Summer is upon us! Most of Finland has escaped the hustle and bustle of the city to their lakeside cottages, gone fishing or maybe bought a flight ticket to some exotic getaway. It’s the height of the vacation season at Grand Cru as well. However, those of us who are (back) at the office can always enjoy the summer at our awesome rooftop terrace! Besides the amazing view, the terrace is a perfect place for office lunches, having a coffee break, casual get-togethers and barbeque parties. Quite a Grand scenery, right?

The Cru’s hideout is found in Kallio, an urban up-and-coming district in Helsinki, where bohemian lifestyle is mainstream and where you can find the most bars per capita in Finland. Our office is located on the 12th floor of a 1960’s tower building, which looks quite grey and dreary from outside but when you step out of the elevator to the penthouse office it feels like a whole another world. As we have almost the entire floor to ourselves, it’s possible to see 360 degrees over Helsinki and as far as to the Baltic Sea.

The rooftop view in the photo is to the infamous Helsinginkatu, the main street in Kallio, occupied by hipsters and hobos. Known also by the nickname Hesari, the street has authentic working class character with cheap bars one after other. If you want to find the hip and cool places, then you have to wander off Helsinginkatu and go deeper in to the streets of Kallio.

Have an excellent weekend! Let’s enjoy the summer in the city, in Kallio or where ever you like.

p.s. I’ll tell you more about our life on the rooftop in later posts! Stay tuned.