The first unique experience of the year was in March. Together with my office-mates we went to visit the Finnish Lapland! I was looking forward to being further up North to have higher chances to see the Northern Lights. Unfortunately, in the end I didn’t get to see the them properly… just a blur, but nonetheless I had fun and loved being there!  I loved the wooden cabins, the reindeer, the quiet, and the Lappish colors. It was also nice to see the Arctic hills, so tiny when compared with the mountains I’m used to. And I got to see a “Riekko”!!! which is a willow ptarmigan bird. I couldn’t take a picture of it, but it’s astonishingly white feathers are engraved in my memory. Bonus points 8/10

Later in April, some friends were visiting Helsinki and we went together to one of the most popular coffee shops in the city: cafe Regatta. The place is unique, it may seem just like a tiny little red house from outside but, the magic is in its “korvapuusti” – the local version of a cinnamon roll. Definitely they serve the best korvapuusti in town! so, do yourself a favor and go grab one!

And then summer came! In the beginning of July I went to Turku (the former capital of Finland) and got the see the largest Medieval market in the country.  The costumes and stalls showcasing the trades of the era, were very interesting, and actors playing around made it very realistic. Also food and beer were super tasty. Definitely worth a visit!

During summer I didn’t travel much but rather stayed in the city and enjoyed the best two commodities of the season: ice-cream (from Helsingin Jäätelötehdas- excellent flavor, size and price) and fresh berries (either from the market or freshly hand-picked from the field e.g strawberries, or forest e.g.blueberries). And even in summer, it is worth to pay a visit to the Talvipuutarha (winter garden) – a lovely glasshouse with an impressive rose collection in its front lawn.

Towards the end of the summer, in the middle of August I went  for a day trip to Porvoo – a small city in the Southern coast of Finland. I have been there many times by bus, but this time it was more special because I went by train; And not any regular train: a steam train! I’m a big Agatha Christie and Harry Potter fan, so perhaps that’s why I’m too enthusiastic about trains, or perhaps because back in Colombia they are quite rare.

But anyway, the journey was very magical because we left Helsinki on a very grey and cloudy day, and then it rained most of the way to Porvoo. But once we got there, the sky cleared up and it got really sunny. So, it was the perfect chance for an outdoor lunch at “Hanna-Maria”, which serves traditional Finnish food and is my ‘go to’ restaurant when in Porvoo. This time I ate reindeer meat with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce.

Then in September I attended Helsinki’s international film festival “Rakkautta ja anarkiaa” (Love and Anarchy). It is one of my favorite things here! Last year I went crazy, I watched 11 movies in 10 days! Most movies were very good, although there were a couple that left me traumatized…such as ‘The last family’  from Poland and ‘Sparrows’ from Iceland. And then there were some truly awesome movies such as ‘Endless Poetry’ from Chile and ‘A monster calls’ from UK. I will definitely be attending the festival again this year! Bonus points for R&A:10/10 you got to attend! 

And then autumn came, which as you will notice is the time of the year when I get obsessed with pumpkins. I simply love them! So, when I was not observing and enjoying the change of colors in the foliage. I was hunting for pumpkins everywhere! in the farmer’s market, in the street kiosks, in the nearby supermarket, etc. And for the third year in a row I had to carve some pumpkins (I had help, I’m not that good at design…).

Also in October, I had the chance to go and see a concert by one of the student’s bands from Aalto University: Retuperän WBK, who are always fun to watch due to their free interpretative style that often involves humor and medleys of songs. This time around, I had fun not only watching the band, but also the audience, because I was sitting behind an interesting group of students from another student organization…somehow they also seem taken out from a Harry Potter movie.

In November, I discovered something very surprising. Finns have some sort of ‘night of the spirits’, known as “Kekri” which is celebrated around the All Saints day. I was amazed how after living for so long in Finland, I never heard about it before. It was a total surprise! and a good one, even if a bit unconventional or creepy?… during “Kekri” it seems customary to burn a goat made of straw, that if I’m not mistaken, symbolizes the end of the harvest. This images are from the Kekri I went to in Suomenlinna island. I still don’t know much about Kekri or understand it fully, so this year I must go again and prepare a full report. Stay tuned for that!

Another first of last year, was attending a hockey game. I went to see Finland vs Sweden as part of the ‘Karjala Cup’. And I was surprised by how fast it is and all the rules, which were totally new to me, since I’m only familiar with football. The first time of the game was rather boring, but once Finland took the lead it became very exciting! and luckily Finland won with 4 goals!

Finally, November came and with it a huge load of snow! I had fun a couple of days counting the snow depth. I attended a Latvian folk dance evening and on the way there, I found this cute pony and also a brave pumpkin enduring the snow! (lolz). And, I got to meet the rector of the University of Helsinki, during the ‘Burst the autumn blues’ event, which is a night where international PhD students and researchers got together to have fun and forget the awful super long and pitch black November nights.

And then December (Joulukuu in Finnish) passed in the blink of an eye, with an overload of small Christmas gatherings known as “pikkujoulu“. During this time I made loads of ginger bread cookies, decorated a ginger bread house, ate loads of ‘joulutorttu’ (the traditional Christmas mille-feuille pastry and drank a good amount of “glögi” (mulled wine). By now you might suspect ‘Joulu’ means Christmas in Finnish.

And then you may wonder what does a pair of clowns have to do with Christmas? well that’s because they were part of the ‘Hurjaruuth’ performace circus show of this year, which is one of my traditions in December. This year the show was titled “muisti” (memory) and it wasn’t as good as in other years… but the clowns were definitely the best!

So that was my year 2016! I hope to blog about the movie festivals I attend, places I visit and how my plants are doing at home. Let’s see what the following months will bring!