One of the first things that struck a scavenging nomadic soul like me was the rich prevalence of blackberries pretty much everywhere in Liverpool. Or at least the areas where I was flaneuring (obviously not in the city centre).
One of the best spots for getting a major catch was in one of the local parks with different sections representing gardening in different parts of the world.
We don’t really have that many blackberries in Finland so I kinda went crazy; jumping all over in the bushes after them…
Yep, that’s me – apparently looking like a ‘mountain goat’ in my wild blackberry chase!
Just look at how precious the are…
Another really good spot for getting a free, tasty snack while waiting for the next train was in one of the Merseyrail stops just outside the city centre.
More about the public transportation in Liverpool coming up soon!
After a whopping amount of posts about visiting Greece, I decided to publish something different – show you what a typical summer in Finland looks like!
Stereotypical Finnish river/lakeside view.
So, this is what happened even in reality: after returning to steaming hot Helsinki, I got a phone call from my mother who was washing the carpets with my grandmother in a river close to my childhood home (where the rest of my family still lives).
Even though I had just returned, they kindly offered to come and pick me and my dog up for some cooler days in the countryside. I had no problems with that!
So after a couple afters they finally arrived; wearing bikini and hair still wet from the river water!
White foxglove was one of the first species I learned to know.
This highly artistic piece of photography is supposed to represent the spontaneous and lively nature of the ideas I’m willing to join on my good days (the ones where I haven’t locked in to study or edit this blog).
I remember being utterly confused as a child when my grandmother first told me we have opium poppies (Papaver somniferum) growing in our yard!
This interesting cone is called ‘käpy‘ in Finnish; the word can also be used as an adjective in describing someone old and boring. Looking at it still makes me a bit upset because my dad made me pick up all of them before he mow the lawn. To be fair, he paid me 5 euros per bucket which made me stock them up behind the garage. What a young ingenious I was with my bank of half-rotten cones that I was able to trade for cash…
This maple tree above was planted by my uncle and grandmother in the same year I was born; a tradition that held for my cousin as well when she was born a few years later.
When this post becomes public, I have already dived deep into the heat of summer in Greece.
Knowing that this might sound like ‘first world problems’ but I still just have to post this picture of my first desperate attempt in packing a weeks forth of skimpy (but fitting) clothes for the trip! I’m no definite expert on this, but I’d still advise you to start packing early. That way you can keep adding and removing things based on your instincts, speculations and the changes in the weather forecast. (Unless you’re planning an ex tempore experience, of course. In that case, just throw everything into the luggage and GO!)
And talking about the weather. Oh shit – take a look at this forecast my friend sent me!
Carve this into my tomb stone.
Okay, I’m not going to complain about the free tickets I was gifted to a place some people would call ‘paradise’. I’m only going to make a small note here that for a Northern girl like me… Anything over +25 degrees celcius sounds like a bad, bad idea. Also, this ain’t a blog about my looks but in case you are interested, I am naturally pale AF. So I don’t know what kind of safety measures I will have to take into account without burning my butt off during that week.
This is where I’m going!
Based on this map of the island, I would be interested in all of the archaeological and historical sites in Kos. I’m just afraid I have to get the biggest umbrella to protect myself against the evil sun rays.
If you have any tips or suggestions of what to do, where to go plus more – now is the time to get those tips out here! I will be reading my comments though unfortunately the pics and stories will be published at least a couple of days after my return in Helsinki.
I just wanted to make a very short (but clear) announcement: rather mysterious green pegs can be found unwrapping themselves everywhere, the leaves are starting to appear in trees and there’s no need for a thick coat in the afternoons.
I think this means that summer is FINALLY on its way!
This has also meant that my wonderer spirit has been waking after the long cold period known as winter. Today I quite spontaneously ended up in an old historic town called Porvoo, located relatively close to Helsinki. This time I took an actual camera with me to be able to provide you with some summer pics, which is exactly what I ended up putting all my effort into. In fact in that kind of quantity that the following three posts are all going to be about Porvoo. Hopefully you will be able to enjoy the scenery and picturesque small boutiques and cafes!
After a very unsuccessful exam on societal statistics, I took off for a short overnight work-away holiday volunteering at a small punk event in my old home town. (More pics coming up later…)
The town itself was born from the early railway traffic as a junction station between Riihimäki (town near Helsinki) and St. Petersburg in the 1870’s. In the next decade additional tracks were built to North and South which made Kouvola a busy railway town, connecting four railway lines together.
The cultural history is still narrated through this old steam engine located at the railway yard. Also, the cardboard packaging of the (BEST!) liquorice made in Kouvola has a train like this on it.
According to a Wikipedia article, the old Finnish word ‘kouko‘ (or ‘kouvo) was understood as something evil or malign of a kind (such as a bear, wild animal, ghost or a large human). Doesn’t it sound like the concept to frighten misbehaving kids with? And that’s exactly what it was used.
Nowadays Kouvola only has a reputation as being one of the shittiest towns to live in Finland. I’ll say no more (though there are even worse places to live in).
The day I arrived, the renovation of the main pedestrian street had just been completed with new kinds of… fountains, and the whole town was literally buzzing about them on social media.
Apparently, there always needs to be a public place for peeing for the people taking a break or returning home from bars. Before these fountains, there used to be Stonehenge-look-a-like statues with running water located at the same place. Which people (mostly drunken men) used to pee onto. Doesn’t the atmosphere sound just charming?
Would you sacrifice your shoes sitting on these benches?
Lately, however, there has been some positive development towards a bit more tolerant and vegan-based culture. I would’ve wanted to impress you with some pics of delicious raw vegan cakes but unfortunately my favourite small cafe wasn’t opened. I wonder what has happened to it – has it closed permanently or just relocated somewhere?
At least new premises are vacated from the old town centre after a huge shopping mall called Veturi (‘railway engine’) was constructed and opened a couple of kilometres away. Now a car is basically a necessity for moving around, as example, to do your groceries. (At least for large families.)
The painting decorating the old terrace area of the cafe, however, was still there. The middle part has always been my favourite; especially the fox sitting with a cuppa. The piece is actually made by a local artist Mai Kaisla Mehtänen.
Unlike it seems, it actually was rather sunny and warm on the day I arrived. Like a proper hippie nomad girl, I took a small break from walking, and noticed the bank full of coltsfeet plants (Tussilago farfara). A clear sign of spring, isn’t it?
More stories, pics and poetry, of course, coming up this week! Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Mysterious Yellow 