Few Dos And Don'ts

There are so many warnings, rules and regulations in USA and therefore lots of eye-catching signs.

When travelling one should keep in mind the following:

1. by car

2. when walking

3. by public transportation

4. and winter time

At restaurants:

1. on toilets if working at the restaurant (I wonder if this applies for customers as well):

 2. on toilets in general:

3. when eating Chicago dogs:

At concerts:

And then one can see weird signposts (by this I do not mean the election related material) when driving by that can and should just be ignored, like:

Autumn Mood in Wisconsin

I visited my friend in Hudson, Wisconsin during my autumn holiday.

First time in Midwest and it was really fascinating to see little bit countryside besides the big cities.

View towards Lake Mallalieu was breathtaking.

Such a perfect timing with gorgeous sunny days and beautiful autumn colours.

Few relaxing days just enjoying the nature on its best was exactly what I needed!

Summer In The City

It is so wonderful to be on holiday and enjoy your hometown without any timetables or schedules. Today I was walking around downtown Helsinki the whole day just enjoying summer.

It is always good to start the day with good coffee and therefore I first took a coffee break at Brooklyn Cafe in Viiskulma.

After that I walked around Punavuori occasionally popping into the shops and doing some minor shopping.

There are so many attractive boutiques at Freda and I found a neat metal storage box on sale at Pino.

On a way I bought some berries, peas and flowers at Fredantori

I also went to Hietalahti Flea Market (Hietsun kirppis) and bought 2 books for 3 € (Barack Obama: Dreams From My Father and Märta Tikkanen: Yksityisalue).

 

Then to Forum Box gallery to see the much talked-about exhibition Art Is So Gay.

And after all walking a fine lunch at Boulevard Social: artichokes, lamb and pannacotta.

Lamb chops and polenta

I call this a fine summer day!

The First Day Of Summer Holiday

What a lovely sunny day to start my summer holiday.

Lupines

Finnish nature is so beautiful when everything is green and blossoming.

Cannot wait the berry season to have its peak.

Wild strawberries

Beautiful mixture of colours: blue sky, green field and a red cottage.

 Easy to get into the holiday mood in such a pretty environs.

     

 



Summer Memories 2011

One more month to go and then my summer holiday finally starts. Happy to have holiday in July as it often is quite nice weather in Scandinavia. Then you are able to explore Finland is totally different way than in winter time or between your normal working day routines.

Helsinki is a perfect summer city and I just enjoy walking around the town having coffee at the market place, picnic in the Suomenlinna, ice cream at the park and lunch in the outside terraces of the nice restaurants.

Helsinki

Finland is absolutely on its best in the summertime: beautiful green nature, lots of lakes where you can swim, long light days and happy people.


Finnish countryside

There are also lots of different kinds of happening all over Finland during the summer season: festivals, concerts and traditional events. It is always nice to get to know other towns besides Helsinki during the summertime. Last year I visited lots of places in the west coast, mainly because Turku was the European Capital of Culture 2011. 

Turku

Uusikaupunki

My favourite summer event is the Flow Festival in Helsinki in the beginning of August. Urban, trendy city festival with interesting selection of artists, like Janelle Monae in 2011.

Janelle Monae at Flow

Like all the concerts in Finland were not enough last year I did also few trips abroad in order to catch my favourite artists and saw Arctic Monkeys in Oslo, Coldplay at Where The Action Is in Gothenburg (why they have yet not played any concerts in Finland?), Veronica Maggio in Visby and several great acts at Popaganda in Stockholm.

Arctic Monkeys at Sentrum Scene in Oslo 2011

 

Coldplay at WTAI in 2011

Where The Action Is 2011

Popaganda Festival in Stockholm August 2011

Arcade Fire at Popaganda 2011

Well, it is pretty convienient to make few days breaks also abroad, nearby towns like Tallinn, Riga, Oslo, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Copenhagen and Visby. For example Tallinn is just so beautiful old Hansa town which you can easily reach by taking a few hours ferry trip.

View to Tallinn Old Town from Toompea

Chocolaterie Pierre at Vene 6 in Tallinn is worth a visit

I prefer starting my holiday by travelling and being able to unwind and relax. I try to take a short break somewhere in Europe and it is always nice to visit new places. Last summer I finally had a change to visit Iceland, which was one of my dreams coming true.

Arnastapi, Iceland

Last summer I also visited Gotland for the first time and totally fell in love with the island. Stayed in Visby and visited Fårö with magnificient rauks.

Visby

Fårö coastline

Useful thing to keep in mind when planning a trip to Gotland that there are certain weeks you maybe want to avoid (like Stockholmsveckan) so do your pre-research about the summer events in the island. Visby is very popular during summer season so you should make hotel reservations in time.

Now I am really inspired to start planning this year's summer holiday. My only wish is that July weather will be as brilliant as past few years.

Summer holiday 2011