Meeting friends all day long

That's what we did today. Lari and I met at the Freedom Monument at noon, called Theriel who had told me some days ago he would be in Riga today (Lari had seen him sitting in a car passing by in Vilnius), and asked him to join us, and all day long the spontaneous HC-meeting on the beautiful Riga squares, parks and cobbled streets grew. At 8 pm we were nine people from all over Europe. :-)

Two days and nights in Riga

Long days and short nights...
And I will have to tell you about them later. That much so far: new friends, nice people, and a wonderful city, world heritage!
Ok then, here it goes:
Friday, July 28, 2006
Friday morning I packed and said good bye to Winnie. In chat I met Theriel who will be in Riga on sunday. We might meet. Lari is in Riga then, as well, so if we're lucky we can all enjoy some stroll around the old town, and a beer or two.
Under the balls I met Maikel, shared the costs for our travels, and talked him into coming with me to the ferry to meet Pulina and the others. He lend me a helping hand with my luggage. I really should learn to travel light!
Pulina, Sami, Stella and Anni were already waiting. We hugged Maikel good bye, and took the ferry to Tallinn. Here a car was parked for us. We hoped to make it to Riga and the Painting Party in time for the fun.
First thing, we did some sightseeing in Tallinn - we hadn't meant to do it, but we got lost rather easily all thru theses days. ;-)
Somewhere on the long journey we got some beer and snacks in an Estonian supermarket, open until 11 pm every day. No need to do so, it turned out that quite a few shops in Riga are open 24/7. And cheap as well! Incredible...
Saturday, July 29, 2006
We made it to Riga around 1 am. Antra met us close to her place and led us the way to the party. We agreed to meet again in the morning. The wall painting had turned to body painting, and the first guest we met in this beautiful old, but rather shattered building was Lari, painted a nice Jack Sparrow.
Dovi was there, Evecooper, and quite a few others I knew from Berlin Beach Camp. Pulina met one of her best friends from Venezuela - she had lived in Caracas with Helge for a long time, and was so happy to see Rohiman again.
Body painting was good fun, especially to the painters, not as much to the painted. My colour was pink, and it didn't rubb off easily, and it doesn't go well with red hair either. Sigh...
The merrily drunk and painted crowd wanted to enjoy Riga nightlife, and went off to a bar. We finns didn't, so left to look for a nice sleeping place close by Jurmala beach.
We should have stayed - the party continued all the weekend.
Instead we got lost like for three hours, and when I finally took over and suggested a break and rethink on our plans, everybody was too exhausted to do any more driving, and we stayed at a patrol station for coffee, and Sami, the driver, fell asleep at once.
At 7:30 h we left my bags at Antra's place and went downtown Riga for breakfast. Two more coffees later, we strolled through the old town, not getting lost once. Well, I had my maps and chose my ways. ;-)
On the main street I discovered the "Pelmeni", a restaurant-like place serving cheap soups and - you guessed it - pelmenis. My lunch was 1,12 lat, which is less than 2 euros, and it included six varieties of pelmenis, juice and coffee (again). But Riga is expensice compared to the other latvian towns, we were told later.
We met Petteri from Helsinki, who's staying in Riga ever so often, it's like a second home to him. Together we decided on today's plans, and went to the beach. We actually found it quite easily, this time! Later we met Rohiman and Ieva, who agreed to host me. Antra's place had been a bit small and a bit crowded, and I preferred Ieva's couch to the kitchenbench at Antra's.
Ieva showed us around Jurmala, a favourite summer holiday resort since last century, and the posh villas owned by rich Russians. Majori, the fun center, is crowded with holiday people, enjoying the 40 km sand beaches and restaurants. Life music everywhere. Ohh, don't we prefer silent wild beaches!
We found a nice place for our finns to sleep, and I took the train with my new found hosts back to Riga. We had a lot to talk about, Ieva having worked for the Latvian Red Cross and organized international meetings.
Nice, cozy coach, nice deep sleep - ahhhhhhh
Sunday, July 30, 2006
I missed my toothbrush! I should travel light, and always take my one and only backpack with me!
Otherwise I woke up refreshed and ready to go with Rohiman to meet my fff (favourite finnish friends) at our breakfast place "Cili Pica" right between the university and the german embassy
But first I took the bus to Antra's, got some nice coffee, my bags, toothbrush included, and a ride back to Ieva's.
After breakfast Pulina left to meet another hc-member and friend from Venezuela, our lovers Sami and Stella were locked like siamese twins and prefered to walk on their own, and Anni and I had great fun enjoying houses and narrow streets and monuments and museums. She will come back for sure to stay a bit longer, and I will just stay. Aren't I always the lucky one? ;-)
Early in the afternoon we hugged each other good bye, promised to meet again as soon as possible (definitely in chat), and I enjoyed walking around some more in Riga old town. A nice rain cleaned the air, colours and houses looked even more beautiful than before, and the sweet stray cats running around everywhere added to the picture.
If only the cheap air companies wouldn't go to Riga! English and german in all the pubs and open air restaurants. What about latvian?
Back to Ieva and a nice chat on mutual adventures when working on international meetings, and I called it a day.
More fun tomorrow: Lari and Theriel will be in Riga!!!!!!!!! Yeahhhhhhhhh!!!

More plans

My cold is slowly getting better, but very slowly, indeed.
So no going to the lovely beaches in Helsinki (heatwave in Europe is including Finland), nor sightseeing or museums either, but checking my travel kit (there's so much you don't actually need and might leave at home), and trying to get papers sorted out for claiming some reimbursements for the delayed luggage.
Remember my huge bag was left behind in Brussels, and I had to go to Copenhagen Airport to collect it? Well, Virgin Express had not answered any of my mails so far, and since the European law says claims must be sent by mail within 21 days, it was getting a bit late to do so. But with the help of some HC-friends, above all dear Elsis, and the nice people working at the Helsinki library and post office, I made it just in time.
I had had no time at Suomenlinna to talk with Elsis on her travel plans around the Baltics and Poland, but we had thought about meeting sometime somewhere, so had settled for a chat and a pizza during her lunch break. We met under the balls, and went to this posh, but very cozy italian restaurant with an "all-you-can-eat" offer for only 9,90 €. Food was great, and being with Elsis was fun, as always.
It seems August will be a very busy partying month in the Helsinki HC-community, because a few are moving to other countries - Elsis to Riga for a year -, and even more are coming to stay for some days, weeks or even years. This is so like my tough luck! I'm leaving, and the fun starts. ;-)
But I had made up my mind to go to Riga and visit Antra, and this wonderful woman will be waiting for me tonight, however late we might come by car all the way from Tallinn, and will host me for three weeks (!).
So I'm packing again, dragging my two bags to the ferry station to meet Pulina and some more travelers from Helsinki to Tallinn, take the car to Riga, and then join the Painting Party. Where we will meet Dovi from Vilnius (she will host me later in August), and Lari, my traveling host, plus so many more we know through chat, meetings and the forum.
Not much space left for painting by then, I guess, but lots of partying still going on! :-)

Change of plans

This is Helsinki. And this is the view onto Helsinki from the building I'm staying in. Enjoy! I did tonight when walking up to the roof. :-)
What else? Oh: I caught a cold! Head ache, sour throat, the lot. It's Pipsa's awful summer virus, NOT a hangover from the picknick at Suomenlinna.
So I decided not to go to Tampere, which is a pity because I was looking forward to visit Johanna, the girl I had met in Cadiz in April. She had been traveling through Asia with her boyfriend in May and June, and might have given me some new ideas on my trip there in winter. Well, that can't be helped, and Maikel left on his own.
No visit to my since 50 years beloved moomins in Mooominvalley for me, either! :-(
I stayed in the flat, doing some washing, and tried to get well again with coffee and tablets.
In HC-chat I met Sami who told me of their new plans on going to Riga. There had not been any space for his car on the ferries. So we'll have to rent one in Tallinn, Batmannu helped to find a cheap company.
Hopefully Antra in Riga can host me earlier than expected, or else I might go back to Tallinn with my friends, and stay there for a while, maybe with Amest whom I had met at the Helsinki and Berlin meetings. We'll see...

All those lovely well known places and faces

Goodbye to our hosts in Savonlinna (Pipsa was ill, suffering from a bad cold), and on to breakfast in a small, but crowded bakery nearby. Coffee and the best pullas I ever had!
Driving further south brought us to well known places Lahti and Helsinki. So nice to sit at Lahti harbour again, enjoying fabulously cheap and delicious food at the Kanttiini, and then on to Espoo and Helsinki to get the keys from Pulina and Sussin. Two sets of keys, this time, cos Lari aka Duck85 had offered to host me if I would winniesit in his flat (lots of pics on his site). His Winnie the Pooh is shy and feels lonely when he's traveling, so I promised to give her a hug from to time to time. Which is easier than watering carniverous plants - Maikel's task in Kliment's flat.
In the evening we met lots of our favourite finnish friends again at the market square and went to Suomenlinna by ferry. World heritage, remember? Elsis had arranged this picknick, and almost 15 HC-members had joined.
Lina aka Little Star whom I had met and laughed with at the Helsinki meeting in May had come from Lake Baikal on her way to Barcelona, and though her flight left at 6 am, she managed to stay with us until 1 am! And she hadn't even done any packing yet...
Sami (BBWolf) was there, late again, as always ;-), and offering to host me with lots of coffee, as always! Dear Sami - we seem to know each other since ages, not just over two months like we do.
Temmi aka Temmihoo had come as well, a bit sad that we couldn't do the biking trip he had arranged for us, but bringing coffee, real coffee for the picknick! And I promised to build lego space ships with him in Espoo one of these days.
More friends I had met before, but not talked to yet. Teemu and his russian girlfriend live just round the corner from my place in Helsinki. We'll meet for breakfast or lunch or whatever one of these days.
Elsis - great as ever, more relaxed and less tired than when we had met before, and always ready to guide us to new places with great fun and cheap beer. Btw, the sunblock I had given her in Berlin had been safely returned back to me in Joensuu by Resfeber. Things and people don't get lost in HC!
Pulina - lots of chatting with Pulina. She was happy to be going to Riga for the weekend, with Sami and Anni, a collegue of hers, who joined HC a few days ago. More space in the car, why not join them? Hmmm....
I am invited to Riga, anyways, to stay and water the flowers whilst Antra is in Norway. Hmmm...
Yup! I'll go! :-)

Summertime - and the living is easy

I only missed coffee in the morning - otherwise it was a splendid day, again! :-)
We had to get up early to be ready for the interview the ITÄ-SAVO had asked us to do on our travels and Hospitality Club. And me without coffee! But we still made it wonderfully, the pics were taken with us at the laptop, and the article Jessica wrote really was nice. It's mentioned on page 1 of today's paper, and it covers about half of page 6. The pic alone was like a quarter of the page. No wonder people recognized and greeted us in the streets!
After the interview I went online, as every day, and found a mail saying my weblog had been linked from another blog on Hospitality Club. Check here! Getting famous, are we? ;-)
Well, we certainly meet interesting and famous people in Savonlinna! After a guided tour of the castle Olavinlinna, and a lakka pie and more fishes at the market, in the evening we met the woman who had given us the free opera tickets. We had bought a bottle of wine and signed a card, thanking her for the fantastic evening. She introduced us to the organizers of the festival, and offered more tickets for the evening. The same company, but a totally different opera: La fille du regiment by Donizetti. I was eager to go there, but Jessica had to work, and Maikel wasn't feeling like an other opera. So I went on my own, and I did not regret it! Though it was sung in french, and the subtitles had not been done yet, it was easy to follow the story, and the music was light and cheerful, like an operetta or even a musical.
What a contrast to the night before!
Today we have to move on again, and leave sunny Savonlinna. Helsinki is awaiting us, and our friends have arranged for a picknick on Suomenlinna. Nice, hein?

Savonlinna is more than lakes

We left Resfeber at 10 am and went further south. First stop at Kerimaeki, close to the wooden church, with a coffee and a pulla, some more time spent at the beach close by, and then off to Savonlinna.
This beautiful town is situated on several islands among lakes and more islands, it was a pleasure to see it for the first time in the bright sunlight, and it was lovely to walk around and discover it all through the day.
We met our host Jessica at the harbour close to the market square, went home with her, and left again for a spaa (Maikel and her) and a stroll (me).
The local delicacies bread pie with fishes inside, and small fried fishes were tasty, and sitting by the lake on a terrace was an added pleasure.
Savonlinna is crowded this week - well, finnish would call it so - because of the opera festival. We hadn`t even tried to get any tickets, they are always sold out weeks before and sooo expensive. But our nice host is a journalist, and a few phone calls later we were all three of us proud owners of tickets for the evening dress rehearsal in the spectacular surroundings of the castle.
Nabucco done by the Teatro Communale de Bologna was the most wonderful end to a wonderful day! We enjoyed every second of it!

Joensuu beach and night life

Lazy, lazy relaxed saturday! Sunshiny morning, off to the beach - slight drizzle after 15 minutes. Which offered the chance to go to the market square and eat one of those highly spoken of and delicious karelian breadpies filled with meat and cabbage like looking and tasting roots.
Clouds were gone soon, so on to the next beach - drizzle again. We gave up and bought some beer and pasta for dinner.
The guys went to the flat and their laptops, and I went shopping, or rather looking around Joensuu and getting lost a few times. Which is fun if you have a map or the place is easy to remember. Joensuu is. It's a nonspectacular, but really great to live in town. Everything's close by, living is easy, people laugh a lot - Karelia is different from other parts of Finland.
In the evening the sky was a bright blue again, no clouds, so we went back to the beach to enjoy the sunset, and afterwards Joensuu night life. Today early rising, coffee, and off to Savonlinna. Wonderful places we see on this trip, but the time we spend in any of these is way too short, for me, anyway. I guess I'll have to stay longer, like two weeks in Helsinki and two more in Riga.

The heart of Finland

The road to Joensuu took us deeper into Karelia. The landscape changed, slowly. Still lots of trees and lakes, but more pastures in between, and more farms and villages.
In Nurmes we had our first break and some karelian pies. In Lieksa opposite famous Koli mountains the next break and coffee (for me). Here the Lieksa Brass Festival had just started. Music and stalls everywhere. I managed to get some urgently needed new socks with the festival's design on it - nice souvenir.
In the small Lieksa harbour we were lucky to arrive just in time for the boat across the lake to Koli. It was a nice calm two hours' trip, weather getting better slowly. On the Koli mountains, the sun was shining bright, and we enjoyed the famous and much praized view from Ukko-Koli across the surrounding lakes and islands (see panaromaview). The heart of Finland!
Then on to Joensuu, the capital and university town, and Resfeber's home. With him (whom we know through hc-chat) we went to an island nearby and the beach, and had some chats and Sandels (finnish beer you can actually drink) until midnight. Then back home and to chat with Viivi, to arrange for our next meetings. She had left Joensuuu only a few hours ago to work in Ypäjä. We were all so sad about that. But we'll meet again in Helsinki next Tuesday where Elsis arranged a picknick on Suomenlinna for us. ;-)

Kuhmo cultural life

Merja and Ari-Pekka took us across the eastern wilderness to Kuhmo where the Chamber Music Festival is on this week. But we could only get tickets for the 3 pm concert, and that would have meant to miss out on the Kalevala Vilage we had been looking forward to.
And we were right to go there! We had an english speaking guide who took us through the open air museum and explained on Karelian life and the travels and works of Kalevala author Elias Lönnrot.
We visited the huge libray in Juminkeko, as well. This beautiful building ill serve as the national information center for the Kalevala and as a channel for cultural exchange between Finland and the Karelian Republic.
Today we're on to Joensuu, and on our ay will enjoy one of the most beautiful views in all of Finland from The Koli mountains. :-)

Life in Karelia

...was not easy in former centuries. We learned about it in the Kainuun Museum in Kajaani which we visited together with our hosts. The woods were most important. Hard jobs were found in producing and shipping the world's best tar, later in the paper factories.
On the road from Kuusamo crossing the huge Karelian woods close to the russian boarder, we had a short stop at the "Silent people", a very special monument in the middle of nowhere, and had some field coffee and pancakes made on top of the open fire.
Our hosts in Kajaani - both teachers - showed us around the beautifully painted church, and told us about the Kalevala, the finnish national poem, collected in the Karelian wilderness from old singers by Elias Lönnrot, a finnish doctor living in Kajaani around 1835.
Then Maikel went to the local tango dancing, and I stayed at home curing my slight cold - a wise decision, since today I feel a lot better and ready to go on new adventures.

Beautiful Lapland and Karelia

Things you do around Kuusamo: plug and eat Lakka (cloudberries), cross wildrivers on high swinging bridges, climb upon mountains like the Rukatunturi, and enjoy the beauty around you with every step. No wonder there are so many trails here where to hike for weeks on end!
I wanted to cross over to Russia for a day, but Maikel insists on going back south, to Kajaani and our next hosts. Three hours on lonely roads...

Poros in the wilderness

Yesterday we packed our bags, met Sussinn under the balls and gave the keys of Kliment's flat to her to keep until we are back in Helsinki (he might host more people), and left for the airport.
Way up north we flew, to northeast Finland: Kuusamo. Land of the woods, lakes, and reindeer (poros in finnish).
Having checked the bus fares on the net, we had found renting a nice cheap car would be better. So Maikel had called Kuusamo airport, and the car was already waiting for us on arrival. The cheapest and smallest they had was a Mercedes A class - aren't we lucky?
So it's a week of comfy travelling, for a change. But beware of reindeer...
Eevis, our hc-host, was awaiting us at the airport, and showed us the way with her car to her place: Säkelä.
We had tried to learn counting in finnish with the cars we meet, but we did not make it to more than kolmen, which is three. Sometimes it wasn't even one any more, because of the dust on the small tracks.
And then there it was, our adventure: a poro!!!! In the middle of the street!!! Would we make it? Would we survive in t h i s car???
Yes, we did!
Now we are in a nice cozy house with a sauna at a lake in the middle of nowhere,the mosquitos have not eaten us up (yet), and today we will climb up the mountains north of Kuusamo, and maybe try the summer sledge all the way downhill.
It's raining (check webcam), and it's getting colder, finally! :-)))

Picnic in the park

How nice it was to see good old Maikel again at Helsinki airport! We went home to Kliment's flat, left the luggage there, and were off again to Helsinki center to meet Pulina "under the balls".
She showed us around - Maikel was impressed, of course -, and then we texted our friends in and around Helsinki to meet us at famous Kappelli Terrassi for a beer or two. 5 € per glass - might get you off drinking...
They all came but Temmi (who was sleeping and verrry sorry later he had missed us). Duck85, Lea, Maikel, Pulina, and me, plus this nice guest from the States who came right from the Tallinn ferry - not bad for such a short notice!
Maikel had brought some italian wine left over from his birthday party last friday, and we went on to a park close to Pulina*s place to have a small picnic. Turned out to be just the bottle of wine, no food. ;-)
It was nice to sit close to the beach and the Sibelius monument (see pic), and talk to new and old friends - we knew each other from hc-chat, mostly.
A cute little black doggy came running and sniffing, greeting us with enthusiasm and a waving tail. The owner wasn't far away, collecting empty bottles from the waste bins to make some money out of the return, like 10 cent per bottle.
He was a short, slim oldish guy, nice and friendly, greeting us and telling us about his three beloved dogs. From small talk we got onto serius topics. He was from Israel, and worrying about his family in Haifa. We all want peace and friendship, and hate wars, but you feel so weak and unable to do anything about preventing or stopping them.
We walked back to the tram station together, where we hugged this friendly old man and artist goodbye, wishing him all the best for his suffering family.
Traveling is fun and you tend to forget about the rest of the world, but then harsh reality will find you.

Flatsitting in Huopalahti

My dear host Kliment left, Lea has gone home, too, and I'm all alone in this flat in Huopalahti, with the carnivous plants to water. I don't have to feed them, aren't I lucky!
The flat is really close to the station, and only 10 minutes by train to Helsinki centre, but all you see when looking out of the windows is trees. Beautiful!
I can't get used to the late sunsets and early sunrises, I always wake up like in the middle of the night thinking it's around noon already! ;-)
Maikel will come by plane, soon, and tonite there's a dinner with Pulina and Temmi, hopefully at the beach.
So all I had to do was clean up a bit, buy some food and drinks, and get the chat working. Which I succeeded in, even without admin rights on the laptop Kliment gave me. (Nice Kliment!)
I was online and chatting whilst waking up on my two cups of coffee, and found some new hosts (of course!) Seems like it's not that much of Asia this winter, but rather South America. Maybe Australia as well? Hmmmm....
I might consider a small trip around the world even ;-)

Meeting people at stations

See this nice picture? This is Helsinki main station. The men with the balls. People meet here. "C u under the balls at 6 pm". Everybody in Helsinki knows where to go - to the main entrance of Helsinki station.
Well, and this is where I met Pulina again after six weeks. (Remember her from Helsinki meeting and Berlin beach camp?) Such a nice woman!!!! Whenever we meet in chat, we have to hug-hug-hug each other!
My last day in Ypäjä had been of the sunny, windy, slow kind, where you sit on the steps in front of the main door, watch the kittens and the horse, and wait for the big trip to start.
The big trip was Joensuu and the rock festival for Viivi and her nice brother and younger sister (we'll stay with Resfeber from HC - no, we'll stay in a hotel - I wanna do some camping - hey, what about our cousin hosting us...), and Helsinki with a short stop at Riihimäki for me.
It was like a very small and very short HC-meeting in Riihimäki, with Elsis and Sami getting on board to Joensuu, and Sami aka Bbwolf and Stella on their way to Tampere-HC-meeting. Sami gave me the digicam-recharger I had left in his kitchen six weeks ago, and Elsis and me forgot (again) to give the sunblock back I had leant her at BBC.
No problem, we will meet again in Joensuu next weekend and give it another try!
Sami helped me hop on the train to Helsinki, and an hour later I was sitting outside a nice bar with Pulina waiting for my host Kliment.
He was doing some training, so joined us at around 9 pm with a friend of his. Guess what training!
Swords, and axes, and knifes! Gosh!
But a sweet and very gentle guy, and it's a pity he had to leave for Sofia today, where he will meet Theriel some place, some time. HC-people! You never know where your paths will cross...

Hyvää Syntymäpäivää!!

The last hours in Viivi's place went so fast! Sauna, finally, bathing in the beloved little pond, hanging around in the garden, getting on with my mails and weblog. We even managed to spend some time in the local bar!
But the most important event of the day was Viivi's mother's birthday! Viivi made a nice strawberry and cream cake, and I gave her some blossoming plant and a booklet on Berlin cuisine. I had brought a few for those of my hosts who already had had the joy of getting my famous present: a Berlin bear on a keychain.
We sang a bit, listened to old finnish Tango music (still the rave here), and had some great time! :-)

A daytrip to Hämeenlinna

Ypäjä is right in the centre between beautiful and famous towns Hämeenlinna, Tampere and Turku. Viivi preferred Hämeenlinna today,, so off we went in one if the many old family cars standing around the farmyard.
In Europe it's the same in all rural areas: young people get their driving licences and a car early, so they can drive to a party or go shopping - 70 km to and fro is no distance at all!
It was nice to stroll through Hämeenlinna, visit the castle and the church, and sit in the park by the riverside.
And we met our hc-friend Tanja during lunch break who is working on her summer job in Hämeenlinna, 80 kms from her home in Lahti.
Later, Viivi found some great orange spanish shoes to match her new dress, so now she has the perfect outfit for the Joensuu rock festival this weekend.
Afterwards, we decided to drive along the century-old oxen road, and visit the workers' mueseum in Forssa. We found the road allright, but the museum seemed to be closed. Such a pity! We would have loved to learn more about the workers' and the small industrial towns in Finland. :-(
Back home, now it's going to be a lazy evening with sauna (finally!!!!) and sauna-olut. :-)

Ypäjä and the finnish horses

Tuesday evening - or rather later that day, because the finnish days are so long in summer - we went for another nice swim in the small lake, and then decided to enjoy Ypäjä night life in the local bar.
But first Viivi called her mexican friend Arian who is learning to be a smith working with horses (what the heck is the correct word for this profession?), and he promised to meet us and show us around the Ypäjä horses' centre. I didn't know this was the world's second biggest horses' school and breeding place!
So I learnt a lot on finnish horses the next hour (they are so nice, I like them!), and Arian showed us around the vast place. It really was interesting, even to me, who is not that keen on horses. Or any big animals, come to think of it.
Which is a pity, because Hämä is a very old farming area since centuries, and you can learn a lot on farming here.
Well, the local bar was closed, so we went back to the little farm, which once had been part of a huge mansion until bought by Viivi's ancestors. We sat on the old fashioned two-seater-swing, enjoyed chatting, finnish beer, and the sunset, and then went to bed - the sun still shining...

Going downtown to Forssa

Yesterday as soon as I finished my weblog for the day, a thunderstorm swiftly came from the west, bringing lightning and lots of rain. Afterwards the air was fresh and clean, and by far not as hot and sticky as all the last days.
Laura and Iita, Viivi's sisters, took me for a visit to their grandmother in the old peolpe's home, then on to some Ypäjä sightseeing (horses, shops, horses, the summer theatre, horses, the school, horses), and finally to a bath in the most perfect little natural swimming pond I had ever seen.
The evening went by with grilling in the garden, including typical finnish blood pudding and fresh cheese, and talking a lot with Laura, who had taken over the task of guestsitting, since Viivi had to work. She managed perfectly, we chatted and laughed a lot.
It's a very nice way of getting to know life in rural finland, especially with this ever so friendly family!
Today, after a breakfast of toasted oatflour with sour milk and strawberry jam, and of course lots of gooood finnish coffee, we went to Forssa. Viivi showed me around the ancient wooden houses by the river and the old cotton factory area (famous "Finlayson"). A small countryside town, but very nice and beautiful in many hidden places. I liked the little movie theater near the bridge best, place of the annual Silent Film Festival!
After a stroll around we discovered the second hand shop, and went to buy some summer dress for Viivi. We found a really great one!!! I had to talk her into it, but now she can't be bothered to wear anything else. ;-)

Strawberries and peas in Ypäjä

This morning I had to leave Lahti and my nice hosts. Such a short stay, only for the weekend. :-(
But my dear hc-chat-friend Viivi was awaiting me at Forssa coach station to take me to her parent's home in Ypäjä, in the middle of the south finnish countryside. A small farm, with so many animals: a horse, a dog, and lots and lots of cats and kittens. They had had more, 24 cows, until a few years ago, but life as a farmer is not easy, and now they took up jobs in the nearby towns.
We bought strawberries and peas, the finnish summer food delights, and Viivi taught me how to cook rhubarb and strawberry soup. So delicious!
Then she had to leave for work, and left me to her computer, until her brothers and sisters and parents will come. And here they are - so bye till tomorrow!!!

Tervetuloa Lahteen!

Welcome in Lahti! These words were almost the first I learnt today. And I learnt a lot from Leevi :-)
After a lazy morning with breakfast, chat, and a nice finnish lunch (pasta and minced meat, done in the oven), the boys decided to stay at home, and the girls went out.
Tanja and me enjoyed a wonderful day in sunny Lahti, she showed me around, we went to the beautiful lake, the beaches (no swimming for either of us no-sports women), and took a trip by boat. It was soooo relaxing!
The landscape is simply great: trees, and water, and houses peeping out of the woods ever so often, people at the small beaches everywhere.
When we came home, Lasse was waiting for us, and prepared some sausages and beef on the grill. Then we watched some soccer (Italy won), and then called it a day. Tomorrow I'm off by bus to visit Viivi in the rural area close to Forssa. But Tanja promised to meet up with Maikel and me in Helsinki end of the month :-))))

Back to Finland

Today I got up really early to pack and be gone in time to avoid the queues at Kastrup airport. Goodbye to Betty - hopefully she´ll visit me in May next year - and off I was. When changing trains at Copenhagen main station, I had a huge coffee and a last wienerbröd (so danish!).
It turned out to have not been such a good idea to come early, because I had to wait for almost two hours in the queue. Yeah, well, that can´t be helped. Finnair workers were on strike for better working conditions...
In Helsinki I was lucky, found my luggage really fast, and made it to the bus to Lahti just in time. My host and dear chat-friend Teku aka Tanja met me at Lahti station, and took me home with her. Shé lives in a flat a bit off the centre with Lasse and their son Leevi, the sweetest and most cheerful little two year old.
They had made finish pastry filled with ricepudding and strawberry cake with cream. Lecker!
In the evening Teku and me went through the city to the little harbour, where we enjoyed a nice, though rather hot sunset by the lake. At 11:30 pm the sun was still shining (of course), and the temperature had dropped to a moderate 25 degrees. ;-)
Back home, I took over little Leevi´s room, and Lasse had got a laptop ready for me, so I had the great chance to do some chatting again and this blog.
Nice fff, I have, hein? Favourite finnish friends...

To be or not to be in Sweden

Hamlet's castle was our first aim this morning, as you might have read earlier. Nice fortress, world heritage. Impressive!
Betty and I were torn to the fleamarket close to it: so much more to discover and buy. We got the sweetest little needlework thingies for almost no krona at all! So light weight and danish, and they make great gifts for hosts. I got some for myself. ;-)
The town of Helsingør is well worth visiting, too, picturesque streets and houses, and lots of Swedes getting their booze for the weekend.
That reminded me of my trip around the baltic sea and the country I had almost left out. Which of course now I did not have to any more. Helsingborg and Sweden were just 42 krona and twenty minutes away by ferry.
Should we go or shouldn't we? Hmmmm...
Of course, we should. And off we went. Oh, I love those sunshiny cruises!
Helsingborg was a lot like Helsingør. No wonder, both fortresses had been built in the same century, to make sure the Danes controlled the trade, and made quite some money with customs.
We found the cutest cafe on Storgatan 3, "mezo", a newly established moroccan like spacy room with wonderful food and above all home made cakes (which we couldn't eat because of not enough swedish krona), got a postcard plus some stamps, posted the card to my family in Stuttgart (like I always do in every town!), and back to the boat!
Now guess whom we met there, sitting in between all the other passengers? Well???
Father Xmas himself!
Better known as Hø-Nisse in Denmark. He was on holidays, like every summer - the only season he can do it, for obvious reasons - and actually on his way to an international conference, held for the 43rd time, and this year in Denmark. We talked a lot, and he gave us his business card. Check his website here.
We were all very sorry we could not spend more time together, but Betty and I had to go home and do some packing and stuff. Tomorrow I'm gonna leave for Finland again. By plane. I'm having mixed feelings about my luggage...
Anyways, on our trip home the train refused to stop at Vallensbæk Station, and just went on over the bridge, and stopped shortly before Betty's house. Wasn't that ever so nice? But since we did not feel like climbing down, they drove back, and we took the usual exit. Pffff - boring! There's no adventures in life anymore ;-)

Copenhagen is hot-hot-hot!!!!

After a first sightseeing with Betty, I was strolling around on my own on Thursday. A short trip half way to Sweden (which is where the airport is located)even got me my luggage back!!!!
No chance to travel light then, this time... :-(
By the way: The European heatwave seems to concentrate on accompanying me. Copenhagen is hotter than Lisbon, imagine.
But more important: Today we're off on a travel to Helsingør and Hamlet's castle: It's world heritage!

Rebels and Queens

First Christiania, the freetown, then on to the changing of the guard at the queen's palace (with the flag hangig upside down, oooops): Copenhagen today was full of different views...
...which I will tell you about some other day (or night).

Stranded at Vallensbæk Strand

No, I did not strand here!!! That was written just for the sake of the title.
Betty, my host from HC, was still patiently waiting for me at Copenhagen Airport after I was done with the filling out of forms to receive my luggage hopefully the next day. She had known about the troubles they were having with luggage because of a strike (trade unions, pfff!).
So she brought me safely home to her place at Vallensbæk Strand, a nice flat only 20 minutes walk from the sea. We chatted a lot and had some food (the teeny-weeny breadroll in the plane had not lasted long), then I fell fast asleep in my bedroom - this time without internetaccess.
Next day was as sunny and hot as the days I had got used to, and I luckily had enough fresh summer dresses in my hand luggage to wash a few and wear another. But all my panties were in the lost or delayed bag and still in Brussels. So a new chance to shop! If only underpants...
On our way to the local H & M we passed the nicest little danish harbour, and ponds and trees and lots of landscape. It certainly is a very nice neighbourhood, and not far away from Copenhagen Center, only 30 minutes by train.
All along our walks we talked a lot on ourselvers and our lives - Betty is a 63 years old retired teacher, and since just over a year a keen Esperantist, traveling the world, lately mostly through HC and Pasporta Servo, an Esperanto travelers' group, and talking with people from all those different countries in Esperanto. She even wrote some articles already, have a look here! What an interesting woman!

Starting my trip around the Baltic Sea: Denmark

After a week without internetaccess at all or only ten minutes in between, I finally have time and space to tell more about my adventures.
Rock Werchter and Leuven were great! I met Annabel from chat on Saturday to stay with her for the weekend, one hour later Maikel came to visit us, bringing our favourite bossche bollen with him - bought at the one and only original bakery in 's-Hertogenbosch, of course -, on Sunday we went all the way to the dutch boarder to meet up with Catflower from Russia (another girl we know from hc-chat), and take her with us to Leuven, and on Monday Botakis from Turkey, currently living in Paris, who was my guest in Maikel's tent at Rock Werchter, joined the slowly growing crowd for breakfast.
We had a wonderful time together strolling through the narrow streets and broad squares of the old university town, and then they took me to Brussels airport just in time to catch the flight to Copenhagen.
The flight was bright and fast, but waiting for the luggage was a nuisance. Three hours later they found out half the luggage had been left in Brussels!!!
Will I ever get it back, I wonder?
I guess that was a reminder to travel light ;-)