Changing Tastes

It's funny how your tastes change the longer you've lived somewhere.

We've only lived in Finland for seven months, and still, my tastes have changed.

I already loved Marimekko when I arrived in Finland. In fact, for many years, I've had a piece of Marimekko fabric hanging in some part of my house.

That iconic poppy print hanging in the window (printed in many, many shades) is loved by thousands around the globe--me included. The question is...did you know Marimekko is a Finnish company?

I wasn't, however, immediately in love with the Iittala glass products that are ubiquitous here in Finland.

The clean, simple lines sold at steep, steep prices just didn't do anything for me.

That was then.

This is now.

I have converted.

After sipping wine out of beautiful Iittala wine glasses, or sneaking cookies and candy out of Iittala candy dishes, how can you not come to love this glasswork that is oh-so-Finnish?

I especially love the Aalto vase.

"Since its unveiling in 1937 at the Paris World's Fair, the Aalto vase has been an international sensation. Its mysterious shape has been the subject of much speculation; some say it is based on Aalto's sketches entitled, "The Eskimo Woman's Leather Breeches." Others speculate that the fluid shape might be inspired by the lines of the Finnish landscape."  (from aalto.com)

For me, the vase reminds me of the islands scattered around the Baltic Sea.

If you want to know how the vase is made, click here:

A little boat ride...

Finns are BIG boaters! On the one hand, it makes sense since there is so much water surrounding the country and so many lakes within the country.  On the other hand, it's a little surprising to me due to the fact that there are really only two or three good months to be out on the water. But I've decided that Finns are much heartier than, say for example, Chicagoans. I used to sail and there is no way I would be on the water on some of these cooler Helsinki days!

But I was pretty excited when one of Rob's colleague's at the University invited us to take a little ride on his boat with his wife and him.

When I saw the boat, I was a little concerned our family of five wouldn't fit--but never fear...

...with the kids and Laina in the front and Rob, Veka and I in the back, we all fit!

There are so many islands to visit in Helsinki! It's so much fun to just motor from one big rock to the next! But you really need to know what you are doing. Some of those rocks barely break the surface of the water!

(Of course I had visions of us hitting the rocks and all being catapulted out of the boat into the water!)

We stopped for a little while on a "public" island.

The view, as always was stunning--see all of the islands?  That's one of the things I love about Finland!   

I guess the view in the water was pretty interesting too! 

Thanks to our hosts for a lovely afternoon!

Hardangerfjord

No words...

The kids loved dancing at the front of the boat as the wind was quite strong up front!

We took this boat trip on Joey's 12th birthday.  What a lucky boy!

Beautiful Bergen--gateway to the fjords!

This is some seriously gorgeous country around here.

I didn't know that Bergen is usually cloudy and rainy.

We had a cloudy day (and a half), but mostly, it was just stunningly beautiful.

I think I could actually use the phrase "achingly beautiful"--whether the weather was cloudy, or not.

We took the funicular to see the city from the top of the mountain,

(Can you see the path and the station at the top of the mountain?)

We were treated to beautiful views, excellent hiking and even a little bit of canoeing on a mirror-like lake.

We hiked back down to town on foot.

(Potty break.)

And then explored Bryggen.

These (really old) buildings are shifting and sinking, but they are being preserved as well for their historical importance and beauty.

Check out the condition of this doorway.

Our hotel was right across from Bryggen (the old buildings), the fish market and the souvenir stalls.

The kids weren't too thrilled with the fish market and the whale steaks, 

but they loved the souvenir stalls!

I think we are ready for crazy hat day at our house!

The train to Bergen

The train ride from Oslo to Bergen is one of Europe's highest and, many say, one of the most beautiful train rides in the world.

Eventhough it was a rainy, overcast day, I would have to agree. This train ride is seriously beautiful.

Yes, I have to admit, I was really disappointed that it was such an ugly day, but I'm still thankful we had such an amazing opportunity to see such beauty.

Had I thought things through a bit, I would have realized that we would be travelling through the mountains, above the tree line. But I was pretty shocked to be whizzing by a snow-covered, treeless community in mid-July.

A Norwegian woman who lives in Bergen (our destination city) told us that it is quite unusual to still have so much snow at this time of year.

Did you know that while the US is suffering from a record-breaking heat wave, northern Europe is experiencing one of the coldest, wettest summers on record?

We could have taken a bike ride through some of this terrain on another day, but I forgot to pack the winter coats...and the hats...and the mittens...oh well.

This is just a little taste of what lies ahead of us in fjord country!

Norway--Oslo

When I planned our trip to Norway, I only scheduled one day in Oslo. I expected my kids to be tired of visiting museums and churches and anyway, our goal was to get to the fjords--on the other side of Norway.

What I didn't expect was how quickly our lone day in Oslo would fly by and how thrilled my kids (as well as Rob and I) would be with the few sights we did have time to fit into our short stay in Norway's largest city.

I expected a visit to Oslo's Opera House to be a quick stop. One look at this architectural wonder and you can quickly understand why our visit lasted well more than an hour.

The building was designed to look like an iceberg. This place must be stunning in the winter!

The cruise ships park across the water from the Opera House.

The inside is as beautiful as the outside.

Norway is insanely expensive. Helsinki looks cheap by Norwegian standards! So we made a lot of sandwiches for lunch. Fountains always make a good place to stop for lunch!

On the move again, we arrived at the Royal Palace just in time for the changing of the guards.

Sam served as the family photographer for this event.  I took a few liberties with editing his shots :)

Rob and I would have loved to spend several hours here (the Nobel Peace Center):

But even the ticket sales person said Lily and Sam would not get much out of it.

Our final stop of the day was at Vigeland Sculpture Park.

Vigeland was an extremely prolific Norwegian sculptor. He is also the designer of the Nobel Peace Prize medal.

There are 212 bronze and granite sculptures in the park.  I don't think Sam can look Joey in the eye without laughing!  (Or maybe he was giggling because I asked the boys to copy the pose of the two nude guys behind them?)

I think it's pretty easy to guess what the subject of Vigeland's art was.

Youth...

Parenthood...

Love...

old age...

LIFE...