In the June 30-July 7 Global Adviser section, we incorrectly stated that Helsinki is the world's northernmost capital city. The capital city situated furthest north is Reykjavik; Helsinki is the northernmost capital in continental Europe.
It's a good thing Finland's summer days are so long, as there's plenty to do in Helsinki, the world's northernmost capital city. I start with a morning walk along the coastline of Kaivopuisto Park at the southern tip of the city, then head to breakfast at the Klaus K design hotel www.klaushotel.com, where the restaurant offers up the best of Finland's fields, forests and farms. Try spooning the homemade cloudberry or black-currant jam over oatmeal or artisanal yogurt. You can also have farmhouse ham and eggs to order, fresh juice of the orange sea-buckthorn berry, and crispbread made from birch bark.
After that, I like to wander the picturesque Market Square by Helsinki harbor and scour the produce stands for the best wild strawberries on earth — bursting with the flavor of 20 hours a day of Finnish sun, they only grow for two to four weeks every summer. Make sure to stop by fishmonger E. Eriksson in the Kauppatori Old Market Hall for fantastic gravlax. Diaphanous pink wafers of cured salmon on a slice of buttered rye sprinkled with dill: my ideal market snack.
I once lived overlooking the Rock Church taivallahti.kirkkohelsinki.net, and it is still my favorite spot in town. Built in 1952, the church is really a massive hole in the ground, its roughly hewn rock walls lit with flickering candles and its ceiling a great coil of copper and glass. Stop by the Café Eepos nyt.hs.fi/menot/, one block west of the church on the corner of Sammonkatu and Runeburg, a friendly neighborhood place full of books that serves homemade pastries, soups and sandwiches.
Lunch in Helsinki is a casual affair, best experienced at the classic old-fashioned cafés. Ekberg www.cafeekberg.fi on Bulevardi has been an institution for even longer than the Finnish state, while eating at Fazer www.fazeramica.fi is an excuse to indulge in their iconic chocolates.
Fazer's most decadent ice-cream sundae comes in an Alvar Aalto dish, a sweet reminder that Finnish design is world-renowned. I have a passion for pieces from the 1930s-1970s, and I can easily spend the afternoon browsing vintage glass specialists Vanhaa ja Kaunista www.vjak.net at Liisankatu 6, or visiting the boutiques and galleries in Helsinki's burgeoning design district.
My exploration of Finnish design continues with dinner at Ateljé Finne www.ateljefinne.fi. The restaurant is in the former studio of Art Deco sculptor Gunnar Finne, and several of his pieces are on display. The simple menu uses the best ingredients and the atmosphere is artsy and intimate. After dinner, head up to the rooftop bar of the Hotel Törni www.sokoshotels.fi for a drink and to watch the sunset. By midnight, it's still light out — the summer night is young.
In the June 30-July 7 Global Adviser section, we incorrectly stated that Helsinki is the world's northernmost capital city. The capital city situated furthest north is Reykjavik; Helsinki is the northernmost capital in continental Europe.