The Travelling Knitter

A quick stop in Warwick

2012-01-16T20:20:00.000Z

We went for a short walk to the town of Warwick shortly after the New Year.

Warwick is located south of Coventry, just 32 km away from Birmingham. Nice little place, with a big castle. We haven't yet visited the castle, but I'm sure we'll get round to it someday...

Other BIG news: after living for over a year in the town where Shakespeare was born, grew up and died, I am finally going to see a Shakespeare play in the Royal Shakespeare Company's theater! On 11 February, we'll be going to see "The Taming of the Shrew". Let me see: a) how much of it I can understand, b) how good my "old" English is and c) if I dig Shakespeare!

AA

Luxembourg and an interesting exhibition in France

2012-01-08T18:31:00.000Z

AA
I really enjoy Luxembourg, where I am lucky enough to have some very nice relatives that I unfortunately don't see often enough... The shopping is also really good in Luxembourg, my favourite clothing shop is located in the town center!

A view of Luxembourg city

During my last visit, we crossed the French border, entering the Lorraine region, and visited the Malbrouck castle in a place called Manderen.

The castle, almost completely renovated, boasts a nice atmosphere, and is ideally suited for holding arts exhibitions. Its name comes from... yes, an English duke, well know in England: the famous Duke of Marllborough, John Churchill, which the French (great English speakers as we all know!) at the time called "Malbrouck", hence the name of the castle. The Duke stayed in the castle from January to June 1705.

The exhibition on show from 11 Spetember to December 2011 was from German artist Stephan BALKENHOL. Balkenhol, born in 1957 in Fritzlar, Hessen, makes sculptures, which evoke archetypal behaviour patterns of human life and emotions.

Balkenhol's work reflects the searching of German artists during the 1980s for new means of expression and interpretations of every-day objects.

Typical are his larger-than-life human figures and heads carved directly out of wooden blocks, which he has been making since 1982. Balkenhol uses traditional tools for his woodwork and considers the wood itself a living matter. Grooves, fissures, splinter and cracks on his sculptures document the creative process. The figures, the head, the face - often accentuated by painted markings - are sketchy, sometimes almost portrait-like.

Upcoming exhibitions at the castle in 2012 will feature Ben Vautier (April to September) and Claude Weisbuch (September to December). For more information, you can visit the castle's website:
http://www.chateau-malbrouck.com/dispatch.do?sid=site
(Unfortunately, the website is only available in French and German!)
AA

Best wishes...

2011-12-24T20:13:00.000Z

Happy Christmas! Hyvää Joulua!

Joyeux Noël! God Jul! Frohe Weihnachten!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish

but have everlasting life"

John 3:16

Oxford and kg problems...

2011-09-22T21:34:00.000+01:00

I visited Oxford this summer. A nice town, but as confusing to a foreign mind as a lot of other things in Britain...

A view of the University College

I had heard of Oxford College, which to me meant that there was ONE university in the town, which was also the main reason for the town being famous. Turns out to be quite different. There are actually several universities in the town, with Oxford University College being the most famous. Every street corner seems to boast its own university. Go figure...

Some nice gargoyles seen on some buildings

(the said buildings being probably part of a college!)

If you're in the area, Oxford is well worth a visit, especially on a nice sunny day in the summer. Try to get off the beaten path, and enjoy the little side streets.

You'll find interesting architecture where ever you look in the town centre...

Oxford is quite nice, and one of the rare cities visited so far that I actually liked. I seem to prefer the English country side to its towns, which I somehow find drab... Hopefully, I'll find some other towns I like in the future...

To finish this post: one anecdote from last week end... Whilst I was taking a walk around a village nearby, I stopped at the local butcher's to get the meat needed for our week-end meals. The butcher seemed slightly disturbed by my using grams and kilograms, and clearly struggled with the amounts ordered. He ended up admitting that he still struggled with what he described as "those foreign French things and ways of doing things"!!!

Folks, I had no idea the French were responsible for inventing grams and kilograms!!!!

A strange and foreign place

2011-09-14T21:00:00.001+01:00

So... In England more or less against my will... Give me back my lakes and forests in Finland any day! Is there anybody out there that can help me feel more at home here?
'Cause I have problems getting used to being called "love" when I enter a shop...

Air France recently managed to "forget" my luggage in Paris (on a direct flight... they'll never cease to amaze me!), and so I was patiently waiting at home the following morning for my luggage to be delivered. When my phone finally rang ("hurray, there comes my luggage" was my only thought), I got quite shocked to hear a male voice at the other end of the line proudly declare "Hello love, I've got your suitcase"! Never seen the guy in my life, still don't know his name... Strange customs!!!

So I now have to spend my time in this strange place... Beautiful though, when it doesn't rain! We're right on the edge of the Cotswold, where houses are build in stones that have a lovely shade of light yellow and reflect the sun really nicely.

And we have a famous place on our doorstep... A certain Shakespeare was born and lived in the area, which guarantees a steady flow of Asian and American tourists, not to mention the hordes of young French students, all eager to try their English and chase English girls rather than pay attention to Shakespeare's birthplace, his wife's cottage, his grave, the theatre bearing his name etc.

Views of Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare's hometown

Man, this is going to take some getting used to...
AAA

A year flies by

2011-09-06T21:45:00.003+01:00

A year is a long time in politics, but can feel very short when things happen too quickly for one's liking...
To make a long story really short: after the uncertainty following the accident came the bad news that my knee was seriously damaged. A meniscus almost ruptured, bruised bones, and worst of all, a ligament hanging on by just a few shreds. Nasty...
As the knee proved stable enough in the months following the accident, doctors decided to leave things as they were, and ordered exercise, lots of it...
Whilst this was going on, my husband got a job offer in England, and took it up, at about the same time I was moving flats for work in the city I was working in. So we traded Finland and its lakes and forests for Britain and its sheep. I miss Finland like crazy...
So just over a year after the accident, we're finally done with all the administrative hassle involved in a move (sorry... two moves!), I've got my residence permit in England whilst still working in France, my knee still feels strange but is operating normally and I've just lost over 7kg due to all the exercise it took to get the knee up and running (literally!).
Very little time for knitting in the middle of all this, and to be honest, I haven't really felt like it since finishing my dragon shawl. That little dragon really put me off knitting for a while. I'm getting started again now, but very slowly...
So now that things are back on track, I should finish my reports on Egypt, then put up the pictures from Lapland taken before my accident, and then the pictures from our recent holiday in Estonia, not to mention pictures from England... Right, let's see how quick I can be about it. In my opinion, judging from the past, not very...

AAA

Accidents do happen...

2010-08-17T15:40:00.002+01:00

I have been silent on the blog side, even though I had planned on using my holidays to finish reporting on the trip to Egypt, but my holidays did not quite work out as planned...

I had a little accident during a great week of hiking in Finnish Lapland (I'll have to report on it after finishing with Egypt...). The accident in itself was not worth reporting about, but its result surely is...

I injured my knee quite badly, and simply could not walk. We were on a marked path (ironically described as "easy walking"!), but still somewhat in the middle of nowhere... Once the rescue team managed to reach my husband and I, it proved impossible to get me out with the all-terrain vehicle that the team had brought in the hope it would be able to get me back to the fire engine located 800m away.

End result: a call to find a helicopter to airlift me to the closest hospital brought the Finnish border guards to the rescue. And since the helicopter could not land (too big...), there was no other option but to winch me up... Here are a few pictures of this interesting experience, taken by my husband...

Rescue team on the horizon...

Janne coming down to fetch me

My knee gets put into an inflatable splint, to avoid further injury during the winching

Ready for an unusual experience

And up we go...

Almost there!

My heartfelt thanks to the rescue team from Inari fire station, to Janne, the winch man and paramedic who came down to fetch me, to his colleagues who were ensuring the helicopter got there and back, and to the team at Ivalo hospital, who took care of me once the helicopter had safely landed in the yard of the hospital...

It was an interesting experience, which I could have done without. And let me tell you, the day after was worse than a bad hang over... Somehow, the day after is always worse than the accident itself. I hurt all over, and learning to walk on crutches proved to be a skill difficult to learn (still haven't quite mastered it).

The last two weeks of our holidays went to waste. Our holiday in Estonia had to be cancelled... I am still at home, my knee still hurts, and I can't wait to get away from crutches. The doctors still don't know what exactly is wrong with the knee, so waiting is the keyword to recovery. Patience not being one of my (many) qualities, I will need to cultivate it...

At least, the dragon shawl benefited from this unfortunate turn of events... It only needs blocking now, which will have to wait until I am fit again...

The result of many hours of frustration...

Isn't he charming?

2010-05-24T15:54:00.001+01:00

Not that much time to report on Egypt (I'll get there folks, I promise!), so here's at least a little taste of knitting and crochet. I promised I'd report more on this as well, so here goes...

Isn't he charming? Well, he is supposed to be. He's apparently inspired by the latest Disney cartoon (or so said the designer of the pattern). It's crochet and it was really easy and quick to make. I find that the stuffing shows to much with the stitch used, but I don't think the little girl this is meant for will mind one bit...

My dragon shawl is progressing. I can finally start to see the pattern, which is just as well, seeing how difficult this pattern has turned out to be and how many times I have unravelled it already.... This is not for the faint hearted, and requires maximum concentration. Can't wait to have it over and done with, but this will take a while... So if you wonder what I am doing with my time when I'm not working, you know now...

Valley of the Kings and Queens - Colossi of Memmon

2010-05-02T20:47:00.001+01:00

I think I should stop expecting people to wait forever and get going on my reporting on the Egypt trip...

On the way to the Valley of the Kings

We arrived in Luxor just on time for sunset, and started on our visit the following morning with the Valley of the Kings, where the tombs of the Pharaohs are located. Sorry folks, no pictures, as picture taking inside the Valley is strickly forbidden, our guide making sure that all cameras were left on the bus taking us there.

Nowadays empty, the tombs are nevertheless worth a visit. Imagine entering a corridor large enough to hold 4 people (2 walking up, and 2 walking down), decorated left, right and above with carvings/paintings. All this leading you down to a chamber where a sarcophagus was kept inside a stone chamber. The heat is humid and just about bearable... And all the while, you are reminded that the people who built this had neither electricity nor lightbulbs to give them light to work by (as the tombs are nowadays nicely lit up, you tend to forget this fact), and had to carve the corridors and wall decorations with the simplest of tools... It's mind blowing...

The house rented by Howard Carter whilst excavating the Valley.

Carter discovered the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun.

Next stop, the Valleys of the Queens, since couples were not buried together. As a woman, I can tell you one thing: it's very clear who was the ruler of Egypt, and it was not the queen! The tombs are much smaller, nicely decorated, but let's face it, you get the clear impression the Queen could thank the Egyptian gods to be at least allowed to have a tomb...

On the way back, we had a short stop to view the Colossi of Memmon, two statues that were originally guarding the entrance to Amenhotep's temple, which was a massive cult centre built during the pharaoh's lifetime. This temple was the largest and most opulent of Egypt in its days.

The Colossi, badly damaged, are all that remain of the temple, but judging by their impressive size, it is easy to imagine what the temple must have looked like...

Now, let's see when I can write again about some more marvels we saw on our trip, as this was just an appetizer, the main course having been digested in the days following this little introduction to life in the days of the Ancient Egyptians...

And some more snowy pictures!

2010-02-28T16:36:00.000Z

I have been told I am a real tease... I promise pictures of Egypt, and then all I blog about is snow in Finland... So here are a few more pictures of snow, which started finally melting today into a slushy, mushy mess that is sure to get our feet very wet tomorrow morning!

I had also promised to post more pictures of knitting, so here are finally two finished items. A crocheted baby bonnet, knitted during the Ravelympics (a big hello to my friends from the Tricot Opéra group!) for a charity...

... and a three ribbed beret out of Piecework (future wearer as yet unknown!).

And still on the needles, a "Here be dragon shawl" which looks likely to spend a long time on the needles, as it is taking ages to knit, due to a lot of unravelling whilst making. It's the type of project that drives you nuts, but that you end up determined to finish one day. You know, just to make sure you master what you knit, and not the reverse!!

And next post, I promise, will be about Egypt. No really, it will...

Before going back to the sands of Egypt...

2010-02-12T16:37:00.000Z

A short reminder of what winter looks like currently in Helsinki...

"Welcome to Egypt, your second home!"

2010-01-09T17:22:00.000Z

The first thing our guide said once we had arrived in Egypt at Luxor airport was "Welcome to Egypt, your second home!" I have to admit it made me smile... It somehow sounded so phoney...

A few days - and a few visits to local sights - later, one of my fellow travellers found just the right words to express how we all felt: "This trip is mind blowing!"

So what made this such a great trip?

First, there was the absolute great weather. How nice to wake up in the morning and get dressed the same everyday, without having to check the weather forecast. Egyptians are right: "say no to Spain, in Luxor no rain!"

There was also the discovery that food isn't always cooked the way you image it to be :-)

Then there was a chance to live differently from the way we are used to...

And the nagging feeling that despite the beauty of the desert, it can't be such an easy place to live in...

And the fact that Egypt is actually a very green type of place (at least along the banks of the Nile river) with lots of different birds to look at (no sign of crocodiles though!).

And then there was the history of the place... To think all this dates back to a time when there were no cranes, and no modern ways of building. And yet, the temples withstood the test of time... To think of what stories those stones would tell if only they could speak...

At night, the sights are even more impressive...

And let's not even think about the fact that all those stones have been beautifully carved by craftsmen who did not have our modern tools at their disposal!

The scenery as seen from a boat cruising along the Nile is simply stunning...

So let me take you with me on the journey we took along the river Nile, from Luxor to Aswan and the temple of Abu Simbel, which was saved from drowning into Lake Nasser by a feat the ancient pharaohs and their humble subjects would have approved of... and maybe even looked down upon in view of what things they achieved in their lifetime...

Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-02T15:58:00.000Z

Happy New Year, with best wishes for health, and enough money in the bank to pay the bills and buy some yarn to knit with! The greetings are straight out of the wonderful city of Helsinki, capital of my favourite place on earth: Finland!

It has been rather cold here. Today we're down to -17 degrees Celsius, and yes, it does take a bit of courage and several layers of clothing to venture out in the snowy landscape...

A couple of views taken from our balcony window,
showing the amount of snow that has fallen during the past two weeks...

I have taken serious new year resolutions... I intend to write more on my blog, and since this blog was supposed to be about knitting and travelling, I sure have some work to do to increase the posts about knitting in general and Nordic knitting in particular...

I have some excuses though: I have been suffering from a very bad case of elbow tendonitis, which used to be more commonly known as "tennis elbow", and is nowadays called "computer elbow". I have had to give up knitting for a while, both because of the pain, and of the need to let the elbow rest for a while. I nevertheless managed to finnish a jumper for my husband. Knitted on needle size 8, it should have taken me a few week ends to complete, but the elbow turned the few weeks into several months. I finished it very slowly during the Christmas break, and it is keeping my husband warm in the current cold weather!

So I hope the see the end of the elbow pains sometime this year, and hope to be back on the knitting needles pretty soon to catch up on all the yarn bought in 2009 for patterns that have been languishing in the cupboard...

Happy knitting to all in 2010!

Calgary, Canada... Yeeeeehhhhaaaaaa!

2009-10-01T17:25:00.000+01:00

I recently spent some time on business in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The city was pretty much what you'd expect from a North-American city, so I was not dispointed at all by the skyscrapers gracing the city skyline...

But there was a nice surprise in store: the Calgarians. They were about as helpful, kind and friendly as one can be. The service was excellent, and people were always available to help out if needed. They also enjoy a good party, and one thing I'll remember them for is their shout of "yeeeeeehhhhhaaaaa!!!" in true cowboy style whenever they felt a big hurray was needed!

As business trips go, this one was pretty packed with meetings, and left little time for any tourism. I still (luckily!) managed to escape for a quick look at the small town of Banff, inside the National Park of Banff, and get up the highest point around for a quick view down the valley...

The other excursion that is not to be missed if you are in the area is quick tour of the Rockie Mountains in a helicopter. It's not exactly cheap, but well worth it. The scenery is simply stunning, and makes you wish you had some free time for a nice walk...

A quick trip to Istanbul

2009-09-29T14:28:00.001+01:00

I had a quick trip to Istanbul in early June for business. Needless to say, when on business, forget the yarn shops, and be happy of you get to see something else than the meeting rooms in your hotel...

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and the fifth largest city in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. It is located on the Bosphorus Strait. It extends both on the European and Asian sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. I was lucky enough to take a cruise on the Bosphorus, the river that divides Istanbul between Europe and Asia.

The whole city reflects this East-West divide. You see as well blondes that would perfectly fit into a Hollywood movie as women covered from head to toe according to the strictest rules of Islam. You see as well mosques as tall rise buildings that would not be out of place on the New York skyline.

The main impression Istanbul left me with is a city that suffers from a permanent traffic jam. According to one of our Turkish guides, Istanbul has approximately 14 hours of traffic jam everyday. This is due to the fact that most of the population lives on one side of the river, whilst most jobs are located on the other side. The only way to cross over are the bridges, which of course means endlessly clogged up roads, and an ever moving population...

I would have liked to explore the city more in detail, as there must be fascinating things to discover there if you take the time. Maybe I can get back for a holiday someday...

Finland: The Small Town of Hämeenlinna

2009-09-29T13:39:00.001+01:00

Hämeenlinna is easily accessible from Helsinki. Trains go very often, and it takes just an hour to get there. It's a pleasant small town, especially on a nice sunny summer day. The main feature is the castle, located next to the city centre.

Hämeenlinna is good place for knitters. Not far from the main square you'll find the Wetterhoff shop. It boasts nice little handicraft things you'll want to spend your money on, especially if, like me, you like exotic things that scream "Finland!" when you look at them!

Wetterhoff sells knitting yarns, local and foreign brands, but it's not its main business.

Wetterhof mainly sells yarns for making Finnish rugs called "ryijy". Wetterhoff does not suffer of shortage when it comes to colour of yarns or type for the rugs!

The rugs are used as wall hangings, and are normally woven on a loom. Nowadays it is also possible to buy a fabric and "sew" the yarn on in small bits to create the same effect. You can see an example below, a small rug I was working on sometime last spring:

It's a lot of work, but well worth the effort:

If you'd rather focus on just knitting yarn, no problem. There's a small yarn shop on the main town square, waiting just for you!

My favourite place on earth: Finland

2009-05-31T15:30:00.001+01:00

Hvitträsk

Hvitträsk is located about an hour away from Helsinki by car. It was built between 1901–1903 by Finnish architects Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen. The main building, designed in National Romantic style, built of logs and natural stone, was both a common studio and a home for Eliel Saarinen and Armas Lindgren for some years after it was completed. During that time, Gesellius lived in the courtyard building and later moved into the north-wing of the main building after Lindgren relocated in Helsinki.

During the early decades, the main building served as both an architectural office and as a cultural home. It was visited by such esteemed figures as Jean Sibelius, Axeli Gallen-Kallela and Maksim Gorki.

The office's staff also lived at Hvitträsk, and this is where the plans were drawn up for the Helsinki Railway Station, the National Museum of Finland among other grand works. Hvitträsk is also the boyhood home for world famous architect Eero Saarinen, who made his reputation primarily in the United States designing buildings and monuments such as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Saarinen home is a museum today, and within the courtyard building are a restaurant and a café. Hvitträsk and its lovely English style garden are surrounded by beautiful nature near the shore of Lake Vitträsk.

My favourite place on earth: Finland

2009-05-31T15:02:00.000+01:00

The small village of Fagervik

Located about an hour away by car from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, in the midst of lush vegetation and ancient trees, Fagervik is well worth a visit. Nowhere else in Finland can such a complete 18th century milieu be found.

The village of Fagervik started out as iron works were founded in 1646 by a Swede named Carl Billsten. The iron works consisted of two iron forges and one blast furnace. There were some cottages but no manor house. Today there are no buildings left from Billsten's era.At the end of the 17th century war and the plague reduced the population in the region almost by half, and there was a shortage of wood as well. As a result of these factors combined the production of iron ceased and Fagervik fell into ruins at the turn of the century.

In 1723 two Swedish brothers named Johan Wilhelm and Michael Hising bought the estate along with its industrial rights. They rebuilt the iron works quickly, and in the mid 1720's Fagervik had two new iron forges and a blast furnace producing iron that was shipped over to Sweden. Most of the blacksmiths were skilled workers brought from Germany. The blacksmiths held a high social status within the community, but their work was hard, working in three shifts with the huge forge hammers thumping loudly 24 hours a day. With them the German blacksmiths also brought the potato, which was unknown in Finland at that time. Finland's first potatoes were grown in Fagervik.

Michael's son Johan Hisinger represented the next generation in Fagervik. His was a grand era, Fagervik obtained the sole right in Scandinavia for the production of Fagervik's speciality, tin-plated iron. This product brought Fagervik wealth and the mansion, planned by C F Schröder, was built in 1773 and the vast French garden began to take form.

Johan's son Mikael Hisinger followed in his father's footsteps in 1790. During his time many greenhouses, holding exotic flowers and plants such as lemons, grapes, orchids, mulberry trees, were built. A Chinese pavillion, the large stables and most of the cottages are from his era as well.

The winter garden, the Orangeria, was built in 1844, by Mikael's son Fridolf. He was interested in agriculture and gardening and worked with the breeding of many new plants and trees that he imported to Finland. Fridolf also foresaw the inevitable decline of the iron industry in southern Finland. As Finland became part of Russia in 1809, the markets for iron had shrunk due to regulations and a weak currency. Furthermore, new technology made the large waterfalls in mid-Finland more effective than Fagervik's rather small power supply.

During his successor Eduard's era, the iron works were closed down in 1903 and agriculture became the major source of income for Fagervik. A structural development that the owners had seen coming and thus were prepared for. Today, Fagervik Estate is a modern production unit within forestry and agriculture, employing five persons. The present owners of Fagervik are Eduard's great-great-grandchildren and descendants in 9th generation of the same family.

My favourite place on earth: Finland

2009-05-31T14:55:00.001+01:00

I just love Finland. It's simply beautiful. The country changes with seasons, and winters are pretty glummy, but I simply can't help it: I'm in love with the place, the people, the language, the lakes and the forests.

So the next few blogs will be about Finland. You'll probably get to read about the place often on this blog. It happens to be a great place for knitters of all kinds, and the country also has a few special handicrafts of its own which I'll share as time allows...

WorldSkills Competition in Lille

2009-05-02T19:55:00.000+01:00

The WorldSkills Competition takes place every two years in a city of this planet. The Competition gathers young people of less than 23 years of age from 51 countries who compete in all sorts of manual skills. The list of skills ranges from haidressing to automobile technology, from cooking to plumbing, and I'm forgetting a good load of them!
Some countries like France organise a national competition to chose one competitor per skill to go to the international competition. France also organises the competition in some skills that are not reprsented at the international competition, like road building for instance.
Depending on the French city chosen for hosting the national competition, some demonstration skills that are typical of the area where the city is located are also represented.
The latest national French competition took place in Lille from 5-7 February 2009. One of the demonstration skill on display was lacemaking, a skill that was once in big demand in the area.

For those expecting to see bobbin lace, the event would no doubt have been a disapointment. The lacemaking is all industrial these days, and that was what was on display!

One of the exhibitors told me that it was just a question of reminding people that the skill still exists, and that it is possible to train for it in the area.

Apparently, the machines used for industrial lacemaking are monstrous in size, and could not be brought over to the competition site for demonstration.

I have to say that it did not really matter. What was on display was interesting enough!

The Open Air Museum in Riga

2009-04-19T15:04:00.000+01:00

Just like its neighbouring capital city Tallinn, Riga bost the presence of an open air museum, easily accessible by a short bus ride from the town center. The museum is based on the same idea as the other open air museums of the Nordic capital cities: old buildings from accross the country have been taken apart and rebuilt in one location, allowing the visitor to get a look at how people used to survive in the country. I say survive, because the older the building looks, the more you get to appreciate the invention of something called "central heating"!

The museum is quite nice, but you'll find less interesting things craftwise as in Tallinn. yes, I know, I'm biased...

It anyway makes for an interesting outing, especially on a nice summer day, when it is quite hot, and you feel like being in the countryside instead of being stuck in a city centre.

You will get to see some interesting things though, especially on the embroidery side...

Knitting will essentially be found in the souvenir shop, which has some beautiful mittens on display for sale. Personnally, I'd rather buy the patterns, some wool, and start knitting as soon as I board the bus for getting back to Helsinki, but then, that might not be everybody's favourite option!

Next stop: Riga!

2009-03-01T19:21:00.000Z

You might as well go on from Tallinn to Riga. The trip is not that long and even in a Eurolines bus, it can be quite enjoyable. I have never seen so many storks in my life as during my bus journey from Estonia into Latvia.

Riga is a very nice place as well. Service in English available almost everywhere. Peaceful city, with a bigger old medieval town center than Tallinn. You can discover it by foot, walking around, and taking in the beautiful Art Nouveau buildings the city has to offer.

The main square in Riga strangely resembles the one in Tallinn, but is a bit more spacious...

Riga's prices are a bit of a surprise: they match those of other big European cities. I do prefer Tallinn food wise though: it is a bit more sophisticated and not as greasy as what is on offer in Riga.

Riga can easily keep you busy for a few days. I was nevertheless slightly disapointed in the yarn shops I visited aroung the town. Mostly foreign yarns, quite expensive at that. Only one shop had Latvian yarn on offer, and it was mostly made of synthetic material. I guess one needs to go to the countryside for more interesting woollies. But hey, you can't always have everything! Yarn shops or nice buildings, if you only get one, it's already worth the holiday!

The Estonian Open Air Museum

2009-02-15T19:03:00.001Z

One place not to miss in Tallinn in the Open Air Museum, located just a short bus ride away from the central railway station. Like other Open Air museums in the Nordic region, it consists of old buildings that have been takeb apart from all parts of the country, and rebuild in one place.

You will get a very good impression of how Estonians used to live in ages past.

Houses are open (at least if you visit during the summer!) and you can peek inside.

If you are lucky, you can see some really interesting items on display.

Some of them are on sale...

And of course, you can also watch and learn. Communication is not always easy, as the older generation does not speak English, but if you have eyes to see...

All in all a place that you can spend a whole afternoon in. Just hope it doesn't rain, the houses located in the small foresty bit look less attractive when you are surrounded by tiny flies that fly around your head in a wild buzz...

Handicrafts in Tallinn

2009-01-03T14:24:00.000Z

Tallinn is stock full of souvenir shops that offer handicrafts. Mittens, jumpers, hats, you name it...

You can even find some surprises in some shops...

The most famous place to view these items is actually on one place along the city walls. The stalls are located in some recesses in the wall itself, and it makes a great setting for the colourfully knitted beauties. All on sale for a price of course. You can always try to bargain, it sometimes works!

A Summer Visit to Tallinn

2008-12-31T16:14:00.000Z

I went to Tallinn, capital city of Estonia last August. I simply love Tallinn: it’s a real little jewel of a city. I have visited it several times already, but I simply can’t get enough of it! I remember my first visit in 1996, and my first impressions of its beautiful old medieval city center, with buildings in need of a serious new coating of paint. Over ten years later, the city has got way more than just a new coating of paint. The city is bursting with nice little cafés and restaurants… and swarms of tourists from all corners of the world!

Tallinn is best discovered by walking along the cobbled streets of the old medieval town center, fully taking in the charming atmosphere of the old buildings, peering through doorways opening up on small but beautiful courtyards. Stop anywhere for a cup of coffee and enjoy a tasty piece of cake with it, and just take it all in!