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