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!

Lake Garda

No holiday is complete without at least one day at the beach. Luckily it was a part of our travel itinerary. Have you heard about Lake Garda or Lago di Garda as the Italians say? It's the biggest lake in Italy. Located on the edge of the Dolomites and surrounded by picturesque holiday villages it's definitely worth visiting if you happen to be in Northern Italy.

Me by the lake

One beautiful morning we packed our swimwear (or, well, I did – Julius prefers to swim in his "birthday suit") and headed to the bus station. One hour later we arrived in the village of Garda on the eastern coast of the lake.

What to do in Garda? Well, walk around the narrow shopping streets and enjoy the smell of handmade soap. Sit down in one of the restaurants by the water and enjoy a cold beer. Btw, Julius the sneaky bastard, tried to order a beer but I told the waiter to bring a coke. Enjoy the sun on one of the small pebble beaches. Good thing we'd remembered to bring our flip-flops.

No, we haven't drowned and washed up on the beach. We're just enjoying the sun.

Next we went to Peschiera del Garda at the southern end of the Lake. We went down to the beach and rented a sunchair. The view from the beach was beautiful and the water was nice and warm.

After a couple of hours we had had enough of the sun and water so we went looking for a nice restaurant. On the way we saw a snake in the water. Naturalmente I wasn't scared but Julius nearly peed himself.

My humans found a good restaurant and had a delicious lunch of local grilled fish.

From there we went to the centre of the town and had a walk around the cozy streets. I made some new friends.

Hanging with the locals

I had a brief holiday flirt with a nice blond Juliet.

Of course we stopped at a nice gelateria. While we were there a couple of sweaty joggers came in. They had a gelato and then continued their jog. Maybe I should take up jogging too...

Me trying to decide what flavour to get. Snickers or Oreo?

Finally we walked to the station and took the train back to Verona.

Next stop Bologna. Stay tuned!