Time flies when you are having fun!

I celebrated my birthday here in Andalucia...
Instead of creating an age crisis, I started to recap the things I have done and I haven't  ( yet ) What a great funny funky trip to my own personal past.. especially when I looked at old fotos, I had black hair nearly 10 yrs of my life! hah and hih! Blonde is better, or is it?


For a girl from Finland, who is not a flight attendant or a travel guide
( both were my teenage dream professions )
Ive done my best to see the world and live my life.

My motto was, is and will be : One Life- Live It!

( as you can see, some fotos on this blogtext are not mine and some are lousy quality, - and this story has actually nothing to do with Andalucia either.. sorry..)


So, Who is writing this Blog?  Its me!

I started my personal world journey at the age of 14 on a combined Scout Camp and language course in South of England. Devon and Torquay. Beautiful places, Torquay is just gorgeaus.
During this trip I also visited Big Ben and all his friends for the first time.

Scout Camp was a great experience. On the way our bus drove to fields.. or bushes.. or somewhere..

"EF Language course" was such a hit in Finland those days that somehow I got my parents to send me again the following summer.. I spend a month in Cambridge on an international language course. Cambridge was great as well. Would love to go back some day. We did lot of "punting" on the river, BBQ's on the parks, I was teaching ice-skating to south Europeans on a nearby icerink..  loads of fun stuff!  We also all learned how to smoke sigarettes and drink beer. -So, my children are not allowed on language course.. unless they are 20yrs old.

I liked "the language school business" so much that later in my life when studied Travel and Tourism I actually did one of my  internships for them and worked for them one summer. That summer later, I got to go and visit other towns as well:  Brighton, Bournemouth, Hastings.. 

South of England is just beautiful!

School was still unfinished.. and my parents were crazy enough to let me take holidays with friends too

Hersonissos, Crete, Greece Islands

I studied few languages in school, not only english and swedish.. also german, spanish and french. French I did long time, 6-7yrs or something.. and by few lucky co-incidents I took an Au- Pair job in Paris after I gratuated from school.

Paris. The city of Love...
I visited once again  Paris last summer with my dear friend, we found this wedding couple dancing on the stairs of Sacre Coeur..

Love Love Love! Paris is LOVE!

                                            Paris is just Grand!

montmartre

notre dame

pont neuf

During my Au Pair time I got to see U2 live with 100 000 other people- first time ever U2 live.It was pure magic!

After Paris I went back to Finland and started my studies with Travel and Tourism.. and was lucky again! I got chosen to go to Michigan,USA as an exchange student.. Traverse City.. Middle of Michigan, The Cherry Capital of the World.
 - a hillibilly land! I was asked questions like - do you have electricity in Finland? -

However, was cool few months and I got to see other places as well..
little bit of Chicago
- but for sure not enough, would love to go back someday -.
We also took a trip to Mackinaw Island, a cool cool little island by the border of Canada. Some western movies were filmed there. No cars at all on this island.

Then just by some crazy luck again, I met this guy, just friends no love affair.
Half Finnish- Half American and from Boston.. his mother got excited that I was Finnish and they invited me over on Thanksgiving break. So there I was, in Boston with these strange people and found out that the mommy of the family, who was Finnish, was from the same little village in Finland where my father grew up..
My dad said it was a big thing when this family moved to the states, he remembered it.
-How funky is that!

In Boston I saw the first ever - really tall big - buildings of my life.

Boston was great, very intellectual! I also visited Harward University and I remember , after my visit, I was dreaming  for years  of a life at Harward! I thought it was cool cool place. ..

so Boston and Chicago- but no New York- and Im still bummed about that!

After America, I spent few years in Finland, changed my direction and actually studied Politics for a year in Turku.. but as you see.. no politician came out of this girl..

Instead,
I visited my sister, she lived in Amsterdam..

And I just LOVED IT from the first second!

I lived in Holland for nearly 6years in total. Met beautiful people who will always have a special place in my heart. Great great great memories.. I had an honor to work and be friends with people from all over the world, not just Europe, but  Australia, Israel, Kolumbia, Brazil.. everywhere.
My love for Amsterdam is for forever. It is a magical city and amazing people lives there.

 I will always consider The Orange World my second home, Holland is Great!

I did some traveling from Holland as well..

                              ...weekend breaks in Gorgeaus Brussels;

grande place

                             a work trip to amazing Israel..

I thought Israel was truly amazing country! Tel Aviv was full of action and life 24/ 7.We had a tour guide with us all the time, he took us to Jerusalem on a sabbath ( safer ) where we saw some of the funny dudes by the crying wall, he took us to the border of Israel Jordan and Lebanon, the northest little corner of Israel, to natural hot spas. Was beautiful!

We did try to go to Eilat, but got stuck on some floods on the roads and had to drive back to Tel Aviv. It was a mad drive. Late at night, everyone tired, tourguide playing Bob Marley on the car radio.. and we saw some guys shooting machine guns on top of hills, just shooting cars on the motorway. I remember our guide was just putting music louder  and louder and I was thinking this is crazy, why are they doing this.. its such a beautiful country, full of history and culture.

So, there was no dead sea on this trip, but instead we got to smoke a real water pipe and apple tobacco on a arabic bar in Yaffa. Was funny!

I also got to know some of Italy during those years.. been on a street market in Bologna, drank champagne on a "season opening night" at Rimini, took a Gondole ride in Venice, saw the golden gates in Florence, tasted wine in Tuscany, saw the funny tower in Pisa, skied at the Dolomites..
Threw a coin to Fontana Di Trevi and just chilled by the Spanish Steps

rome

rome

bologna

bologna

    And got tanned on the beaches of Crotone, Calabria, south ,south of Italy.

           And got to know  Giorgia.. great great singer.  Beautiful song..

                                      Pasta per Tutti! Italy is Great!

Holland was Super! but I wanted more.. came back to Finland- to The Love Of My Life- Patrik.. who I had known since I was 19 yrs old. And never forgot..

and so we made 2 beautiful kiddies, and life changed again. No regrets. This is how its supposed to be!

                         Life started as US, not just me.

First we discovered Copenhagen and Christiania. What a lovely city! among sightseeing we took a walk around the lake in Christiania, peace and love! Beautiful place, go there!

                                       I was Pregnant in Bulgaria

golden sands, bulgaria

                       visited Pippis house in Stockholm;

junibacken

drank Cava in Barcelona on my 33th Birthday, in January, at the beach club, wearing a t-shirt!

we rented a house here in Costa Del Sol for a month.. and decided to move here.. someday.

benalmadena beach, costa del sol

carihuela beach, torremolinos, costa del sol

but first we had to fly to Singapore to visit my sister and celebrate her husbands birthday, big 40! 

It was a great Christmas and we met dear new friends during that time. 

singapore chinatown

sentosa, singapore

 and after Christmas we all flew to Thailand, to Krabi for an extra holiday!  

krabi town

railay island

tuk tuk

ao nang

but we couldnt move to Spain, not just yet. Madonna was coming Helsinki for the first time ever! 

We had to see her! I love Madonna! She is amazing woman! 

Hung Up has been my birthday song ever since it got released. 

I  just love it! 

And not only Madonna! U2 was in Helsinki too! We saw Bono and The Guys on Saturday night..
and I took a plane to Spain on Sunday..

U2 - 360 tour helsinki

So now we are here, beautiful Andalucia.. I am 37. About next year nobody knows. This is here and now... and I am  happy! 

  

                                           ONE LIFE LIVE IT 

Still many many places to go, to dream about. hopefully will have atleast as many years to go.. since I want NEW YORK! I want I want I want! I also want to dance samba in Rio and wear the smallest bikinis in Copacabana, I want to see Inka Magic in Macchu Picchu, I want to see Geishas in Japan, I want to shop at the street market in Bangkok, I want to surf on Bondi Beach in Sydney. I want to party with Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I want to feel Miami. I want to smell street kitchens in Vietnam. I want to walk on the Great Wall of China. I want to see Hollywood. I want to see Christmas in Vienna. I want to drink beer in Praque. I want to see U2 in Dublin. I want to go to Honolulu. And I want that New York! Big Apple: I will so come there- someday.