Finland – Page 2 – travelteachlove

A Little Something Sweet…or Salty

August 5, 2016 2 Comments

Something I love to do whenever I am traveling is try all kinds of new foods. This past trip was no exception. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, if there was a chance for me to taste something different from what I eat at home, I took advantage of the opportunity! This time as I traveled I decided it would be fun to try some different candies from Finland in addition to other foods. Now I have to admit, I am not a big candy fan. Have some chocolates to try, I am all in! But candy has never been my favorite. […]

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Finnish Design

July 28, 2016 1 Comment

I have been home almost a week now after traveling for about a month. It has been a while since I blogged as I decided to take time off at the end of my trip, and then when returning home life caught up with me. I finally have some time to sit down and relive my favorite things from my travels. What a wonderful perk of blogging, it is the perfect way to extend a trip! Something I have been dying to blog about is Finnish design. Needless to say, I am obsessed. Marimekko, Iittala, Finlayson and countless other independent and […]

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Quest for Mölkky

July 12, 2016 2 Comments

There are many things I loved about my time in Finland, and learning about the game Molkky was definitely one of them. One evening when we were staying with our family they suggested we play Mölkky. As we sat at dinner they tried to explain this summer garden game to us. Like bowling, but with no ball, I was having trouble envisioning it. Once it was all set up it became clear and just as they had described it. Veikka volunteered to keep score for us, and after setting up we were ready to get started. Nancy began with a bang, […]

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Driving the Finnish Archipelago

July 10, 2016 No Comments

On one of our last days in Turku, our family drove us around the beautiful archipelago around Turku. Skies had cleared from the day before so we had great weather for seeing the sights. We had to set out early (5:30) so we could make the first ferry, but with coffee, tea and other munchies packed we were ready to tackle the day. It was interesting to drive out of the city and into more rural areas surrounding Turku. We even saw five moose grazing out in the distance at one point! After an hour of driving we reached the […]

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Finnish Life

July 5, 2016 No Comments

It has been a few days since my sister and I arrived to Turku where our family lives and already I am in love. We are so fortunate to have relatives that live in such a beautiful area of Finland. It has been great spending time with family and getting to experience a bit of Finnish life. Here are some of my favorite things about life in Turku. Midnight sun: Even though the sun goes down technically around 10:45 pm, it doesn’t really ever become fully dark in summertime here in Turku. It’s great! Days become much longer without it […]

Travel

Design Museum of Helsinki

July 2, 2016 4 Comments

Of all the museums I went to while in Helsinki, the Design Museum was by far my favorite. It is a small museum but it packed quite a punch. In fact it was so great I went back for a second visit with my sister when she arrived to Helsinki. The featured designer was Eero Aarino who is famous for his ball chair. As I walked through the museum both times I was captivated by Aarino’s simple but interesting designs. As I learned his designs are considered artifacts because he takes materials and forces them into man made designs. […]

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Island Hopping Finnish Style

June 29, 2016 6 Comments

Where to even begin. Today was a phenomenal day. The weather was picture perfect, just right for island hopping. I met up with a friend from the blogging world, Suvi, and spent the morning at three different islands in Helsinki’s harbor. We started at Vallisaari, a recently reopened island just beyond Suomenlinna Island. People have been going off trails and disrupting the nature found there so the island has been closed for a while. They recently reopened it and you could tell people wanted to know what the island had to offer. It had beautiful scenery and some information posters […]

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Perks of Being a Solo Traveler

June 28, 2016 9 Comments

Well, I survived my first international solo flight! While this is something I have wanted to do for a long time, it had me absolutely petrified! There is something a bit unnerving traveling alone to a foreign country to stay in a hostel with people you have never met. I know for many this is a breeze and something they have done a million times, but this is my first solo travel experience. Making it a bit easier is knowing it is temporary and my sister will be joining me at the end of the week. My debut into solo […]

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Helsinki Wanderings

June 23, 2016 61 Comments

Hyvää Juhannusta! Happy Midsummer as they say in Finland. I will miss the holiday celebration this weekend but that’s ok because in 3 short days I will take off for Finland! My bags are pretty much packed at this point letting me focusing on the good stuff, what to do once I arrive. Since I will be on my own for the first few days, it gives me a chance to wander the city with a loose itinerary of areas I want to explore and museums I want to spend hours rambling through. I have divvied up activities and planned […]

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A Walk Through Time, Family History

June 20, 2016 1 Comment

Our trip to Finland where we will get to meet our Finnish relatives (eek so excited!) is coming up in just a week. I can’t believe it is almost here! In preparation for the trip, this past weekend I took a little walk back in time through old pictures, letters, documents, and family stories. My family went to visit Teravainen relatives that live in New Hampshire who hold all the family history documents. We wanted to see what they had and decide what to bring with us to Finland. It was a blast getting together, chit chatting and catching up. We […]