Today's post is going to be about eating habits and how difficult or easy is to eat when travelling to a different gastronomic culture.
I have been living in Helsinki now for about a year. I was already familiar with the city, with the habits, with the culture, it has never been a shock for me at any point and that might be because of my international background. All my Spanish country-fellows found lots of difficulties adapting to Finland's eating habits and gastronomic culture. The obvious reason is because they are really different.
I am back in Spain and I clearly see the difference. The breakfast, the usage and type of bread, the lunch time, and how heavy dinner is.
The most challenging part I encountered in Finland is that veggies are not that common in the shops and the offers are reduced depending on what shop you are buying. I remember going to a specific place to get lentils, quinoa, etc. (yeah, noticed these are not veggies). And of course, the price, is shooting comparing to Spain, so as a student you might think it twice about how many times you're going to buy this and that on a week.
The breakfast time for me was pretty early in the morning, as my courses were starting at 8:00 am. Usually I had a banana on the go and a cappuccino while getting ready. Too sleepy to get something else, and yeah, not always the healthiest but hey, it's potassium and calcium with some slight caffeine, great combo, huh? The lunch time was crazy, I am not sure if everyone working or studying was doing this buy our university was crazy, we were having lunch (!!!) everyday at 11:00 am. I am not sure how is in your own country for working schedules but I am sure is not at 11:00 am, if I am not right then please, write a comment down below, I am really interested hearing about these differences!
We usually had pretty healthy acceptable lunch! That was the best part! I remember here in Madrid, our lunch at the university's restaurant was a bomb of unhealthiness (french fries with egg on top, sausages, heavy soups, hamburgers, deep fried stuff every single day) and no salad and the fruit was apart so you needed to pay for it and yeah, no comparison.
Then we have the type of bread and how different the two countries use it. In Spain we have the typical white bread baguette that everyone is buying and every market or little shop has it, while in Finland, there is the delicious and healthy pure rye bread, which was the bread I was used to and really missing now that I am back in Madrid.
However, being back in Madrid and having all fruits and vegetables available, from big cherries to blueberries and more has really calmed my stomach, which was already a little too bored.
I am getting back to my own diet here, cooking lean meat now and then, making all kinds of juices, salads, and what I especially appreciate is the range of meat, I am a big turkey lover so...I have been missing that in Finland (for a reasonable price).
If you want to know more of my eating habits I am slowly incorporating pictures in my Instagram account. Check it out yourself!
Need tips for cool restaurants in Helsinki? Let me know so I can make a post only on that!
