Thats according to the World Happiness Report 2018. So whats the secret behind that ranking?
THE PERMUTATIONS ARE ENDLESS.
To some, a perfect city is combining New York’s vibrant nightlife in a setting like Sydney, Australia, with bars like those in Barcelona, and cuisine from Bangkok served in Mexican outdoor cafés. To others, it’s layering the French joie de vivre over the civic accommodation and elegance of Kyoto while playing in the exciting mercantile world in a glass tower overlooking the Hong Kong harbour.
Indeed, it is impossible to cherry pick like this simply because a city’s qualities cannot thrive out of context. But if it is at all possible to achieve a perfect city, it seems, at least on paper, that Helsinki is as close as it gets — dazzling, snow blanketed landscapes on which to gaze at the northern lights, a much-lauded education system, the first country in the world to give full suffrage to women, home of Santa Claus, a population that, according to a UN study, is the happiest people on the planet. A population, incidentally, as I found out on an early morning stroll through Helsinki’s Old Market Hall with a chef, who relishes silent pauses as much as a conversation, when there is one.
“As you can see, there are many different types of herring over here,” said chef Karri Knaapila of Krog Roba, the on-site restaurant in Hotel Lilia Robert, as he led me through the walkways of Old Market Hall. It is a beautiful building right by the sea that groups together cafés, bakeries, fresh meats and fish stalls. But it is not a market that comes with the hustle and bustle normally associated with fishmongers and butchers. No, this is a place whose atmosphere and mood resembles that of a museum's. Busy, filled with things to look at, but, at the same time, very very quiet.
“Do you come to this market often?” I asked.
“Yes,” Knaapila replied.
This story is from the October 2018 edition of T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine.
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This story is from the October 2018 edition of T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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