Travelog for: Roo

We had an Australia day party with lots of people and I had a great time.

It was very sad to have to say goodbye to two dear friends, but Cool Jules flew off to a new home and we took FredAbear for a stroll to the other end of our street to Michele's house.

How exciting it was today.
I had another trip to Brisbane and I met a group of Postcrossers.
The girl from Finland even had a Toy Voyager with her called
Mini Meow.
We sure had alot of fun.

I have had an exciting time in Queensland and my hosts have loved having me.
I am ready to move on as soon as I know where to.
A couple of photo's first.

I had a good time at Crizle's birthday with her new bear Lavender.
We had lots to talk about. She smells so nice, and she listened while I told her about my travels.

We have a new Toy Voyager staying here too.
His name is Hedgie and we have been great mates.

Good afternoon! I arrived in Finland today and what I saw right away was snow! Lots and lots of snow! My host was as suprised as I was - they haven't had almost any snow so far, and the winter should be over soon. The main newspaper said this has been the warmest winter ever. This is why my host took some pics of me in snow asap, it may well be melted away tomorrow.

I also met Alfie Langer and Chamki who recently arrived. I bet we'll be having lots of fun together! This seems like a small world: I came from Alfie's mentor and I've met Ms Mini Meow who is owned by this host! I feel like home already 

Today we did some sightseeing by the River Porvoo. The river runs thru the city to the Baltic Sea. By the riverside you can see the old red shorehouses which used to be warehouses - and some still are while some are renovated from the inside to be living quarters. The houses were painted red in the early 18th century to look more pretty when King Gustav III was visiting (Finland has been independent since 1917). The red paint also protected the houses from sun and weather. On the other side of the riverbank they've built new houses which remind people of the old houses. The old ones are the most welknown sight in this town.

Porvoo is the second oldest city in Finland and has about 47000 inhabitants. Porvoo is situated quite close to Helsinki, the capitol, it takes only about 1h to drive there (50km).

The cannon is from the 2nd World War! Naturally it's not functional anymore.

Did you notice the cruch/cathedral? The roof is being renovated as it was burnt by arson in May 2006. As the church itself is made of stone it didn't get damaged that badly - and the fire department came quickly.

The hill you see in the last picture is the "Castle Hill" where used to be a castle/fortress hundreds of years ago. My host says it's a great place to play Robin Hood too! And the view from there is nice as well, you can see all the 4 bridges crossing the river.

This is the sauna which is very important to all Finns. This sauna is electric so you turn it on. Then you throw water on the hot stones to get it even more hot&humid. You take a shower before and after - and sometimes in the middle too. It's really relaxing and good to your skin (opens the pores)! We took the photos while the sauna was turned off as it would've been hard to get other than foggy pics if it was on. My host says the temperature is usually 60-80 degrees Celcius, less is cold and more is too hot. I'm in the pic with Chamki because usually the women go to sauna together and the men in their turn - that in the public saunas, naturally the family goes together.

Today we visited the city center. These pics are taken around the market place/bus station, which is considered the very center of the city. There is also the main street (second last pic) and older buildings on the old town side of the street. It was a nice sunny weather and not too busy as it was barely lunchtime.

Today my host showed me the Baltic Sea! My host lives in the part of this town where the sea is very close. And yes, this is the Baltic although it's not an open sea view as they have so much archipelago here. The creator of Moomin spent her summers in this part of the coast in the old days. No wonder Moominpappa loves the sea! People have started to take their boats out of covers - and we even saw some birds, although we didn't recognice then... My host guessed Canadian Geese but she said she woudn't bet her money on it. Now I have "double done" two of my missions: met other tv's and visited the seaside!

We visited my host's parents in a smaller village on the other side of Porvoo municipality. The first photo shows a not-so-much-used road next to the local football field. That yellow building with red roof in the second pic is the local school which had altogether 20 pupils in grades 1 thru 6 when my host attended it. My host calls it "the good old days"  The third photo shows a view to the houses which used to be a gas station (the red one) and a shop (the white'ish) - small but with variety ("except for what came to birthday presents" my host added).

This is the capitol of Finland: Helsinki. It was a rainy day but we didn't let it bother us much. Helsinki has about 500 000 inhabitants and is located only 1h drive from Porvoo.

In the first picture is the Cathedral at the Senate Square. In the second pic is the Government Palace at the same square.

The next photos are taken one block away, at the Market Square. As you can see there are huge cruise liners but also smaller boats and ferries (not all in dock at that moment). The big cruisers go mainly to Tallinn (Estonia) and Stockholm (Sweden) frequently. There's also the Uspensky Orthodox Cathedral and in the pic before the green phonebooth the Presidential Palace.

The green phonebooth is not the regular Finnish phonebooth. You can hardly find the regular ones as everyone has a cellphone nowadays. My host guessed it's somekind of an attraction itself for the Finns - and not all tourists carry cellphones so... And it suits the small street it stands in! Next to it were that couple and their reindeer wishing people welcome to the souvenir shop.

After that is the Main Railway Station.

In the second last photo there's the Parliament House, the white building is the Museum of Contemporary Art  Kiasma and the statue next to it is the riding Mannerheim (one of our former presidents) - and a corner of the main Post Office on the right.

And in the very last pic a general view of the main street.

This sunny Sunday we went to my host's mother-in-law for a barbeque! As BBQ is usually done with family & friends we took the pics so that both my newest tv friends were in the same shots We had sausages, meat and fries which were quite tasty! This was also kind of a goodbye dinner for Chamki as she will continue her travels next week. Me and Alfie may stay longer, my host has planned quite interesting visits for next month... 

Today I got to hop on a sightseeing tower! I got an overall picture of Porvoo - as you can see  There's the church, there the red shorehouses, there the rest of the river that runs to the Baltic Sea. When we took pics by the riverside I saw these from the ground, now I see them from the "air"! A new perspective can be gained this easily 

In the fourth pic is the forest under the tower and in the last pic the tower from a distance.

This is vappu (which is what they call 1st of May = Labour Day). I made my own vappu hat and then I played with the other toyvoyagers (Ninni, Alfie Langer and Chokito). We had balloons and streamer! People eat doughnuts and maybe \"tippaleipä\" and drink sima (mead) on vappu. Some people attend marches and wear their graduation hats (esp. undergraduates).

After the rain we went outdoors. I collected flowers with Ninni, who then made me that "crown" of flowers! It was so very nice of her. The boys (Alfie Langer, Chokito and Majed) tried to find 4-leaf clovers and Majed did some climbing on trees.