Summer Highlights

Ciao a tutti!

Today being the last day of summer I want to take a look at the highlights of this summer and relive the best moment of summer 2018.

1. Our holiday in Italy. Lots and lots of gelato, fun day trips and many train journeys... Julius and I sure had some fun.

We travelled by train a lot in Italy and quickly realised that Italian timetables are just rough guidelines. The train we're on in picture above was already 30 minutes late when we left Verona and a hour late by the time we got to Milan.

The view from Città alta in Bergamo

"Finally some shade." The Italian summer heat can be scorching.

A beautiful flower somewhere in Italy.

The swans of Lake Garda

2. Our picnics, forest and city excursions in Helsinki. We went to the beach, we cycled to Teurastamo to eat gelato (because we hadn't had enough in Italy), and Julius and I went berry picking where the little imp ran away and hid from me. Sweet memories.

For some reason there was a sheep on the wall in the ice-cream shop. Of course Jevgeni had to go and talk to her but she only spoke Italian.

Mmm gelato....

Mmm blueberries...

3. Our exciting trip to the countryside in Russian Carelia to say hallo to grandmother, Tim the Dog and some feline acquaintances. We ate so many berries and peas and drank so much tea, we went the sauna, we teased the locals and Julius was hunted by giant mosquito.

Julius enjoying country life

Do you know what these are? If not, come to Finland, I'll show you.

I just told a joke but Tim wasn't amused.

Monster mosquito

Goodbye summer 2018 and thanks for all the memories!

Blueberries

Hej på er!

As promised I'll tell you about our berry picking trip. One of my favourite things to do in late summer is picking berries. The blueberries – well, they're really bilberries but we call them blueberries – are ripe now and in August we can start picking lingonberries.

We went to the forest which is on the way to the beach that I showed you yesterday, and started picking. Or well, I started picking, Julius, the little rascal, ran off almost immediately.

Me looking for Julius

I looked everywhere

I was worried sick and spent a long time looking for him. I finally found him in a small shelter that he'd built. There he was grinning and eating blueberries.

I'm starting to think he's not a real monkey but a changeling. Maybe the forest trolls switched my kid for this little bugger at birth. That happens, you know.

Next time I think I'll leave the kid at home. He's too much trouble.

When we came home we ate the blueberries with milk. Yum!

Tomorrow I think I'll show you some more pictures from Italy.

Till then!