A three-kilometer walk along Helsinki’s shoreline deserves a reward of some sort and sitting by an enviable view with a drink in hand seemed appropriate.

After finishing breakfast at the Old Market Hall, the skies actually cleared up long enough to give me hope to start walking towards the waterfront restaurant that my ex-colleague who now lives in Helsinki told me about. Eschewing public transport and opting to walk off the carb-heavy breakfast, I made my way one step at a time to Loyly and luckily I wasn’t let down. The lunchtime crowd hadn’t made it yet so snapping photos wasn’t a challenge and after grabbing an expectedly high-priced glass of wine, I plopped myself down front and center on the balcony facing the waters of the Gulf of Finland. Long stretches of rain were falling in the horizon but it was bone dry if not a little windy while I sat calmly and alone without a care in the world.