Helsinki-Esbo-Helsinki-Suomenlinna-Helsinki-Turku-Helsinki

Hello from Helsinki!

It has been quite a busy weekend, but a lot of fun! Friday I headed to Espoo to my sister's wonderful little house surrounded by a beautiful and lush garden. Karoliina has undergone surgery on her foot three times during the past month, the last time this past Thursday. So she's pretty much not able to do anything, which isn't all that easy. Her sweet new boyfriend Atte was there as well, it was nice to finally meet him. We all cooked together and had a wonderful feast!

Goofing around, as always :D

Our beautiful supper: Atte's salad made from beet root leaves (salvaged from the bio bin..:D ), tomatoes, cucumbers, sunflower seeds and hemp oil; quinoa ; Petra's curry made with carrots, onion, cauliflower and lentils. For dessert I made an apple pie from Karoliina's and Anna's (her flatmate) own apples.

Saturday I woke up around 10 am, which is really late for me. I had brunch in bed and at 2 pm all the students of the Social Sciences Faculty met up and headed to Suomenlinna for the annual Kannu Games.







I spent the entire day there, until I headed to Turku on the 9 pm train. I spent the latter part of the evening with Mom, I had already missed her! Unfortunately I didn't get to see Dad, he was still in Barcelona at a congress. Sunday I attended my dear cousin Julia's confirmation. The celebration was great; spending time with my cousins, mingling with other relatives and friends and eating the absolutely divine food. My Dad's aunt gave me a ride home to Helsinki, so I didn't have to spend another 2 hours on the train, which was great.


Julia and me. xx



Matilda and me xx


Is she beautiful or what?

Now I must be off to count sheep! Tomorrow will be a long day, starting with school in the morning and 9.15 am until 16 pm and then a party in the evening. So I must get energized!

Explorer

This morning I woke up well rested, had my morning coffee on our balcony and read some newspapers and then ate breakfast in bed. Around noon I headed out to explore the neighborhood. I love this area! I chatted with the little kids of a local day care, they were the cutest! On my way to the market square I witnessed for the first time in my life the changing of the guards in front of the Presidential Palace. I felt like such a tourist! I then strolled through the market square to the market hall and then up to the top of the gorgeus Observatory Hill. On my way to my tram stop I popped into a second-hand bookshop and browsed around, so many books I wanted to buy! Now I've been hanging out at home and soon I'll head to Karoliina's house for a lovely sister evening!

The End and the Beginning

My last day in Turku began with breakfast downtown with my Grandma.
I had a delicious sandwich: gravlax on rye bread.
After shopping around for a while we stopped in the market hall for another cup of coffee.

Speaks for itself only if you understand Finnish. And the Turku dialect...

On my way home I caught a glimpse of the President and her husband along with the Guests of Honor, the Royalty of Sweden.

A quick salad at home: boiled and seasoned beet root with feta.

On my way back downtown to meet up with my cousins I biked passed the happiest looking couple ever. I just had to turn around and go back to have a chat with them. They were both 90 years old, and had once been a couple in their youth, but had now found each other a few years ago and were happily together again. How sweet!

My beautiful cousins, Julia and Tinda (Matilda).I gave it a try. But after my years in the States I've not eaten a single donut. I apparently have came to my limit there.

Hanging out with my cousins is the best. Despite our age difference, my sisters Karoliina and Tiltu and our cousins Julia, Tinda and their brother Jonas (now in the States as an exchange students) are a tight knit bunch. I feel blessed to have such wonderful cousins.

During my afternoon stroll with Buster I realized that the Autumn really is creeping in...

My Mom and I had fun fooling around with a wig she got for a party she was going to attend. Black is definitely not my color.

In honor of my departure from home we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Turku, Cantina Azteca. I highly recommend it. Here are my beautiful, beloved parents. They mean the world to me.

Not to mention my sister and best friend, Tiltu. Visit her blog at http://tiltumaria.blogspot.com




Helsinki

The next morning was hectic. Packing, sowing my curtains, doing this and that...but I made the 10 o'clock train and arrived in Helsinki at 12 with butterflies in my stomach. I came to my appartment and started organizing things and in the evening I got my new bed, which I love!

Evening tea.

Breakfast in bed on my first morning in Helsinki.


My dear friend Helena was my first guest of honor!
Goofing around on my balcony. Lunch time! Carrot-cauliflower-onion soup with crisp bread.

It was delicious!

Yesterday I had my first meeting with the new sociology students and our tutors and I'm so excited! Everyone seemed so down to earth, nice, talkative and yeah...I'm so relieved and happy! We had a really laid back evening at our organization's facilities, ate good food, played a name game and mingled. Afterwards we continued to a nearby bar. Unfortunately I didn't take a single photo, but will be sure to take some on Saturday, when I'll be attending the traditional Kannu Games in Suomenlinna. It's an event for all the old and new students of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Today I'm gonna chill at home, run a few errands and go for a walk in my beautiful neighborhood and take some photos. Later on I'll head to Espoo. My sister has invited me to her house for a harvest supper. They have a massive garden filled with everything from apple trees and rasberry shrubs to different herbs and greens, yum!



Quote of the Day:

If we all did the things we were capable of, we would astound ourselves.
- Thomas Edison

My Final Days in Turku

Tomorrow will be the last time I wake up and go to sleep in Turku for some time. Wednesday I'm off to Helsinki with only a small clue about what my life will be like during the upcoming months! Everything will be new: my hometown will change, I'm getting a new flat mate, starting school... and tens of other things! But I'm excited and ready! Bring it on!

In preparation my Mom and I drove to my new home on Sunday. We took over some things that were left behind when we moved the bulk of my possessions with Dad. Clothes mainly... :D It felt important to me to have my Mom come over, because moving out, although for a second time, is something I want to share with my parents. Its kind of a bonding experience. When I moved to Malmö my Mom took me and Lotta there...and left us there. I cried so much when she left -don't leave me! And when we moved back from Malmö we drove all the way there with my Dad and Lotta, it was an unforgettable roadtrip! So anyway, Sunday was great. We had plenty of time to chat during the day and got stuff done. Lunch at a neighborhood Greek restaurant was excellent and afterwards Mom so kindly stocked up my kitchen cabinets, so I want be living off noodles quite just yet.

After a day of driving to Helsinki and moving I was completely exhausted. I was so tired that I got inspired to bake! We have a huge basket of apples from Grandma's cottage in Humppila, so I baked an apple "kukko", which is basically a bread type dough with a sweet apple-cinnamon-almond filling on the inside. I also made one with apples, banana and peach and then the rest of the dough I used to make a pie.

This weekend I visited my Grandma's grave for the first time since her funeral. Walking through the cemetary during the daytime is nice; its so calm and during the summer time all the flowers and such look beautiful. I like to read the grave stones...their filled with history -you can sometimes determine the possible cause of death from the dates of passing away, like when there has been a war or a epidemia/plague, what names have been fashionable, how people's average age has increased and so on... At the same time its sometimes so sad, young people having passed away, entire families... Who were these people? What happened to them? Did they have a good life? Yet its so necessary to realize how precious life is, and that death is a natural part of life, everyone's life. Visiting her grave, however, stirred up a lot of emotions and I woke up at night during a horrific nightmare. It was raining outside, my blinds and windows were open and my room was cold. I was so scared and sad, started crying a lot and had to come upstairs, put on all the lights and try to get my mind off it.

Today has been sort of...tired and slow, but good. I made a lunch picnic, packed magazines, a book, a blanket and writing supples and headed to a the Puolala Park downtown. Meditation, a self-assesment project, eating, reading and a nap. Relaxing, useful, quality me -time. Afterwards I met up with Tiltu downtown and after a while we headed home.

One of my projects for the Autumn is working on taking care of myself holistically; physically, spiritually and mentally. Exercise, enjoying the nature, starting to practice yoga/pilates/deep stretching regularly, eating wholesome and nutritious food, meditating, starting a women's circle with Karo, respecting my boundaries and body, trying to get more sleep and through many other means. One, which I'm working on currently, is allowing myself to heal. I have vertebral disc prolapse and basically my only option is rest and recuperating exercise. I'm finding it difficult, but no can do! I also want to take care of my body regularly. This weekend I did a facial and bathed in the sauna -rejuvinating, relaxing, replenishing.

I've now been on the computer for over and hour, time to stop and do something else. I'm now keeping track of how much time I spend online and doing what. :)

Sunshine Saturday

Pikku-Torre & Jukka Poika with Helena and Kata. Sleep. Blueberry Breakfast. Morning Newspaper. Revitalizing Shower. Quality time with Mom. Shopping. Laughing. Coffee @ a Café. Squeaky New Shoes. Fresh Produce. Nutritous Lunch. Sunshine. Juicy Strawberries. Packing & Preparation.

I had beautiful company at Pikku-Torre. Kata (a new and very nice aquaintance) and the wonderful Miss Helena.




I'm my Mom's personal shopper and help put together her new wardrobe. Great success!


Coffee at the cutest little place in the Kauppahalli / Market Hall




Fresh, crunchy lettuce, juicy carrot and cucumber, plump cherry tomatoes, black olives & mozzarella.

I will never pass a chance to devour strawberries.

And neither will Buster. He even looks good in strawberry.