jeudi 21 février 2013

Come over people !

Liina and I making a sand mermaid


my dear Antoine<3










 Lately I've been looking back my life, especially the moments when I had friends coming over while living in France.
I mean I have many wonderful friends here, but I still do miss my friends back in Finland and my international mates all around this globe! So this is an invitation to all of you: please come over! I'd love to have visitors and see you guys again, I miss you!!
Talking about past, the first visit I received here in France was in Douarnenez, a little breton town by the sea and it was paid by Liina (my lovely Finnish friend who was living in Agen, France as an au pair at the time) and Antoine, my dear bordelais host brother back from Rotary Exchange! We had maybe one of the most amazing weeks of my life including chilling on the beach, wandering in Quimper and in Douarnenez, meeting new people, having crazy parties & simply enjoying being young and alive!


 Then it was my cousin Sanna who came to Bretagne in April, as well as my parents and my brother Olli did around Easter. I introduced them to Douarnenez, to Quimper, to Brest and to Locronan - a tiny stone village. The two times the weather was quite nice, and they all were amazed of Bretagne's breathtaking beauty.
Annika & Sanna








"<- I live over there"
After having moved to Bordeaux in September 2011, my cousins Sanna ja Annika came over for couple days. I showed them Bordeaux, Arcachon and Dune du Pyla (the biggest dune in Europe!) by the Atlantic Ocean. We had a great time: it was a cousins' get-together  !

  Later the same year, my brother and her girlfriend Emmi came over with my parents. We spent time in Bordeaux, went to Pyla as well, because after all it's something you should see at least once in your life!
My folks, brother and Emmi at my chéri's parents'
  

 <-We also went to the beautiful countryside at my chéri's in Aillas and had a lovely dinner on the 1st of December, you really wouldn't tell, check out the photos!

Pyrenees & mama
 
During the Spring Break 2012 my parents came  over once more, and this time we went skiing to the Pyrenees. It was amazing, third time for myself and the first for my parents. We stayed in a tiny hostel/B&B kind of accommodation and had great food. It's crazy how much French can eat on the mountains!! We also stopped in Spain and in Toulouse.


Next I got visitors in February 2012 when my friend Linda and a friend of hers, Oliver, came to Paris. I took a train up there to join them for the weekend and to pick them up to Bordeaux for couple days. Paris was just awesome in the awesome artistic company! We went to the Amélie café where they had filmed it, we visited the famous Père-Lachaise cemetery just to be able to say hi to Jimmy (Morrison)! Being art students, we obviously visited some museums: Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Orangérie...

Bordeaux was lots of fun as well, and I basically skipped the whole week of uni. Instead we went to Pyla once more, to THE wine town called Saint-Émilion.. We saw concerts, went out to my favorite bar Chat qui pêche and lots lots more!

So that was it!
I guess this post was kinda an advertisement haha;)
Of the people who HAVE visited me! And SO should you;)
My parents and my bro are coming soon at least, in Easter we will stay around Bdx, maybe visit Lascaux and its famous prehistorical cave paintings!

Hope to see you soon then,

Lots of loveeeee

Iida

dimanche 17 février 2013

Baking, sun & spring

                                           Hey everybody!
I've been baking through two weekends because of two Finnish National Days called Runebergin päivä and Laskianen.

On February 5th we celebreate Runebergin päivä (Runeberg's Day), named after the Finnish National Poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg. Runeberg is known for his lyrics to our National Anthem Maamme, to give an example.

Runebergintorttuja 











This cake called Runebergintorttu or Runeberg's tart was one of the poet's favorites (created by a baker called Lars Astenius), so far that his wife started to make these for him using all kinds of ingredients she might have found in the house. The pastry is flavored with almonds and usually with rum or arrack, having a raspberry jam and sugar topping. My variation was more crispy than the original one, made without alcool, but using strawberry jam instead.

In Finland we celebrate Laskiainen or Shrove Tuesday by eating a pastry called Laskiaispulla and by sledging with friends and family. The word laskiainen itself comes from the word sledging. Laskiaspulla is based on dessert bread, but what makes it A Laskiaispulla it's a whole different story:



1. Strawberry jam heart
2. Whipped cream

These two delices made a huge succes among my chéri's family! Every single piece was eaten quite quickly.

We also had a beautiful weather this weekend after a long period of cold rain. So we decided to enjoy the gorgeous weather and go outside for a walk. We went to the Garonne River's side canal near a village called Fontet. Here are some photos, take a look:




First flowers!




Hope you had a great weekend, I certainly did!
A+
Iida

mardi 5 février 2013

Challenge accepted.


Sain haasteen Dziiltä eli here we go..

Haasteen ohjeet:

-Kerro 11 asiaa itsestäsi.
-Vastaa haastajan 11 kysymykseen.
-Keksi 11 uutta kysymystä.
-Haasta 11 bloggaajaa, joilla on alle 200 lukijaa.
-Kerro bloggaajille että olet haastanut heidät.

11 asiaa minusta:

1. Asun viinikaupunki Bordeaux'ssa ja elän taideopiskelijan rappioelämää...almost;)
2. Mulle sattuu ja tapahtuu uskomattomia asioita, esim rakkaustarina chérini kanssa muistuttaa jotain rakkausdraamaelokuvaa..
3. Rakastan spontaaneja asioita, sattumia, reissuja ja ihmisiä, siinä yksi tän elämän rikkauksista.
4. Haluaisin matkustaa ympäri maailman, reppureissaten mieluiten chérini kanssa.
5. Isona musta tulee kuvataideopettaja/taiteilija/laulaja...?
6. Ikävöin Suomea, sen luontoa, saunaa, perhettä ja hyvin usein sitä jokseenkin tehokasta ja loogista systeemiä. Joskus myöskin ruisleipälämppäreitä, lakua tai fazerin sinistä.
7. Rakastan sateenropinaa ulkona kattoa tai ikkunaa vasten kun oon ite sisällä lämpimässä.
8. Oon haaveilija/seikkailijasielu.
9. Oon maailmankansalainen, rasismi ja ennakkoluulot on täyttä p*skaa.
10. Uskon kaikkien pohjimmaiseen hyvyteen, mut toisinaan sinisilmäsyys johtaa mut harhaan..
11. Haluaisin oppia elämään oikeesti hetkessä, tässä ja nyt, enkä kaivata liikaa mennyttä tai tulevaa.


Ja sitten kysymyksiin:

1. Toinen nimesi? 
 - Helinä

2. Seuraatko blogeja?
 - Jonkun verran, hyvin epäsäännöllisesti tosin.

3. Jos niin mitä? 
 - Kavereiden tarinoita Suomesta ja ulkomailta, joskus eksyn vieraidenkin blogeille, harvoin muistan niille enää palata? Check it down here.

4. Lempivaatekappaleesi?
 - Tällä hetkellä kaikenmaailman mukavat mekot :)

5.  Suurin unelmasi?
 - Tehdä se maailmanympärysmatka ja joskus +viiskymppisenä omistaa jonkunnäkösen monitoimi baari/hengailu/chillailu/majoituspaikan, missä olis asioita/esineitä ja ruokaa ympäri maailman. Luovuuskommuuni !

6. Lempidrinkkisi?
 - Hmm.. ite ku en niin paljon alkomahoolea kuluta, nii ehkä joku smoothie tai virgin margarita. Ja toki itse taikomani kesädrinksut mitä harrastan! Esim joku appelsiinimehu, vichy ja tiivistesekoitus kera marjojen. Madridissa maistettu tinto de verano oli kans hyvää!!

7. Matkavinkkisi Suomessa?
 - Kyl mä sanoisin Lappi tai Turun saaristo. Järvi-Suomessa oon viimeks käyny lapsena, ehkä olis aika mennä tsekkaa se uudestaan. Roadtripiä kehiin!!

8. Matkavinkkisi ulkomailla?
 - Tää onkin paha.. Paikoista joita nyt tunnen voisin mainita vaikka Pyreneet, nii kesällä kuin talvella, ja Korsikan jos haluaa nähdä upeita maisemia. Nii ja tietty rakas Bretagne esim Point de Raz tai miksei Irlanti/Skotlanti. Pikkukaupungeista Ljubljana ja Tallina (kyllä!!), myöskin Bergamo. Ja vaikka Arcachonin Dune de Pyla on nii perusnähtävyys täällä meillä päin, on se ainaki once in a lifetime experience;)

9. Lempimusiikkivideosi?
  - Tämäkin vaikea.. viimeks oon ihaillu kyllä Gotyen Somebody That I Used To Known clippiä, taiteellinen kokonaisuus! Ja jotenki se vaan pysäyttää.

10. Popparit vai sipsit?
 - Molemmat! Leffaan popparit, muuten maissilastut ja itsetehty guacamole...

11. Lapsuuden haaveammattisi?
 - Ha! Ekaks laulaja, myöhemmin opettaja.. enpä niistä edelleenkää oo hirveen kaukana:)


And this is for you LIINA & Untouchable Place !

1. Mikä susta tulee isona?
2. Mikä asia vie sua tällä hetkellä eteenpäin elämässä?
3. Mitä sä pelkäät?
4. Lempipaikkasi (kotona,Suomessa, ulkomailla tms)?
5. Mitä haluaisit tehdä parin vuoden kuluttua?
6. Mitä arvostat ihmisissä?
7. Lempiruokasi?
8. Illallinen kotona vai ravintolassa?
9. Mikä on tärkeintä ulkonäössä (omassa tai muiden): hiukset, pukeutuminen, kasvot?
10. Mikä biisi kolahtaa just nyt?
11. Ensimmäinen toive joka tulee mieleen?

MWAOH.

samedi 2 février 2013

¡Hola Madrid!



¡ Iida en Madrid !

Here's a short story about my lastest trip to Madrid to visit my dear friend Pinja.
 I arrived there on the wednesday night, January 16th, from Marseille. 
I had couple hours in Marseille after my 6hrs trip from Bordeaux.
 It was my second time in the southern capital of France. So I simply wandered around taking some photos of the European Capital of Culture 2013.






La nuit à Marseille 

***


Pinja at Lauriina's doorstep
On thursday 17th I got to know the Spanish capital while walking around the town. I really liked the city with all the beautiful and colorful buildings - it was a nice change after Bordeaux's plain sandstone architecture. For my great suprise my australian friend Holly back from Rotary exchange happened to be there on exchange as well! It had been four years since I saw her the last time, so I was really looking forward to seeing her again. And the funniest part is that she's living in Madrid with another Finn! The girl also used to be a Rotary Exchange Student but in New Zeland! I didn't have an occation to meet her though, which really is a shame.













 
During those 5 days of holidays I met Lauriina, Pinja's friend from her university back in Finland, and her roommates from all over the world.
We had such a fun time with them! I obviously tasted some tapas and churros y chocolate, and went to el Parque del Buen Retiro.
We visited two art museums, the famous Museo Nacional del Prado where I found lots of paintings we had studied in art history like Velasquez or Greco, and the contemporary art museum Reina Sofia where I got to see the Picasso's famous Guernica !


My short holiday was absolutely relaxing and chill after the hard autumn full of work, a break of everything, without being forced to think about school. The Spanish living rhythm is completely different than in France for example, especially when the girls had classes only on the evenings! So we woke up at 10 at the earliest and didn't go to sleep before 2 am ! The trip wasn't really for gaining strength but I really needed that break, it surely was worth it!

Here are some photos from this amazing trip,
take a look & enjoy!














Out for some tapas

¡Que delicioso!

Pinja<3

Museo Nacional del Prado


Girls night - get togethering with Holly!

La Maja desnuda



Madrid by night



Retiro

Las chicas

Churros y chocolate
...mmm...











    Besos, Iida