Travelog for: Chokito

You should have seen my host's face when she saw these bottles... She was like  and I was like  Then she took a pic of me there on the shelf and other customers were like 

Batman cola! 

This time I didn't walk on water but took a ferry - to Suomenlinna fortress! It's a Unesco World Heritage Site and a suburb of Helsinki. Yep, regular people (about 850 of them) live there in regular houses. They also have a kindergarden, grocery shop, library - and a prison! But it's an old fortress mostly. Probably one of the most famous sights in Helsinki.

There you see me on the ferry, leaving Helsinki City and approaching Suomenlinna (only one island of 8 is in that photo. Suomenlinna is a sea fortress made up of a series of fortification works, so it is not a single fortress building) - and the ferry we took. The views were amazing - especially from the wall! We actually walked on the high wall - my host got a bit dizzy, she didn't feel comfortable that high with that steep fall. And there was warnings about the fall too so she was right being nervous... I saw a few cannons, the submarine Vesikko that was used in the II World War.

In the 3rd photo from the end there's the King’s Gate which is a symbol of Suomenlinna. It was built in 1753-54 as a parade gate for the fortress. You can't really see how big it is as the photo is taken so close - but we couldn't go further back as the was the sea.

In the last photo is the tomb of Augustin Ehrensvärd (1710-1772), founder of the fortress. I've seen many of these places on postcards but it's so different to see them in real life! Luckily we had a good weather, sunny and warm 

Sauna. Hmmm...  How should I put this... Finns love this place. A small heated room. There you throw water on hot stones. To get the room even more heated. They say 60-80 degrees Celcius is good  Sweat starts to pour out of your skin pores. Your muscles relax... Maybe for the humans but not for a furry cat like me! They even take showers - before sauna, in the middle of sauna and after the sauna! I'll rather keep avoiding water thank you very much. I'm a cat, I can keep myself clean. By myself.

It was a day of celebration! My host's daughter turned 4 and we held this little party. The best part was when we decorated the cake! I got some whipped cream - mmmmmm... 

I just don't get it why she had to have a doggie cake... 

Here we go again... I'm starting to feel like we're in Helsinki all the time! Luckily my host had further plans  We were going to travel to Tampere! So here we are at the Helsinki Main Railway Station. The train we took was so fully booked we had to sit tight behind our host's daughter. My travelling tv-companions were Alfie, Roo, Ninni, Stuart, Majed and Elle.

Tadah! I'm now in Tampere a city about 2h drive away from Porvoo. The train from Helsinki also took about 2h. We spent a whole day in the Särkänniemi Adventure Park! I could see some of the rides but we didn't go on many as we were there with kids.

I also saw the dolphin show in the most northern dolphinarium of the world! The dolphins were very skillfull! Later I got to go on Näsinneula Tower which is the tallest observation tower in the Nordic countries. The top of the tower stands at a height of 168 metres but we were at 124 metres (by the way: the lifts travel at a speed of 6 metres per second). It's like half way to Eiffel Tower  The views were quite amazing from up there!

The next day we headed back home but first we visited the Moominvalley of the Tampere Art Museum.  We weren't allowed to take photos in the Moominvalley exhibitions but we could take a few in the first hallway and in the "event room" where that game was.

While walking towards the train station we met the Moomin! There was a biking event and Moomin was visiting it. He probably the most wellknown Finnish character there it. My host took a few pics of the city with me too. That church is called Alexander's Church and it was built in 1881.

Today we visited the Market of Possibilities in Porvoo. It's an event where different organizations present their activities, distribute information. The event is held in many cities during the summer. Here's only a small view of our brief visit to the event. We couldn't stay long as the little one we had with us got scared of the noise/tired/hungry and we had to leave.

After the Market we explored our own possibilities of cheering up a little one in the playground nearby. I think we did a good job, we three (as in The Awesome Three) aka me, Roo and Alfie  The little one enjoyed playing with us.

When we got home my host had a suprise for me! I filled a mission! I got a Finnish Batman comic book of my own! It's from 1996 as my host bought it from a second hand bookstore. It's in good condition so I don't mind. My host said she chose an xmas story as it's so hot & sunny now  After I've read it like a million times I'll send it home. My host had looked for a Swedish Batman too but she couldn't find one. As Finland has ywo official languages you can usually find all comics in both languages (they usually order the Swedish ones from Sweden to sell here).

Friday 13th Our host took us with her to her "job" (training period) in the local activity center for the mentally disabled. My host is an instructor-trainee. She works at the handicrafts room with the people there. See how skilled they are!  They've been doing felt-making mostly recently. Here is some of the stuff they've created. That sunset with dolphins is made by my host, she still has to work on it so we helped her a bit with the needle. She's also quite talented don't you think?

In the first photo is a yet-unfinished felt work. The girl who makes it has short temper and isn't easily inspired by anything. My host asked her to do this sort of felt work and promised the girl she could choose the picture herself. The girl immediately chose a pic from her Zorro comic book and started making it! And she did it for a long time before she took a break.

In the second last photo is a work that the creator also self designed and made. These people have such a talent and imagination!

My host says she'd like to buy half of the stuff they make there. Lucky for her basically everything they make is supposed to get sold. Unlucky for her many of the items are pre-ordered.

Very interesting day at work!

This must be the dullest moment in my journey! It's Midsummer Eve and we're sitting indoors, doing nothing! It's raining cats and dogs (although I resent that saying)! Really! It's raining so much I'm afraid the roof can't take it. Ok, ok, I know the roof is fine... We're supposed to be celebrating; barbeque, bonfire... No way in this weather. The only bonfire we could see is on the calendar. There's is a plus side to this too; less people will do the traditional heavy drinking which leads to traditional drownings and road accidents. And at least the police on duty are pleased.

A better day! Well, anything is better than yesterday... Today we drove to our host's parents and stopped by this little river on the way. Alfie and I would've loved to try white water rafting! Our host was just too scared of what could happen to us and said "no way". Instead we (me, Roo and Alfie) played with this winch that is used to lift the boats up from the river. As you can see, I'm doing all the hard work! But it was fun!   

My host's eldest girl got a new bike today and wanted to try it at once so we made a little bicycle tour to the playground. We had a picnic there with goodies and juice  I decided to climb some trees afterwards, I felt like Batman watching over people  Now that our host if free from "work" she has more time for us again! I wonder what she will plan for us...

G'day folks! My host loves to involve in helping children in need so the Teddy Bear Clinic (see Threadbear) was also "for her". Here you see the 7 teddies she rescued, bathe and will send to South Africa, to the clinic. We all hope that they all fit in that Moomin box you see behind them...

Btw: it's July and "Dark Knight" will be premiere! I need to check when it comes to Finland... As sometimes the movies come here the same time they're released in the country of origin