice! The croissant was also nice and I think it would be excellent when it was freshly baked in the morning.

This is “Art” cafe. There were several paintings on the wall and grand piano in the cafe. I thought the above painting of the cafe itself was nice!

Interior is classic and calm. I sat in the small room that I could see the bigger hall of the cafe and enjoyed a quiet coffee time.

Kahvila Maggia – Another lovely cafe in Kustavi

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We took a bus to Kustavi’s main bus station which was located in the center of Kustavi after checking out from Peterzens. There were several restaurants, bars, and cafes. While our bus went to some other direction and came back to continue to Turku, I thought it was a good idea to have coffee at Kahvila Maggia which was mentioned at hs.fi. . There was a bit less than one hour until the bus has come back to the main bus station and the bus driver kindly said we could leave the biggest luggage we had in the bus. I like small cafes by the road in the countryside. Kahvila Maggia is one of such cafes. It was easy to spot the cafe from the bus when we were on the way to Kustavi Handicraft Center on the previous day. There was a clear sign of “kahvila” and the building is iconic that I could remember from the hs.fi article.

Peopele were enjoying coffee in the terrace that afternoon we got there. The whole setting looked lovely.

Looking at different delicious cakes, buns, and sandwiches, it wasn’t easy to choose one. But my instinct was telling me to have either Omar cheesecake or Brita cake. I ordered the Brita cake, and after that, my friend asked the staff the recommendations. The answer was either Brita cake or Omar cheesecake! So, my instinct was right.

My friend ordered Omar cheesecake and I was happy knowing that I could taste her cheesecake as well as my cake. The cheesecake was a bit too sweet for me as I had thought it might be and I was glad for my choice. Both pieces were cute in the photos.

After enjoying coffee and cake in the terrace, we went to the bus stop to re-catch the bus to Turku where we spent one night to be prepared for the trip to Korppoo. Our original plan was to go around Turku archipelago trail but for several reasons, we decided to modify the plan this time.

N’AVETTA cafe in Sipoo

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N’avetta was lovely and tasty cafe in Sipoo. A friend and her family came to pick me up on a Sunday afternoon and we drove from Helsinki to Sipoo. It wasn’t difficult to find the cafe in the nature, as there was a big road sign to the cafe!

When we entered the cafe, we it wasn’t easy to choose what we wanted to eat. There were so many different sweet bans (pulla in Finnish)! I choose pistachio pulla and friends had cardamon pulla and munkki (Finnish donut). They were all very nice!

Even though summer had been over, it was ok to sit and eat at the terrace. We enjoyed the greens and autumn colors of outside and atmospheric buildings.

The best three things about this cafe were:
-Cute red wooden building
-Variety of pulla (too many not to visit there many times)
-The cosy atmosphere of the care and the surrounding

To get there, I recommend to a car/or ask a friend with a car to come with you ;-). There are ways to get there using public transportation, but it takes longer time and from Helsinki city center, you would have to take metro and bus.

It was such a beautiful afternoon though it was raining in the morning. Since we were in Sipoo anyway, we explored the area. Sipoonranta was beautiful having nice reflection of the sky in the water. And it was quiet and peaceful.

We also visited the Sipoo National park. None of us had been there before and just wanted to check it out even though we were not dressed properly to hike. We walked a bit on the path and decided to come back the next weekend to go hiking properly. I am looking forward to it. 🙂

Aalto Architecture for Novice – 素人でも楽しめるアアルトの建築

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Alvar Aalto is most likely the most famous Finnish designer and architect in the world.

フィンランド建築・デザインと言ってまず初めに出てくる名前はおそらくアルヴァ・アアルト・・・。アアルトの建築の特徴とかその魅力とか、実はまったくわからなかったのだけれど、最近建築に詳しい友達から実際に彼の設計した建物の中でご飯を食べながら話を聞いて、素人ながらもなんとなくアアルトの建築がおもしろいなと思ったりした。

I am such a novice when it comes to design and architecture and hadn’t had much knowledge about Aalto architecture except I’ve seen many of them. Quite recently, however, a friend who is an architect herself enlightened me a bit about Aalto design in one of the building he designed over lunch. Since then, I got more interested in Aalto architecture and have taken photos of them.

フィンランドデザインは目で見て楽しむだけでなく、使ってみるもの、つまり実用的なのだ。巨匠アアルトの建築も見るだけでなく、実際にその建築物の中で楽しい時間を過ごすのがいいのではないだろうか。お茶を飲みながらとかブレックファストやランチを食べながらアアルトの建築を楽しむ、あるいは、アアルト設計の建物の中で楽しいお茶やブレックファスト、ランチの時間。ヘルシンキでそんな体験ができる場所を写真で並べて見てみると、素人の私でもアアルトの建築の特徴的なものが見えてくるような気がする。私的にはその直線的なデザインがインスタ映えするな～と思ったりもする。
（直線的なデザインというのは私のものの見方で、建築に詳しい人に聞いたらまったく違うのかもしれないけど。）

Finnish design is practical. It’s not only about enjoying the beauty of the design but also (or more) about enjoying using it. So, it’s my own way of enjoying Finnish design, Alvar Aalto design, to have good time having coffee, breakfast or lunch. These three buildings are some of my favorite place to have coffee, breakfast or lunch. It’s quite interesting to look at and compare them, isn’t it?

デザイン・建築まったく素人の目からとらえたアルヴァ・アアルトの建築

Sähkätalo（サフコタロ）

このビルの1階に入っているロバーツコーヒーは、毎日どこかのカフェに行っている私が一番よく利用するカフェだと思う。一番の理由は明るさ。フィンランドは室内の照明が間接照明で、おしゃれなのはいいのだが、私にとっては暗い。特にカフェで仕事をするときには、できるだけ明るい場所がいい。明るいだけでなく吹き抜けのガラス天井は（という名称なのかは知らないけど）、なんだか気分を明るくしてくれる。上からの照明も十分で、ガラス天井だと曇っている日はそれなりに暗い場所も多い中、ここは外が暗くても明るい。テーブルと椅子の高さもラップトップで仕事するのにちょうどよくて、ラテやカプチーノの味も安定している。今流行ってるこだわりコーヒーじゃないけど、満足のいく味だ。かつ値段も比較的安い。それに何時間でも居座れる雰囲気も気に入っている。家からも一番近いカフェ。Kamppiのショッピングモール（地下鉄やバスターミナル）もとつながっているので、なにかと便利。

Robert’s coffee in this building is a cafe I visit most frequently. I love that it’s very bright inside! Not only because sunlight coming through the glass ceiling but also ceiling lamps are bright. So even in dark winter or on a rainy day, it’s bright. and cheers me up! I often work with my laptop at this cafe. Height of the tables and chairs are perfect for me. And their latte and cappuccino are nice and price is reasonable. Also the building is connected to Kamppi shopping mall where metro and bus terminals are as well.  In addition, it’s one of the closest cafe to my apartment 😉

Rautatalo（ラウタタロ）

隣もその隣もアアルトの建築という場所にあるラウタタロに、最近 Dylan Marmoripihaがオープンして、ブレックファストやランチに気軽に利用できるようになった。

Dylanはいろんな場所にランチ（朝食も）レストランがあるのだが、どこのビュッフェランチもできるだけヘルシーな食材を使い、おいしくてバラエティーも豊富。気に入っているランチ場所に一つなのだ。

ちなみに、ここで建築に詳しい友達にアアルトの建築についてちょっと教えてもらって興味を持つようになった。

Restaurant Dylan Marmoripiha has opened in Rautatalo recently and we can enjoy breakfast and lunch! Dylan has several restaurants and all of them have tasty dishes with fresh and healthy ingredients! Variety of brunch and lunch buffet is great. This is the restaurant where my architect friend inspired me about Aalto architecture.

Akateeminen kirjakauppa/Cafe Aalto（カフェ・アアルト）

あえて私がブログに書くまでもなく有名すぎる場所だが、この建築も他の2つのビルと並べて見てみると、また新鮮。アカデミア書店の2階にあるカフェ・アアルトは「カモメ食堂」でめちゃくちゃ有名になり、いつ行っても日本人観光客がいて、ちょっと楽しい日本語メニューもあって。それでも地元の人たち（紳士・淑女のお年寄りも多い）にも「愛されている」と言ってもいい感じの場所。このカフェの12時までやっているブレックファストはおいしくて値段もとてもお得。私のお気に入りは日本語メニューで「詩人の朝食」。驚くほどたくさんフルーツがのっていて、ほんと驚く（笑。このカフェは、フィンランドではどちらかというと少数派のテーブルサービス。そのサービスも心地よいと思っている。そんなわけでこのカフェでのオススメは断然ブレックファスト。12時までやってるから朝が苦手でも大丈夫！

Cafe Aalto is one of the most famous Aalto architecture, especially among Japanese tourists who come to Finland inspired by the movie shot in Finland. They have even Japanese menu and I find Japanese tourist whenever I visit there. But it’s not only tourists who go there but also locals do. I often notice old ladies and gentlemen enjoying coffee or lunch. My favorite at this cafe is tasty and generous breakfast which is offered until 12pm! You don’t have to be that early bird to enjoy the breakfast. I also enjoy table service!

サービスがよいので、詩人の朝食についていたカフェオレを、ポットコーヒーに変えてもらうこともできた。水のようにコーヒーを飲みたい気分だったので。オリジナルの陶器も売っているらしい・・・。

Autumn Color – 秋の色

Posted on by Yumi

Rastila and Kulosaari, Helsinki.

雨降りの日が続く今年の秋。おととい久しぶりに晴れたけれど、昨日はまた雨。

This autumn has been extremely rainy but today, it was sunny and golden-colored leaves were lovely. Luckily, I got a ride to Rastila in the eastern Helsinki and enjoyed beautiful autumn colors and lovely cafe.

それでも今日はまた太陽が顔を出し、黄金色の紅葉がキラキラに。運良く車を出してくれる人がいて、ヘルシンキの東の端のほうにあるRastilaへ。

Cafe MONAMI is in the old manor located in the same area as camping site. It used to be our favorite gourmet restaurant but we got to know it had been closed when we read about the new cafe in the paper.

目的は新しくできたカフェ、Cafe MONAMI。Rastilaのキャンプ場と同じ敷地にある元マナーハウスがカフェになっている。以前はここが超おいしいレストランだったのだが、新聞でこのカフェが紹介されているのを見て、レストランはなくなったんだな～と気づいた。

 

The cafe was cozy and lovely, especially with the light and autumn colors through the windows.

カフェは素敵にまったりした感じで、今日のように晴れた日はなんともよい雰囲気だ。外の紅葉の風景もカフェから楽しめる。

カフェでコーヒーを飲んだ後は、紅葉の中をドライブ。

After having coffee, we drove in the autumn colors.

The pink manor in Kulosaari was cute.

Kulosaariのピンク色のマナーハウスもキュートな感じだった。

It was relaxing and lovely Sunday afternoon.

のんびりと素敵な日曜日の午後。