Carlson is an old trading house from Kuopio. Incidently, their flagship store is located also in the very same town. The location could not be more central, just next to the central market square — but this is a bit deceiving, as the store continues in a series of buildings that are joined with underground tunnels or walking bridges.

The first store from the market square has men fashion, the next specialises in home decoration and hardware and the third has clothing for women and children. Some special departments are put here and there. In other words, prepare to get lost or at least confused.

The brands and prices are both okay, nothing spectacular or cheapish. Don’t let the look and feel of the store to depress you, the stuff is good even if some of the premises aren’t.

www.carlson.fi, Haapaniemenkatu 22, Kuopio, Finland, +358 17 376 111

Father’s Day is celebrated in Finland on the second Sunday in November. For me, the event has been much more low-key than Mother’s Day in May, and that’s the way I like it. The day somehow feels a bit too much like a commercial ploy to sell more books.

Anyhow, I got to read newspaper in the bed — luxury that we haven’t been able to do for years. After that I continued to build a Lego Technic mobile crane (8421) that I bought during last summer in Oulu. Sanna had her parents to bring it home. She didn’t bother to inform me, so I was taken by complete surprise when the box was hauled from under our bed on Saturday evening.

I and Aapo spent almost two hours on Saturday evening, and at least four or five hours on Sunday to get the crane up and running. It was completed just before the bed time, but fortunately it didn’t disturb Aapo’s sleep.

I was really relaxed after the building — my fingers were sore, but I could still write on my laptop, so no real harm done. All in all, very good Father’s day.

Dean & DeLuca is an institution in world of delis and grocery stores. A store worth visiting for everyone interested a bit of food, but a must for all gourmands visiting New York City. Dean, DeLuca and their staff have been serving gourmet food from all over the world over 30 years now.

The store is located in NYC downtown in SoHo district, next to a set of fashion concepts stores. The bulk of the floor space is occupied by normal grocery store that sells everything and between in food. There are several stalls for fresh meat, fish, sushi and so forth.

There is also a small place for eat the stuff inside the store, but it is usually quite crowded and there are no seats — to get people out quickly for releasing some space for the next ones.

www.deandeluca.com, 560 Broadway (at the corner of Broadway and Prince Street), New York, NY, USA, +1 212 226 6800

New York City has several Ray’s Pizzas, “Original”, “Famour” or just plain Ray’s. We visited one of them on 7th Avenue between 53rd and 54th Streets, a “Famous Original Ray’s Pizza”.

The pizzas, sold by slices, were good, but otherwise the restaurant was a bit rundown and dirty. Don’t let the place fool you, the place seems to be local favourite, as it got packed really fast during lunch hour.

Three big slices of pizza and drinks cost about $20 and three people satisfied their appetite, so the place is quite a deal compared to the most of NYC eateries.

www.rayspizzany.com, 736 7th Avenue (in between 53rd and 54th streets), New York, NY, USA, +1 212 956 7297

We spent the previous weekend in Tallinn with our extended family: our family + my younger sister’s family + my parents. Total ten people – you can probably guess the amount of hassles on the way.

Tallinn is usually visited by ship from Helsinki (you can also fly there by plane or helicopter); this time our ferry was Tallink Star. Quite big and fast (two hours) ship that has been built recently. Due to some miscommunications, I ended up staying in cafeteria on 9th floor for the whole journey, so I cannot say much about the shops or anything else.

We had booked rooms in Viru Hotel that is centrally located, and inexpensive due to staff discounts. Grandparents had a suite with sauna, and we ended up in tiny tiny rooms — they were so small, that the extra beds for the boys wouldn’t fit it. At the end, we got family level rooms that were much more spacious and had bunk beds for the children.

When hotel gives you too small room and then later corrects the situation, one would expect that the luggage would be automagically transferred to the new rooms. Not in Viru hotel. There were no service to speak of; we had to queue to check in (twice), to request crib for babies, and to check out. The service was not swift.

I also heard some echoes from the soviet past: nobody got any rooms before 14.00, and then there were huge queues, as everyone raided the front desk to claim their rooms.

After finally getting the rooms, we spent some time shopping in Viru Keskus, and then went to Pegasus restaurant in the old town. My dad has his 70th birthday in these days, and the trip was the celebration. The food was excellent, and the service really nice in the restaurant. The bill was decent. Much recommended!

Next day, ladies went to spa for treatments, and men and boys went to Sikupilli Prisma to shop some Legos. There are, of course, Legos available in any store, but once again some of us got staff discounts from Prismas. We first tried walking, but nobody knew where to go and then we walked back to the hotel…

There should have been a free bus from Viru Hotel to Prisma, but it was nowhere to be seen. We decided to take a tram instead. As the hotel map sucked golfballs through a garden hose, we hopped off the tram two stops too late, and walked another kilometer for the mall. Then, we spent about 20 minutes there, buying small boxes of Legos (and bigger ones as Christmas presents, but don’t tell the boys), and then drove the bus (that was now available) back to the hotel. Spent two hours for a five euro Lego box and a juice for Aapo. Time well spent, eh?

Back in the hotel, we checked out (and queued) and had a lunch in Amarillo restaurant. It is sort-of Tex-Mex, but blanded down — almost every portion has their (in)famous BBQ sauce, so it doesn’t matter that much what you eat.

After lunch, we visited a few stores, including Stockmann and Kaubamaja, founding nothing. Then we took a taxi back to the harbour to board the ferry. This time we travelled with Tallink Superstar; it is a newer version of Tallink Star, and a bit more luxurious in every aspect.

This time I made sure that I could visit the store, and bought a load of candies, chocolate and champagne. People were hauling cartons of beer or cider — I don’t really get the point, as those are not that much cheaper anymore.

We had to wait about fifteen minutes in pretty packed deck before the doors were opened in Helsinki harbour. Niilo threw up, and the atmosphere was getting tiresome pretty fast. After walking almost a kilometer from the ship to the terminal, we got out of the masses — just to wait a bus that never arrived and to end up walking to our car that was parked about 2.5 kilometers away in Exove’s parking lot.

I have seldom been so happy to be at home.

Viru Hotel is one of the most centrally located hotels in Tallinn. It is also one of the biggest, 22 floors tower next to the old town. The hotel is operated by Finnish Sokos Hotels chain, and it is mostly filled with Finns — the atmosphere can be a bit chaotic during weekends, when people come there to party and booze.

The basic rooms are not very big, and they serve as a base for exploring the town — don’t plan to spend too much time in the room. The rooms are recently renovated, but very plain. The bed is good, though. There are also bigger rooms, some with saunas, and family rooms are a good choice if you are travelling with a child or two; there is an extra bunk bed for them. Amenities include a potty chair and children shampoo. A playing room can be found at the ground floor, too.

The service is from an older era – not very friendly or swift. You might end up queuing to the front desk when you check in, need some information and check out. There was always a queue except on early Sunday morning. The check-in is at 14.00, and you cannot have the room before that time — even if the room would be ready. Fortunately, the luggage check is spacious and free.

The hotel is connected to Viru Keskus shopping center, so you can enjoy indoor shopping and dining experience. There is a good grocery store in the basement of Viru Keskus to replenish your hotel room supplies.

The breakfast is usually included in the room price, and it is pretty good. Don’t expect fresh fruits, but everything else is there.

Viru Hotel, Viru Valjak 4, Tallinn, Estonia

Turks and Caicos Islands are mostly exempt of taxes of any kind. Thus, there are plenty of duty free shops selling jewelry, fragrances, sunglasses and other similar stuff. We visited Jai’s on Regent Village, a new and upscale shopping center in Grace Bay area on Providenciales.

The big and airy shop was empty except the clerks. Maybe it was due to low season, but I cannot really fathom how they run their business to keep profitable. The amount of jewelry was pretty good, and there were both known brands and some more obscure designers. Most of the items were a bit too glitterish for my taste, but might be a perfect fit for people coming from cultures that value showing off more than we Finns do.

There was a good selection of fragrances and sunglasses, too. These were more affordable than jewelry (that was not too expensive, either), and are easier to buy — especially as gifts.

Jai’s, Regent Village, Grace Bay, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands

I and Sanna are going to visit London for the forecoming weekend, this time without the boys. Sanna’s parents arrived yesterday to look after the children while we are gone.

I’ve been counting days to the trip and soon we have a couple of days selfishly for ourselves only. I’m dreaming of luxurious long, undisturbed sleeping in comfy hotel bed and a breakfast with nobody wanting attention all the time.

Hopefully we are able to enjoy the trip. This is the first time Sanna is away from the boys, and Niilo is spending the first nights without his parents. We are probably pretty worried about the status back home, and boys are longing us. Monday will be a difficult day, as then all built-up pressure will erupt — on both sides. Fortunately, I’ll be working again that day.