Icelandic wool with attitude...

We found these guys posing for all the cars headed to the Geysir....

Pingvellir...pronounced thingvellir

Day 2: we rented a car (a new white vw golf) and set of across the tundra to do the "Golden circle" tour...
first stop in our trusty golf, Pinvellir National Park...
This is where the American, European and Eurasian tetonic plates meet. They move apart 2cm per year and have created an isolated environment with a unique evolution pattern similar to the Gallapagos Islands. Home of volcanic activity and glaciers, this was also the first meeting place among European settlers in which to denote the laws of the time.
http://www.thingvellir.is/english/

more iceland pics from the ride...

The pooch Lucy almost brought home with us!

He is Part icelandic and part "that blast neighbor collie"!
He was pretty cute...

Tölting on Icelandic ponies!

We arrived in Iceland after a mild delay in Helsinki. I say mild as though it was delayed by three hours, we were in no rush. We were prepared and outfitted with our own cross stitch patterns and a new crafty skill. Thanks Fammo. While it did pass the time and only cause mild eye strain headaches, it was apparently very distracting to other passengers. I have decided that there are a lot of closet cross stitchers who all have a story to share on a transatlantic flight. There are even those who dream of becoming closet cross stitchers, like the Japanese man sitting one row behind me who leaned over me shoulder humming to himself and giggling every time I completed an "x".

Iceland day 1:
After a late sunset kissed arrival to Reykjavik we checked into our guesthotel prepared for a full day of riding in the morning at Laxnes farm. The horses are known for their pack animal attitude and their 5 gates including the tölt, which is claimed to be so smooth you can drink a glass of wine while riding and not spill a drop.




















The landscape was absolutely amazing! No real trees but gorgeous tundra and the first bit of sun we had seen in a long while!

Note for riding tölt: Icelandic horses do not always ride in tölt and the 4 other gates are in fact still a bumpy ride. So be cautious with the wine if that is your mission.

By the end of our day we figured out how to get our horses into tölt most of the time with an occasional gallop.

The other thing I didn't fully comprehend was the extent of pack animals they were. These horses loved being as close to each other as possible. The would bump into each other rub on each other and clean each other. I kept expecting to get kicked by the neighboring horses as is my experience with other breeds. It was amazing how relaxed they are, and when they are tired they just laid down. Again to my surprise as I assumed if a horse laid down it was sick. Silly, ignorant me...

where have we been?

Ok, sorry it has been so long since our last blog entry. Since then we spent a couple days in Helsinki wrapping up, spent a couple days in Reikyavik, Iceland, pit stopped in Boston and finally arrived in Portland, Or about a week later. We have been back stateside for about two weeks and have been running around trying to pull together the last details for the wedding and going to school/working. I just like to think we work better under pressure.

So here's the plan quick catch up on the last of the trip and then we'll be caught up and focus on the festivities!

we might need to buy galoshes.

Sorry, no fabulous pictures today, the rain was too heavy to get any decent ones... maybe we'll find some older ones to post. Our adventure today was getting from Porkala, the island community where Cora's grandmother lives, to Helsinki via Ikea. This trip was surprisingly soggy.

After a fun handful of days with Fammo and Tetta, her sister, we decided it was time to get back to Helsinki to do laundry and see everyone who had requested coffee or dinner with us, the famous Americans. This is a picture of me dodging the paparazzi, since, you know, I'm a famous American. I'm not sure Tetta was excited to meet this famous American at first, but the morning after she picked us up rowing the boat (see below), she gave me a big hug and introduced herself. Phew!


We planned to leave in the morning after a run, but it was raining, so we decided to wait a bit. Seconds later the chimney sweep came by with Fammo's neighbor Gitti. Chimney Sweeps are a lot less musical and a lot more speedy than in Mary Poppins. No songs, not even a hum, and they were in and out in about 20 minutes after cleaning 2 chimneys. No popping up the chimney when the wind blows either, they work with ladders.

As thanks to Gitti for her help organizing the non-musical chimney sweeps, we decided to have some coffee and cake. However, I had so been looking forward to that run that Cora gave in and found a way for us to slip out for a quick run before coffee. The timing was perfect, the second we laced up our shoes, the heavens opened up, and between the short boat-ride and the short run, we were soaked for the first time today. The run was nice though... a beautiful country road that was only slightly hard to see with rain in the eyes. Thank you, Cora. After a much needed shower we had a lovely coffee, and Gitti was a lot of fun. We had a difficult time cutting her off, but decided we should make our way before the rain hit too hard again.

We made our way right as the rain hit too hard. To get to Fammo's you have to take a small, old, aluminum boat across an inlet from the parking area. The engine no longer works in reverse, which can make parking difficult, which is part of the reason Tetta prefers to row. Taking the boat back to the car, we could barely see through the pelting rain.

We were soaked to the bone by the time we got to the Merce, the 1982 Mercedes which is trying to hold it together as we make our way around Finland. The Merce, however, has a few problems.

First, the key no longer opens the passenger door, which was, until recently, was the only way in. Fortunately (?), Raz rolled down the back window a few weeks ago and it stubbornly refuses to go back up. We can push it up, but the motor piece is still down, so unless the car is stationary, it slides down. This happily means that we can get into the car by pushing down the back window. This also means that when we are moving, the window falls down on its own. When it's raining, it's a bigger problem. Also a problem in the blinding rain is when the windshield wiper on the drivers' side flies off dramatically, as ours did on our way home from IKEA.

Making it to Helsinki in one piece was no small feat. Making it out of IKEA with only what we went to buy may be equally grand of an accomplishment for the two of us!

Then we arrived...ahhh... and then the power went out. We called around, fidgeted with the ancient, European, breaker-box until we could no longer imagine a solution and settled in to wait for Cora's uncle to help tomorrow. Inexplicably, two hours later, it came back on. Typiskt?

The Perfect Day, Part III

This perfect day is so amazing, it bodes well for my typically stressful dreams... Check out this amazing sunset!! We looked up from our books and ran outside to see fish jumping all over the area I had been waterskiing over hours earlier, and the sun putting on the best light show we've seen yet. Since there aren't even enough fish to be able to buy them in the local market, this was quite remarkable on its own.

ps, we also saw a moose in the woods today! There we were, chit-chatting away on our bicycles when, all of a sudden, something came crashing through the woods. About the time we heard it, it heard us and we saw a Moose tiptoeing through a marshy area just beyond the trees, trying to make less noise so we'd think we were just hearing things. Just as we steadied the camera for a quick shot it gave up on tiptoeing and went on, crashing through the next wooded area. It was too covered to get a good picture then, but it was still pretty awesome.

pps, watching awesome sunsets over very still waters = lots of mosquitoes.

The Perfect Day, Part II

We rented 2 bikes at Bjarne's in Rosala and biked 8km to Hittis, the next village over. We cruised through the forest, over a bridge and into town thirsty and hoping for a little break. Sadly, the store we were so hoping would sell us vegetables had closed early for Saturday. A brief ride down the road and we found Cafe Kardemumma, and left some money for a Finnish lemon soda. It was an adorable cafe, and it seemed like they were having a grand old time in the backyard area with their small children.



We sucked down our soda in the Hittis Church yard and then walked around for a look. It's a beautiful church built in the 1700's, and like most churches on the coast, its beautiful and antique but still used, Lutheran, and has ships flying thorough the isles.


After getting a good look we headed back to Rosala to retrieve the boat and head home. Exhausted, I made Cora drive the boat back and we came home for a traditional Finnish meal of hamburgers, baked frozen french fries, and frozen green peas.

The Perfect Day, part I

Just as we were about to head to Rosala to ride bikes, I slipped into the water while trying to test the temperature. Since I was already wet... we altered our plans.



I shimmied into an old wet-suit and jumped in for the warmest and least windy day of the summer. The water was like glass. Thanks to my training in Austin (thank you Auntie, Uncle Vic, Gus, Elizabeth and my Mom), I got up on the first try and took a handful of spins around the space in front of the house. I tried to get up on one ski but it's been a little too long, and the boat was a little too little to compensate for the passage of time. Cora was a great driver too! It being her first time driving with a skier... I was only sad I couldn't let her go for a spin, perhaps another summer. After my legs and back could take it no longer, I swam to the dock, managed to get out of the very-stuck wetsuit and Cora and I went for a swim before continuing on with our plans. She even let me drive the boat!

Finally a sunset

Worshipping the timid Sun god....

It wasn't just the jellyfish that initially lured us out of our abode, but the weak promises of sun after days of all encompassing gray clouds. The sun was brilliant and we both caught some rays, though I must admit Lucy doesn't seem to be at all concerned about those funny sounding aliens (see below).

Jelly fish every where...

Spying on a Jellyfish...

not sure what is causing the "film reel-esque" sounds in the background, but why not? Maybe it adds ambiance or the lure of an indy-avantgarde theater serving raisenettes, jiffypop popcorn and if in the Pacific NW, chocolate covered coffee beans. Or maybe as Lucy likes to think of it...it could just be an alien making funny noises over my shoulder.

anti-breakfast-landia

Cora and I decided to spend a day driving to Abo (Turku), the former capital of Finland, and check out what was there. This was decided in true-Forsten-fashion (typiskt Forsten) at 1am as we went to sleep after a perfect Sauna and moon-gazing evening. In a daze we decided that catching the 7:20 ferry was a good idea and that 40 minutes from the house would be giving ourselves more than enough time. Turns out you make the ferry by approximately 30 seconds if you give yourself 40 minutes, so we made it, but not by much and with gravel spinning out from under our tires as we rounded the curves on the road from the Marina. The drive was stunning after that and we even saw the sun again! Lush green fields, some livestock, simple red and white or yellow and white farmhouses. One person was pushing it and painted theirs mustard. I assume they are fined for such audacious behavior.

We arrived in Abo at 9:30, starving. We wandered around the marketplace as it opened and then the town and discovered that Finnish people don't believe in breakfast, only dessert with coffee. This does not bode well for the wheat-intolerant likes of Cora, or the sugar sensitive likes of me. Oddly, we found a stand in the Abo Salu Hallen (which means long narrow building with 2 lines of stalls not unlike an indoor market, containing everything from fresh meat to souvenirs to African food-stuffs) that was fully dedicated to gluten-free pastries. We bought a bag full of gummy, somewhat edible stuff that sustained us in anti-breakfast-landia.

From there we hit Abo Slott, the renovated castle which was really cool, very much like a labyrinth, and left our legs quivering from all the stairs. Their gift shop is not as cool as expected, but the castle was.


The coolest part of Abo/Turku by far was the apothecary museum. It looks small but as you wind through the old house there is some pretty awesome stuff including a locked poison (Venena) cabinet complete with old arsenic, morphine, and other serious drugs. Only the Apothecary has the key. Once a year a pharmacist will come and use the old instruments to make old medicine recipes. One of the women who worked there was so helpful and friendly, she seemed somewhat desperate for interaction at first and kind of creepy following me around from room to room until she started explaining things. "What looks like a drawing here is really embroidery made from the hair of the woman who made it for her parents. This one for her father, and this for her mother." She lead us into a few more rooms, speaking almost perfect English and showing us around, making jokes and pointing out the bleeding calendar where you can look up where to bleed someone from (the knee, the elbow) depending on the current astrological calendar. Unbeknownst to us, after talking to Cora for a bit about herbs, she found a book for Cora to look up the root we have soaking in schnapps out on the island, wrote down the name of the book and the latin name of the root, then chased us down in the inner courtyard to give it too us. What made this seemingly creepy behavior completely endearing was her round smiling face and that sense that this anthropology student just wanted some one to talk to under the age of 70, the seeming average of the patrons here. All in all, it was the highlight of Abo.


Distillers, herb room and grinding table in the herb room. Every proper apothecary had an herb room and garden.

Moon over the ocean

Island Explorers, take I

In between books and puzzles we've managed to get out and about the island a bit. First we decided to just deal with the clouds and go exploring because it was warm-ish. The wind was really strong, but not too cold and I was entranced by the non-stinging jelly-fish, the little minnows that flashed silver streaks when they swim in schools, and the different kinds of seaweed.

Cora had fun exploring the cool rock formations, lots and lots of granite with cool sprirals and twists in the rock. Gus and Steph, I'm going to need your help on this one, my geology knowledge is very faded.



As the fog rolled in thickly we decided to head back so as not to get caught in nastier weather. We finished off the afternoon watching from the porch as the fog covered everything in the immediate vicinity, till all we could see was the bright yellow boat in front of the house, and pieces of the blue sky directly over the house. After some time it waned, and we could see the neighbors again, but it was a little bit of Finnish magic while it lasted. I now see why people comb the forests and islands for trolls and sprites!

A couple days in helsinki....

Finding ourselves on our own we decided to check out some of the sites in the city. We started with the Temple Rock Church (http://www.galenfrysinger.com/helsinki_stone_church.htm) down the street from my grandmother's apartment. My dad had taken me here years before and I was sure Lucy would enjoy the unique beauty of the space and its contemplative atmosphere.












We made it by the market place and the main white Lutheran cathedral and even some very large steel wild strawberries...

They were located outside of the EU Parliamentary Library and after having been drawn in by the overgrown berries we wandered inside and gathered some literature and what and who the EU is and how the social medical system works. Granted it is all in Swedish, but it's a start.

We sit now in front of a raging fire back at Stenskar enjoying a nice bottle of wine (no $3 chuck here... instead we have le petit coq). The weather is balmy, not too cold, but very windy and overcast, a perfect evening to curl up in front of the fire and enjoy the solitude of an island just barely inside Finnish waters, which is all our own. Sigh. The only thing that would make it more perfect would be having BJ curled up on the couch at our feet. Please tell him Elise!

God Bless Lactaid, God Bless Godmothers

During our last days with Ylva, Cora's mom, we had the pleasure of enjoying a scrumptious meal at Cora's Godmother's house in Helsinki. She is an incredibly gracious woman who made an incredibly delicious meal for us. Steaks, bruschetta, new potatoes, and a magnificent chanterelle and cream sauce.

Thanks to lactaid, I could eat it.

Interestingly, Finland is also the world of lactose intolerant and gluten intolerant people. Almost every package contains descriptors to let you know what is inside... lactose, lactose free, and even low lactose! who knew that was possible? not me. Also, gluten and gluten free. Sadly, no low gluten products.

Driving in Finland...

On the way to drop off my dad at the airport, the local police was pulling over all cars driving on the road at 4 am in the morning. I wasn't quite sure what to expect since I don't technically have a valid EU driver's license. Here we have been operating under the assumption that a US driver's license is good for 3 months and if that fails play the "dumb American" bit. I was just putting on my innocent face as the officer walked up to the window muttered "houmenta" (good morning in Finnish) and shoved a breathalizer in my mouth before I had a chance to respond. I guess my blood alcohol level was more important than a valid driver's license or my lack of knowledge of the funky traffic signs they use here. I passed the test and was sent on my way.

Lucy and I have been driving around Finland for a about a week now, and I think we can both agree that the scariest traffic norm is that there are no stop signs in the city. We found one stop sign [literally, STOP is this same in English, Swedish, and Finnish] along the country side, but other than that who has the right of way coming into a four way intersection is kind of up for interpretation. The person to the right still has some sort of right-of-way but the visibility coming into these intersections leaves much to be desired. The resulting sounds from the passenger seat sound something like this: "go straight...you're good..no wait slow down!...nevermind go! go! go!"

Anyways, after picking up my mother and Raz from the airport at 1:15am the next morning, we met up with Lotte (my great aunt on my mother's side) in an attempt to catch some wild kittens she was concerned about starving to death. The solution was to catch these three cute kittens deliver them by bicycle to the vet who may or may not put them down. Why you save 12 week-old healthy kittens who are clearly fending well for themsleves from "starving" in order to maybe kill them is beside me, but who were we to argue with an energetic octogenerian[non-fertile, for those post-bar takers out there]. We did as we were told, had a cup of tea and saw my grandfather's and great aunt's childhood country homes while we were at it. The wild cats had at least chosen a beautiful place to live.


After our kitten adventure we dropped off Raz at my grandmother's in order to continue on to an improptu meeting at my godmother's summer place. Lucy has been quite the trooper meeting everyone with little to no notice! We were rewarded with a great smoke sauna and a swim at the end of the night. [Lucy even went in for a 2nd dip because it wasn't so cold! Though dip is a bit of an exaggeration... it's more like put to feet in try to convince yourself to dip all the way in and jump up in shock just after you get your hair wet.]

We continued on to Stenskar in the morning and spent 2 days there with my mother. The weather was still cold and rainy and we had yet to see a sunset. We did manage to ring in the evenings by candle light with a good handful of "hamnsups" (harbor drinks) and cashmere blankets. [Actually, that's not entirely accurate (says I, the editor), the sun came out for the first time in a week or so. The islands were beautiful, the sun was warm and I, the editor, had my best time yet stealing half an hour to read my book (The Red Tent) on the "swimming" dock. see infra. Though Cora and her mom were inside wallpapering the house it was nice to take a short break from cooking and cleaning to soak up the Northern sun. I got to pitch in later with the wallpapering, hanging off the 2nd floor balcony with a rusty knife taped to a child's wooden sword to cut the top of the paper off the wall at the ceiling. Adventures are to be found everywhere I guess. I looked a bit like Don Quixote stabbing up at the imagniary foes in the ceiling]


During our time there the rain let up enough to go chanterelle hunting. My mom showed us where to find them around the island and Lucy marvelled at the many different kinds of mosses, some thick and soft, others more dense and short. They are really beautiful. While the chanterlle find wasn't huge, we found enough to supplement our seared perch dinner.


Too quickly we headed back into Helsinki in order to drop off my mother and Nick at the airport. It is now Tueday morning, August 12th and my immediate family has now returned stateside. Lucy and I are left to our own devices of which I am sure some adventures are to ensue.