Thomas, Helsinki, Finland

Margarita88 Posted Nov 28, 2009, 3:03 pm	Dear everyone!! Thomas has been asking me for ages now if he can travel the world, just like all those cool toys he sees on Toyvoyagers and postcrossing. So, today I finally gave in; Thomas can leave for his big trip around the globe. He is a bit of a fearful teddy so he would like to stay with some reliable people who would be willing to keep an eye on him and make some snapshots of him now and then. (he is too small to hold the camera by himself) If you can help him update his log that would be great. Thomas is easygoing and would like to tag along everywhere you go, to work/school/home or a day of sightseeing. He doesnt mind sleeping on the couch and doesnt eat very much. Travelexpenses are low since he is very small. Thomas has always been dreaming about going to famous places and meeting people everwhere he goes. He also has some specific things he would really love to see and do, maybe you can help him? Maybe you can take his picture at one of these places and decribe his experiences in his blog. You would make him very happy. Some of the places he would like to see and things he would like to do are: To do: -Sit on a horse with a cowboy from Texas -Drink vodka with someone in Russia -Drink a German beer with a German in Germany -Ride the swanboats in Boston, MA -Have my photo taken with someone dressed in Geisha-clothes -Pose for a photo with a random person on the street in Alabama, US -Go on a fishingtrip -Join a typically Polish holiday/party/dinner/game -Eat pasta with a family from Italy -Have my picture taken in front and inside of any Wall Mart store -Visit a church in the US -Eat an icecream with my host in a warm country -Go to an American Football game with an American host -Join a family anywhere in the world for a boardgame -Go to an icehockey match -Visit someone's grandparents -Pose for a photo with a random person from Australia -Have a snack from a vending machine at a railway station -Meet a German Shepherd dog -Watch the view from the top floor of a very high building -Dance a traditional dance -Go to a bookstore in Finland -Pose somewhere outside with the flag of the country I am in -Have my picture taken with a policeman or anyone else in uniform -Meet another Toyvoyager along my travels -Make some new friends in the zoo -Meet girls dressed in Harajuku fashion To see: -The London eye -Christmasmarket in Germany -Chinese wall -New York City -Petronas twin towers, Kuala Lumpur -The most beautiful sight in Denmark (according to the opinion of my host) -Leaning tower of Pisa -Route 66 -Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace -The northern light -Surfers on the beach Thomas would love it if you would join him in the photo(s) but thats ofcourse whatever you prefer. Info Thomas is very small and will fit in a regular size envelope Thomas weighs hardly anything and will cost the same amount of postage as a regular letter Thomas can and wouldnt mind to travel in your bag or the pocket of your jacket (leave the zipper open a bit so he can breathe!) Thomas would greatly appreciate it if you take good care of him and will make sure he arrives safely at his next destination Thomas does not carry a notebook, he would like you to make his notes and post his pictures in his log Thomas would like to see so much more of the world than just the earlier named places. Where can you take him or who can you have him meet? Who would like to host Thomas?
Julieash Posted Dec 7, 2009, 8:21 pm	Thomas made it here (Gatineau, Quebec, Canada) today December 7, 2009.  We will start taking lots of photos later on and he's going to a Hockey game (NHL - Canadians vs Senators) tomorrow night We will add tons of photos.
swan Posted Jan 7, 2010, 12:47 am	Thomas arrived here today in a red envelope. He immediately met another Toy Voyager named Wolle who is permanently staying with me. Thomas is so glad to have escaped the ice storm in Canada that was raging when he left. Now he's enjoying sunny California. They're already talking about doing some adventures together.
swan Posted Jan 10, 2010, 4:00 am	Hallo, this is Thomas. Today, I had a little night adventure. First we went to church. It was too dark inside the chapel, though, so that the picture with me didn't work out  But we made two pictures outside. There were some lights, so that was better. On the first one, you see me in front of these stairs, they go four stories up. Looks quite beautiful and there are some little crosses attached to that building on the outside. The second picture shows me with the Worship Center in the background. Swan told me that's really big, we didn't go inside today, though. She promised me to take me there another time. Today, we were in the chapel, which is a smaller, older building. The church is called Lake Avenue Church. The third picture show us on the way home. Oh, I have to tell you more about that bridge later, when we can make better pictures during the day. We also cross the Historic Route 66 when we walk to church or back to Swan's home. That's me with the street sign on the last picture. Oh, it was so exciting to have this pre-view during the night. We'll go to all these places again some other day when the sun shines and we can see better
swan Posted Jan 25, 2010, 7:42 pm	As promised, we went back to the church the next morning when the sun was shining. The first picture is me outside the chapel that we visited yesterday night. Then we found a flag pole with a US flag. I was happy since I like to take a picture of me with the flag of the country I'm visiting. You can't see much, because there's no wind, but that's the flag, I promise  Then, as we strolled along, there was another building. Oh, this campus is so big, I was glad I had a guide. This building has the stairs next to it that are so pretty at night. And finally, I'm outside the big worship center. There's a patio in front of it and even nice big trees. Today, we had to leave, but we'll go inside before I leave here. On our way back, we crossed a large freeway with so many lanes, it was fun to watch the cars from above.  Right after we crossed the bridge, we had another look at the church.
swan Posted Jan 25, 2010, 7:57 pm	To celebrate my visit, Swan's husband was so nice to invite me to a really nice bufftet. The seafood was so yummy. I had never had an oyster before. Oh, and the dessert    And after that dessert, paella with seafood. I was sooo stuffed at the end, it was really good.
swan Posted Jan 30, 2010, 2:56 am	Now I show you the surroundings where we had this nice meal. There was a great view of the town below (with a freeway). We also made a picture of me and my host Swan looking up from below. Do you see us waving? She's the one with the red sweatshirt, I'm the handsome guy in her left hand, hehe. We even had life music in that place. They only played near other tables, though, until right before we left. When we left, we also saw these interesting yellow and blue birds, parrots or something, they had a big cage. When we had arrived, they were there, too, but we only had a short look because we were hungry.
swan Posted Jan 30, 2010, 3:12 am	In the middle of the week, I think it may have been Thursday, we went to the post office. The post office is on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena. This part of the street is part of the Historic Route 66. Mostly, it doesn't look very special now, though it is still a major city street, but this motel called Vagabond in might have gotten its name way back when this was still the busy Route 66. In the first picture you see the sign of Michaels, the craft store where Swan likes to shop sometimes. Then there is the motel next to it. On the third picture, we're on the other side of the street, Wolle and I hanging out on a newspaper box while Swan is taking a picture. The last picture shows the post office, the darker grey part of the building next to my right antler.
swan Posted Jan 30, 2010, 3:22 am	Look at what else we found. Red roses in the middle of January. It's winter, but here in Southern California, often the plants don't know it, they get confused and bloom in the middle of winter.
swan Posted Jan 30, 2010, 5:13 am	Another weekend and we are again at one of those fancy places. My hosts assured me, they don't do it every week  I even got a picture with Swan's hubby. The food with the bone sticking out between the cucumber salad and the mushrooms is lamb. It was really yummy and tender.  The two views of the buffet don't even show everything. Outside there was this beautiful artificial pond. I set on the bench for a while and relaxed.
swan Posted Jan 30, 2010, 5:26 am	You remember when I told you I'd show you the inside of the Worship Center at Lake Avenue Church? Today we went inside. It was the time between the two Sunday services, so not so many people were there. The orchestra is getting ready, though. We didn't use the flash in order not to disturb anyone. Swan told me that about 2000 people can sit in there.
swan Posted Feb 1, 2010, 8:16 pm	The place we ate at today wasn't so special, my hosts say they know a place that's better for the same price. I believe them, because the desserts all tasted the same here, just sweet. But because we were already close by, we went to the Alpine Village in Torrance. It's like a little German town inside the city. We looked at and inside the chapel and went into a few stores. I was dreaming among the fairy tale books and I met a funny Yoda nutcracker. I even tried to read a German magazine about JFK. In the last picture, you can see our green parked car, by the way, and in the background the store that has all the German food.
swan Posted Feb 1, 2010, 9:03 pm	I'd like to show you the nice view we had of the skyline of downtown Los Angeles. I had a really good view from the front of the car.
swan Posted Feb 1, 2010, 9:18 pm	We ate at an Afghan restaurant. Mmm, the eggplant was yummy, it was soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. And they had really nice paintings in the walls. I'm feeling like an adventurer just looking at this.
swan Posted Feb 1, 2010, 9:27 pm	The adventure continues, I'm now off to my next destination. Byebye, Pasadena and Swan.  My next destination is Finland. I'm traveling in a comfy envelope.
Huppu68 Posted Mar 4, 2010, 10:46 pm	Hi Mom, I'm here in Helsinki, the capital of Finland now I arrived here last month and at first I was in a shock - it was sooooooo cold here after the sunny California and lots of snow too I didn't go out for a few days, I just watched the views and got to know to my new host Kirsi and her toys, my new friends.
Huppu68 Posted Mar 4, 2010, 11:20 pm	The first place I visited here is one of the most important buildings of Helsinki, or that's what my host says, and it's the café of the main post office. I was told we would spend a lot of time together there in the future writing postcards, drinking latte and chatting with some great Finnish postcrossers. I went there with my new friends Jelle, Mercury, Pipi, Sam and Manu the Rubber Duck. We had a delicious cheese pie and a huge cup of latte. We also wrote a few postcards. It was a nice place
Huppu68 Posted Mar 4, 2010, 11:34 pm	As I said earlier it has been quite cold here and lots of snow. They haven't had this much snow here in ten years... Well, I finally went out to see and feel snow - it was could, but nice We played there until it became dark...
Huppu68 Posted Mar 11, 2010, 10:38 pm	I saw a snowman It looked great! We were walking around the city when it was a bit warmer and sunny. Spring is slowly coming here, but it takes a long timed before all the snow melts down... We also saw the beautiful Lutheran Cathedral of Helsinki and my host took some pictures of us in front of the Cathedral - yes, we are there After walking around we went back home and made a delicious meal: fish and smashed potatoes On Monday 8.3. we celebrated the International Women's Day and had a party for Jelle and Pipi. They left Finland on Tuesday; Pipi went to Holland and Jelle back home to Estonia. Anyway, we had lots of fun at the party and we got tea, cake and chocolates It was so nice to meet the girls and I'm sure we'll miss them - now it's just us guys left here
Huppu68 Posted Mar 13, 2010, 7:52 pm	Yesterday my host wanted to have some special quality time with me and we went together to the city and the other toys stayed at home. I think that was cool We went to the city by tram no.9 and I got to show our ticket to a special machine on a tram. We walked by the botanical garden and I noticed a place for a rose with a awesome name Too bad it's winter now and there are no roses outside...
Huppu68 Posted Mar 13, 2010, 8:17 pm	My host Kirsi knew I wanted to go to a bookstore in Finland so she surprised me and we went to a huge bookstore called Akateeminen Kirjakauppa. She told me that kirjakauppa is bookstore in Finnish - soon I'll speak Finnish without any problems There were 3 floors in the shop, but we stayed at the first one - it was the most interesting one. We saw lots of great postcards and I loved all the books. I also read some comics and liked the one called Viivi and wagner; a woman living together with a pig as a copuple There was a one great book called This is Finland. We both wanted to buy it, but it was just way over our budget. Kirsi promised me we can go to a library and read the book there together with my toy friends. After spending about an hour in the bookstore we went for a latte to a nice café. We also wrote a few postcards there; we both love the new vegetable stamps
Huppu68 Posted Mar 16, 2010, 6:45 pm	We had a lazy Sunday We watched some movies and relaxed. My host wanted to watch a girls' movie so we boys started to play a board game. My host's cat Lauri wanted to play too, but we already had two pairs so he just watched after us and made sure we weren't cheating and played a fair play. I won't tell who were the lucky winners, but you can still call me Sir Thomas Yesterday we went to the city again by tram and we bought movie tickets. We are going to the movies tomorrow and we'll see Alice in Wonderland in 3D version. We are all thrilled about the movie, especially after our host showed us the trailer from her computer I think we'll have fun tomorrow - we'll get pop corn too Today we are celebrating the nameday of my host's boyfriend and the most important thing is that we got some special Finnish cake called Bostonkakku, cake of Boston
Huppu68 Posted Mar 18, 2010, 7:56 pm	Yey, we watched Alice in wonderland at movies yesterday It was a wonderful movie and we all loved it Too bad we couldn't take any pictures at the movies... We got a huge package of pop corn and we ate them all   After the movie my host wanted to have a big latte so we went to Rober's Coffee. The café was by the main street of Helsinki called Mannerheinintie and we could see real city life by sitting at the café. You might even see the Parliament House behind us if you look carefully at the picture At home we wanted to have the same kind of tea party like they had in the movie and my host thought it was a nice idea. We even got to try how it felt to be inside of a teapot like Alice was in the movie Too bad we didn't have Johnny Depp there with us, but we had fun anyway. Today my host went to bank and we didn't want to go with her, because she said there would be really boring for us. It was snowing again and it was really windy so we stayed inside the whole day. My host brought us the book I wanted to read from a library and we all read it together. My host's cat Lauri joined us too when we were looking at the map of Finland and Manu the Duck showed us where he had visited. We found one very interesting picture of the Senate Square and Kirsi promised we can go there soon again. That's the same place where the Lutheran Cathedral is.
Huppu68 Posted Mar 23, 2010, 8:38 pm	We went to a skiffle music concert on Saturday evening. There were two bands, the first one was a Finnish band called Werner Bros and the another one was from Italy and called The Jas..zc.. - oh, you can check out their name from the pictures The concert was great and we got really good seats at the front row. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures there, but after the concert we watched Werner Bros DVD. We also got a Sean the Sheep DVD, but we saved it for Sunday evening
Huppu68 Posted Mar 23, 2010, 9:32 pm	On Sunday we went shopping to a huge shopping mall called Sello in Espoo, the second largest city of Finland after Helsinki. My host's boyfriend was looking for jeans and we just walkked around the mall with my host. We bought little something for Easter and a beautiful necklase for my host. It was fun, but exhausting to walk there for a few hours... In the evening we were all tired and we just ordered pizza for dinner; it was delicious My host and her boyfriend watched a movie and we toys watched Sean the Sheep DVD. It was really funny and we all laughed a lot Yesterday evening my host went to a concert of The Baseballs, a German rockabilly band. The concert was sold out and started so late that I stayed at home with my friends. I got to listen the Baseballs band from iPod and it sounded fantastic; it's one of my favourite bands now
Huppu68 Posted Mar 23, 2010, 11:22 pm	We got a new friend yesterday. Molly arrived here all the way from Australia. We wanted to make her welcomed so we had a small flag of Finland and some chocolates for her. She is a really cute teddy and we all liked her right away We went to the centre of the city and showed her the most important building of Helsinki - the Main Post Office. I got my picture taken in front of it too We sat on a bench waiting for a tram back home and had a latte. We always get a latte and chocolate when a new TV arrives here Molly was really tired when we got back at home, she also suffered a bit of jetlag I think. Well, she went to bed and I stayed up a little longer listening to The Baseballs
Huppu68 Posted Mar 27, 2010, 9:03 pm	Today we went to the café of the main post office for a latte. My host met her friend there and they chatted for two hours; that's something only women can do Wow! My host just told me I'm travelling to Australia tomorrow I'm soooo excited We had a big party in the evening, because Sam is also leaving Finland and travelling to Germany tomorrow. We had a welcoming party for Molly at the same time too.
Huppu68 Posted Mar 27, 2010, 10:39 pm	Today we all went to the Café Java for having a latte together for the last time. I was a bit sad, because I had to leave my friends, but also thrilled to have new adventures in Australia. We had a latte and I chatted with all my friends. I had a long talk with Molly and she told me a lot of how's life in DownUnder. Too soon it was time for me and Sam to go in to our envelopes and my host took us to the post office. Goodbye Finland and thank you! I had fun here Mom, I'm going to Australia - can you believe it Kisses and hugs, Thomas

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