At the Mostar bridge

Croatia is a quite small country, its area is not bigger than for example Oulu region in Finland. It also means that it's not a long way to go to neighbour countries either. So in addition to visiting the city of Split, Islands of Brac and Hvar and some villages close to Makarska, there was a great opportunity to visit the city of Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina too. It certainly was interesting place to visit. It's quite strange to think that about 15 years ago that place was a real battle field. You can still see some signs of the war – some buildings remain in ruins. However, the most famous landmark of the war, Mostar bridge, has been rebuilt. There are three official languages in Bosnia-Herzegovina – Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian. They are all related, possibly little bit in a same way as different dialects of Finnish. All nationalities in that area have very strong national identities and that is the reason why they all have own languages too. Despite of different religious backgrounds, the visual world looks very slavic and rich, which is again similar to Russian. Oooh, beautiful lovely Slavic culture! So interesting! I am gaining so much more understanding about Eastern things... By the way, based on these signs you can find here mens' hair dresser, beer and even design services :-)    

In Croatia

If you can't find the sun in Finland, you might need to figure out some alternative options. The solution this time was one week trip to Croatia. Since the beginning of this holiday I was very surprised how familiar Croatian language sounded, I mean similar to Russian. I was absolutely exited when I noticed that I actually understand some words like milk, butter, pharmacy, beer, wine, good morning and so on... The roots of slavic culture with matrjoshka dolls can be found here too. There is only one thing missing – Cyrillic alphabets. I wouldn't have been surprised if I would have met even more Russian tourists here too because they can travel to Croatia without visa. I was trying to study some more Russian words while resting on the beautiful beaches of Makarska. That was my homework from the Russian course. If it felt sometimes too difficult you could always go to refresh your mind with snorkeling or swimming...   

Summer holidays

Beginning of the summer holiday, jeah! Few hours after arriving to Helsinki-Vantaa airport I could find myself from Korso, Vantaa. Normally it's not my favorite holiday destination but I found myself from there because of Ankkarock, one of the rock festivals in Finland. Unfortunately we were not very lucky with the weather, it was mostly raining for the whole weekend – so it was very typical Finnish summer weather. However, there is no need get depressed because our that. You just need to have the right kind of equipment with you and the party can be started. Also the dry Finnish cider helps you to forget the rain :-) We saw lots of good gigs, yes! I was especially happy because of Hanoi Rocks, Kent, Tiger Army, Sonata Arctica, Apulanta and Disco Ensemble. Danish Volbeat was also absolutely great! Legendary W.A.S.P sounded kind of soft then compared with others. PMMP was also good but I must say I was little bit missing the "spontaneous joy" what they usually have. However, you could find lots of that if you saw HIM. Iiiiiik, that was absolutely wonderful!

After the well-rested weekend ;-) it was good to continue holidays with the road show around Finland. It was very nice to see so many familiar faces, friends and relatives too! Extra hugs to all of you.  

Smokeless cigarettes

One very common thing to see (and smell) around Moscow are smoky bins. That is probably the most annoying part of cigarettes. This has also been noticed by the tobacco industry and now it's possible to find a "smokeless cigarettes". I was exited about this when my colleague told me about this new stuff. It looks pretty much the same as normal cigarettes but the paper around it feels little bit different. This special kind of paper is very white, thick and soft. Paper actually is the part of cigarettes that is causing the unpleasant smell. If everybody would smoke these cigarettes, where would be no problems with the smell. Absolutely fantastic, what else scientists can offer to the world?

Kiosks for cigarettes

Despite of the headline, there is no need to get worried. I haven't started smoking cigarettes. However, I like to visit these little kiosks in perehods (= subway) because they look so interesting and cute. There are so many nice & stylish cigarette packs! I think Russia must be the forerunner in Europe when it comes to cigarettes. At the moment it's for example very popular to smoke thin and shiny cigarettes. They look so stylish and maybe healthier too but actually they are not. When comparing the information written on the packs, you will soon notice that they are at least as strong as the normal ones... 

Morning jogging

Last two mornings have been absolutely beautiful. So, before going to work I have been doing some jogging in the park near by my home. It gives such a great and energetic feeling for the whole day when you can start your day with some oxygen in your lungs ...and possibly something else too, thanks to the fresh moscow air ;-) However, I believe the quality of air is not so bad in my park. I don't of course know any official statistics but I think you can feel it if it's dramatically bad. I have also seen few other brave runners here now but there is still more people around with their beer bottles ... and yes, during the morning too. I guess the trend about healthy lifestyle has not reached Russia yet. Anyway, sun is shining and life can be sometimes pretty great =)  

First Russian lesson

So now it starts, I will start learning Russian language! Jippii :-) Well, I have already been studying some basic stuff on my own with a book I bought from Helsinki. I know the most crucial expressions but I hope soon I can say & understand lots more. I thought this is especially important now because I decided to stay in Moscow little bit longer than six months, which was the original plan.

I have met my teacher once before and she seemed to very nice woman. She is maybe little bit younger than me and has a university background. The challenging part here is that she doesn't speak any Finnish. I was little bit surprised when she took the Russian (and only Russian, no English at all) language book from her bag and introduced it as the one we will be using... Well, maybe it's ok. At this stage I trust her completely. I believe she knows what she is doing. She also has other foreign students, even though I am the only Finn at the moment. The best part of this language course is that my teacher will come twice a week to our office to meet me here. Perfect! I will save so much time when I don't have to travel around Moscow...

Desert at the Pushkin cafe

We still had some time left before girls would have to go the train station and catch the train to Helsinki. I can tell you there is no better way to spend it than go to Pushkin Cafe and have a nice dessert with a cappuccino. We tasted Pushkin Cafe's special selection and creme brule. They both were absolutely mind blowing experiences! How can I ever survive again in Helsinki without this cafe? Their rest rooms are also worth checking out, pretty shiny stuff and lots of gold... After coming home from the train station I got some exciting news from Finland. My little sister got a baby girl tonight! Wonderful! I am auntie now, so cool :-D

Sushi planet

I think we were all starving after being at the market and it was quite clear without mentioning that it was time for some sushi. We all just love it! So, we ended up going to Sushi planet , it's a Japanese restaurant close to Pushkinskaya metro station. It was first time there to me too and not bad at all!

Buying some jewellery

What could be a better way to spend sunday afternoon than going to do some shopping... so we went too Izmailovsky Park. Sometimes you can find very interesting things from there. This time my Finnish friends were particularly interested in jewellery. I also bought some little souvenirs to take back to Finland with me. My Russian friend totally surprised my by buying me a nice and soft scarf as a present. It's lovely! Balshoje spasiba :-)

Krisis zhanra

We could all successfully pass the face control and so the evening/night continued at Krisis. Rock'n roll all night long... jeah! This is my favourite bar: nice people, cosy atmosphere, good music and tasty inexpensive drinks :-)

Exhibition in a park

On our way to the next place we happened to see this photographic exhibition in a park close to Christiye Prudy metro station. First I thought it's some kind of promotion for Getty Images because I could recognise so many of the photos. I had seen them many times when trying to find some photos for work projects. The theme was life under the water. I must say the colours looked nice and bright during the nighttime... 

Some jazz...

We decided to visit Roadhouse because my Finnish friends happened to like jazz... well I guess my Russian friends like it too. However it was quite short visit because after our drinks we felt that we need more action!

uPirosmani

Besides the Russian kitchen, Georgian is very popular here too. One of the best Georgian restaurants around is probably uPirosmani (www.uPirosmani.ru) close to Sportivnaya metro station and opposite to famous Novodevichiy monastry. The name comes from famous Georgian artist Niko Pirosmnishvili. This may not be the cheapest place but it's certainly worth checking out. You can find photos of their famous guests on the walls: Bill Clinton, Richard Gere, Cindy Crawford etc. Tight political situation between Georgia and Russia can be seen here too – it's impossible to find any Georgian wines from the menu. They can't be imported to Russia at the moment. However we were ever so lucky with the weather. The green terrace in a sunset was just the perfect place to have a dinner tonight. We got some music too... 

Street fashion

...and one more to go – this exhibition was about street fashion. I so love this inspiring atmosphere!