Happy New Year 2009!

Taken maybe 30mins after midnight. My and my girls! Tip for the partypeople next year. Ruoholahti is a great place to see the fireworks. Water makes the money blowing up in the sky double as pretty :)

Ruoholahti, Finland.

Pörrönaama

Ihala, Raisio, Finland.

Nope..

Yeah sorry, nothing. My motivation on photographing is pathetic sometimes.

Destination home,

It's one of those nights. You get to the bar and it's filthy, crowded and unpleasant. You stay for maybe an hour and realize that all you want to do is crawl in your own bed... which is yet another hour away.

Helsinki railwaystation, Finland.

Mom, it looks warm outside!

Rasinkatu, Havukoski, Finland.

Sleepy

Oh how I love strong sunshine! Even if it's hard to see anything and the clouds are about to glide in front of the source of 'em. There's nothing more blissful than falling a sleep in the train in a sunshine like that.

Tikkurila railwaystation, Finland.

x

x can mean the number ten
or the letter x
or the second single from Xzibit's third studio album, Restless
or is an annually held trade show hosted by Microsoft
or is a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Comics Universe
or be waiting for the next word being men, X-Men
or a character on the television show The X-Files
or it can mean a kiss

but this week it only means, no foto.

Duck feet,

I was watching Madventures few weeks ago and they made an episode of China. The program is an extreme travelling show, where two finnish guys try and do very usual but unusual things. Part of the show is called Mad Cook where they possibly find the most disgusting things they can find, which are usual in the country. In China they ate duck's feet. I gave the episode to my chinese roommate and on Sunday she came in from a party with these things :D

I have to say, they are not my favourite food but definitely not as disgusting as they look on the plate. (I ate a finger!)

Rasinkatu, Vantaa, Finland.

Viiino,

Sometimes sauna and wine is all you need.

Rasinkatu, Vantaa, Finland.

Tira mi su,

Mom gave some help for this picture (so honestly I've been really lazy with photos). I got the most beloved receipe for tiramisù a month back. Did you know tiramisù means bring me up as in make me happier? :)

Alhainen, Raisio, Finland.

Be colorful, be attractive, be Berlin

I love the city of Berlin. Just travelling in the metro is an adventure. One stop and the surroundings can look completely the opposite of the last one. Even better in a crispy fall day, when colourful parts of the city pop up with the colourful leaves. Red house, yellow leaves, pink house, grey window sill, orange house, green fence... wau :)

Berlin du bist schön!

East-side Gallery, Berlin, Germany.

Sunshine,

Tuesday night this week is my only day free. What to do? You bring the wine. I cook pasta with mushrooms and bluecheese. In the end of the night we end up singing karaoke. I think while taking this it was my turn ;)

Rasinkatu, Koivukylä, Finland.

It's here,

The fact that I'm going to the southern Europe again to live, makes me feel the same feelings all over again. How I appreciate the beauty of my country. How I appreciate the country.
Last weekend I was going to meet my hometown to meet family. There was no seats available in the train anymore, so I stood. The whole 2 hours. What else can you do but praise the view from the window while going 200 km/h across field and forest.

A bit before Salo, Varsinais-Suomi, Finland.

Let the color out,

I love the autumn here. The leaves are bright red or yellow and it comes out so strong. And the sky is bright blue with hand-drawn-like clouds. Today I opened my window to have some fresh air and my curtain started to dance in the wind. Even if this area is not the prettiest area to live in... there's beautiful things around every single day. You just have to open your eyes and be ready for it.

Havukoski, Vantaa, Finland.

Pearl of excitement,

I got into beading this week. I tried making earrings but this is still my favourite, a candle stand. It is lovely to realize that I can get into something small like this again. Somehow within the last year, I lost the sense for relaxing with silly little hobbies like this.. not that I really even had such a good chance for doing them. But really getting excited of something like this, makes me feel alive now.

Havukoski, Vantaa, Finland.

Writing instead of photographing,

This week the pictures came out in writing. To cover the undone work, I'll share with you a song that kept me dancing this week through:

Hohto,

As I was going to Helsinki for seeing the new feel-good musical movie, I saw yet another impressive sunset. The sun was somewhere behind the buildings already, but it made everything around it glow. Lovely.

Pasila railways, Helsinki, Finland.

Ukkospilvi,

Cumulonimbus is a type of cloud that is tall, dense, and involved in thunderstorms and other intense weather. The clouds can form alone, in clusters, or along a cold front in a squall line. (Wikipedia)

Centrum, Korppoo, Finland.

Show me what you got,

Telling to people how much they impress you after only a few days of knowing each other, is hard, but sometimes worth it just for yourself. What is better than putting a smile on a face.

Happiness is like jam - you can't spread even a little bit without getting some on yourself.

Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland.

Sailing the seas,

Sailing after almost 10 years with my uncle and his girlfriend. I love sailing. The sea, the sky, the boat and me. It's a beautiful battle!

Airisto, Turku, Finland.

Another home,

After being home for a week. It's somehow sad here and I refuse to like things around me, but at 4am in the morning when I look outside the window... it is beautiful. Isn't it?

Koivukylä, Vantaa, Finland.

Good bye,

Just few days before leaving and all the colors are on the walls. I'm comfortless to know that I won't see these sights like I did see them before. Some of these people I will never meet again... but right this moment, everything I had here was pure euphoria.

Santa Giustina, Padova, Italy.

Lovers, boyfriends,

Gallipoli, Salento, Italy.

Santa Maria de Leuca, Salento, Italy.

Hotelroom stealing and beach sleeping,

I'm sorry, I'm breaking the rules a little bit. This week it's 4 pictures instead of 1. They say that the more you watch and take pictures, the more selective you become. Not this week.

The beginning of the tour in the South of Italy was as impressive as was the rest of it. We hugged a cellist in the street in Perugia and ended up sleeping in his hotel room as our hosts for the night were a bit scary (the bad side of hospitalityclub). After getting to Salerno at 2AM and old men telling us in the train that we're crazy to sleep in the beach... we still did.

1-2) Down town, Perugia, Italy.
3-4) Beach, Salerno, Italy.

L'ora di partenza,

Why does all good must come to an end?

Stazione, Padova, Italy.

Oi ndemo veder i Pin Floi!

Play Pitura Freska's Pin Floi on the background, add the sparkling sea and people dancing nude... and you have a little part of the vacation in Croatia.

Stupice, Istria, Croatia.

Explore,

After a hard day of work, it's time to get ready for the road trip!

Portello, Padova, Italy.

Championships,

Going to watch the football match with the girls and the beer. The city has set up big screens near the center, where people gather up drinking and watching the game. The spirit has no limits.

Prato della Valle, Padova, Italy.

Love for Padova,

It hasn't always been such dancing on the roses, but Padova does deserve a lot of love from my direction. It is a period of my life, it is a stage of mind... as is Erasmus.

Fiume, Padova, Italy.

Bon Jovi - It's My Life

My heart is like an open highway
like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just wanna live while I'm alive

Highway, Padova, Italy.

Weekend for summer,

Stupice, Istria, Croatia.

Sun and rain,

Santa Giustina, Padova, Italy.

Rivoltami,

My birthday party could've been less productive for having my camera, cell and cards stolen, but still so Rivoltami did make that 24 hours complete.

Marghera, Venezia, Italy.

May Day,

May Day at mökki (summer cottage). Something I've missed for months... proper sauna and chatting with my brother online when he sits 1m away. Visiting home after being away for so long is full harmony.

Angermare, Korppoo, Finland.

Marathon,

Sometimes when you step out of the door on Sunday, there's thoulsands of people running past you. Or then it's the marathon of San Antonio. You can sweat in the beach too, right? :)

Santa Giustina, Padova, Italy.

Cabaree on road,

Group Cabaree on road to Firenze and Pisa. On mic, Päivi (right)! Background dancers (from left) Johannes, Milka and Milla!

A gas station along the road somewhere between Bologna and Firenze.

Anime goes live with icecream!

Päivi was happy to have her parents over for a visit :)

Bo, Padova, Italy.

Spritz!

Trying to drown Tuomo into spritz is just a thing to do when he's visiting.

Ristorante Cinese Shanghai, Padova, Italy.

Nils,

Near the tower, Marburg, Germany.

Sysimetsä,

Hiking to Brocken, the top of Harz is something different I have done in a while. As well as seeing Nils again. Almost a year since we got to know each other and here we are. "I was wondering if you would've changed a lot, but you are still you."

Harz, Germany.

Dear Banale,

Another Saturday night in Banale. As always, we're too early and needed to wait for the place to fill up. Meanwhile, drinks for free!!

Banale, Padova, Italy.

Orange on the sky,

Päivi and her balcony offer a fullview of San Antonio from 7 until 11 o'clock in the evening. Apple juice and some cookies are served as the sun sets down around the center where all the shops are closed today.

Copernico, Padova, Italy.

Here comes the sun!

The city just took a hold of us. When we entered to the fresh air from the station and after the first steps saw blue little flowers, everything clicked. We were out of Padova and so free!

Castello Sforzesco, Milano, Italy.

Good morning,

Singing our space songs on a spider web sitar
Life is around you and in you --
Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in..

Montà, Padova, Italy.

Carrrrrnival,

Carnival in Venezia is one of the most famous carnivals in the world. Hanna and I went through the narrow streets meeting everything and everyone from horses to elks, Aces to Queens, traditional to modern, Cesars to transvestites. If you are any into dressing up like this... it is definitely your party!

Another narrow street, Venezia, Italy.

See your way through,

It's winter and I'm used to wet, because snow doesn't appear very often in the cold North either. But I have never met such thick for of fog before. This is what Padova is made of for a few months.

Beato Pellegrino, Padova, Italy.

Laced,

Going around the regions, Dino and I got to spend a lot of time in the train. It got into a discussion on what is passion? In the end of the trip, we had a kind of a description. Here's part of it:

"-- A passion can be for a part of a person. Abstract or concrete. Passion is something particular. Passion is a carrot, something that makes life worth living. --"

Piazza Dante Alighieri, Pisa, Italia.

My monkeys,

The funny thing is that both of these guys were in exchange in my university for half a year and when they left Finland, I didn't know neither of them very well. Now I find myself in the same car going around the Torino area.

(Near Mole, Torino, Italy)