Banyo, Sydney, Australia

crizle crizle@westnet.com.au Posted Dec 27, 2008, 7:36 am	Hi folks. I am a little bear wanting to travel the world and meet other bears. I have had a fun time at home over Christmas with lots of other Toy Voyagers, but now it is time to travel the big wide world.
crizle crizle@westnet.com.au Posted Jan 11, 2009, 9:04 pm	Christmas was fun, but New Years Day was even better. We all went to the beach. No swimming for the toys, but we got to paddle and play with the kids.
MrsC Posted Apr 20, 2009, 10:37 pm	I feel like I have been here for months... actually I think I may just have been here for months....doing absolutely nothing, nothing at all. It has just rained and rained and rained. Finally, one day Fi told her husband she had had enough, she was taking us and the kids in the car and going down to the coast. He said if she could wait just one more day then he would go with because he was busy with month end... so we waited and watched the rain a bit more. He of course got home late from work, so after supper we piled into the car and set off! It took us over an hour just to get out of Johannesburg because of roadworks on the highway. We reached our destination at three in the morning!!!! Four hours later the children were bouncing around and demanding to go to the beach, Fi and her husband were still trying to have a sleep after the marathon all night drive. Guess who won? Here we are at Thompson's Bay. This is called the 'Hole In The Wall', very imaginative... it is a hole in the wall! There is a narrow little ledge through it that gets you to another beach.. but if you sit there too long and the tide comes in...well, let's just say we took no chances and stayed on THIS side of the hole... Here we are sitting in the tidal pool. The tidal pool used to be quite full of water. A year ago, there was a terrible storm and part of the wall was torn down. Nobody has bothered to fix it. This is not actually a bad thing, because the small children love it.... it is now a small walled off sea for them to play in. The one side is rock pools...where you can fish for crabs and tiny fish... It is filled up by big splashy waves like ...aaargh... run for your lives! Oh, that wasn't that bad... The other side, where the wall is broken, has nice waves coming in where the children can body board without fear of being washed all the way out to sea. It is calm now but a bit later on, the tide got quite strong and a bit rough. In the middle is a nice beachy bit where you can build a sand castle! I have a really stupid song stuck in my head now... Let's go surfin' now Everybody's learning how Come on and safari with me
MrsC Posted Apr 20, 2009, 11:01 pm	I have arrived in Johannesburg... it rains a lot! I was expecting nice summer sunshine... no such luck, not this year.
MrsC Posted Apr 20, 2009, 11:42 pm	I can't believe it! It is raining here too...man... Well, I guess the beach is out then. Fi found out that it was not raining in Durban, so in the car we went... Miserable isn't it? Ah... 43 kilometers to Durban... There is the Durban skyline just ahead of us... This is the stadium that they are building for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. There are lots of old colonial style buildings in Durban. The people of Durban are in an uproar as someone decided that all the street names needed to be changed (don't get Fi started on this subject... it is one of her bugbears!) Here you can see that Winder Street has been renamed to... can YOU pronounce that? I can't.... We eventually got to uShaka Marine World. We missed the seal show, so we went straight into the aquarium. The whole aquarium is designed to look like a shipwreck. This tank shows the reef fish... Yikes! Sharks! If you sit in the restuarant on the other side of this tank you can see the sharks while you eat... All of these fish lying about in here looking like rocks are very poisonous. The purple one is a scorpion fish, the other ones are stone fish. Ooh... rays... Their faces look funny! Can you see the sea horses? We went outside to see the dolphins...hang on a second... Better hurry up or we will miss the real dolphins.... Here they are! One... Two... Three... Four... of them leaping about... We went back into the aquarium so Squirt could see a turtle face to face.... He was so excited! We ended off the day by signing the guest book.
MrsC Posted Jun 15, 2009, 8:15 am	Yay! No rain today so we went back down to the beach....and built a few sandcastles..... We were a bit scared of swimming but Fi said there were life guards on duty. We even met one! (And an ice cream seller....) When it started getting too hot we went back to the flat...actually we were in a penthouse. This is the view from the balcony. The complex is in an eco estate so there are lots of dams for the bird life and small animal that wander around (lots and lots of very noisy frogs in this dam!) To the side you can see the sea! Oh yes, this is the life! Hmmm - I smell lunch...bye!
MrsC Posted Jun 15, 2009, 8:35 am	Today, at the children's insistence, we went to the Flag Animal Farm. It is along a dirt road in amongst the sugar cane fields. No trip to Ballito is complete without a chance to feed and pet the animals. We found a sleepy little calf... We sat down for a drink at the little cafe. Nice view.... A pig wandered over.... We found some ducks...these are the ducks Fi says she will have in her garden one day (one day when she doesn't have huge big bird chasing dogs!) We saw loads of animals, pigs, goats, donkeys, horses, tortoises BUT the best fun was milking a cow! The lady said she had NEVER, EVER, EVER had toys milking cows before....surely not? I see why the children like to visit the farm...such fun for city kids! I found a nice tree to climb.... it is called a coral tree. Here is a close up of the pretty flowers... Hmmm... I must find some other trees to climb....
MrsC Posted Jun 15, 2009, 8:55 am	Fi has had to go back to work because of the economic crisis. Things are getting tough for the people of South Africa. Sadly this meant that we didn't get out much, actually we didn't get out at all! One day she had to go  on a bit of  adrive so she took us with knowing that the view from the top of the hill was quite spectacular. The best view are on the road though and it is very windy, very steep, with no shoulder - so no photos from there. This was the best we could manage....kind of pathetic if you know what it looks like in real life!
MrsC Posted Jul 13, 2009, 10:03 pm	At last! We get to go somewhere! I got to sit up front so I could see where we were going. This is us going through the city centre on the highway... It's very early in the morning and it is still a bit hazy. As we head further out, it becomes more rural - quite a contrast to the city! We have left Gauteng Province and have entered the Free State. Everyone always thinks of the Free State as a very flat part of the country. But it isn't really. There are some very pretty mountains. We seem to be approaching a rather hilly area now. We are in a town called Parys...not quite Paris, you pronounce is Pa - race. We drove through the town till we ended up on a dirt road.... Interesting! A world heritage site...wonder what this is all about then? Apparently, 2020 million years ago (even Fi wasn't born then!) an asteroid, that was 10km (6 miles) in diameter, hit the earth at a speed of 30 000km/h (18641 mph). It left a scar of the surface of the earth 300km (186miles) wide! That scar is called the Vredefort Dome because it is dome shaped. It is currently described as the oldest and largest impact structure in the world. It can be seen quite clearly from space and if you look for it in Google Earth you can see it quite nicely too. We stopped here. We may still have been in the Free State or the North West Province or maybe on the border between the two! We weren't here for an archaeological excursion...though we did have a look at a few fossils and interesting bits and pieces... ...we were here to FISH! On the banks of the famous Vaal River.  In the 'old days' Gauteng Province was called The Transvaal which means 'across the Vaal'. Hmm… we have every magic fishing potion you can think of! After all that fishing it was time for a cup of tea! ...and a nap! Maybe if we try down this end we might actually catch something! Well, we never did catch anything except for an old shoe! I thought that only happened in the movies.... After a long day of lazing around in the sun and eating to much, we signed the guest book and headed back for the bright lights of Jo'burg.
Delenna Posted Jul 21, 2009, 5:42 pm	G'day mates! I arrived in Finland! I met Gary Boldie and Leonard, another aussie. My mate Alfie spent a year here, so my host can't be a bad sheila  Can't wait to have a look around!
MrsC Posted Jul 21, 2009, 7:39 pm	As anyone who lives in Johannesburg will tell you, one of the best things about Johannesburg is the weather.... It never gets too hot in summer (lies, lies I tell you!) and in winter it NEVER rains... the sky is blue, blue, blue and it isn't really that cold. LIES, LIES and MORE LIES!!!! ...and this is only June, I can't wait for July when winter REALLY kicks in!
MrsC Posted Jul 21, 2009, 8:03 pm	The children broke up for mid term break today. One of them brought a little guest home for the week. Because it was RAINING again when we left school, her cage got a little wet and it smelled a bit bad so we cleaned it up....WOW! This is quite a lot of housing for someone so small...and quite a lot of washing and drying for me! Right, better get some shavings in this.... I wonder if she would mind if I stayed in her house for a bit? I am sure I'd fit... She even has a built in gym...hah hah hah... This is quite a puzzle...I need a bit of help putting this all together... Let me do a final check and make sure it's all dry and cosy in here. All ready...where is she? QT! QT! Come on out and see your house! She has quite a stack of food for such a small hamster! She hides it all away and gets VERY cross when her cage is cleaned out and her stash goes missing. Isn't she cute? Hmmm... Maybe that's why they call her QT! The first thing she did when she got back in her cage was hunt for her stash of seeds. She was decidedly upset when she couldn't find any! Instead of counting to ten she went for a jog... once she had calmed down she set about hiding her seeds and rearranging her nesting material. Funny little thing!
MrsC Posted Jul 21, 2009, 8:38 pm	Fi's friend, Amanda, had an overnight stay in the Pilansberg National Park. She stayed at the Kwa Maritane Lodge and took me with her. It was pretty cold so we didn't really see many animals. We did see giraffe though! Can you see him? There, far in the distance... How about now, can you see him yet? I looked and looked... but I couldn't see anything else. I had a friend help me look... but we just fell about laughing because we saw nothing... We heard someone else laughing at us...how rude! All the laughing gave this impala a fright! After a while of driving around and not seeing anything, we decided to head home and found an obstacle in our path...
MrsC Posted Jul 21, 2009, 9:09 pm	Today we met some friends at a place called 'Wemukelekile' - no, I can't say it either, but it means 'welcome' in Zulu. Fi says you pronounce it: weh - moo - keh - lee - kee - leh...whatever, my tongue is not dextrous enough to pronounce that! It is a strange place. There is a five star restaurant, a coffee shop, a nursery, a children's play area and a farmyard all in one! And there are loads of carved stone statues all about like this one... We found a very vain peacock in the farmyard section. He started strutting his stuff as soon as he saw the camera! Not many flowers about at this time of the year, it is the middle of winter, but the pansies were in full bloom and made a nice splash of colour. The aloes are quite a pretty sight too though these are past their prime. I found a tree to climb! I know it looks like another aloe, and I think it is one, but I PROMISE it is a tree! We stopped for breakfast and warmed up with some hot chocolate, but after a quick turn round the play area we went home because it was so cold with an icy wind...3°C!
MrsC Posted Jul 21, 2009, 9:21 pm	Well, the time has come for me to say goodbye... I'm off to Finland. I wonder if they have any nice prickly plants there? Somehow I doubt it! Bye from South Africa!See you soon!
Delenna Posted Jul 25, 2009, 6:15 pm	My first view in this new country was this: the Baltic Sea. It's just that the archipelago is blocking the view... But somewhere over there, quite nearby is the small island where Tove Jansson, the creator of Moomin spent her summers. Did you know that the Moominhouse was drawn after a lighthouse that really exists? Penny climbed on a tree to get a better view and I decided to follow her example. The lifebelt I tried was a bit too big for me... And so it begins...
Delenna Posted Jul 25, 2009, 6:20 pm	Tonight I saw how the local volunteer fire-brigade celebrates an anniversary: they have a parade! The vf-b turned 111 years so they had a good reason to celebrate. There was a marching band, flags and some more volunteers, followed by the fire-engines! There were both old and new trucks. Penny was so eager to see everything she stepped on my face several times... She did apologize  We were all (me, Penny and Leonard) very fascinated by the parade!
Delenna Posted Jul 26, 2009, 4:15 pm	So this is where the parade went! This is a dance hall (pavilion) in which they had an event for kids today. Firts we saw Djungeltrumman & Arne Alligator perform (there was a ghost too!). They were funny. Here's a link to their music in Finnish (the did perform in Swedish too). When we got enoough of music we went to have a look around. there was a nice view to the sea. Finally we saw the fire-trucks! This time a lot closer. I even got to climb in one with Leonard and Penny.
Delenna Posted Aug 2, 2009, 6:50 pm	Now this was one exhausting (but fun) day! I went to Puuhamaa, a themepark nearby Hämeenlinna. They have a teddy mascot called Puuhanalle ('nalle' means teddy and 'puuha' means task, activity, diligence...)! And then they had this carousel with bears! There was tons more to do too: Jumping, running, climbing, hopping, driving, walking, sliding, flying... There was even a bootcamp  I loved driving with the helicopter! I liked the small scale village too - we visited the "Post Office" of course. It was unfortunately empty - no mail for us  We had a nice weather most of the time. When we were having lunch it started raining, heavily. We had become tough after the bootcamp so we didn't mind  At the end of the day we went to the water park. See the slides they have! I'm not that tough... I enjoyed the lake views before we had to leave
Delenna Posted Aug 5, 2009, 3:28 pm	My host is very eager to show me places where my mate Alfie hasn't been but she thought I should get a look around the city too. So here I am, in the Old Town of Porvoo. Or actually most of the photos are taken on a hill next to the Old Porvoo, that's why I have such a great over all view  The last photos are taken on the sightseeing tower with a view to the not as old city center  This is a nice little city with around 47 000 inhabitants. It's also the second oldest city in Finland.
Delenna Posted Aug 8, 2009, 5:44 pm	It's one sweaty hot day here! We decided to go for a swim in the Baltic Sea. Well, Penny didn't put one paw in the water, she's a cat after all
Delenna Posted Aug 9, 2009, 7:08 pm	Today there was  several fire-fighting vehicles by the River Porvoo. There wasn't a fire or anything, but the more and less local volunteer fire-brigades had an event. There were both old and new fire engines - and even a small ATV (aka quadbike, buggy, all-terrain vehicle)! They did honk their horns and put the sirens on! That was one big cacophony!    A marching band played music - although they sitting in the shadow On our way back to the car we saw something unique: a wedding ceremony held on M/aux Marita, a galley build in 1947.
Delenna Posted Aug 19, 2009, 4:52 pm	Here's a game I've seen before - in Alfie Langers' travelog  I played with Leonard, Penny and Mumble. Unfortunately I lost  Mumble & Penny shared 1st place. The kitty says she can smell the pairs  I don't hink I believe her... Besides, that would be cheating - I think...  I also learnt some Moomin character names in Finnish: Little My - Pikku Myy Moomin(troll) - Muumi(peikko) Moominpappa - Muumipappa Moominmamma - Muumimamma Snufkin - Nuuskamuikkunen (boy, that's one long name in Finnish!) Snif - Nipsu Hemulen - Hemuli Snorkmaiden - Niiskuneiti Snork - Niisku Stinky - Haisuli Mrs Fillyjonk - Rouva Vilijonkka The Hattenfatteners - Hattivatit
Delenna Posted Aug 19, 2009, 4:59 pm	Mission accomplished! My host introduced me to the other teddy bears in the house. Here's a group photo of us  These bears have been in the family for 0-30 years! Can you guess which one is the oldest? I'm sure you can guess the amount of stories he had!
Delenna Posted Aug 24, 2009, 12:27 pm	Here I am, in Tampere! I've seen Alfie's travelog but now I'll show you places he hasn't been to  First I saw the Cathedal, which was designed by Lars Sonck and built between 1902 and 1907. The cathedral is famous for its frescoes, painted by renowned symbolist Hugo Simberg between 1905 and 1906. The paintings aroused considerable critique in their time[1], featuring versions of Simberg's The Wounded Angel and The Garden of Death. Of particular controversy was Simberg's painting of a winged serpent on a red background in the highest point of the ceiling, which his contemporaries interpreted as a symbol of sin and corruption. I also saw a nice fountain, Moomin and Maria's Park. In the park was asculpture called Atlas Girl. It was made in 1954 to honour one fabric industry.
Delenna Posted Aug 24, 2009, 12:35 pm	We continued our walk to reach our untimate destination: Pyynikki sightseeing tower! It is built upon the world's largest ice aged ridge. The current tower is built 1929 to celebrate the 150 year old Tampere city. The first tower in this spot was constructed 1888 but it suffered damages during the battles of 1918. The tower itself is 26 meters tall but altogether with the ridge rises up to 178 meters offering a view over the lakes and the city. The tower also has a popular cafeteria, famous from its doughnuts. Those doughnuts we got to taste after watching the views (which vere quite splendid). My host also signed the guestbook for us
Delenna Posted Aug 24, 2009, 12:38 pm	Finally it was time to head back towards the city center and the busstation. We took a different road, by the Pyhäjärvi Lake, to get unseen views
Delenna Posted Aug 24, 2009, 12:41 pm	Early next day we drove to Sastamala, about 1-hour west from Tampere. Sastamala consists of 7 formerly independent municipalities and its current population is 24 600. The town itself is quite small.
Delenna Posted Aug 24, 2009, 12:44 pm	Soon enough we arrived in Sastamala and Tyrvää Church where my host's goddaughter was to be confirmed. The church is 150 years old - can you believe it?
Delenna Posted Aug 24, 2009, 12:46 pm	After a the festives we started our drive back to Porvoo. Thru lots of forest at first... I think I fell asleep for a while...
Delenna Posted Aug 24, 2009, 2:22 pm	Today's mail brought a suprise! It was Zac, my friend Alfie's brother! Long time no see mate  He came here to live!
Delenna Posted Aug 30, 2009, 12:08 pm	Today I attended The INternational Postcrossing Meetup in Helsinki! We took the metro for the last part to get to the city center. We had time to walk around and we found a Moomin shop! My host said we'd go there later... Our meeting point which was the Aleksis Kivi statue next to th Central Railway Station. So many wonderful postcrossers! I could hardly contain myself  From the statue we walked to the ferry which took us to Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. The main (and actually only) organizer and guide was a postcrosser called 'pooca'. She told us about the history of Suomenlinna. And let us buy some postcards on the way  I added one photo in the end: I met the creator(s) of postcrossing too!
Delenna Posted Aug 30, 2009, 3:04 pm	When we got back from Suomenlinna we treated ourselves some Moomin lemonade and a raspberry "doughnut" - we had deserved it! I shared mine with Leonard, Haris and Gary Boldie. Then we were full of energy again and joined the people who were going on postcardshopping tour!  I also saw an old, green phonebooth! It's a rare sight as most of the Finns have a cellphone - and several of them have 2!  We also visited the Moomin shop as my host had promised, but we didn't buy anything. My host promised that we would do that too,  later someday... Then I saw a superman! I also met pooca's avatar cat (that blue, tiny cat). And just before dinner we visited an indoor market place called Hakaniemen Kauppahalli. The postcardshop owner was thrilled to get so many customers at once
Delenna Posted Aug 30, 2009, 3:12 pm	At last we arrived to the restaurant! The kitchen of this restaurant is closed on Saturdays - usually. When they heard there would be 40 hungry postcrossers they changed their mind about this particular Saturday.  They had prepared us a buffet menu: Salads Pepper beef (bull) Chicken BBQ Rice / Potatoes Water / Juice Tea / Coffee Bread Tandor vegetable ragout I shared rice and meat with the other toyvoyagers. It was delicious! After we had filled our tummies we began signin some postcards... Soilian got flowers as it was her birthday! Some people gave away postcards as a gift. Paulo & Ana gave us candies called "snowflakes"
Delenna Posted Aug 30, 2009, 3:19 pm	After dinner we walked around the block to Cafe Java where we had the whole upstairs for ourselves. There we continued our signing job. We had quite an amount to sign... I can't tell you yet how many as there might be a competition about it in the Postcrossing Forum. But it wasn't all about signing postcards: I had PepsiMax and Sacher cake! And we got more gifts! Soilian gave away presents, dandilion gave some more and there were postcards distributed again too  It was fun! I wish my host could go again on Sunday - so that I could go too...
Delenna Posted Aug 30, 2009, 3:22 pm	Back home in Porvoo! We all slept vey well last night. Now I wanted to show you the presents we got yesterday
Delenna Posted Sep 14, 2009, 2:04 pm	This is me in Hämeenlinna! A city 1h15min drive north from Porvoo. I went to a postcard event called Korttien tarinat ("the stories of cards") with my host and some fellow toyvoyagers. We had an international Postcrossing Meetup there too! The place where the event was held is called Verkatehdas. It's an old factory that now is used as congress center, place for seminars and events. The place was full of postcards! People selling postcards, artists signing their postcards, postcards on exhibition, new postcards, old postcards...    The grey haired lady signing postcards is Inge Löök, the artist who draws the "old granies". My host bought a few of her cards with her signature. I met other postcrossers - and Snoopy! He was kindly giving away his own cards. The other postcrossers I met were the ones signed up for the Meetup but also postcrossers who were selling postcards and postcrossers who were visiting the event but had no idea we had a meetup. The event organizers had put a table for us - not telling us about it  They were "hoping that one of us would sit there and tell people about Postcrossing"  Well, we didn't as we had no material or laptop with us - and no-one had told us they "were hoping" it. My host wrote a note saying "we're buying postcards, please visit www.postcrossing.com for further information on Postcrossing". They did interview one of our Meetup people for the radio!  Can you guess how many cards we signed on our "coffe break"? I can't tell you yet, they're having a competition about it on the Postcrossing Forum.
Delenna Posted Sep 16, 2009, 7:33 am	After the meeting we drove to the center of the 370 years old  Hämeenlinna. I saw the beautiful Hämeenlinna Church on the end of the market square. The church's architectural example was the Roman temple of Pantheon. The church was completed in 1798. The architect was Louis Jean Deprez, court painter to King Gustav III. The altar painting depicts the Saviour's appearance to Mary Magdalene. Do you know what that yellow wooden house is, in the middle of the modern buildings, next to a mall (!!!) ? It's the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius! He's Finland's best known composer  and born in Hämeenlinna on 8 December 1865. His childhood home has been converted to a miniature museum. The Empire style building with its period furnishings and artefacts affords the visitor a glimpse of the composer's childhood and youth. The lounge is a perfect place to rest for a while and listen to the music of Jean Sibelius.
Delenna Posted Sep 16, 2009, 9:32 am	We mailed the 409 cards we had signed at the postcard event and Postcrossing Meetup. It took us a while... Then we got arrested for mailing too many cards!    Ok, just kidding. We went to the Prison Museum that was next to the mailbox (we mailed them from that location because of the special Prison Museum cancellation). This is what they write about the Museum: Prison Museum The prison museum introduces to the visitors the history of correctional treatment in Finland and  the prison life in the past and these days. The most valuable item is the museum building itself with its authentic premises that have been maintained in their original condition since the time when the building still functioned as a prison. The building and the exhibition consist of three floors. The prison museum functions in the former premises of the provincial prison of Häme. When the building was finished in 1871, it was the first prison in Finland with cells, and it was used until the 1993. The museum was opened to the public in June, 1997. The building was designed by the architect L. I. Lindqvist. The museum features a permanent exhibition and changing exhibitions. For more details, take a look at the museum's calendar of events. Special exhibition: elementary studies in prison. In this exhibition, you can find answers to questions about how and why reading, writing and basic mathematics were taught in prisons. Paid guided tours available only if booked in advance. It was quite an experience. A little scary too! We saw ancient methods of Crime Scene Investigation (ancient compared to CSI on tv!), crafts the inmates had done, letters from inmates, photos, clothes of guards etc. There was also a spot for the modern version of police work.
Delenna Posted Sep 16, 2009, 10:18 am	After we were reliesed from the Prison we looked around and smelled the fresh air  The Prison Museum is situated in Häme Castle, so we walked around to have a look on this famous sight. Häme Castle is one of Finland’s medieval royal castles. It is believed to have been built at the end of the 13th century, following the crusade by Swedish Earl Birger to Häme region. During the Middle Ages the original fortified camp was built into a residential castle for its commandant. In the 18th century a third storey was built and curtain wall buildings partly replaced the original outer walls. The castle and its surroundings were in prison use from 1837 to 1972. The main castle is now presented as a historical monument. The Häme Castle and its redbrick barracks are on the shore of Lake Vanajavesi. The promontary has been a meeting place for centuries, and the walls almost echo the voices from the Middle Ages. It was smaller than we had thought and walking around it didn't take long. We did enjoy the sight of both the castle and the lake. But finally the sun r´started to set and we had to head back home.
Delenna Posted Sep 21, 2009, 7:48 am	I found Nemo! My host had to run some errands in Helsinki so she took me (and Leonard and Rhinono) with her. See, after all the running we went to Sea Life! It's an aquarium with lots and lots of different species. I saw sharks! And turtles! And jellyfish! And sea horses! And... Whoa  There was an ocean tunnel too! We walked under the fish  We saw a few feedings of fish. Some small sharks can be very... umm... "eager" to eat - they almost jumped out of the tank! The aquarium was divided into different themes, so we walked thru rainforest, ice age, ocean, ship wreck, ice age... There was a lot of information displayed on the walls, signs and computers. The feeders of the fish also told us about the species they were feeding. They even had names! The fish! Some of them were fed only once a week  We spent 2 hours there, and before heading home we went to buy some postcards
Delenna Posted Sep 27, 2009, 7:08 am	I got to visit the local Cathedral from the inside (haha, Alfie never got here with my host! Although that tells more about my host than Alfie...). The Cathedral was built in the 15th century, although the oldest parts date from the 13th century. The Cathedral was the site of opening of first Diet of Finland March 28, 1809 where Finland was declared an autonomous Grand Duchy, with the Emperor of Russia as the Grand Duke of Finland. The church has been destroyed by fire numerous times; in 1508 by Danish and in 1571, 1590, and 1708 by Russian forces. In May 2006, the outer roof collapsed after arson, however with the inner ceiling undamaged and the cathedral interiors intact. An 18 years old male was found guilty and convicted to three years and two months imprisonment in August 2006. The Court of Appeals later increased the sentence to six years and six months on May 2007. A further appeal is pending. The Cathedral was reopened in July 2008.
Delenna Posted Sep 30, 2009, 12:21 am	This's how colorfull the leaves are at this point! I can also feel the cool breeze in the air... It's autumn here now.
Delenna Posted Oct 7, 2009, 11:07 am	I visited the Korkeasaari Zoo today! And I met real bears! And tigers and lions and red wallabys and emus and wapitis and... What made it "interesting" was the rain. It wasn't any small scale, lovely raindrops rain - nope, it rained like we had been swimming vertically! Honestly! See the drops in the sightseeing photos! And it was very windy too! Like a hair-drier blowing on max speed - just less warm. Actually, that's not windy enough either. Even the animals stayed under roofs - except for the tiger, she was quite restless... We managed to be indoors during the heaviest rain; looking at dwarf moongooses being fed, Hoffman's sloth, monkeys, frogs, snakes, turtles, birds... After seeing the bears we had lunch - just sausages and fries, nothing fancy. Later I saw familiar animals! Wombats! It was mostly fun, despite the rain and wind. My host had promised her kids to take them to the zoo so she had to do it, despite the rain. And I did complete one life mission
Delenna Posted Oct 13, 2009, 7:36 am	Today we went to the main library in Porvoo. It's a big red building with tons of books  We went to the children's department first and I got to read different kinds of Moomin books. Did you know that the first Moomins were meant to adults more than kids? For example because in the early, original Moomins Moominpappa drinks whisky and smokes! Did you also know that Tove Jansson didn't draw much Moomins after 1958? Yep, I read that ina book! Her brother took over as she was too busy with Moomins - she wanted to continue write and draw other stuff finally. They had all sorts of fun decorations to amuse the kids; a small house, a huge ant on the roof, a Gulliver, dolls from different part of the world, live fish... Upstairs was a music department and an "archive" (a study room). There was also those miniature displays of a harbour near my host's home - displaying how there used to look. Upstairs we also got a good look on the "adult" book department. We spent about 2 hours in the library and you know what happened during that time too? It started snowing! It was the first snow  this "winter"!
Delenna Posted Oct 16, 2009, 5:55 pm	This place suprises me every now and then... On the other side of this municipality, in a small village, there's this Miniature World! It's situated in a former carpentry workshop. It's owned by a christian organization that helps people with alcohol problems. They have this social company where people then make these miniature models and other small projects. The miniture dioramas were so cool! And they make more all the time - so it's a constantly growing exhibition  I saw the Titanic, Pisa Cathedral, the leaning tower of Pisa, Vyborg Castle, shots from Finnish wars, lighthouses, Kolumbus' ships... That was in the first room. They have this other room where they had a whole city! They had put Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower and a Finnish castle in one place  There was also the Colosseum, several Cathedrals (see, there's even a wedding going on in one!), the Rocky Mountains - and a railroad driving round the whole thing! Wait a minute! There was nothing from Australia! *tsk tsk* Well, maybe they're building something right now... I want to go again!
Delenna Posted Oct 17, 2009, 4:48 pm	This is Castle Hill. This is also the place where from Porvoo started to grow. There used to be a castle/fortress hundreds of years ago - it was most likely made of wood as there nothing else left than the hill and the castle moats. There's a lot of flora that can't be seen in many places in this country. The water level of the river was much higher in the old days, and goods were transported on boats.  Did you know that Porvoo is Borgå in Swedish and that it means Castle River (borg=castle, å=river)? If the info board wasn't smeared you could see a map of the area and read some info. Nowadays Castle Hill a tourist attraction - and a great place to take photos!
Delenna Posted Oct 17, 2009, 4:56 pm	We were very energetical today! After Castle Hill we climbed on another hill! This one is the downhill skiing center some block away from the castle hill. The view isn't as cool as on Castle hill but we had fun anyway Although it was less fun when it started raining...
Delenna Posted Oct 17, 2009, 5:15 pm	We continued the day with more outdoor fun: we jumped into a pile of leaves! We also had a leaf fight and races etc.  You can only guess how tired we were in the evening...
Delenna Posted Oct 18, 2009, 7:17 am	My host wanted to show her yard. She said she started it with my buddy Alfie Langer but didn't finish it then yet. So, this is to show my mentor (and alfie langer there at home) how it turned out!
Delenna Posted Oct 19, 2009, 7:32 pm	Tadaa! Today it snowed "again" but this time it stayed on the ground for a few hours! So, we went outside and played in the snow  We (me, Leonard, Twix and BellaKitten) made a snowman - it turned out quite extraordinary, dontcha think?    I have to admit that the bigger snowball was quite heavy...
Delenna Posted Oct 25, 2009, 11:39 am	This Friday evening we spent in an "indoor playground" called HopLop. They had a huge "maze", slides, bouncy castles, games... It was much fun! Running around for 4 hours made we and the others sweat  But I would do it again anytime! PS. Do you know what my host did when we were playing? She sat in a massage chair and almost fell assleep
Delenna Posted Oct 25, 2009, 11:47 am	Stamp Fair! That's how we started this Saturday (ok, we did have rice porridge for breakfast and watched cartoons on tv first). This fair was in Helsinki and it was quite small - but then again, stamps don't need much space. My host spent 45 minutes next to that box full of stamps - she was choosing as many as she could fit in a small envelope with just 1 euro. We did have a look at the other stamps as well, the were many on sale and many on display. I found those Disney stamps from small islands most interesting.
Delenna Posted Oct 25, 2009, 11:57 am	After the Stamps Fair we moved to the bigger part of the building (Messukeskus which means Fair Center) to see the Book Fair. I have never ever seen so many books in one place  We also saw the interview of Mauri Kunnas, a famous Finnish autor. He writes & illustrates mostly children's books, but those are loved by adults too. His works have been translated into several languages. Later we saw the Moomins! And last but not least a musical show with Pekka Töpöhäntä (a cat without tail) and hios friends. Both Moomins and Pekka Töpöhäntä (or Pella Svanslös in original language Swedish) are loved children's books in Finland. Although there were millions of books we didn't buy too many. Just a few children's books and some comics. I bet we walked quite a few kilometers during the day - but it was worth it
Delenna Posted Nov 5, 2009, 9:54 am	My host sucks! Ok, I know it's not nice to say so but she didn't take us to Halloween disco at the local elementary school! She went there to organize a "Fear Factor" with some other folk. My host was responsible for making a "poison spider box" and "teeth & bones" box - kids were supposed to put their hands in them, if they dare... The spiders were just pieces of yarn! And the teeth&bones were pasta!  Oh, and my host took some scary music with her too: wolves howling, Dracula soundtrack and worst of all Aliens soundtrack.
Delenna Posted Nov 9, 2009, 9:49 am	I attended the Red Nose Day Meetup with my host and tv-pals. Red Nose Day is a charity event to raise money for poor in the 3rd world. The postcrossers didn't raise money but they used charity postcards as much as possible. My host sent for example Fair Mail cards. Today they also issued the new christmas stamps and therefore we were able to see special cancellation, they did it by hand!
Delenna Posted Nov 21, 2009, 1:51 pm	Wohoo! I'm going to Sweden! My mentor will have a de ja vu... as Alfie was in Sweden with my host too  I'm travelling onboard M/S Mariella, a Viking Line ship. We had a welcome drink and later a delicious dinner before we settled in our cabin - to check out the Swedish money and Stockholm map. My host said places were closer on Mondays starting now - so we would just walk around and maybe do some shopping. Oh, the first photo? It's a sandbox for dogs on the deck
Delenna Posted Nov 21, 2009, 2:00 pm	God morgon! That's how they say "good morning" in Sweden  We woke up early for buffet breakfast and then went on the deck to see the views as we approached Stockholm, the capitol of Sweden. Viking Line ships dock closer to the city, while Silja Line ships dock further away and you need a buss to get to the city. So, even the ship is smaller and less eventfull at least it docks close to the town. Just before we docked we saw the front part of the ship open - and as we docked cars drove out.
Delenna Posted Nov 21, 2009, 2:16 pm	Well here I am, in Stockholm, the capitol of Sweden! First I saw the Royal Palace which was built during the eighteenth century in the Italian Baroque style, on the spot where the “Tre Kronor” castle burned down in 1697. It has over 600 rooms! That must've been very cool for the princesses & prince when they were little - imagine playing hide & seek there... Then we wanted to go play on a lion statue but they had made an ice rink around it! Oh well, it had started raining more heavily so we decided to try shopping. There are at least 3 malls in the city center but we found "Gallerian" to be our style (ok, we didn't find the third so...). Although we didn't buy much. I did see a lego Santa! I told him I've been good, just in case...  After several hours of walking we finally had lunch! My host chose McDonald's - just to be sure that her kids ate  My host had also been looking for stamps the whole time. Postcards were easy to get and she wrote some in the McD. But stamps? In Finland you get them in every store that sells postcards (allmost every place) but not here. We had to find a Pressbyrån - luckily there was one right next to McD! My host said she knew only one other. But now she's wiser  There was also a mailbox between these two places so we didn't have to go mailbox hunting *phew* I can't believe she didn't know all that allready, she has been to Stockholm several times for crying out loud
Delenna Posted Nov 21, 2009, 2:34 pm	When we finally arrived back to the ship we rested in our cabin and had a small snack. I read the safety regulations which should've been done when we left Finland... Later we went shopping Tax Free. The map on the wall shows our route. Ships have to stop in Mariehamn to be allowed to sell Tax Free. Another funny detail: they can sell snuff only while in Swedish waters  Not that any of us were buying, I just thought it was funny.
Delenna Posted Nov 21, 2009, 2:39 pm	After a good night's sleep we arrived back in Helsinki. The cruise was fun! The Baltic Sea was calm both ways. Stockholm was a bit wet but who cares
Delenna Posted Dec 3, 2009, 5:48 pm	On this rainy day I went to meet Santa Claus! He was scheduled to arrive on an old train to attend the Grand Opening of Old Porvoo's Christmas. There's no trains operating to/from Porvoo anymore - just the old ones on tourist seasons (summer + xmas). Santa came on a "Lättähattu" ("Flat Hat"). It's a Dm7 type "train car" which were built in the 60's mainly. Before we met Santa we took a look around in the old trainstation area. They still have some old trains there (I think they must be very rusty, standing outdoors all the time). There's a sort of a shop where they sell nostalgic vintage stuff (and newer handicrafts). We followed their small model train while waiting for Santa's arrival. It was ok, but nothing compared to the huge miniature world we saw in October! Finally Santa and his train arrived! He was really nice and Santa-like  He greeted everyone and talked with children - and some toyvoyagers  It's a secret what we discussed
Delenna Posted Dec 3, 2009, 6:05 pm	After chatting with Santa we walked towards the Old Porvoo and The Opening. We did some window shopping on the way as the Old Town is full of small shops selling handicrafts and other quality products. The Opening of Old Porvoo's Christmas wasn't as Grand as they let us think. Some people (including Tsar Alexander I !!!) gave speechees, then Santa sang with us and finally Santa gave kids candy in that big "teepee". There was also a torch parade but the people holding he torches were kids and thus hard to see behind all the mass of people. My host said there had been an Opening of Porvoo Christmas (with more stuff to see & do) last week but she forgot it and thus we missed it  *sigh* She promised she'll do better next year - I wonder if she said that last year when she forgot both openings... Ok, she did do better - at least she remembered the other opening  After the speeches and stuff we did some more window shopping. They have this competition of who has the best window - people can vote and there are prizes to both winners and voters. That little Moomin House in one window is allways there - they just redecorate it to every season. Obviously they were celebrating Christmas too  PS. Mom, do you remember what those red bells are made of? Those hanging above the streets? I think Alfie must've told you  If not, try decode the answer: stekcub citsalp
Delenna Posted Dec 6, 2009, 6:50 am	My host l-o-v-e-s crafts. She has this huge amount of supplies all over the house. Today we helped her make cards for lonely seniors. A "craft-supply-shop" (Tiimari) gathers christmas cards and Helsinki Missio (an organization that helps people in need) deals them out to lonely older citizens. My host likes to make people happy and she loves carfts so this was perfect for her. First she told us how to make a snow lantern card. That "lace" cutter was really hard to use! But only because the card was so thick. We added some snowflakes and yellow glitter and there it was! We also made cards with hearts, old christmas stamps, christmas trees... etc. It was really fun! We tried to be carefull with the glitter but I think everyone sparkled afterwards  We made 13 cards. It's awesome to think that 13 old people will get a card from us and hopefully be happy, maybe our card is the only one they get.
Delenna Posted Dec 8, 2009, 9:28 am	We went to this little park and it had snowed a bit! We were near the Porvoo Cathedral, do you see the roof and clock tower back there? We climbed on these cool bent trees and it was fun! Some of them had these little holes where I could hide
Delenna Posted Dec 9, 2009, 11:03 am	Happy Independence Day Finland!
Delenna Posted Dec 14, 2009, 7:58 pm	Apparently my host felt really bad for not taking us to the grander Opening of Porvoo Christmas... Because we drove to another tiny town (population 7400) east from Porvoo to see its Christmas events! This town is Loviisa and it took us only 30min to get there. The town was founded as a frontier and fortress town in 1745 on land beloning to the Degerby Manor and was originally called Degerby. King Adolf Fredrik of Sweden visited Loviisa in 1752 and decided to rename the town after his wife, Queen Lovisa Ulrika. This is the very center of Loviisa; the church and the market place, surrounded with tourist info (pink building), police station, hotel, gym (yellow building)... They had a really cool looking police station! Not that we needed to go inside, I'm not that kind of a bear... Just look at the lamp on the stone building The church is called "the church in the middle of the road" as it stands in the crossroads of two main streets of Loviisa. It was finished in 1865 (architect being Georg Theodor Policron Chiewitz). There are 1000 seats.  The last photos show the bastions (or actually one of 2) that were built to protect the big road (The main road between Turku and Saint Petersburg, the E18, that runs through Loviisa). Nowadays there are only ruins left and the area is used as the set of various plays in the summer. This is the best tourism region in Finland! The Finnish journalists rewarded the destination management company Porvoo tours and destination East Uusimaa on MATKA-Travel Fair 2008. That means Loviisa and Porvoo
Delenna Posted Dec 14, 2009, 8:08 pm	After climbing up and down the bastion we walked thru the old town towards the Laivasilta area. We stopped by at an art gallery as they had an art competition for kids. We were too furry to attend and some of us were to *cough* old *cough* to attend  While the kid in our company painted I took a look at the other paintings (the ones that were on display). Next week we'llknow if the kid won  The Laivasilta ("boat bridge") area had an xmas market there with lots of special handicrafts for sale. I mean, look for example at the animals made of spruce! Even my host was suprised and adored the work someone had done.  It was quite hard not to buy anything...
Delenna Posted Dec 14, 2009, 8:31 pm	We succeeded in not buying anything and left to look for Santa. Again we walked thru the older town. Some of the Traditional Christmas Homes were open for public but we didn't get to go in any of them. They're called TCH although they're regular homes decorated in different xmas styles (more old than new) and they serve coffee and bakings. We did find Santa! He had left the reindeers home to rest for the big night(s) and took only a pony with him. We got to go on a ride with the pony carriage! Finally we stopped to eat. Lastly we tried to find the orthodox church but found only the bells... We took a look at the Bonga Castle thru the starting blizzard (ok, I'm exaggerating a bit... it just started snowing) - it's the atelier-museum of the artists Riitta Nelimarkka and Jaakko Seeck and located in the town centre, next to the church. Over 200 works by Nelimarkka are on display, covering a period of about 20 years (ranging from colourful textiles to oil paintings and drawings). The building itself is over 100 years old. On elast look to the center, sitting on an anchor... And heading home! PS: Municipalities of Loviisa, Liljendal, Pernaja and Ruotsinpyhtää will merge on January the 1st 2010.
Delenna Posted Dec 15, 2009, 5:07 pm	As all the christmas cards are made and sent it was time to start baking gingerbread cookies! My host has various cool cookie cutters but she let us use only part of them. She explained that these cookies we would give to old people in her last job (along with cards) and that we would make more later - to eat ourselves  She promised I could use Moomin cutters next time. The dough was a bit hard but teamwork was the key to success
Delenna Posted Dec 15, 2009, 5:25 pm	When the cookies had cooled down we got to decorate them. My host gave us only two sorts of sugarstuff - white and brown. But again she promised there would be more variety when we made new cookies. We were pretty fast and unmessy
Delenna Posted Dec 20, 2009, 7:16 am	This morning we drove to a park in the city. There was a Christmas party and Lucia came to sing! Lucia is more a swedish tradition - to bring light in the dark - but it origins from Italian Saint Lycy. Every year they choose one Lucia in many cities. Teenage girls apply and the public may vote for the most suitable (from 6-10 contestants). We listened to the Lucia (and her 2 "runner-ups") sing, ate porridge and gingerbread cookies and danced around the tree When we got home we noticed it was allmost -20 degrees Celsius! No wonder the porridge cooled down fast
Delenna Posted Dec 22, 2009, 7:48 am	My host makes a different kind of gingerbread building/something every year. This is was the time for a carousel! I helped her do it and here you see how it turned out - pretty cool huh?
Delenna Posted Dec 22, 2009, 7:53 am	Afterr finishing the gingerbread carousel we decorated the tree! My host "cursed" because first she had troubles with sawing the tree and then she realised it didn't fit the pedestal... That's why it stands in a bucket  Well, at least it'll get enough water  The kids did most of the decorating but we did supervise at least  And we got to climb it when they were finished. It turned out pretty too!
Delenna Posted Dec 23, 2009, 11:13 am	It's finally really snowy here! The temperature is a bit milder but at least we have snow! It's going to be a white Christmas
Delenna Posted Dec 30, 2009, 10:05 am	In the morning of Christmas Eve we made traditional plum pastries - also called Christmas Pastries.  My host prefers them warm and fresh, thus she makes them "in the last minute"  Oh goodie! She found a recipe in English language! She took a photo of the pastries "step by step": if you look  the second photo counter clockwise you'll see the steps of making the star shape Yummy!
Delenna Posted Dec 30, 2009, 10:17 am	Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the waaayyyyy! Oh, I mean: kulkuset, kulkuset, riemuin helkkäileeeeeee!  It's Christmas Eve! The day Finns celebrate Christmas. In the morning we had rice porridge (a tradition), for lunch/dinner we had traditional ham and casseroles (gratins) etc. My host wanted to show what her family eats traditionally on Christmas Eve, so in the third photo is burritos!  I spent this Christmas with Gary Boldie, Leonard, Hueso and Foster Care Home visitors Alfonz and FoxForce  For dessert we had for example gingerbread cookies: another carousel! This one was made with snowmen  In this link, you'll find some traditional Finnish Christmas recipes Later in the evening Santa came for a visit! He brought us some gifts as well. We all got "stamp magnets"! Mine has 3 different Finnish flag stamps on it  The rest of the night we ate some more - also and especially candy  My host had got us a box of Finnish chocolate. We didn't leave much for the next day...  Merry Christmas everyone!
Delenna Posted Jan 1, 2010, 2:34 pm	Happy New Year! Onnellista uutta vuotta! We cast tin which is a tradition. They say that you can predict the coming year from the shadow of the tin. Our tins looked like Finnish birds but the shadows looked like australian animals! Or at least that how my host interpreted them...  Later we watched some fireworks. The neighbours had quite a few of them. We just sat indoors (safe & warm) and enjoyed the show  Happy New Year! Onnellista uutta vuotta!
Delenna Posted Jan 7, 2010, 1:52 pm	Greetings from "only" -15 degrees Celsius! Yep, my host said it's "only" as it was -22 just the other day  I wanted to show you how much snow they have in Finland right now. Even my host says it's quite a lot
Delenna Posted Jan 18, 2010, 7:47 am	A new guest Meleca arrived just on time to experience a Postcrossing meetup  To me and most of the others it was "same old, same old"  - although we almost had to have a chat with a guard! we left when the cafe closed and wanted to send the postcards from a special cancellation box - but we were told that if we stepped over the line there would be an alarm screaming... As the post office had closed too  I mean, there was only a few meters between us and the box but no...  Oh well, we didn't want to disturb the guards so we exited nicely. And sent the cards from elsewhere.
Delenna Posted Jan 18, 2010, 8:29 am	This was a busy party weekend for my host: her daughters had birthdays. I helped my host make cakes; Hello Kitty cake, 8 cake, rainbow cake... They turned out pretty awesome and tasty  The theme was Hello Kitty and we blew quite a few balloons... Outside my host made ice balloons  She filled some latex balloons with water and put them outside to freeze (it took 1-2 days to freeze, depending on the temperature). they turned out so cool and festive that half of them were stolen! My host caught the boys who had done it and gave them a speech and told their parents. The kids apologized and filled new balloons. So it ended well - for us at least. There was also a disco! We even had disco balls! "I like to move it move it, I like to move it move it, I  like to move it move it, you like to - move it!"
Delenna Posted Jan 22, 2010, 10:05 am	I'm walking on the Baltic Sea! It's so frozen that one could even drive a car on it  Many people ski on it and even more people take a walk on it. My host said that if it's not covered with snow then many people skate on it too  It felt really weird, walking on the Sea that I've seen unfrozen...
Delenna Posted Jan 28, 2010, 7:46 am	My host attended yet another Postcrossing meetup in Helsinki. She said it's her last in a longer while because she has to cut expenses... But that's what she said on the meetup before this one... I met some celebrities! The Post had issued stamps if old Finnish rock (& pop)stars and most of them were there to give autographs  My host is too young to be a fan but she got some autographs anyway  There were lead singers from Popeda, Yö and Mamba! Plus one woman: Maarit. In the group photo  (taken by Huppu68 as my host missed that) are also the designers of the new stamps: Minni Havas, Klaus Welp and Inge Löök (also famous for her granny postcards). Klaus Welp is the one who designed the rock stamps. Group photo from left to right: Mamba-singer (Tero Vaara), Minni Havas, Yö-singer (Olli Lindholm), Klaus Welp, Maarit, Popeda-singer (Pate Mustajärvi, he was really nice to my host) and Inge Löök.
Delenna Posted Feb 7, 2010, 12:32 pm	Today we went to see a sychronized figureskating competition at the local skating hall. The black blob in the photos is usually me  We weren't allowed to use flash during the skatings. There were 4 teams in each "section". We watched only half of them as the kids got tired of sitting... Hence we didn't see who won  But here are some photos of the end of the show.
Delenna Posted Mar 6, 2010, 12:27 pm	The winter continues here We had 2 days with + temperature and made a snowslide and this snow Totoro with the kids - cool huh! The hole in his stomach is for a candle
Delenna Posted Mar 15, 2010, 4:59 pm	Finally my host remembered to take photos of me in the Finnish Sauna  In Finland every household has a sauna - or in case of a block of flats, then there usually is one sauna for the whole highhouse. Anyway. This is my host's sauna. Sauna is a room that you heat up (there are saunas that are heated with wood and saunas that are heated with electricity), preferably 60-80 degrees Celsius (that varies, some people like it even hotter). Then you take a shower (just to get wet, it's not pleasant to be dry in a sauna) before you enter the sauna (naked!). In sauna you just sit and relax and maybe throw some water on the hot stones (to get more heat and steam). Sauna relaxes your muscles and opens your skin pores, which makes you clean from the inside  After a while (when you feel like it) you go to the shower again to get wet and re-enter the sauna. You can repeat it as many times as you want. In the end you shower to wash yourself. In summerhouses people also have saunas. There it's tradition to make (or buy) a birch whisk with which you beat yourself gently in the sauna. The whisk has the leaves on so it won't hurt. There are saunas in gyms and swimming halls but there men & women are divided in separate saunas. Otherwise, with friends and family, it's normal to go to sauna together. Finns even have a Sauna Society!
Delenna Posted Mar 31, 2010, 7:00 am	Wohoo! I'm going on a cruise again!  And it's to Stockholm, Sweden - again!  Here I am onboard Silja Symphony. It's quite foggy in Helsinki so the views aren't that good. I hope it's better in Stockholm
Delenna Posted Mar 31, 2010, 7:14 am	This time we took the subway and went straight to the old town. We hadn't been there for the last times we visited Stockholm. Well, the Royal Palace area is in there too but we had missed most of the Old Town. The old town is the original Stockholm. The town was built during the 13th century but most buildings are from 17th and 18th century. There are about 3000 people living in the old city today. Now there are 2 more as we released 2 of the 3 wild Toy Voyagers in the old town
Delenna Posted Mar 31, 2010, 7:31 am	After the tour in Old Town we took the subway and headed towards the city center. We finally had lunch and time to write postcards! The couple in one of the postcards is crown princess Victoria and her soon-to-be-husband Daniel. They're going to be wed this summer and people are very excited about it - a royal wedding! I wish we could be there too! There are lots of souvenirs with Victoris & Daniel on them and they've even made special \"dalahästar\" (Dala Horse). They're usually red (although on the link you can see more variety) but now there are special white, pink and light blue ones too - with a different decoration.
Delenna Posted Mar 31, 2010, 7:39 am	We're back! It's  a bit clearer in Helsinki today but rainy too. I added a group photo of us travellers
Delenna Posted Apr 2, 2010, 8:53 am	Happy Easter! Iloista pääsiäistä!
Delenna Posted Apr 29, 2010, 8:05 pm	My host had got a free ticket to the Child Fair which included also Pet Expo and Model Expo. Therefore we went there  We just wandered around watching until my host found a place that gave away Moomin postcards for free! She did buy some stuff too, for her daughter's birthday. At the Pet Expo we just admired the cute pets and at the Model Expo we... well, there were the Star Wars people! And a grandma doing yarn the old way
Delenna Posted Apr 29, 2010, 8:11 pm	After the "triple Fair" we went to see a Moomin exhibition "The Great Adventure" at Päivälehti Museum. It was smaller than my host had expected but nice anyway - and she got more free Moomin postcards!
Delenna Posted Apr 29, 2010, 8:18 pm	The third stop on our day in the capitol was the Recycling Factory event. It was awesome! I saw tons of fun & cool & amazing stuff people had made of--- well, crap  Even candy wrapping can be turned into small pouches! There was also a section where people could bring their stuff (basically anything) for other people to take it. My host brought a few things but didn't take anything. She said next year she'll be here with a backbag of stuff - and a bigger budget  Oh, wait, she didn't leave emptyhanded! There was also a table about Bookcrossing and my host took two books (one in English & one in Finnish) - and registered into bookcrossing.com in the evening. It was only fair as one of the bookcrossers got really inspired about us toyvoyagers!
Delenna Posted May 13, 2010, 6:05 pm	Today we wish a happy Mother's Day to all mothers in the world! These are the flowers kid usually pick for their moms on Mother's Day
Delenna Posted May 13, 2010, 9:04 pm	Today was such a warm and sunny weather that we decided to go for a bicycle ride and picnic! On our way we saw some firemen practising. That was cool  Finally we stopped for Carelian pastries and juice. At that spot was also a bird watching tower where we climbed, of course. We saw tens of swans! My host said there usually is only a few couples but now there were tons more
Delenna Posted Jun 3, 2010, 7:47 pm	Yet another day of party in Finland I helped my host bake Ladybug cupcakes! She also made a cake with a Ladybug Hello Kitty on it. Can you guess the theme of this birthday party...  My host also made balloon figures (not ladybug although she tried that) - dogs and fish mostly. The weather was lovely and kids blew soap bubbles outdoors, ran back & forth, drew with chalks etc. Adults just sat indoors and drank coffee.
Delenna Posted Jun 11, 2010, 9:26 pm	It was a lovely day and we had a field trip planned  We visited a Domestic Animal Farm called Fallkulla in Helsinki. Their website gives the following information At Fallkulla you can get a taste of rural life in the middle of the city. You can see traditional farm animals: sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, hens, ducks, rabbits, cats and horses and help take care of them. Fallkulla Domestic Animal Farm is the only municipally owned youth centre in Finland where young people can take part in practical work with livestock. Fallkulla is a popular destination for excursions. In addition to families, groups from day care centres, schools and homes for the elderly are among the many people who visit the farm each day. Sundays are reserved for families to see the animals. All in all, Fallkulla attracts over 40,000 visitors each year. We did see many Finnish domestic animals, had a picnic and saw a "maitolaituri". That's translated as "milk platforms". My host explained that in the old days (1920- 1970) milk was left in big metallic "bottles" on a "maitolaituri" and dairy farms picked them up from there. The places were also popular places for youth to get together. Also mailboxes were ofteen situated on the side of the platform. There's even a museum for the milk platforms, Velaatta in Tampere! PS. those are not real storks on the roof!
Delenna Posted Jun 27, 2010, 6:58 pm	We went to the city to play in a park that is bigger than the ones near my host. The park personnel had organized a small festival. We got to put flowers on a "pole" (this has something to do with the swedish speaking Finns, they call it a "maypole"). There were different games to play - oh, and the fire trucks came and an ambulance and we got to see inside them! Then there was a chance to barbecue and all sorts of food! It was really fun  Wikipedia says this about the Finnish Midsummer: Before 1316, the summer solstice was called Ukon juhla, after the Finnish god Ukko. In Karelian  tradition, many bonfires were burned side by side, the biggest of which was called Ukko-kokko (the "bonfire of Ukko"). After the celebrations were Christianized, the holiday is known as juhannus  after John the Baptist (Finnish: Johannes Kastaja). Since 1955, the holiday is always on a Saturday (between June 20 and June 26). Earlier it was always on June 24. A lot of the celebration of midsummer takes place on midsummer eve, when many workplaces are closed and shops have to close their doors at noon. In the Finnish midsummer celebration, bonfires (Finnish kokko) are very common and are burnt at lakesides and by the sea. Often two young birch trees (koivu) are placed on either side of the front door to welcome visitors. Swedish-speaking Finns often celebrate by erecting a midsummer or maypole (Swedish midsommarstång, majstång). In folk magic, midsummer was a very potent night and the time for many small rituals, mostly for young maidens seeking suitors and fertility. Will o wisps were believed to be seen at midsummer night, particularly to finders of the mythical "fern in bloom" and possessors of the "fern seed", marking a treasure. An important feature of the midsummer in Finland is the white night and the midnight sun. Because of Finland's location spanning around the Arctic Circle the nights near the midsummer day are short or non-existent. This gives a great contrast to the darkness of the winter time. Many Finns leave the cities for Midsummer and spend their holiday in the countryside. Rituals include bonfires, sauna and spending time together. Heavy drinking is also associated with the Finnish midsummer. Many music festivals of all sizes are organized on the Midsummer weekend. It's also common to start summer holidays on Midsummer day. For many families the Midsummer is the time when they move to the countryside to their summer cottage by the lake. Midsummerday is also the Day of the Finnish Flag. The flag is hoisted at 6 pm on Midsummer eve and flown all night till 9 pm the following evening.
Delenna Posted Jul 20, 2010, 11:44 pm	It's been real hot! See, more than +32C in the shadow! And allmost +30C indoors as this house has absolutely no air condition  When it finally started to rain (for about 15 min) it dropped about 5 degrees for a while. The raindrops were huge! The kids ran outside with their clothes on and started dancing in the rain  Like that didn't get them soaking wet they filled buckets with water and threw at each other
Delenna Posted Jul 20, 2010, 11:50 pm	My host took me with her to the annual visit to Tampere, a city about 2h drive north/nothwest from Porvoo. First we attended a Postcrossing meetup in the city center. It was a mini meetup as there were only my host, her daughter and one other postcrosser... hey! Wait a minute! What about all us toyvoyagers and the Moomin characters of the other 'crosser?!? It was no mini meetup but a mega meetup!  After the meetup we went for a refreshing swim in one of the lakes
Delenna Posted Jul 21, 2010, 12:27 am	One of the real reasons we came to  Tampere was Ankkaralli, a duck rally    It's part of the urban city festival called Tammerfest. 4000 numbered rubber ducks were dropped in the lake and 60 fastest swimmers got prizes. People were able to "buy" certain ducks for 5 euros each. Our number didn't win anything but the money went to a good cause: the internationalization of students at Proakatemia. If you have Flash Player 8 and JavaScript, then you should be able to watch this video of the event
Delenna Posted Jul 23, 2010, 9:58 pm	Today would be Albert Edelfelt's (1854-1905) birthday. He's a famous artist who was born in Porvoo. He painted  over 220 paintings here. Today we visited his summer studio museum. They had organized an event for kids to celebrate AE's birthday. A character called Aunt Monika came to guide kids thru the scenery and paint with them. We checked out the atelier from the inside as well.
Delenna Posted Sep 18, 2010, 6:54 am	Finally my host takes me somewhere! Although it was the postcard event I attended last year as well... This time was different as the postcrossers had a stand there too! They were telling people about the hobby and showing some of their received cards (which reminded my host to take pics of me with her cards, especially now that she bought new boxes for them). We wandered around checking out the displays (we found one with Porvoo train station! That's old!) and cards for sale. As usual there was a man taking photos that were made into postcards - and many postcrossers were in 2 cards! Not my host though and that disappointed her a bit... While the postcrossers sat down to sign XXX amount of cards I took a tour with my host's daughter (who got bored after the XX amount of cards), hence the photos of me with coffee mugs and cookies (they were tasty, yeas )  She took more photos but I'm not as clear in the rest  After the signing operation and watching cancellation we walked to a restaurant for late lunch. It was a nice restaurant called Popino which is famous for its huge pizzas. Of course my host had to take pasta instead  We had to wait for our food for quite a while but it was worth it. We tasted a bit of everything and got so full we could only glance at the dessert... It was a fun trip! Just like last time
Delenna Posted Sep 25, 2010, 3:59 pm	My host was so pleased to get new boxes for her postcards that she made a photoshoot with them...  So, here are Delenna's postcards in good (?) order. She has AU/NZ cards in the big red box, unused AU/NZ cards in the small red box, Finnish cards in the white/gold box, Kaj Stenvall cards in one tin candy box (with Porvoo on it) and "Things in 3"-collection in the other tin canby box. In the Lonely Planet Postcard "books" she has unused special cards like Totoro and cards she has made of her own photos (1 card of each set). The rest of her cards are in the big black box and in the box that is covered with pictures and stamps etc. We added a pic of art her kids made (hama beads on cardboard) and Moomin house For no speacial reason
Delenna Posted Oct 17, 2010, 6:48 am	One of the kids had riding lessons and we took her to the riding school. She didn't want my host to be in the stables disturbing her  so we walked around taking photos and talking to horses. The place has 3 stables; one with 2 horses, one with 4 horses and the biggest one with 12 horses. They have several huge and a few smaller fenced-in areas for the horses outdoors. There's one riding field and one indoor riding arena. In the saddle room we found also an ancient payphone! If we had coins with us we would've tried if it really worked... Do also notice the WC sign made of horse shoes! Simple yet brilliant! We're sorry for the less than perfect quality of the photos but the sun was shining from the worse angle that no settings could fix...
Delenna Posted Oct 17, 2010, 6:59 am	The first snow has fallen! We went to the park to play in and with it - not minding how little there actually was  See, we (me and Mandy Sheep) could even make a snowman!
Delenna Posted Oct 24, 2010, 6:46 am	In Lahti, around the world famous three Ski-jumps on the Salpausselkä Ridges. Here they hold basically all ski-jumping contests in Finland. There were many statues and such to honor the famous athletes and war heroes. The skier statue presents Siiri Rantanen (born 1924), a former cross-country skier from Finland who competed during the 1950s and early 1960s. She won three medals in the Winter Olympics with a gold (1956: 3 x 5 km) and two bronzes (1952: 10 km, 1960: 3 x 5 km). Rantanen also won five medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with three silvers (1954: 10 km, 3 x 5 km; 1958: 3 x 5 km) and two bronzes (1958: 10 km, 1962: 3 x 5 km). Those streetsigns say how far away different cities are from that exact spot. It's 13189 km to Sydney... No no no! I better not start feeling homesick! Let's move on!
Delenna Posted Oct 24, 2010, 6:58 am	While walking towards the Lahti center we saw quite a few statues! I lost track counting them  But here's Lahti in other numbers: number of inhabitants: 198,434 inhabitants / km2: 39 number of households: 94,491 number of businesses: 9,739 area: 6,258 km2 area of water: 1,125 km2 number of lakes and ponds approx. 1,000 coastline approx. 5,500 km We drove about an hour here so it's not that far really. We walked to the Ristinkirkko - The Church of the Cross (1978) . It's designed by Alvar Aalto. We didn't get to see the inside, but you can find some photos of it in here. In the church park there is a sculpture called “Spirit of Freedom” by Wäinö Aaltonen. There are many memorial graves of the war heroes around it. From the church we walked down to the market place. What caught my eye was the building that looked like a castle (only without towers)! We have no idea what it used to be but now there's at least a restaurant on the ground floor. At last we arrived at the Sinuhe Cafe! There we met some postcrossers, wrote postcards, ate, drank and had a few laught
Delenna Posted Oct 24, 2010, 7:04 am	Still in Lahti, now at the Ski Museum! After the cafe we walked back to the ski-jumpinh gills as there was the ski museum. The following we got from here: Ski exhibitions have been arranged in Lahti since 1926. In 1959 the Veteran Section of Lahti Ski Club proposed to the board of directors of the club that a Ski Museum be established and started collecting exhibits. During the 70's the City of Lahti looked favourably on the project and the Ski Museum was founded in Lahti 1974. The present museum building, standing in the middle of the sport centrer, was opened on the 1st November in 1989. In the Ski Museum you can have fun with Wintersports. You can Jump from the biggest Ski-jump in Lahti, You can ski on a plastic Track, You can train Biathlon and do Downhill skiing. You can also have your own ski-jump competition. And that's exactly what we did (after taking a look at the old ski-jumping and skiing outfits and medals and stuff)! Have our own ski-jumping competition. Although we're not sure which one of us won, it was quite hard to measure. The postcrossers had such competition too - and my host won!She got a set of winter sport stamps as her prizw
Delenna Posted Oct 30, 2010, 9:36 am	Hopeful halloween!
Delenna Posted Nov 4, 2010, 12:02 pm	We visited the annual BookFair again. The Moomins are celebrating their 65th anniversary but my host didn't find any good Moomin offers. She did find several Disney books though, the special kind she collects. I saw a few celebrities too! Well, celebrities in the scale of Finland
Delenna Posted Nov 4, 2010, 12:09 pm	Now this is one weird Postcrossing meetup... They called it MiniManorMeetup  The Haiko Manor is not mini though. First my host tried desperately to get photos of us outdoors but it was way too dark for her camera - she promised to try again later, on daylight (as she doesn't live far away). The postcrosser we met (that's the mini in the meetup: there were only two postcrossres) got us cheesecake and hot chocolate (we were quite wet from the dark rain) - and then she made us work! We organized some files and stuff. But it was quite fun
Delenna Posted Nov 7, 2010, 11:33 am	Here is Haikko Manor during daylight! So this is what it looks like... Their website says this about the history: The history dates back to 1362 when a Dominican monastery owned the site. Several members of the Russian Imperial family have visited Haikko Manor since one of the previous owners General Etter was a close friend to Czar Nicholas II. During the revolution in 1917 Grand Duke Kiril´s eldest son Wladimir was born and christened at Haikko. He was the nearest aspirant to the imperial crown of Russia and he became later the head of the Romanov family. The Vuoristo family purchased the manor in 1965. Those iron cows are made by Miina Äkkijyrkkä. The yellow is called Sweet Yellow Melon. There was a debate why a luxury Manor would want cows made of "trash" on its yard. Many people thought it was a refreshing thing to do. Although many newlyweds who were taking their wedding photos in Haikkoo didn't like it - who wants cows on their weddingphotos (well, my host would've loved the contrast). They just moved the cows a bit  on the side, where they now are.
Delenna Posted Nov 7, 2010, 11:37 am	There was a stamp fair held in Helsinki, near the place we were last weekend. My host collects Finnish stamps and xmas stamps from all over the world and therefore we went to the fair. Plus there we could get a special cancellation to our cards - and have a postcrossing meetup The place wasn't big but then again neither are stamps. And I saw Santa Claus! We admired and bought stamps & postcards, won a First day Cover in wheeel of fortune, found an old postcard of my host's mom's childhood village (and none of Porvoo). It was quite fun, especially because my host's smalled PowerPuff girl kept me company when my host was choosing and shopping
Delenna Posted Nov 30, 2010, 10:13 am	See how freezing cold it is outdoors? Guess did we saty indoors in the warm? Nope. My host had received her hand gps (she got it from the finnish version of Ebay) and she insisted on going geocaching! She had to drag me and Gary Boldie with her  You wouldn't believe how hard it can be to find a cache even with a gps - especially when the trees and the "bridge" is disturbing the connection... But my host was so happy I couldn't really start complaining  The last photo is  taken in the later evening, just to show you the clear winter sky
Delenna Posted Dec 6, 2010, 5:34 pm	This on the other side of the River Porvoo, next to the new bridge. The local artists' association and the local schools had a project called "say it with flowers". These paintings are it, they block the view to an ugly construction site  Porvoo Art Association organized jointly with the artists, students and schoolchildren a "Say it with flowers" event where the Porvoo Art Factory's fence is decorated with paintings. Painting Event is to give first taste of the positive creative spirit in the art factory on the future. The event is supported with materials of the building company Hartela, K-Rauta Porvoo and Rautakesko. Children, teenagers and adults all take part in the event. Porvoo Art Association, Artists' Society in Porvoo, Porvoo Art School, Inveon school, Haaga Helia and primary schools. On the fence is a reserved space for all people of Porvoo, who are welcome to paint their own flower greetings.
Delenna Posted Dec 6, 2010, 5:46 pm	Happy Independence Day Suomi-Finland!
Delenna Posted Dec 26, 2010, 7:39 am	Iloista joulua! Buorrit Juovllat! Merry Christmas! Nollaig chridheil huibh! God jul! Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Joyeux Noel! Q Ná merye i turuhalmeri! QISmaS DatIvjaj 'ej DIS chu' DatIvjaj!
Delenna Posted Jan 2, 2011, 6:40 pm	HEUREKA He made a fieldtrip to a Science Center in Vantaa. My host had got free tickets from a friend to the whole family! The Science Center Heureka is a very cool place to learn about the environment, science, physical phenomena and stuff. You are allowed to try everything yourself, no need to keep the kids away, yelling ”Don't touch it, just watch”. As they say on their website: ”Heureka's exhibitions are interactive. The main exhibition has over 200 exhibits from many fields of science as well as a number of activity points. In addition to the main exhibition Heureka houses two temporary exhibitions.” I could lift a car with my bare hands! And fly on a carpet! And make a movie! Classics! There's also a planetarium where we watched a show about the birth of the universe! I learned that we all have 1 teaspoonfull of stardust in us, the same stuff that made the stars in the very beginning of everything Oh, and we saw rats playing basketball too! There was also a murder mystery to solve but because of the kids we didn't pay much attention to it.
Delenna Posted Jan 9, 2011, 7:19 am	My host went geocaching again and took me and Hippoda with her. This time we had to climb in 1m snow to get to the cache - and then we had to climb up high to a tree!  Yes, I call it climbing in the snow as my host had to lift her feet up properly, too much to call it just walking. I got that little lizard as a reward and my host put other stuff in instead. So this is sort of treasure hunting
Delenna Posted Jan 9, 2011, 7:20 am	My host went geocaching again and took me and Hippoda with her. This time we had to climb in 1m snow to get to the cache - and then we had to climb up high to a tree!  Yes, I call it climbing in the snow as my host had to lift her feet up properly, too much to call it just walking. Usually geocachers cover their track or make extra track to distract other people (including other geocachers) but my host was too tired after all the climbing... I got that little lizard as a reward and my host put other stuff in instead. So this is sort of treasure hunting  My host took the photo of the day there too, it's her newest project: http://365project.org/delenna/365
Delenna Posted Jan 9, 2011, 7:31 am	Some more geocaching (this time we didn't find it as my host mistakenly remembered it to be a winter-cache when it wasn't, back in the spring!)... with a view! The weather was so clear we could also see the Nesteoil's oil refinery of Porvoo - and somewhere behind the trees was home as well This spot is near the Haikko Manor. The area is nature conservation area. This is what they say in the description of the cache: History: During the Krim War in 1854 an optical telegraph line was built between Hanko and Kronstadt in St. Petersburg. The messages were forwarded with semaphores and it was used only in the summertime. The distance between stations were about 10 km and the message was read with binoculars. In the summer of 1855 the line was continued from Hanko to Uusikaupunki. That time it covered the whole coast of southern Finland. The nearest telegraph stations to the Telegrafberget in Haikkoo were the Telegrafberget of Kulloo and Myllymäki in Porvoo. The stations were run by the russian soldiers and messages were sent around the clock. It took 500 men to manage the whole line between Hanko and Kronstadt. The telegraph line was used only two summers after which it was replaced by the electrical telegraph. Telegrafberget's nature conservation area was founded in 1961. Today it is owned by the town of Porvoo. The text above is based on the text of the area's info sign.
Delenna Posted Jan 31, 2011, 6:24 am	Tallinn! First time for me and first time for my host  On the ferry we planned our route - we were going to do lots of geocaching  Most of the caches were in the Old Town of Tallinn. It was really beautiful and medieval! Many restaurants had a person outside, dressed in medieval clothes, to attract people (and maybe get a few customers). The one we photographed was really eager to do his job (in a good way) and explained in a big voice to a tourist how he'd get "value for his money". But now I'm way ahead in the story! The first cache we loooked for and found was in the harbour - with a nice view to the old town. And swans! Lots and lots of swans. I didn't know their wings made a noise that resembled train  The next cache was near the Estonia monument. MS Estonia, previously MS Viking Sally (1980–1990), MS Silja Star (–1991), and MS Wasa King (–1993), was a cruiseferry built in 1980 at the German shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg. The ship's sinking in the Baltic Sea on September 28, 1994, claimed 852 lives and was one of the deadliest maritime disasters of the late 20th century The Estonia disaster occurred on September 28, 1994, between about 00:55 to 01:50 as the ship was crossing the Baltic Sea, en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden. The Estonia was on a scheduled crossing with departure at 19:00 in the evening on September 27. She had been expected in Stockholm the next morning at about 09:30. She was carrying 989 passengers and crew. Most of the passengers were Scandinavian while most of the crew members were Estonian. (geocaching.com, info on the cache description) Next we walked by the city walls before entering the Old Town (after another cache). The church tower we kept seeing is St. Olav's church. Wikipedia says this about the church: is believed to have been built in the 12th century and to have been the centre for old Tallinn's Scandinavian community prior to the conquest of Tallinn by Denmark in 1219. Its dedication relates to King Olaf II of Norway (a.k.a. Saint Olaf, 995-1030). The first known written records referring to the church date back to 1267, and it was extensively rebuilt during the 14th century. A legend tells that the builder of the church, named Olaf, upon its completion, fell to his death from atop the tower. It is said that when his body hit the ground, a snake and a toad crawled out of his mouth. There is a wall-carving depicting this event in the adjoining Chapel of Our Lady. Around 1500, the building reached a height of 159 meters. The motivation for building such an immensely tall steeple must have been to use it as a maritime signpost, which made the trading city of Tallinn visible from far out at sea. Between 1549 and 1625, when the spire burnt down after a lightning strike, it was the tallest building in the world. The steeple of St. Olav has been hit by lightning at least eight times, and the whole church has burned down three times throughout its known existence. Following several rebuildings, its overall height is now 123.7 meters. From 1944 until 1991, the Soviet KGB used Oleviste's spire as a radio tower and surveillance point. It currently continues as an active Baptist church. We walked to the Town Hall Square (Raekoja Plats). Picturesque Town Hall Square has been the undisputed hub of Old Town for the last eight centuries. Surrounded by elaborate merchant houses and, in summer, packed with café tables, it's a natural magnet for tourists. Historically it served as a market and meeting place, and was the site of at least one execution (resulting from a dispute over a bad omelette). (www.tourism.tallinn.ee) Next we walked to the Niguliste museum (formerly a church). This marvellous 15th century church is a popular concert hall due to the reputation of the acoustics and organ performances are held here every Saturday and Sunday at 16:00. Niguliste also serves as a museum of fascinating medieval religious art, including a wall-sized fragment of Bernt Notke's unsettling 15th century masterpiece, 'Danse Macabre,' one of the most famous art pieces in Estonia. Destroyed during the Second World War, Niguliste was rebuilt during Soviet times and is worth popping in for a perusal. (www.tallinn-life.com) After finding the cache we looked for a danish knight  On the slopes of Toompea hill between the city wall and Lower Town is an open, garden-like area that happens to be the legendary birthplace of the Danish flag. This relaxing spot is called the Danish King's Garden because it was supposedly here that King Valdemar II of Denmark and his troops camped before conquering Toompea in 1219.  More importantly, a well-known legend both in Estonia and Denmark holds that the Danish flag, the Dannebrog, originated right here. According to the story, Valdemar's forces were losing their battle with the Estonians when suddenly the skies opened and a red flag with a white cross floated down from the heavens. Taking this as a holy sign, the Danes were spurred on to victory. Today the garden remains a place where locals honour the role Denmark played in Estonia's history. Halfway down the steps towards Rüütli street you can see an iron sword and shield with a Danish cross, and each summer, Danneborg Day is celebrated here. (www.tourism.tallinn.ee) On our way back down we saw this amazing orthodox cathedral, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral:  This striking orthodox landmark was built in a typically flamboyant Russian style at the very end of the 19th century and stands atop Toompea Hill. For many years, the locals in Tallinn wanted the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral to be demolished, since it served as a continual reminder of Estonia's Russian occupation. Fortunately this beautiful building still remains standing and since the country regained its independence in 1991, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral has been completed restored and gained a place in the heart of the city's residents at last. (www.tallinn.world-guides.com) Finally we looked for a cafe and sat down to eat & write some postcards. Then we found out our feet were exhausted! We walked back to the ferry just on time and headed back home. Thank you Tallinn!
Delenna Posted Feb 2, 2011, 2:50 pm	My host found another geocache nearby and there were two TravelBugs - a scubadiver (Fridolin the diver) and a duck (Little Duck Just4U). They look like toyvoyagers! They were the first ones my host had found and she was pretty thrilled
Delenna Posted Feb 9, 2011, 12:00 pm	My host ran some errands in the capitol, Helsinki and I tagged along. She did some geocaching too and one was hidden nearby this monument. My host said she had never been to this Sibelius Monument before - so geocaching is educational as well! Wikipedia reveals this about the monument: The Sibelius Monument (Finnish: Sibelius-monumentti) is dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957). The monument is located at the Sibelius Park (Finnish: Sibeliuspuisto) in the district of Töölö in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. The monument was designed by Eila Hiltunen and unveiled on September 7, 1967. Originally it sparked a lively debate about the merits and flaws of abstract art, for which reason an effigy of Sibelius was included in the work. It consists of series of more than 600 hollow steel pipes welded together in a wave-like pattern. The purpose of the artist was to capture the essence of the music of Sibelius. The monument weighs 24 tonnes (24 LT; 26 ST) and measures 8.5 × 10.5 × 6.5 metres. A smaller version of the monument is located at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. A work with a similar concept, also designed by Hiltunen, is located at the grounds of the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Delenna Posted Feb 21, 2011, 3:54 pm	Today we went to see the Disney On Ice -show in Hartwall Areena, Helsinki. The show was called  Disneyland Adventure and it included about all Disney characters. It was a suprisingly small ice they used! We didn't get good photos because my host thought cameras were prohibited and she only had her cell phone "camera" to use. But I was there!
Delenna Posted Apr 20, 2011, 8:17 pm	Iloista pääsiäistä! Happy Easter!
Delenna Posted Jun 28, 2011, 12:35 pm	Finally my host updates!  My host and a friend of hers drove to Kotka to geocache. I got to tag a long as well as Gwen Jolie and Gary Boldie. We arrived around noon in the city of Kotka (kotka is Finnish for eagle). What you see in the photos are the Church of Kotka, Haukivuori lookout tower, Herb Garden, seashore of Kotka, Maretarium form the outside, Maritime centre Vellamo from the outside, city center and Langinkoski rapids. Then it got too "dark" for proper photos. as it was midsummer the sun didn't really set but it wasn't light enough for photos. In basically every spot was a geocache to be found  As you could see, we did eat and write some cards too! And then we continued...
Delenna Posted Jun 28, 2011, 12:41 pm	After geocaching all night we arrived in Pyhtää (around 04 am)  to find a geocache near this medieavl church (built in 1460). Then we drove to Loviisa to find a geocache near this lookout tower... So no-one slept (well, I admit, I took nap when we left Kotka) the whole night. The last cache was found 05:45 am near Porvoo. Crazy Finns!  PS. my host's friend told me that my name means "shower" in turkish
Delenna Posted Jul 3, 2011, 7:37 pm	My host is really getting into this doemstic travelling. We drove to Jyväskylä, a city about 250km and 3h drive north from Porvoo. We stayed at a postcrosser and met many other postcrossers. One postcrosser owns a postcard shop there! At first we visited the local candy factory outlet called Panda. Then we did some geocaching with postcrosser-geocachers And went on a lake cruise!  It was a really hot day! Our sweets melted in the car...
Delenna Posted Jul 3, 2011, 7:49 pm	We went on a 3h cruise on the Lake Päijänne. Our boat was called s/s Suomi. It was really lovely out there! And the breeze was welcome too  The humans wrote tons of cards first (well, they were all postcrossers after all) and enjoyed the scenery later. We saw some really cool summer houses/saunas on the shores. Basically everyone in our group started to want one  maybe it was beacuse of the hot hot weather. When we got back to the shore my host looked for one more cache nearby and then we headed back home.
Delenna Posted Jul 15, 2011, 8:35 am	Once again in Tallinn, Estonia! This time we were here to see the Medieval Days  They sold all sorts of "medieval" items at the market place and everyone was dressed in a medieval way. There was music/dance  performances too! The Tallinn old town is a perfect spot for such a festival.
Delenna Posted Jul 31, 2011, 7:26 pm	Lohja is a small town about 1/2h drive west from Helsinki. It has 39 000 inhabitants and is wellknown for apples. So I guess it's "The Small Apple"  We drove there to meed postcrossers and to look for some geocaches. I'm sure the Church of St. Lawrence isn't the only sight allthough we photographed it the most. We just didn't see much else while staring at either postcards or gps-device...
Delenna Posted Jul 31, 2011, 7:30 pm	The places we visit are getting smaller and smaller! This is the town of Vammala, now part of municipality called Sastamala. First we visited Mr Clutterbuck's House - in Finnish he's Herra Hakkarainen. Mr Clutterbuck is one of the famous characters in Mauri Kunnas' books. He's quite popular and very well known in Finland. My host says he rocks more than the Moomins  The house was quite small but had fantastic displays and interactive plays (for example: you could dress up as Robin Hood or maiden in the castle room). When we were finished we drove around for geocaches (starting to see a pattern here...?) and saw a few churches while at it. The first one is Church of Tyrvää (some indoor photos here) and the medieval one is Church of St. Olaf. It's a rural area but thus lovely to drive in
Delenna Posted Aug 15, 2011, 12:17 pm	My host attended the Mega Finland 2011 -geocaching event in Tampere 11.-14. August. I was there too! Lots of caches all around, competitions, friends, new pals, searching, finding, being froggy, confusing mugglers... It was awesome! My host took only a few photos of us toyvoyagers - she was quite active with everything else
Delenna Posted Sep 6, 2011, 2:08 pm	I visited the Moominworld with my hostfamily! It's located in Naantali, a small town near Turku (a bigger town in the southwest coast). I met allmost all the Mooomin folk and their friends! I got to visit the moominhouse from the inside! PS. they wanted to build the Moominworld first in Porvoo (where my host lives!) but the locals (not my host!) said no... They were sad to see what they missed...
Delenna Posted Dec 29, 2011, 1:51 pm	My host was invited to a postcrosser-geocacher wedding and she took me with her  The wedding took place in Tampere, a city I feel I know well by now. The wedding ceremony took place in the old church of Aitolahti. The party was held in a manor. The theme color was red, which pleased my host especially There was food, drinks, quiz, postcard writing, singing, cake... The big box at the gift table was assembled by my host and many postcrossers donated money for it - there was stuff for both home and geocaching.
Delenna Posted Dec 29, 2011, 1:59 pm	Iloista joulua! Merry xmas! God jul! Buorrit juovllat! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! And so on!
Delenna Posted Feb 19, 2012, 12:33 pm	I'm in Rome! My host took me & Gary Boldie with her on her honeymoon-10-years-late  We all expected plus degrees, sun and stuff. But... It snowed! It hadn't snowed in Rome for 27 years! It was really exceptional  I don't think many people can say they've seen snowmen in Rome. Or romans play snowfight! OR romans drive cearefully!  Most of the sights were closed due to snow but we did see them from the outside. Here's a few.
Delenna Posted Feb 19, 2012, 12:39 pm	While in Rome, we natuarlly had to pay a visit to The Vatican City. This is pretty much all we could see as everything was closed here too - or the lines way too long for us.
Delenna Posted Jun 18, 2012, 5:45 pm	My host and I met a Toyvoyagers Freak from Germany! RikeH and her hubby came to Finland and had time to meet us on their last day in the country Both hosts had, naturally, a few voyagers with them too. My host showed all the best photoshoot spots in town
Delenna Posted Jun 22, 2012, 12:35 pm	My host visited Tampere, again. She went to Särkänniemi too, again. She took me with her, again. This time she had her last born with her, it was the kid's first time here! Särkänniemi was otherwise the same but they had built an Angry Birds Land in there  Angry Birds was originally a simple mobile phone game invented and made in Finland by a company named Rovio. It became so popular (partially because it was really cheap to download) that suddenly we had Angry Birds plushies. Then came the pens, stickers, doodle books... Then came the comic books, sticker books... Then came the amusement parks! The amusement parks came in Asia, without permission of the company but they decided to give permission (apparently it was easier than suing - and they get money anyway). The Angry Birds Land in Särkänniemi is the first (official) in the world  Really simple but I bet it brings customers!
Delenna Posted Jul 25, 2012, 9:13 am	This is my 3rd anniversary in Finland! We had a small "hot chocolate & bun" celebration in the family  Nothing big, as my host and I will be flying to Australia next Friday! I'm going home mates!
Delenna Posted Aug 16, 2012, 4:26 pm	Hot and steamy Hong Kong! It's totally different to anything I've ever experienced  I had a good look at the city, also above ground level on a Sky Tower and at The Peak! Why am I here? I'm heading towards home with my mentor! My home!
Delenna Posted Aug 16, 2012, 4:28 pm	A few more photos before our flight to Sydney
Delenna Posted Aug 16, 2012, 4:31 pm	I'm home! This is Sydney, Australia! EDIT: on 5th August I was personally handed back to my mom, crizle <3

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