Our weekend was filled with snowflakes, movies and chicken pot pie. We had a pretty relaxing weekend over here, recovering from our travels, plus it just felt right to snuggle up under a blanket with all the snowing that is going on outside. Thursday it was very much fall, then we woke up on Friday and it was winter.
Tallinn, before I moved to Finland I had never heard of the likes of you and could not place your small country on a map. But I am sure glad we’ve been introduced now. What Joensuu is lacking in old world charm, you sure make up for it. With your pastel-colored medieval buildings and cozy cafés, you have won my heart. Your hidden nooks, used as viewing platforms, as the sky is painted pink in the evenings, well that’s just the cherry on top.
I love nights around a bonfire. They really bring people together. There’s always lots of eating, laughing and entertaining stories to accompany them. This weekend we definitely got our fair share of bonfire time. Friday night we went with some of our new friends from Spain to build a bonfire and cook out near our apartment. It was perfect. The meeting of new people, eating of tortilla española and the gazing at stars was more than I could’ve asked for.The stars were pretty amazing. They decorated the entire sky with twinkling light. That’s one of the really special things about the middle of the forest at night.
The wait is over. Winter has arrived. I don’t know if these people technically consider this winter, but this is definitely winter weather to me. I had to break out the puffy coat, that’s when you know.
This past weekend Scott and I spent our days off at an organic farm outside of Joensuu. Twice a year the owners of the farm have a volunteer weekend where people can come help harvest vegetables from their garden. In return they provide a place to sleep and lots and lots of good, fresh food. It was quite an experience. Neither of us had ever done anything like it before. We had so much fun (despite the fact that I couldn’t feel my hands half of the time), we will definitely be back again. Our hosts, Niina and Pjotr, were such sweet people and taught us some quite interesting tidbits about farming.
