2015 TRAVEL PLANS

Okei, tiedetään - vuosi 2015 on jo ihan reilusti meneillään mutta näin lämpimämpiä ilmoja odotellessa on ihana haaveilla uusista paikoista ja uusista tuulista. Tässä siis tämän postauksen innoittamana viisi paikkaa, lähempää ja kauempaa, joihin haluaisin matkustaa vuonna 2015!

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1. Lyon

Aloitetaan todennäköisimmästä matkakohteesta. Lyon sijaitsee vain muutaman tunnin matkan päässä Pariisista, mutta silti olen käynyt siellä vain kerran. Kaupungista jäi kuitenkin hyvin positiivinen mielikuva ja siitä lähtien olen halunnut palata takaisin tutkimaan kaupungin kulttuuritarjontaa!

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2. Kööpenhamina

Vaikka olen jo monesti käynyt köpiksessä, se kiinnostaisi taas - eikä vähiten siksi että hyvä ystävä asuu siellä. Pitkä viikonloppu Köpiksessä olisi siis kevääksi haaveissa!

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3. Lissabon

Tämä olisi meidän häämatkatoive numero 1! Portugali olisi molemmille aivan uusi aluevaltaus, ja suurena suunnitelmana olisi viettää paikanpäällä useampi viikko, jos vain loma-ajat antavat periksi.

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4. Meksiko

Toinen mahdollinen häämatkatoive olisi Meksiko tai mahdollisesti Argentiina. Molemmissa riittää kuitenkin niin paljon tutkittavaa että ihan muutamaksi viikoksi ei ehkä kannata lähteä. Myös budjetti saattaa tulla näissä suunnitelmissa vastaan mutta mitäpä tuosta sillä aina on lupa haaveilla!

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5. Islanti

Musta hevonen listalla, ainoana pohjoismaista. Islantiin on kuitenkin viime aikoina suuntautunut monen ystävän matka ja maa on saanut vain positiivista palautetta.

On todennäköistä, että osa näistä suunnitelmista jää vuoteen 2016 hääsuunnitelmien, töiden loma-aikojen ja muiden elämän realiteettien vuoksi. Mutta koskaanhan ei tiedä, ja olen todennut että asioiden sanominen ääneen auttaa joskus niiden toteutumisessa! Lista olisi voinut jatkua vaikka kuinka, esimerkiksi Praha, Budapest ja Berliini kiinnostaisivat Euroopan kaupungeista.

Mihin sinä haluaisit matkustaa seuraavaksi? Saako tämä vuodenaika muutkin haaveilemaan paikanvaihdosta vai olenkohan ainoa ;)

Inspired by this post I created my top 5 list of the places I'd love to visit this year. Lyon and Copenhagen are the most probable, and we've been thinking Lisbon as a honeymoon destination. I also would have liked to go to Mexico or Argentina for the honeymoon but it all depends of how many weeks of holidays we can both take. Also, many if our friends have visited Iceland recently and given such positive feedback about their trips that I'd like to go and check it out myself!

I don't know if we're going to do all these travels this year but I've learned that once you say out loud what you wish for it's much more bound to become a reality!

Where would you like to go next?

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Tuokiokuvia Helsingistä / Postcard from Helsinki

Viime viikonloppuna tuli tehtyä pikavisiitti ihanaan, aurinkoiseen Helsinkiin. Olen kokoamassa pitempää postausta Helsingin lempipaikoista, mutta tässä odotellessa ajattelin laittaa muutamia kuvia viikon takaisesta reissusta. Olisin voinut jäädä pidemmäksikin aikaa...

Oikein rentoa perjantaita kaikille, palaan huomenna asiaan muissa merkeissä!

Last weekend I did a quick trip to lovely, sunny Helsinki. I'm putting together a post about my favourite places in Helsinki but as it'll take some time I wanted to share with you some moments from last week. Oh if I could have staid there for a longer time...

Have a relaxing Friday you all, I'll be back tomorrow with something completely else!

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travel guide: Reims

Rue du Mars

Viime viikolla käytiin pikareissulla Reimsissä katsastamassa paikalliset joulumarkkinat. Alkuperäisenä suunnitelmana oli Strasbourg, mutta neljän tunnin automatka ei oikein kiinnostanut. Reims osoittautuikin oikein mukavaksi matkakohteeksi, sinne pääsee helposti junallakin Pariisista vain 45 minuutissa. Tässä muutamia matkavinkkejä (tällä kertaa englanniksi, sillä en jaksanut kirjoittaa kaikkea kahteen kertaan!) jos ikinä satutte suuntaamaan Reimsiin!

Last week we did a quick trip to Reims, a lovely french city about 150 km from Paris. We planned to go to Strasbourg but at the end we decided against the 4 hour drive, whereas you can easily visit Reims in only one or two days as it's much closer to Paris (only 1h15 by car or 45 min by train). So, if you ever happen to head up to Reims, here's some tips!

Christmas market

Opéra de Reims

SEE & DO

- Notre-Dame of Reims Cathedral The famous cathedral where many kings of France were crowned. Next to the cathedral you can find The Palace of Tau, the residence of the Kings of France before their coronation.

- Reims Christmas Market, the Place d'Erlon The famous Christmas market where you can spend hours drinking hot wine and doing some christmas shopping.

- There's nice app made by the tourist office of Reims, just download it and you'll get a lot of info about all the most important sightseeing spots.

Café du Palais

Les halles du Boulingrin

EAT & DRINK

- Les Halles du Boulingrin, 50 rue du Mars (open Wed 7 am - 1 pm, Fri 7 am- 1 pm & 4 pm - 8 pm, Sat 6 am - 2 pm) Reims' main food market takes places in this beautiful building in Art Deco style. There's also a couple nice of coffee shops/restaurants in the building. In the nearby streets (especially Rue de Mars and Rue du Temple) there's plenty of coffee places, brasseries, delis, pastry shops etc!

- Café du Palais, 14 Place Myron Herrick Great atmosphere if you like the old fashioned brasserie look! 

- Near the Christmas market you can find many traditional brasseries and coffee places.

Regional specialities

SHOP 

- Regional specialities include champagne, pink biscuits (called biscuits roses) and gingerbread. You can find these in many shops, and you can even visit a champagne fabricant or the most famous fabricant of pink biscuits, Le Fossier.

- Pop Up Store Local Designers, 37 Rue des Capucins Every christmas local young designers organize this small but lovely pop up shop where you can find all kinds of gifts.

- Les fees du style, 81 Rue Chanzy I didn't get a chance to visit this shop but I've heard it's great. It carries many Scandinavian decoration brands such as Bloomingville. 

- Le nid de la pie, 5 Rue Clovis this great shop sells everything you need to make your own jewelry. The best part? You can even make them at the shop so you don't need to buy all the tools and the staff is very willing to help! I hope we had this shop also in Paris.

Pop Up Store at Rue Chanzy

GETTING AROUND

- Car
We rented a car to get around. It was sometimes hard to find a parking place but otherwise it was a good way of getting around.

- Walking
City's not that big so you can definitely walk around!

- Public transport
Trams and buses run frequently and are cheaper than in Paris!

+ STAY

- We stayed at a place we found from the AirBnB. After a day spent strolling down the alleys of the christmas market it was really nice to have an entire place for oneself, make some tea and curl up on the sofa.

Museum of Fine Arts

Hope you liked this small guide and don't hesitate to comment if you have any questions. Have a great weekend  everybody!

London calling

Hey guys, just a quick note - we're on our summer holiday and hence the blog silence. In less than an hour we'll be heading to London and after that we'll spend a week in Scotland! We're so excited. So I'll be back in a couple of weeks, hopefully full ideas & energy for the fall :) Cheers!

Täällä lomaillaan, siitäpä blogihiljaisuus. Viikon Suomilomailun jälkeen on vuorossa Lontoo, lähtö alle tunnin kuluttua! Sen jälkeen suunnataan viikoksi Skotlantiin. Joten nähdään parin viikon päästä, yritän kerätä mahdollisimman paljon energiaa ja ideoita tulevaan syksyyn :) Cheers!

Travel Guide to Prague

Let's continue with the european tour, shall we :) From Zurich I took an overnight train to Prague. I had never been to Prague before but I had only heard good things about it. I only stayed for two days but I'm already dreaming about moving there one day (although I have to confess that I dream about moving to at least 5 different cities!). But yeah, I really loved Prague. I mean, what's not to love? It's beautiful, it's cheap, and there are a lot of things to do.

I hope these tips might come handy if you're visiting Prague one day! as always, I'm gonna skip the normal tourist sightseeing tips as you can read about them anywhere.

Shopping at the Prague Fashion Museum

SEE & DO

- Prague Fashion Museum & Shop, Štupartská 3, 110 00 Praha 1
The cutest museum ever :) Only one small room, but it's filled with vintage clothing and accessories. Doubles as a vintage shops. 1 euro entrance fee.

- Mucha Museum, Kaunický Palác, Panská 7, Praha 1
If you love art nouveau you'll love this museum. It is the only official museum dedicated to Alphonse Mucha.

- DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Poupětova 1, Praha 7
Interesting modern art exhibitions. There's also a nice coffee place.

- Vinohrady
A beautiful neighbourhood, lot of interesting architecture. Many houses are of the art nouveau style so it's a nice area to go for a sunday walk. There are also several parks, for example Riegrovy Sad (near IItalská street), where you can also find a popular beer garden.

Café Modi + Cukrkavalimonada

EAT & DRINK

- Tricafe, Anenská 3, 110 00 Praha 1
Great coffee in the center of the town!

- Cukrkavalimonada, Lázeňská 7, 110 00 Praha 1 - Malá Strana
A great place near the Charles bridge. Try their grated apple + yogurt for breakfast!

- Café Modi, Myslíkova, Praha 2
Great coffee place, also serves breakfast, sandwiches etc.

- Bohemia Bagel, Lázeňská 19, Praha 1 - Malá strana & Dukelských hrdinu 48, Praha 7
Good bagels at a reasonable price

-Cafe Louvre, Národní 22, 110 00 Praha 1
café-restaurant-bar where even Kafka & Einstein used to go!

- Café Colore, Palackeho 740/1, Prague 1
a french-style cafe in downtown Prague. Like ???, it's maybe not one of the cheapest coffee places in Prague, but surely one of the best (and still way cheaper than any cafe in Paris!). I've never had as good pancakes as I had here. 

- Angelato Cafe, Rytířská 962/27, Praha 1 (Staré Město)
I ate so many ice creams during my two-day visite but this was the best! Great gelato is made from fresh, seasonal ingredients. 

Harddecore, the best design shop in Prague

PARAZIT + LEEDA

SHOP 

- Freshlabels Store Praha, Panska 9, Praha 1
Cool clothing, accessories etc. Near the Mucha museum. Extra points for selling keepcups!

- Harddecore, Senovážné náměstí 2088/10A, Praha 1
A design shop where many Czech young designers and independent companies showcase their products.

- PARAZIT FashionShop, Karlova 25, Praha 1 (courtyard)
Independent & young designer brands, a lot of upcycled products!


- LEEDA, Bartolomějská 304/1, 110 00 Praha 1
minimalistic Czech fashion brand

- Pour Pour,  Vinohradská 74, Praha 3
Clothings, accessories, home deco and gifts from Czech designers. A bit far from the centre but at the same time you can visit the Vinohrady area.

GETTING AROUND

- Tram & metro
Public transport system works fairly well and is rather cheap.

- Walking
Be prepared to walk A LOT if you really want to discover Prague! Bring your comfy shoes.

- Paddle boats
There are several places where you can a paddle boat and have your own boat tour on the Vltava river :) I've heard that the best view to the castle is from the river.

Sir Toby's kitchen and courtyard

+ STAY

- I stayed at Sir Toby's hostel which is truly one of the best hostels I've ever been to. It's a bit far from the center but I'd still recommend it to everybody!



SUOMEKSI

Vielä on muutamia matkaoppaita tulossa :) Zurichista matka jatkui Prahaan yöjunalla. En ollut ikinä käynyt Prahassa, mutta ihastuin kaupunkiin niin paljon, että haaveilen nyt sinne muuttamisesta! Tosin täytynee mainita, että sama unelma koskee useampiakin kaupunkeja.. Kuitenkin, toivottavasti näistä vinkeistä on hyötyä jos suuntaatte Prahaan lähiaikoina. 

Laittakaapa kommenttia, jos heräsi kysymyksiä! Onko siellä muita, jotka Praha on saanut valtoihinsa? Tai jos on lisävinkkejä niin kuulisin mielelläni!

Travel Guide to Zurich

Let's continue our european tour! Last time I gave you my best tips to Strasbourg, and from there I headed with a direct train to Zurich. The train ride takes only a couple of hours, so you can definetily visit these two cities during the same trip.

I've visited Zurich once before, when I was 17. We stayed only for some hours and I didn't quite get why it was supposed to be such a great city. That time we only visited the main streets so I thought everything was awfully expensive. But turns out I was just visiting the wrong neighbourhoods! This time I had only one day to use as well, but I managed to see many interesting places and neigbourhoods. The different neighbourhoods (Kreis) of Zurich have all their own wibe, my favourites being Kreis 4 & 5. There are a lot of cool design and vintage shops, coffee places, bars, etc in these areas. I found a great map to Kreis 4 & 5 in one of the shops I visited , but I recommend you printing it in advance from here!

SEE & DO

- Altstadt (old city)
Grossmünster towers, Rathaus (the town hall), and many other beautiful buldings to see. Stroll through the pittoresque streets and go to buy swiss chocolate in one of the many chocolate shops.

And then the top 3 places I found in Zurich (they're right next to each other which is quite convenient!)

- Freitag tower, Geroldstrasse 17, 8005 Zurich
This tower/shop is a must-see. It's entirely build out of old freight-containers. You can climb up to the 4th floor and enjoy the views! At the same time you can check out all their cool upcycled bags.

- Frau Gerolds Garten, Geroldstrasse 23/23a, 8005 Zurich
This place is a bit hard to describe, but there are nice restaurants, a big terrasse, design shops etc. Really interesting place just next to the Freitag tower.

- Viaduct Arches, Viaduktstrasse, 8005 Zurich
An old railway viaduct turned into a modern shopping center. There are also restaurants, a market hall, and just next to the Viaduct there's a big park.




EAT & DRINK
Note: I didn't test that many places since I only stayed for a day. If there's any good places you know let me hear them! Also, I found Zurich a bit expensive for eating out, so I actually bought some stuff from a grocery store and had a small picnic at a park, which was also really nice.

- Café Noir coffee roastery, Neugasse 33, 8005 Zurich
A great coffee place close to the railway station. 

- Don't forget already mentioned Frau Gerolds Garten and Viaduct Arches!

SHOP 

- Changemaker, Markgasse 10, 8001 Zurich
One of the best ecodesign stores I've ever been to. Many well-selectioned brands and everything is well displayed. 

At Viaduct Arches

- Senior Design Factory, Viaduksstr. 31, 8005 Zurich
Funny knitting asseccories, if you know some german you can also take a knitting class!

- Caritas Secondhand, Im Viadukt, Bogen C, 8005 Zurich+ several other addresses
Modern vintage shops with ok prices.

- Nudie Jeans Co, Viaduksstr. 27, 8005 Zurich
Ecologically responsable jeans, clothes and accessories

At Frau Gerolds Garten

- Junglefolk, Geroldstr. 23, 8005
A funny caravan full of ecological clothes! Open only when it's sunny.

At Kreis 5

- Bogen 33 Möbel & Accessoires, Geroldstrasse 33, 8005 Zurich 
Nice selection of vintage furniture and home deco

- Walter, Geroldstrasse 15, 8005 Zurich
Another cool furniture shop

- Lilli Tulipan, Josefstr. 18, 8005 Zurich
Home deco, accessories, DIY materiel, cards... They seem to have absolutely everything in this colorful shop!

- Dotti's - Lovely Vintage + Labels, Josefstr. 144, 8005 Zurich
Cute vintage store, carries also a selection of vintage wedding dresses & asseccories

- Beige - Swiss Styling, Josefstr. 10, 8005 Zurich
This brand produces almost all of their products in Switzerland. Worth checking out!



GETTING AROUND

- Walk
Walking is the best way to discover Zurich. Even in one day you can see many neighborhoods just by walking.

- Polybahn funicular
If you want to see the university buildings but you're too tired of walking, you can take this cute red funicular. CHF 1.20 for a ride.

- Boat trip
This one I didn't try but you can take a boat trip to discover lake Zurich. You can choose if you want to spend only a couple of hours all almost the whole day on a boat, there are several route options.

Ok, that was it! Have you ever been to Zurich or would you like to go? Next up, Prague!




SUOMEKSI

Euroopankiertue jatkuu :) Eli ylhäällä muutamia vinkkejä Zurichiin. Ja hei, huikkailkaahan jos teille tulee mieleen jotain hyviä paikkoja, pitää käydä sitten seuraavalla kerralla! Oletteko joskus käynyt Zurichissa tai onko suunnitelmissa? Ja muuten, seuraavana on sitten vuorossa Praha!

Travel Guide to Strasbourg

So a couple of weeks ago I interrailed through Europe for the third time in my life (more about that in here). Ever since I came back I've been wanting to share my tips with you guys but going through all those photos and things I collected took some time. But here we go, my tips if you're going to visit the lovely city of Strasbourg!




Strasbourg is a beautiful and very peaceful town situated near the German border. I immediately fell in love with the city since it's rather a big city (in french scale!) yet it has this small-town feeling. Unfortunately, I happened to visit the town on a rainy Easter Monday, so many places were closed. But I enjoyed just walking around, it was so nice to have some calm compared to Paris! Strasbourg is famous for its Christmas markets and I'd love to visit there again in the Christmas time.

SEE & DO

- Odyssée Cinéma de Strasbourg, 3 Rue des Francs Bourgeois
Go to see an old movie in a magnificent movie theatre. They also have coffee shop / bar with terrasse.

- Take a stroll along the riverbanks. The city center of Strasbourg is on an island so there's a lot of riversides to discover! 

- Grande Ile, Strasbourg's historic city center. This is a must-see. It's one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and it's such a lovely place to walk around, take photos or have a picnic.

- Strasbourg Cathedral and several European institution buildings. Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament, so if you want to see fancy buildings, this is your city.

EAT & DRINK

- Restaurant Boats. There are several to choose from. Barco Latin looked very interesting, unfortunately I didn't have time to test it this time though!

- PUR etc, 122 grand rue / 15 place Saint Etienne
 My favourite place for lunch & coffee! Local food and reasonable prizing made this place my favourite spot.

- Gagao, 20 rue des Frères
The best hot chocolate ever. They also have a nice terrass for the summer!

SHOP 

- Rue des Hallebardes
All the famous french and international brands can be found on this street, my favourite being of course Ekyog!

- Grand Rue
One of the main streets with shops, coffee places, boulangeries etc.

- Polychrome, 5 Rue de l'Arc en ciel
Objects,small furniture and accessories from 50's to 70's. So retro!

- Monogram Plum & papier, 6 rue des Juifs
Leather goods, paper supplies, pens etc.

- La Droguerie, 20 rue des Serruriers
Famous craft store has also one address in Strasbourg. Beads, ribbons, knitting yarn... basically everything you might need for your next project.

- Mémé en Autriche, 7-11 rue des Bouchers
Colourful objects, very scandinavian feeling. Home deco, accessories, etc. A bit outside the city center but well worth checking out.

- hic & nunc 4 rue de la Brigade Alsace-Lorraine
Young, local designers, mostly small accessories. Lovely selection of handmade jewellery (see the photos above!) Near Mémé en Autriche shop.

- Speak Out, 43 Grand Rue
Nice shop with a vintage feeling in the center of the town.

GETTING AROUND

- Walking & tram. You can definetily discover the city center just by walking, but there's also several tram lines if you're feeling tired!

- Biking. Biking is hugely popular in Strasbourg. Rent your own from Vélhop, you see their green/silver bikes everywhere.

So that's about it! Have you ever been to Strasbourg? Would you like to go? And if you're a local reading this, I'd love to get tips for my next visit!

SUOMEKSI

Viimeisimmältä Euroopanreissulta kertyi niin paljon kuvia, lippuja ja lappuja sekä muistoja, että niiden läpikäynti on vähän kestänyt. Tarkoituksena on kuitenkin kirjoittaa tässä parin viikon sisällä joka kaupungista pieni matkaopas, ja tässä kaupungeista ensimmäinen: Strasbourg. Ihan koko opasta en kuitenkaan jaksa suomeksi kääntää, joten huikatkaa jos jotain jää epäselväksi! Onko siellä muita Strasbourgissa käyneitä? Mitä tykkäsitte? Jos on jotain lisävinkkejä, niin mielelläni ottaisin niitä vastaan seuraavaa visiittiä varten :)