European Capitals of Culture 2011!

Wow, for some reason this information had slipped past me and suddenly almost caught me by surprise - Tallinn and Turku are nominated Capitals of Culture for 2011!

Tallinn site
Turku site

It's time to already start prestudy for next year.. I think it's very convenient, both cities are located less than 200 kilometers from Mäntsälä.. ;)

Just plans: low budget city break abroad

This is kind of an easy choice: when thinking of a short city break for the whole family abroad, on "zero budget", my default choice would be Tallinn. With a bit more money we might take a cruise to Stockholm, or ultimately travel to St. Petersburg - regarding the latter the main problem is that visa to Russia costs quite a lot of money, but otherwise it's a great city for a tourist to see.

There is a whole new world to see in Tallinn according to those two books I bought recently (see http://eimotee.blogspot.com/2009/12/few-new-books.html), though maybe they are not exactly intended for family travellers..

So, besides "Soviet style" suburbs, local bars and architecture, what might there be to see in Tallinn? During previous day trips or stay overs we've been to the Old town, Pirita area and Kadriorg park, Tallinn Zoo and Rocca Al Mare's Estonian Open Air Museum, just to name a few interesting sights.

There are at least the Patarei prison, Naissaar and Aegna islands on my list to see, but I'd better wait for summertime to check those out.

Here is one place that might be worth visiting (for the whole family; open even during winter time): Nõmme Seikluspark.

I'm really hoping for the spring to start soon.. :)

A few picks from the vault

I stumbed upon some truly old school cell photos.. VGA ones are probably taken with Nokia 6230, and the better one with Nokia 6230i. Sure, I probably was also carrying a "real" digital camera already at that time, but I thought these are so beautiful (or at least they instantly brought up nice memories) that I might as well share them via this blog. :)

Arthur Guinness Day

Now this is another update with a bunch of "old news", I know.. the title could as well also be "Malta & Gozo (part 3)".

Anyway, as in Finland I guess it might really be somewhat illegal to boost alcohol sales with this kind of themed offerings, for once I was glad I was abroad when Arthur Guinness was celebrated for his 250th anniversary.. Cheers.. ;)

Malta & Gozo (part 2)

I bet y'all thought you'd never see the sequel coming.. ;)

After a long winter I think it would be nice to feel the sun again.. So here's another "recap set" from last September, just to keep me warm..

Some Czech souvenirs

Just a few suggestions to consider.. Especially the selection of Skoda miniature cars looked really nice, as their real-life versions probably would come in the same forms and flavours.

Výtopna restaurant

This was very nice dinner place on the side of Václavské náměstí. Too bad my son wasn't with me this time, he would have loved it! ;)