The Fall Was Beautiful

Flowers in my granny's garden

We are already in the middle of November, which makes me wonder how in the earth can the time pass by so quickly. I didn't do most of the things I thought I would do, but on the other hand I did some things I didn't even consider doing. I suppose life is the best when it's unexpected and leaves room for surprises. Don't you agree?

Such beautiful colors nature lets us see...

During the fall season I got to admire the beauty of this season through the warm weather, sunny days and colorful leaves falling of the trees. Last year I was in Thessaloniki, Greece during this period, therefore it was more exciting to see the Finnish autumn again. Not that it would have been different, but absence from home makes you appreciate it more.

From Aulanko, Hämeenlinna, Finland

Some weeks ago I had a chance to meet my longest term pen pal, Emilia. We have been snail mailing since 2005, first met in 2010 and now was our 10th pen pal friendship anniversary. Pretty cool, huh? The time of knowing someone doesn't define the friendship, however, I appreciate her very much as she is always there to help me and has helped me to grow as a person. In a short way, she is very important to me and I hope our friendship would last as long as we live. <3

For you, Emilia 

I also got to visit Hamina, as I do pretty many times a year. I like to go there to spend some quality time with my grandmother and to relax. I don't really have internet connection there, apart from my phone with a slow connection, which makes it easier to relax and let other things be as they are. Hamina is also a beautiful tiny town, which I enjoy a lot. This fall, I tried to take some pictures there, which would show the town in a different light.

I wish I could show more pictures, but unfortunately my phone went crazy, so the pictures disappeared with it. That's why I'm not able to use Whats App for a while, just to let you know. If you are interested in knowing your letter status or just chatting with me, please send me a message on FB. To give you a short situation status, I've got three letters to reply: Emma (Australia), Inga-Siv (Sweden) and Mari-Liis (Estonia). I will try to reply as soon as I can. 

For the past few weeks I've been concentrating on my studies and trying to follow my sport schedule that I have set for myself. Naturally, as a Christmas enthusiast, I'm also excited about the approaching Christmas and wishing for the snow to come soon. 

Have a great day! :)

Zero Letters to Reply

My dearest pen pals and blog-readers,

I'm happy to say I have finally replied to every single letter that I have received. I cannot remember the last time I had zero letters to reply, but this surely feels good. I mean, it's nice to know I'm not keeping any of my pen pals waiting for a letter to arrive.

That said, I would like to know if any of you believe your letters haven't arrived to their destinations or that my letters to you have gotten lost on the way. I hate it when mail gets lost, but it does happen & it would be extremely annoying to lose a pen pal because of undelivered mail. So please, let me hear from you guys!

As I take quite a lot of pictures, it would be difficult not to have any pics in a blog post, so here we go:

Summer cottage vibes from Lappeenranta.

Gotta start the jogging season, so far it's going well. ;)

It's possible to enjoy the summer cottage even during the fall. 

Lingonberries :)

Have a great fall (or spring) day!!

Erasmus Traveling - Istanbul part 5

Ohh. :( The last day in Istanbul started with me going to Taksim square alone. My aim was to do some shopping on the last day, as I knew how much liras I had left. It was a good decision as the weather was very cold and gloomy, so it was nice to stay inside. I especially liked this candy store, tho I bought only Turkish coffee from there. I'm planning on bringing the coffee home, and letting my family try it out. I'm quite sure I know how to prepare it as well. 

My pen pal was going to message me after she was finished with her lessons for the day. I never received a message from her, which was weird as she did send one and on the same day I received a message from another person, so obviously my phone was working. It was like a miracle that she bombed into me on the street. haha. I'm glad she found me! We decided to head to an Irish bar - never been to an Irish one before, so why not. It was nice to be inside for a while as the weather outside wasn't very nice. 

The next idea was to go to the Galata Tower, but it seemed to be very pricey. Besides the weather was so gloomy that we wouldn't have been able to see much from there anyways. It's kinda funny I have been to Istanbul twice now, and still haven't been to the tower. haha.

Galata tower

A few postcards that I bought :)

Then it was time to do the last minute packing - I dislike packing so much! Already at 8 pm I felt so tired, so it was time to drink some more coffee. haha. At 10 pm it was time to leave Istanbul behind and sit another 10 hours in the bus. I had some snacks on the way, which can be seen on the picture above. It was sad to leave Istanbul, as I don't know if I can go there again, and if I can, when it would happen. It was also sad to leave my 'new' friends behind, as meeting them again might take a long time. Hopefully the next meeting happens sooner than we think! 

Now it's time to show some things that I bought. On the picture you can see my new black jeans and a cardigan (I actually bought another one as well, which is black). There are also some magnets, soap and socks, which I'm going to bring home. The other things are eatable, some of which I will eat at 'home' in Greece and others I'll take back to Finland as souvenirs. It's always interesting to try out things from a local grocery store. haha. 

THANK YOU very much for hosting me and for the gifts! I wouldn't have been able to travel there on my own, explore the city and try local things without you. I wish you have a chance to visit Finland one day, so I can return the favour! :) THANK YOU!!

Gifts from the lovely Turkish friends! :)

I absolutely love the bracelet! <3

To end this series of traveling in Turkey, I hope this wasn't my last trip to Turkey - I'd like to see more of it, maybe different cities next time. :)

Erasmus Traveling - Istanbul part 4

Dolmabahçe palace

The second last day in Istanbul started with a trip to the Dolmabahçe palace, which is famous among tourists and also worth visiting to the locals. It was a Sunday, so obviously it was packed with other people, so we had to wait in queues for a while. I gotta mention one a bit annoying thing, which is that the tickets are way more expensive for foreigners than they are for Turkish people, which is good for the Turks, of course.  

Inside of the place is full of beautiful rooms with decorations everywhere, To me this was the most beautiful palace, which I have visited in Istanbul. It looks beautiful inside and out. As it was forbidden to take pictures inside, I don't have any, though I saw many people taking pictures and then the guards yelled ''no foto''. haha. 

Next it was time to take a ferry to the other side, to the Asian side of Istanbul. I had been there only once before, approximately for an hour. This time we spent a bit longer there, which was nice, tho there weather wasn't perfect by no means. First we ended up eating at Mc. Donald's as we were hungry and it was close by. I can always be surprised how cheap it is in other countries, when comparing the prices to Finland. haha. 

We were planning on going to the Maiden's Tower, but the trip there was ridiculously expensive, especially because it's an island with one building. However, I'm sure the view would be nice from there, especially on a sunny summer day. The place seemed to be on married couple's favour, so if you are on your honey-moon, maybe it would be a good place to visit. 

The rest of the day was spent mainly on shopping, or rather visiting stores without buying anything. haha. Well, I did buy this cute owl mug. I don't know why I keep on buying mugs from the countries, which I visit, but then I don't use the mugs at home. That's why I decided to actually use this mug, when I get back to Finland. :)

The next post will be the last part of my journey in Istanbul, however, the memories will always stay in my mind. :)

Erasmus Traveling - Istanbul part 3

The third day (Oct. 25th) in Istanbul started with a traditional Turkish breakfast. It was interesting to experience it, and I actually liked it (at least some parts of it). I found it a bit strange to eat sweet things for breakfast, such as honey. To be honest I liked the vegetables, the tea and the bread the most, however, I was also surprised how much better these green olives were compared to the ones I have eaten in Finland. 

After breakfast we headed towards Yildiz Palace Museum. To be honest, the palace wasn't any special. There were some interesting rooms and decorations, and of course, it was forbidden to take pictures inside. One of the workers at the museum allowed us to take pictures, so I did, of course. From my point of view the other palaces are much more interesting than this one, besides also quite similar apart from the size. That said, the view from the window was amazing!

The whole city seemed to be full of flags and cats. I don't think I have ever seen such a big amount of either of them in the same place at the same time. The cats were very cute, tho!

After the museum visit, we kept on walking, checking out some stores and admiring the views. After a while we ended up to the Ortaköy Mosque, which looks rather beautiful from the outside. We went inside as well, and what I know about mosques, this one seemed rather normal. 

What seems to become more of a norm, the actions of the day ended with eating. Istanbul, and especially one restaurant (which name I cannot recall.. oops.) is famous for its filled potatoes. The idea of it is similar to Subway's, you take a potato and decide what you want inside of it. It was very tasty and I would eat one again even though it was kinda pricey even for a Finn. Later in the evening I visited Starbucks in Turkey for the first time. Even though the prices were high compared to other cafes in Turkey, they were still cheap compared to the ones in Finland. hah.