This is a post where I'll share my holiday snapshots with all you darlings, who cannot read Finnish. Just follow the regular type. Cursive comments in Finnish.
Tässä postauksessa kuvia Suomesta. Kommentit enkuksi ja suomeksi. Jälkimmäinen kursiivilla.
Is it really true, it never gets dark in the summer? Yes. This picture was taken around 1 or 2 in the morning. This is as dark as it gets.
And if you think "oh, it's just the city lights", here's a picture from maybe 4 am, far away from civilization. So it's light, but not like daytime. It's pretty darn magical.
And then the sun rises again. This is around 6am. That tower is the tallest tower in Scandinavia, I think, it's a city landmark.
Walking home from a bar (4am-ish). Stopping to fill a friend's voicemail with drunken messages. Yay! And yes, that is a gravestone. But it's a very old one, part of a park, kinda.
Had a terrif birthday. No fireworks, though.
The summer-house thing. It is the Finnish equivalent of the American Dream. To have your own little place somewhere tucked away. Where you don't see your neighbors. There is to be a lake. And the cottage should be small, no luxuries like running water or necessarily electricity. With a sauna. And an outhouse.The cabin itself should preferably built by your grandfather in the 60's, and not changed a bit since.
The funny thing is, it's not for just cityfolk. My sister, who already had all the necessary elements by their main house in the countryside; a sauna by the lake a short walk away from the main house, far away from any neighbors – they even built an outhouse down at the lake. But she wanted a summer cottage. So they got one. 10 min drive away from home. Usually they're red, but this one was recently painted minty green.
There were blueberries and wild strawberries growing in front of the cottage.
Driving to my sister's place. That's future canola oil in the background. And a red barn. Blue skies, and a tiny european car with no AC. It was a hot day, 90's.
Here we are, walking to the cottage my brother's family goes to. That's my niece, Sofia, leading the way.
Can't believe this is about 15 minutes away from where my brother lives, which is a suburb. Sofia is looking like a little blueberry in her purple Hannah Montana-outfit I brought her.
In my home town, there are two lakes. And two main beaches in the city centre. One has a smooth rock surface, less people, less of the "beautiful people showing off their bikini bods"-scene, and deeper, and thus colder and clearer water. This pic is taken around 11 PM, btw. This beach is perfect for being alone, reading a book. The rocks stay warm until late, so you don't get cold. Here you can also swim during winter, they carve a hole to the ice. (there's a public sauna on this beach too). One of my favourite places in the city.
The other beach downtown is a shallow, kid-friendly beach (pictures above:, topmost picture is the beach sunbathing area, below pics are the lake, but not from the beach side, on the way to it.). Finnish beaches aren't naturally sandy most of the time, so they bring in sand, to make the muddy lake bottom tolerable to walk on. The areas where you sunbathe are pretty much always grass. And one thing I now noticed, having been away for so long: you leave your stuff, your wallet, cellphone, everything, and just go out and swim. And then come back, and find your stuff still there. Which is so amazing, really.
Just as amazing: at a shopping center, people left their carts, full of food, beer and such, outside a second store by the door. And went in to the other store to shop. Some time ago, and still in many smaller places, people left their babies outside the stores in strollers to sleep while the mums shopped. I don't think anyone would steal a baby. But a cart full of beer? I wouldn't risk it! Too tempting!
Speaking of beer. Went to this island in Helsinki, with some of my old school buddies. Picnics. Beer. Wine. Friends. Nice.
Finnish hipsters.
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On the ferry back to the city.
The boat going to Sweden went right by us.
BBQ.
Speaking of food. One question I get asked over and over again is what Finnish cuisine is like. There really isn't anything super special, meat and potatoes. Rice and chicken. Burgers. Soup. What people eat all over the world. With some specialties. Like Black Sausage here. Looks appetizing, eh? It's blood sausage and lingonberry jam. Soooo good. When you stop thinking about what's in it! (I'm not sure, blood, some sort of rice-like grain, and prob some sort of lard too..)
Speaking of specialties, we brought stuff from Calif to our friends in Finland. For the girls, my gift of choice was to bring the small, canned Sofia Coppola sparkling wine, with oh-so-cute pink mini cans with their own straws! It was lovely. The guys got....cheladas. They would not believe it. Smelled pretty nasty, so not my thing. But it was one of the most interesting beverages of the evening.
Seemed like everyone was either pregnant, planning a wedding or building a house. Here's a lovely new home of a friend of mine. And her kids.
I do love Finland. And especially Tampere. It was so funny to get off the train, and see my design everywhere, on buses, huge banners, signs... Well, what used to be my design, at least, was now cutesyfied beyond recognition. But still. My design. Even with all the extra pink.
But the idea is still there. It says "Show your love!" I (heart) Tampere – neat city! It's a cleanliness campaign for the City of Tampere.
Olen laiska, enkä kirjoita samaa suomeksi. Suomessa tuli tehtyä niin kaikenlaista. Grillausta, uimista, mökkeilyä, sohvalla makoilua ja jalkapallon katselua, Suomenlinnaa, torilla istumista, terassilla lorvimista ja baarissa riekkumista. Ihanaa kaikki. Tärkeintä (mulle) oli ehkä se, että oli päiviä, jolloin sähköpostin tarkistaminen käynyt edes mielessäkään. Kertaakaan. Melkoista matalalentoahan se on, kun ramppaa paikasta toiseen ja koittaa nähdä kaikkia, mutta oli silti rentojakin hetkiä. Kiitos kaikille, oli ihana nähä!
