Home sweet cottage, Finland

Need I say that 4 days is far too little time to spend in an environment like this?

Anyway, last weekend was spent visiting family and a few friends in Finland.

Time passed fast. Schedule were fully booked, like it tends to be on Finland visits.

Tummy was full of great food constantly. And new experiences were gained.

Also spent my last day, which was supposed to be dedicated for my little cousin + longboarding, in bed drinking hot juice and MSM. Yes, I got ill. Swollen throat, fever feel, head full of pressure and muscles all weak. Great way to end a short holiday, right?

The weather in Oslo (Rånåsfoss actually, as I came to spend my weekend at Ingar's parents house.) is great for once, so I'm off out for some longboarding..therefore - let the pictures speak:

day 1 was:

parents (+food), grandparents (+food), cousins (+food), birthday of cousin (+food), outdoor hottub, swimming and did i mention...food?

day 2 was:

wild strawberry picking, ants in my pants, swimming, Chris and Veera (!yay!), beachvolley, Sanni+Tuomas+Jussi, Varkaus pub evening incl. Reea+Santtu+Tommi+Henri, nighttime outdoor hot tub+sauna+swimming+bbq.

day 3 was:

Visiting family: we finally have a newcomer! a little baby girl! a little monkey! (unfortunately this means that in two years time I will be playing horse...I dunno if I'm quite looking forward to that part ;)

and Kuopio Rock -festival with our summer ex-change student, Marily. Nightwise was playing!

Unfortunately I couldn't take my camera to the area with me. Maybe I'll post some photos later if I get ahold of the pictures from our mini-camera that was with us.

I wasn't really 100% at the festival...guess the illness was kicking in!

Saw some old friends though, which was nice.

day 4, the last one:

Laying in bed till 3pm. Feeling like the end of the world was coming. ;-) Thought of heading to the bus station at midnight and taking a 5hours bus ride to the airport to make the 8am flight was not tempting.

Little by little I got some energy to get through the day, and later the bus ride. With an extremely low energy level I did cut Ingar's hair, watch everyone swim, enjoy the sunshine and try do some evening fishing (without the same success as up North of Norway).

Now back in Norway. Still coughing and sneezing, but feelin' betterrr.

Next week it is the Øya festival. I'm looking forward to it. Big time.

xo

Linda

MEN Sommerfest!

In the beginning of this month we celebrated a traditional Norwegian 'sommerfest' at work.

It is typical for Norwegian companies to have a beginning of summer party before everyone heads off on their summer holidays.

We rented a boat, went on a cruise on the Oslo fjord to explore the West-Coast islands, and enjoyed some amazing sushi and cava in typical Oslo summer weather.

Slight rain, slight sun, slightly cold, slightly warm.

Also, as not everyone could physically make it on the cruise, we prepared a two sided paper version to carry with.

Fun.

Thank You!

<3

Linda

Tenth Day pt.1 - The Cuba Diary

Day Ten: Wake up, you're going to the valley

Early wake up to make it on our trip to the West of Cuba: Viñales.

At 7.45 our bus came to pick us up from outside of our hotel.

After picking up people from numerous other hotels, the two hour journey towards Pinar Del Rio began!

The first stop was to a rum factory where we got to taste the berries (?) rum is made from. A quick lick was enough - it definitely wasn't the taste I wanted in my mouth.

Later we also got to taste a couple of different rums. That wasn't a huge success from our, Sanni and me, side either. Plain rum...nah - I rather have the rum mixed in a mojito or piña colada, thanks!

Honestly there wasn't really anything to take pictures of in this factory. It was small, there were like 2 people working there and at the time we were visiting, there was nothing actually going on.

It was not what I expected.

In the rum factory shop they also sold cigars, coffee beans and other Cuban products. The weird thing was that we were told to buy our cigars from the rum factory and rum from the cigar factory. For some reason the factories had a deal together that rum was cheaper at the cigar factory and vice versa.

So, there we were, at the rum factory, checking out the Romeo y Julietas, Montecristos, Cohebas and what not. Both bought a few to take back home. I would have wanted a tin packet of Romeo y Julietas to have as a deco in my apartment but they didn't have any. Had to go with the cardboard version.

Next stop was the cigar factory where photography was forbidden as the employees would get too posey, lazy and forget to work if the flashlights were on all the time. That was a more exciting experience and I wish I could have captured something visual for you. We walked through the whole factory and basically went through the whole process from how the cigar is made to how it is finally packed and distributed. All employees were allowed to smoke as many cigars as they rolled, and they could take one cigar home with them daily.

This experience was closer to my expectations and I definitely suggest any Cuba travelers to pop by a cigar factory if possible. Though, if you tend to get a bit nauseous from cigar/cigarette smell - then forget about the visit.

Third stop was at Cueva Del Indio where we walked and went by boat through a cave, and later had lunch in a restaurant outside. The nature was beautiful and the fruit at lunch were tasty. Other than that the cave wasn't too special. Packed of tourists waiting to get on the boat to get out from the other side of the cave.

Fourth stop a rock painting.

Fifth stop the house of a tobacco and coffee farmer, which was also a nice visit.

We were given the possibility to try a fresh cigar the farmer rolled for us. Having never tasted a cigar before, we turned the offer down. Fat fresh cigar...thanks but, ehh. ;-)

Sixth stop an observation deck.

and back to the hotel.

The Viñales valley has beautiful nature with mountains shaped in a rare square kind of style.

The arranged tourist trip was definitely worth the price but I would suggest renting a car and doing it all by oneself. Exploring the places the tourist bus doesn't go to - that's the excitement and experience you want in this environment.

<3

Linda

ps. find Sanni's blog post about the day here