Travelog for: Blinchick

We went to the main cementery of the city which was opened in 1897.












This place is for policemen who died working.






After the cementery we went to a memorial park, which is in honor to all the people who died in the militar dictatorship in 1973.



This stree symbolizes the strenght of life.



On this wall there are the names of some of the missing and dead people.



Néstor Gallardo Agüero is Leslie's relative.

NO PARKING sign in spanish 

We went for a walk around the house. Did I ever mention that the house is just 5 houses away from the very end of the city? so you just cross the street and youre in the country side

Heading south from the house I found this nice lagoon, sadly the day was kinda rainy, so we had to go back pretty soon and couldnt go further.

We visited the cementery again, but this time I focused on the flowers, they were absolutely beautiful! 

Today Leslie recieved some presents that Claire's mum sent her.
Of course I wanted to help opening the candies 

We visited a famous train museum Pablo Neruda.
Sadly we couldn't go in to where the main trains are, because the structure is damaged since the earthquake in february and it's dangerous to go in, so that part is closed 
This is a part of the wall...



Do you know the onomatopoeia for the sound of trains in spanish?
well, i do, it's ''chucu chucu'' lol



This is where thay loaded charcoal



This was the presidential train many years ago. Can you see me there?










There were lots of poems carved on copper that Pablo Neruda, wrote to the trains.

The last place I visited was an art exposition... though I think it was boring, too abstract for my taste, lol



...And this is my last day in Chile,
I had a great time here and I'm going to miss it!
Now I'm heading to Finland where I'm sure I will have fun!

BYE BYE CHILE!

Hi Mom,

Finally I'm here in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Wow, it took a really long time for me to travel here, but everything is fine now. I'm really hungry and I want to meet some new friends here at my new host's home. I'l write more later, but now I'll go to eat something... Oh, I almost forgot - here's lots of snow and really cold compered to Chile...

Hi Mom,

When I arrived here on Tuesday evening I got lots of fish soup. It was made of salmon and it tasted delicious. No pictures of me eating - I was just too hungry and I think I forgot my good table mannors... After the soup I got a cup of warm tea and some gingerbreads (Picure 1) - and then I finally met the rest of the gang. There were Michel, K-Bear and Manu the Rubber Duck. (Picture 2) They wanted to hear all about my trips, but unfortunately I was too tired to talk with them. They all seemed really nice though and I felt myself very welcomed here. Before I went to bed we all got some sweet chocolate dessert. (Picture 3)

On Wednesday my host went to a hospital for a few hours. It was a beautiful sunny day, but a way too cold, -17C. My host asked would we like to join her so we could take some pictures, but we all answered "No, thank you!" It was nice to stay inside and we had so much fun there together chatting and getting to know each others a bit better. -17 C and really cold wind, hrrrrrr...

Today it was only -7C and it felt much warmer so we went to the city to see some sights. Manu and K-Bear stayed at home so Michel and I got a private tour. We went to the city by tram. It's the easiest and fastest way to travel here. The tram stop is in front of my host's outdoor. We waited for a tram and I saw snow here for the first time. (Picture 4) Well, I had seen snow through windows here, but not for real before this. It looked nice, but I didn't want to touch it though.

At first we went to the main railway station of Helsinki. (Picture 5) It was designed by architect Eliel Saarinen and it has been there since 1919. Right next to the railway station is the most important building of Helsinki - the main post office. Oh, my host is addicted to Postcrossing
( www.postcrossing. com ) and that's her oppinion. The post office is the yellow building behind me. (Picture 6) We went in to the post office and looked really impressive. (Picture 7) There's also a nice café there and my host told me that it is the place where they usually have their postcrossing meetings. If I stay here long enough I can join their meeting - that sounds interesting. Mailboxes are here bright orange and in the 1st of February there are also going to be blue mailboxes for the 1st class mail. I like the colour of those boxes. (Picture 8)

We walked about 200 meters and saw three interesting buildings. The first one was Kiasma, the contemporary art museum. (Picture 9) It's a modern building in the middle of the city and all the old buildings. Kiasma was opened in 1998. The next building was the Parliament House of Finland and it's Eduskuntatalo in Finnish. (Picture 10) It was built between 1926 and 1931. It is a huge building and I think it would be interesting to go inside of it too. My host told us that there are arranged guided tours sometimes and she promised to find out when are the next ones. She hasn't ever been inside of the Parliament House either... The last of these buildings was the National Museum of Finland. (Picture 11) The tower is 58 meters high. I wasn't so interested in the history of the building anymore after I noticed a big bear statue in the front of the museum. My host just had to take a photo of me and Michel with the statue. (Picture 12) Kirsi told us that there's also another bear statue in a place which is called the bear park, Karhupuisto in Finnish. That statue is now covered with snow, but we can go to see it someday.

We jumped to a tram again and went to the Senate Square. There is a big white church and it is the Lutherean Cathedral of Helsinki. THe Cathedral looked beautiful. (Pictures 13 and 14) There was a lot of snow at the Senate Square and I wanted to have my photo taken with snow. (Picture 15) Michel was really brave and he sat on the snow. I wouldn't dare to do the same and so I got to sit on his lap. (Picture 16) Wind was freezing and we were almost frozen so we stopped our tour of archoitecture and went quickly back to home by tram. We had lots of hot tea there. It was a cold, but nice day and I saw and learned a lot about Helsinki.

Today our host asked us what would we like to do. Michel said he'd like to visit in the town hall if that's possible. My host said that it is a good idea and there are always interesting exhibitions there. So once again we took a tram to the city and went to the town hall of Helsinki. This time there was a photo exhibition and the photos were all wonderful black and white pictures from 1940 to 1998. My host called to her boyfriend and invited him to the exhibition too. The town hall was a very intersting place and the others liked it too. (Pictures 1-4)

Kirsi's boyfriend was still at work so we walked around while we waited for him. At first we saw the Orhodox Cathedral of Helsinki. (Picture 5) It was only -2 C, but we noticed soon that it's always windy by the sea - and the wind was strong and cold. I'm not going to tell you any history of the places we saw, because we had just a quick tour there and wanted to go inside to a warm place soon. The next building was the Presidential Palace. (Picture 6) Did you know Mom that the President of Finland is woman? Her name is Tarja Halonen. My host told me that The President was not in the Palace, because the flag of Finland wasn't fluttering on a flagpole.

There was a big ferry going to Suomenlinna, which is the UNESCO site of Helsinki. (Pictures 7 and 8) My host told us that it is a beautiful island and there's an old fortress. The island is a popular place especially in the summertime and people go there for a picnic or for a walk. The blue building behind me (Picture 9) is the town hall of Helsinki where we already visited. There was a smaller boat too and it was a café, but we wanted to go to a warmer place. (Picture 10)

We went to the Old Market Hall and my host told us that it is the oldest market hall of Finland. We walked straight to the café and Kirsi ordered a big latte. The mug was warm and we all warmed up slowly. (Picture 11) The latte was really good also. Kirsi's boyfriend called and we didn't have time to see everything in the hall, but we can go there back later. We walked to the town hall again and watched the photo exhibition with Ikke. Then we went to a grocery shop and back to home. No more photos, because the battery of Kirsi's camera run out of power - or maybe it was just frozen...

Hi again Mom,

One more update and then I'll go to bed. This morning we woke up early and went to the city for breakfast. There's a nice and peaceful little café called Salt & Pepper. We had a great breakfast there and it was fun to go out for a breakfast. (Picture 1)

We came back home by tram and it was still so early that the tram was almost empty. Finally we had a good chance to take some photos inside of a tram. (Pictures 2-5) Too bad the windows were so dirty...

We all slept in the afternoon for a few hours. We had a lazy Saturday evening and we just watched TV and chatted. We won't have a lazy Sunday, because we'll go to a birthday party. It's so exciting I can hardly wait for tomorrow, but I'm sure we'll have fun there Bye for now! Yours, Blinchick <3

Hi Mom,

We had fun in the birthday party last Sunday and we all ate lots of cake. There were so many guests and children that my host couldn't take any pictures, she didn't want us to get lost there.

After the party we drove by the sea near a café to see some snow sculptures. It's amazing what they can make of snow. It was already dark, but my host got a few photos of us there playing there. (Pictures 1-3)

One day my host took us to the Bear Park to see the big bear statue. Wow, it was a great statue and it felt like the bear was actually alive. (Pictures 4 and 5)

You can see icicles here everywhere and you have to watch around, because they can fell down and hit you. Here are a few big icicles. (Pictures 6 and 7) They look beautiful, but they are quite dangerous though.

On our way to the main post office we saw the National Theater of Finland. It is a beatiful building and my host told us there are many interesting details on the walls of the theater. Too bad we didn't have time to go there and see those details. The statue in front of the theter is made to honor the national writer of Finland and his name is Aleksis Kivi. It was funny to see that statue and hear his name, because the address of our host is Aleksis Kivi's Street (Picture 8)

There was a big happening in the city a few days ago where they celebrated the Chinese New Year. We saw dragon dancers and acrobats there, but unfortunately we were standing too far from the stage so no pictures of them. The area was decoreted with beautiful red lanterns and you can see some of them behind me. (Picture 9)

Yesterday my host went to the city to meet her friend. She had surprise for us when she came back home. We all were sitting and waiting on a couch and then she introduced us to Kerttu. She is a tiny moose girl and she wants to become a TV too. Kerttu is very sweet and we all liked her right away. (Picture 10)

Today we all went to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate the Chinese New Year, better late than never. We had a delicious meal there and it was also a welcoming party for Kerttu. (Pictures 11 and 12)

After the meal I went to chat with Lauri the Cat. He is a nice and playful cat, but I went there when it was time for him to take a nap. I took a nap together with him and he warmed me nicely (Pictures 13 and 14)

Today it was also J.L. Runeberg's day. He was the national poet of Finland. We celebrated his day by eating small cakes named after him, in Finnish they are called Runebergin torttu. (Picture 15)

OK, now I'll go to bed. We have to wake up early tomorrow, because were are going to the movies with our host to watch a new animation movie by Disney. I'm looking forward to it already.

Bye Mom! I miss you <3

Hi Mom,

Here I am again

The Disney's movie was great and we had special glasses, because it was a 3D movie. We ate a lot of popcorn there too, yammy! Unfortunatelly it was not allowed to take any pictures at the movie theatre so you can't see any parts of the movie.

On Monday we all went to the main post office - it was time for K-Bear to start her trip to Germany. It was the first time she was travelling alone and she was a bit nervous, but also excited. We had a big latte there together and wrote a few postcards. (Picture 1) Too soon it was time for a group hug (Picture 2) and after the goodbyes K-Bear jumped to an envelope and started her own adventure.

On Tuesday my host had a bad headache and we stayed inside reading and playing. There was a snow storm and we didn't want to out so it was a good day to stay at home.

On Wednesday a mailman brought a big box to my host and we were all curious to see what was inside of it. At first we saw a blue towel and soon we noticed that someone was looking at us. (Picture 3) My host picked the towel on the couch and the eyes inside of it watched us carefully. (Picture 4) After a while we saw a bread coming out of the towel and my host told us that he is Bernd the Bread, a ToyVoyager from germany. Bernd gave us some chocolates and a nice postcard of Hamburg. (Picture 5) Michel was thrilled - he is also from Hamburg. We wanted to know all about Bernd and his afventures, but he was a bit grumpy and really hungry after his long trip - just like I was when I arrived here.

In the afternoon my host told us that she was going to the TV (means television, not ToyVoyager this time) studios for a few hours and we could come there with her, but we would have to stay in her bag and be quiet. We all thought that sounded really interesting and so we jumped in to her bag. My host worked at the studios as an assistant for a TV serie and we could hear everything what happened. Kirsi didn't have her camera with her, because it's forbidden to take cameras there in the studio area. She has been an assistant in four movies and 3 TV series and she said it's fun and interesting to see all that behind the scenes.

At home we were all a bit tired and Bernd went to sleep right away. We got a big muffin and some cookies for a snack (Picture 6) and then we went to bed too. I got a new experience again today and I feel almost like I'm a movie star

Yesterday we went to a small tea room, there were only four tables, but over 300 different teas. My host met two of her best friends there and they chatted and chatted a long time there. They also laughed a lot and that sounded nice. It was really difficult to choose what tea we'd like to drink, but finally we decided to have wild cherry tea with croissant and jam. It was a perfect choice, the tea was warm and delicious. (Picture 7)

Today it was freezing, -12C and terrible wind. We wanted to go outside to get some fresh air though and we played in snow for a short time. (Pictures 8 and 9) I found a small cave and it was actually warm there. (Picture 10) Well, it wasn't warm there for long and soon we wanted to go back home. Bernd liked the "cool" weather, as he said, so my host went to the city with him to see some sights. We stayed at home reading and watching TV until they came home. It's getting colder here and I think I don't want to go out anymore...

Until later Mom. Yours, Blinchick <3

Happy Valentine's Day Mom <3<3<3

Today it was Valentines Day or Friend's day (Ystävänpäivä) as they call it here in Finland. We had a special photo shooting by our host and it was fun. We also had chocolates and a big doghnut - all heart shaped of course

Btw, it was -22C here this morning so it was really nice to spend a day inside playing.

Hugs and kisses, your Blinchick <3