Last weekend, our friends came to visit us in Turku. So we took the chance to add another cultural event to our time in Finland and visited Turku castle.
It’s an old, fortress-like looking castle from the late 13th century with immensely thick stone walls, sitting at the end of Turku’s main river. A few days ago it snowed again, so it was quite impressive to imagine how the people managed to survive the icy Finnish winters back then, with no proper windows and huge halls that never warmed up. They had, however, a very smart heating system with several big fireplaces on the lower grounds channeling warm air to the rooms upstairs via funnels in the stone walls.
Generally, the rooms and halls are impressive with nice stories and facts, but they could have been a bit better presented (but that might just be the interpreter in me speaking – right now I would just love to come up with some good strategies how to get the message across! At best as a paid assignment, with a nice cup of coffee next to me and some time to concentrate :-).
Later that day we went to a restaurant where I had a very interesting dessert: it was scoop of ice-cream, vanilla-coloured, with caramel-cinnamon-sauce. Concerning the name, I thought the ice-cream would be black. Any ideas which flavour I got? Small hint: it wasn’t liquorice (though I hoped it would be). I will send some Swiss chocolate to the first person that guesses correctly 🙂
familial entropy 
I think I have an idea for the ice-cream flavour! But it might be considered as I have an unfair advantage living here 🙂
That is true, especially since I already told Nicolas about it 😉
But he didn’t I swear!!!
Ok, if he hasn’t told you, shoot 🙂 I don’t think anyone outside of Finland will be able to guess the level of creativeness 😉
Would it be considered unfair if I ventured an educated guess ?
It would most certainly be considered unfair! I just hope your fairness weighs more than your urge for Swiss chocolate…
I thought so…
Backpflaumen?
No plums, sorry 🙂 Another guess?
Espresso?
That’s too ordinary 🙂 But the colour is almost correct…
Black crowberry?
Good idea — whortleberry? Juniper berry?
No berries….
Hmmm… expected to be black? Seaweed? CocaCola? Sugar beet syrup? Petroleum?
uuuh, the last one came close….
Come on I’m sure that someone will find at the end 🙂 yes petroleum was quite close!
Tar? Concrete? Charcoal? Stinkmorchel? Gemeiner Tintling?
YEEEEESSSS!!! There you go! Congratulations!!! It was tar (pine tar)! Too bad its Lent for you :-p