Finland; the eighth day

Posted by: Aulikki, 09.03.2008

In the morning we packed everything and loaded the car. Then for a visit with Mom. She is very perky and keeps on talking, I don't think we ever had any aha-moment, but I am happy to see that she is very well taken care of; it is sad to just leave and she does not understand any of it.

On the way to Turku, we wanted to stop by iittala factory, where they make those famous Oiva Toikka birds that we sell at our store. It was really fascinating; we have several photos of the process on the website. They even hand carved "Inari Wines" on the birds that we bought. We had lunch at the restaurant and then shopped around the factory shops. There was very interesting art for public places, go check out the photos!

We arrived Turku on the afternoon and checked in Hotel Hamburger Bors, a nice hotel at the market square. Of course the first priority after check-in, is to go to the wine store. It had a great selection of wines, again many of them we knew. We chose Catena Malbec.

For dinner we stayed at restaurant Fransmanni located in the hotel. It was really a downer that the service there was awful, it took for ever to get the dinner. But the dinner was lovely; for starters Paul had Air-dried Copa-ham marinated with sage and pepper, salad, tomatoes and figs marinated in cognac, and Aulikki had French Onion Soup.

For main course Paul had Roasted Duck fillet with black currant sauce, figs marinated in cognac, Provence herb potatoes and stir-fried mushrooms, fava beans, and onion. Aulikki had Beef tenderloin topped with pain de mie, cognac-pepper sauce, creamy garlic potatoes and stir-fried mushrooms, fava beans and onion. For wine we chose Chateau Pey La Tour Reserve Bordeaux.

We were very impressed that the restaurant later that night delivered to our room chocolate covered strawberries as to make up for the bad service experience. We had an early bedtime, since our flight leaves 6:45 am.

Finland: Day Eight

September 03, 2008