Thank goodness to Stockmann Department Store, Marc and I ate very well, mind you, in very expensive Helsinki. I actually just followed the advice of a fellow traveler and blogger from New York and we didn't go wrong. It was indeed a lot of fun and not to mention inexpensive having some Finnish meals in the supermarket's deli and restaurant. It was surprising to us given the poshness of the place. We expected to pay high prices. However, we did not.

No matter how much I tell myself not to eat sweets anymore, I just could not resist the pastries in Stockmann. How could I? They were dirt cheap. Only 2 to 3 euros a piece. In the US, one fine French pastry could run close to 10 bucks each. On several occasions here, I bought three at a time which I of course shared with Marc.

Twice Marc and I bought food here and ate them at the very hip tables provided by the posh Department Store right next to their food counters. It was like eating in a hip San Francisco restaurant with tables all lit by neon from underneath.

Some travel snobs always insist that when traveling, effort should be made to eat with and like the locals. I say, fine. We try to stay away from the overpriced restaurants catering to tourists. We do eat with the locals, with the rich locals.