ToyVoyagers - Travelling Toys - Little Things on Big Adventures

I got to visit Helsinki, the capital city, with my host today. It was a brief visit and it was dark most of the time, therefore the photos are mainly from the main street. Photos 4 and 5 show the main railway station. Because it was so dark my host enhanced the photos: half of the photo is as dark as it really was and the other half made brighter so that you could see what I saw - isn't that nice of her?

Helsinki is only 50km west from Porvoo and it takes about 1 hour by buss (from Porvoo to Helsinki). There are about 500 000 inhabitants there.
Here's a brief history of Helsinki.

Here some touristy information.

Christmas lights everywhere! The third pic from the end shows the parliament house and behind it (the tower) The National Museum. The second pic from the end shows the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma(the white building on the back) and the statue of CG Mannerheim (the riding man next to it). In the last photo there's some of the newer buildings, it's not all Old.

We even saw Santa Claus doing tricks on a rope! What a country...

TS Posted Sep 2, 2007, 10:31 pm	Hi. My name is Tanusha. I am a monkey. created by Tatiana Scalozub. I live with her now in Odessa, a wonderfull cite at the Black Sea. Hope to travel a lot and to make frendship all over the world. Now I am packing my suitcases and wait someone will invite me. Dreaming... Look at my photo! I am so pretty, isn't me? I am going to visit soon: 1) Vienna, Austria - ChristinaB
ChristinaB Posted Sep 14, 2007, 6:27 pm	Hello! I savely arrived in Vienna/Austria 2 days ago. So far I had a great time together with some other toyvoyagers (there is Kleo, the little doggie from Italy and Eireannach, the pig from Russia who wants to be Irish and then there is Béstik, a crazy guy from Czechia) and with my hosts. I haven't been sightseein yet since my host is quite busy at the moment but I was promised that she'll show me around in the city next week.
ChristinaB Posted Sep 23, 2007, 8:19 am	Yesterday my friends and I spent a wonderful day at Schönbrunn Palace. The weather was wonderful so we enjoyed a loooong walk in the park. We passed by the palmhous and even went up a hill to "Gloriette" which is a wonderful point of view. And then - after walking alot - our host decided that we were so brave that we deserved a visit in Europe's oldest zoo! It was great there!! I met some of my relatives... and I almost fullfilled one of my mission: to see real pandas. But unfortunately they were locked in in their house because they just got a baby (which is very, very rare I was told) and they needed some privacy.
ChristinaB Posted Oct 2, 2007, 7:59 pm	Meanwhile I did alot of sight-seeing here in Vienna. My host showed me around in the city and I finally saw all these famous builings in reality which I only knew from pictures so far. So for example Christina took me to the Austrian Parliament, to the City Hall, The Old Imperial theatre and to the museum of historical arts. We also saw Hofburg, the castle where the Habsburg family lived a long time ago and where nowadays the Austrian National Library, the President's office and some other museums are inside. I also got to know these funny carbages called "Fiaker" and the house created by Friedensreich Hundertwasser (isn't it beautiful with all its different colours??) and I was told that there are many, many more things to visit here in Vienna.
ChristinaB Posted Oct 2, 2007, 8:02 pm	After all this sight-seeing in Vienna our host decided that we TV should also see some other beautiful places of Austria, so she put us into the car and drove to her parents with Eireannach, Kleo, Daisy and me. They live in Upper Austria in an area called Salzkammergut and indeed, it was very beautiful there! On Saturday evening we drove up a little mountain from where we had a very nice view to lake Traunsee and all the other mountains around. We also visited a very special castle there. It's called "Schloss Orth" and it consists of 2 parts: a "normal" castle and a "water castle" situated on a small island in the lake. Unfortunately we went there in the evening and it was already a bit dark, so the photos didn't come out so well
ChristinaB Posted Oct 2, 2007, 8:04 pm	On Sunday we went to an other lake, Attersee. Unfortunately at the end of September it's already too cold here in Austria to have a swim in the lake but i was told that my host family spent a wonderful summer holiday there.
ChristinaB Posted Oct 2, 2007, 8:06 pm	There happened something really exciting during my stay in Upper Austria. We saw a balloon landing close to the house of my host's parents! We already watched it a while before coming closer and closer and then it really came down. Especially for my host's kids it was really really exciting, but I must admit, I was fascinated, too. Never ever in my whole doggie-life I saw such a huge balloon soooo close before!!
ChristinaB Posted Oct 13, 2007, 5:11 pm	Last weekend on Saturday there was a perfect autumn day so my hosts decided to go to the woods with us and search for some mushrooms. It lasted only a short while until we found the first one. Poisonous! It was the same with the next one... but then!!! Finally we found a really delicious mushroom and Kleo and I were sooo proud of ourselves.
ChristinaB Posted Oct 13, 2007, 5:15 pm	I stayed in Vienna for a couple of weeks but then it was time to say good-bye. I had a wonderful time in Austria but I have to hurry up now because I'm invited to visit a monkey-halloween party in the USA which sounds very exciting to me! So I left Austria this week for the USA. My host promised me to update my travellog with pictures from the Giant Wheel and Danube tower while I'm on my way there. Good bye, Austria - tschüüüüüß!!!
Delenna Posted Dec 5, 2007, 6:50 pm	I arrived in Porvoo safely I was welcomed by Lucky-Ducky, I handsome toyvoyager who has been with this family for a while already, and Poochie, the cute little doggie from Postcrossing. Also the girls in the family had been expecting me and were thrilled when I finally arrived! I felt so warmly welcome, I'm sure I'll have a blast here
Delenna Posted Dec 5, 2007, 7:01 pm	I got to see a bit of the town of Porvoo already! That is the main street in this little city (47 000 inhabitants). It's quite dark during the winter time as the sun doesn't rise very high and thus doesn't stay up too long. The 4th picture shows the "beginning" of the Old Town and the last picture a window of a toy store there. The store is tiny and sells all sorts of toys that are made of wood, tin... anything but plastic! They have this Moomin window all year 'round. They just decorate it according to every season - naturally now is winter/christmas theme. My host's daughters want to see this window every single time they pass it, which is several times per week!
Delenna Posted Dec 5, 2007, 7:08 pm	It was the grand opening of Christmas season in Porvoo! We saw Santa Claus and his little helpers! And a parade with torches! And firemen divers! The divers were at the riverbank of River Porvoo. Also the parade started there. Santa's parade ended in the city center: they sang, there was a local animal farm and lots and lots of people. My host was interviewed for the local newspaper but we didnät get our picture in it
Delenna Posted Dec 5, 2007, 7:21 pm	My host took two of her eldest daughters to an Elf workshop at Taidetehdas (Art Factory, see 3rd pic). The two first photos are taken from the opposide side of the river - I mean opposite to last post (the Santa Claus one). Christmas surprises were made at six different areas of a craft workshop that utilises recycled materials. I helped the girls of course! We made for example wrapping paper (stamping nice figures on a newspaper), puzzles, christmas decorations... We all had fun and the girls learned that not everything has to be bought in a store brand new. Well, I believe they knew that already...
Delenna Posted Dec 5, 2007, 8:04 pm	Well well, here's a bunch of photos from the Old Town! Porvoo Cathedral, dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, gained its present from at the end of the 15th century. The roof is being renovated as it was burnt down by arson in May 2006. The first yellow building (with dark roof), The Chapter House, used to be a school ("highschool") until 1850 and the next (with red roof) is the Bishop's House (built in 1920's) where the bishop of the swedish-speaking diocese lives now. In the "High school", in 1809, the Tsar of Russia (Tsar Alexander I) officially opened the Porvoo diet and held an imperial ball. There is a story of a romance... In the 7th photo I'm walking down towards the river... And finally crossing the old bridge. On the other side of it I see the red shore houses and on the other the Castle Hill where used to be a fortress/castle hundreds of years ago ( a good place to play Robin Hood I was told).
Delenna Posted Dec 5, 2007, 8:15 pm	Boyh have I had a busy week! Today we spent some time sliding a hillock The girls wanted to There wasn't enough snow but wet grass slides quite well... Me, Lucky-Ducky and Poochie tried it too! This was next to my hostfamily's home. It was cold and I didn't have much to wear but they had a solution to it: I stay in the hood of one of the kids and come out only for the photoshoot! This way I see a lot but don't have to freeze!
Delenna Posted Dec 5, 2007, 8:21 pm	This is me walking to the Old Town again. My hostfamily crosses the old bridge and walks thru the old town every time they walk to the city center. This is the "shopping part" of the old town. Cafes, shops, museums... The last photo shows the street where the Moomin house window is. This place is crowded during the summers! Now I was the only tourist there
Delenna Posted Dec 5, 2007, 8:33 pm	My host is fond of river photos... There are 4 bridges crossing the river so there are plenty of angles to take photos of! The third one is the Orthodox Church quite close to my host's home. then again, everything seems to be close to everything here
Delenna Posted Dec 5, 2007, 8:57 pm	More snow! Much more snow! And a play for kids at the Art Factory: "Viiru's Christmas plans". Viiru is a (hyperactive) cat who did quite a few things... He was funny too! Viiru is a character in a Swedish comis/cartoon/book illustration. He has adventures with his owner called Pesonen. Here a few pictures of them: http://www.film-o-holic.com/1998-2003/arvostelut/ensi_illat/op/pettson_och_findus_kattonauten.htm Their original (Swedish) names are Findus & Pettson.
Delenna Posted Dec 7, 2007, 7:16 pm	Congratulations Finland! 90 years of independence!
Delenna Posted Dec 7, 2007, 7:42 pm	I got to visit Helsinki, the capital city, with my host today. It was a brief visit and it was dark most of the time, therefore the photos are mainly from the main street. Photos 4 and 5 show the main railway station. Because it was so dark my host enhanced the photos: half of the photo is as dark as it really was and the other half made brighter so that you could see what I saw - isn't that nice of her? Helsinki is only 50km west from Porvoo and it takes about 1 hour by buss (from Porvoo to Helsinki). There are about 500 000 inhabitants there. Here's a brief history of Helsinki. Here some touristy information. Christmas lights everywhere! The third pic from the end shows the parliament house and behind it (the tower) The National Museum. The second pic from the end shows the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma(the white building on the back) and the statue of CG Mannerheim (the riding man next to it). In the last photo there's some of the newer buildings, it's not all Old. We even saw Santa Claus doing tricks on a rope! What a country...
Delenna Posted Jan 9, 2008, 5:56 pm	My host and her kids made gingerbread cookies - and I of course helped out! The kids enjoy most of all the decorating part. In the pics we're making a gingerbread crown. Traditionally people make a house but my host said she got fed up after doing one - and that was about 10 years ago! After that she's made different building every year. Except for 2006 and 2005 when she made a Moomin house. She found out by herself a way to make a tall, round house and was very pleased with it. This year they made this crown because last xmas my host got a book with all sorts of examples of gingerbread cookies - she decided to start with this simple one as it was easy to divide the task between the girls.
Delenna Posted Jan 9, 2008, 6:01 pm	Christmas! In Finland they celebrate it on Christmas Eve. The feast wasn't a traditional one - we ate burritos! Every family member enjoys this unlike the traditional foods. The tradtional version would include ham, potato casserole, carrot casserole and Swedish turnip casserole, fish, this stuff... etc. The only traditional foods they had were rice porridge in the morning and plum pastries for dessert (plus the gingerbread cookies of course). But it was good! I helped the kids decorate the tree and while we were outdoors had Santa dropped the gifts to the balcony! With a letter! I got a gift too! It was an red woollen scarf to keep me warm in the windy weather. It suits me very well! In addition to all this we went to the sauna (it's also a tradition on Christmas although these people go there at least weekly anyway) and watched tv. My host's favorite is the Jimminy Cricket christmas show (the cartoon)!
Delenna Posted Jan 9, 2008, 6:03 pm	Happy New Year!
Delenna Posted Jan 9, 2008, 6:09 pm	We were invited to a christening - me, Lucky-Ducky and Poochie (a Postcrossing voyager). My host's friend had her second daughter and that little baby girl was christened. My host was asked to take the photos and she gladly did. Here is only a few, but the rest were with people and my host thought they pobably would mind being on the net without permission. It was a nice ceremony with nice food and gifts. The last pic is me by a bay in the sunset.
Delenna Posted Jan 25, 2008, 5:39 pm	Two of my host's daughters held a joint birthday party. They turned 6 and 2. the younger one had that Winnie the Pooh cake and the elder one the barbie cake. There was also cookies and drinks served. Grandparents and godparents were invited. It was a small but crowdy party and the girls got many presents!
Delenna Posted Jan 25, 2008, 5:43 pm	It has been a weird winter here. Almost no snow, mostly wet & windy. My host says it's been like this for a couple of years, nothing like she was young in the good old days She took a pic to show a day when it snowed and the wind blew hard. We stayed indoors so I didn't go and try my new woollen scarf either.
Delenna Posted Feb 5, 2008, 10:22 am	This is my final entry. I will go back home to Ukraine next week. I have had a wonderful adventure visiting all these nice places and meeting all these nice people.