Beautiful Lapland of Finland

It's the home of Santa Claus and Rudolph the red nose reindeer, with the darkest days in winter and the brightest days in summer...to give an example; In northern part of Lapland the sunrise is at 11:58am and sunrise at 12:19pm (yes, 21min later!) in winter time and in summer it's the other way around. So basically in winter it's dark all the time for 3 months and bright all the time for 3 months...crazy, uh?

Here are some beautiful photos of the winter wonderland of Lapland, enjoy!



All photos from http://www.levi.fi/fi/kuvapankki.html

There are the main 6 airports in Lapland to fly to; Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Kuusamo, Ivalo, Enontekiö and Kemi-Tornio. There are the main ski resorts with all the activities close at: Levi, Ylläs, Pyhä, Ruka, Luosto, Suomu, Salla, Saariselkä, Olos-Pallas...

I highly recommend Lapland to families, couples, singles and seniors...there are plenty of things to see in the magical area of Finland. It's easy to reach from all over the world by flying on airBaltic, Finnair, Blue1 or FinnComm Airlines. Just check their website and you are already 1/3 booked to see the beautiful part of world.   :)

Love letter to Bondi Beach...

Dear Bondi Beach,

I just wanted to let you know that I miss you SO much! I've been thinking of you heaps lately as it's been snowing and snowing the last 3 weeks in Finland. I just miss your warmness and happiness all year round! Of course you have bad and rainy days once in a while but you still 'shine' in your beautiness no matter what.

You made me feel special every day. I feel something is missing when I'm without you...

I got some exciting news this week that I might be there sooner I thought, have to tell you about it later. But I'm looking forward to seeing you sooner or later. And that time it'll be for a long time again, I promise.

Take care and say hello to all my friends who you are still treating well, I heard.

Love always xxx ooo

*Girl from Curlewis St who loved sunbathing in South-Bondi and loved watching sunsets in North-Bondi*

Perfect day with you!

Remember you smiling when I took photo from the plane? :)

You are SO beautiful, no matter from which ankle I look at you...

You are always there listening my thoughts...

Nothing is better than You on sunset!

Alternatives for hotel stays

When you are planning your trip to a certain city, do you just look for a web-travel agency recommendations for hotels?? I don't. There are so many other options to choose from, and most of all, saving some money!

There are lots of apartments to choose from, from private, vacation rentals, use to 'hotel-a-like' apartments. Here is one of my favourite:

http://www.airbnb.com/

This portal offers different kind of accomodation in 168 cities around the world. It offers normal aparments to extreme accommodations in the jungle, like below...

Costa Rica, Manuel Antonio $400/night

There are cheaper and 'normal' places to stay in Costa Rica...

Costa Rica, Casita with Hot Springs, Aguas Zargas $49/night

Then there are the beautiful city apartments, lofts as well:

Lisbon, Portugal $82/night

Paris, France $119/night

Hong Kong $150/night

New York, USA $165/night

So where ever you travel you can feel "home away home". :)

Something to look forward to...

Today I won't write much...When it's cold outside and I have a bit of a cough, I thought to cheer myself up with photos of something which is coming up...Holidays and Weddings in 2011!!

After I had my blog about destination weddings I started to get invites to all of them...(just kidding!). Two of my very close friends are getting married in two exotic destinations: Dubai and Dominican Republic. There's 3 months to the first one and exactly one year to the second wedding, can't wait!!

One of the main sights of Dubai: Burj Al Arab, Photo viajardubai.com

Ritz Carlton Dubai, the wedding reception venue. Can't wait!

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; there's no better paradise pic from this!

This is the hotel resort beach...NICE!

I guess I just have to wait for these fabulous trips ahead, I wish I was going already!

Do you have any plans ahead?

Still some time to visit Christmas Markets around Europe...

To be very efficient on Christmas time, or now when it's still 33 days to go to Christmas, I should have ordered the Christmas cards, purchased almost all Christmas presents which have to be sent overseas by 30th on November and have something different and personal touch on the presents. I've ordered the Christmas card (something very unusual for me to do!) and put warning notes in my calendar AND phone for the 30th of November coming closer and closer...But how do I get something personal bought...?





I would love to do something myself but seriously I don't have much time left...Solution: Do a daytrip to one of the Christmas markets and get the handmade Christmas presents for someone special!! Here are some of the ones I've visited and I'm planning visiting...one day...

Vienna Christmas Markets (13 Nov to 24 Dec 2010)

Probably the oldest Christmas Markets known and definitely the most traditional markets! Vienna Markets have been in excistence for over 700 years. All traditionally setup in front of Vienna's Town Hall (Rathausplatz) with hundreds of stalls where you can buy local handicrafts, taste cotton candies, glazed fruits and baked apples. Don't miss the carols on the advent weekends!




(Photo christkindlmarkt.at)




Stuttgart Christmas Markets (24 Nov to 23 Dec 2010)

Germany's biggest Christmas markets are in beautiful city of Stuttgart with over 250 stalls selling wooden toys, glass baubles, nutcrackers, big gingerbread hearts and the German specialty Hutzelbrot (fruitcake). Don't forget to taste the traditional Glühpunsch wine scented with cinnamon and vanilla!



(Photo Stuttgart-tourist.de)



Bath Christmas Market (25 Nov 10 to 12 Dec 2010)

British people have their own Christmas traditions with their Christmas puddings and decoratings, and all this and some more can be found at the Bath Christmas Market by the Abbey. Each year there are 123 wooden chalets selling local farmers' food, jewellery, crafts and children's toys. The views around the markets are beautiful with the Georgian feeling with the cathedral on the side.




(Photo christmasmarkets.com)




Tivoli Christmas Market, Copenhagen (20 Nov to 30 Dec 2010)

At the Copenhagen's old and traditional amusement park turns itself into a Christmas wonderworld with traditional markets. There are more than 70 stalls selling handicrafts, decoratings and local delicates such as gløgg (mulled wine), æbleskiver (apple donuts) and roasted almonds. There are almost 2000 fairylights lighting up the The Tivoli Lake, all this designed the Tiffany's head designer John Loring.



(Photo visitcopenhagen.com)



Old Town Christmas Fair, Riga (27 Nov 2010 to 09 Jan 2011)

At the Riga's most famous landmark Dome Square with 500 years old Christmas Tree lighten up will bring the Christmas feeling to everybody's mind. There are mulled wine, gingerbread, roasted almonds, Christmas tea and coffee, as well as delicious smoked meats and meat products to taste. There are plenty of handicrafts to choose from, but I would go with patterned woolen mittens, socks and hats, and handmade soaps and candles. The medieval atmosphere in old town of Riga brings more excitement to the fair.





(Photo iStockphoto)





Helsinki Christmas Markets, Helsinki (7 - 20 Dec 2010)

I bet I end up going to the local markets which would be the Helsinki Christmas markets...though I have to get a solution for the overseas package before these markets will start. From these markets you can find beautiful Finnish handicrafts from soaps to honey, from wooden toys to silver jewellery from 120 different stalls. The most interesting stuff are felt boots and hats, colourful or just in gray colour. These ones keeps you the warmest in the coldest weather. A cup of glögi at the Kappeli restaurant and eat Christmas pies.

So there's still time to book flights to any of the cities for a little shopping spree, don't you agree?! Or just to the local shopping centre, they have the Christmas feeling there too! :)

Time to get ready for winter again...

Snowing, snowing, snowing...here it starts again.

Last winter in Finland was long, cold and snowy...The last few days are forecasting the same for this coming winter. For some reason I don't seem to get used to it at all...While it's cold outside it's good time for daydreaming and getting ready for it with following comforts:

This weekend I'm spending inside with my woolen socks on, PJ's on, under the blanket and sipping hot drinks, including the beautiful Chai-tea and White Tea from T Salon on Melrose Ave in L.A. (http://www.tsalon.com/los-angeles-store/)

How beautiful is the ad on the top of the T Salon...? NOT!

I picked the soft and smooth Chelsea Chai Tea Blend which has An intricate blend of Assam and Ceylon black teas with cardamom, almonds, hazelnuts, chocolate and peppercorns. YUM! The White Tea is called Dragon Phoenix Pearls. This hand-rolled tea is highly valued in China. It's a pleasure to the eye and the palate. I learned drinking the white tea in Australia as my colleague Amanda who was from China introduced me into this cleansing tea. 'the more you drink it the better' she said. And finally I found this fab tea shop in L.A. I've been looking for...it's quite hard to order tea to Finland though, but next time I know where to go and buy lots more!

While I'm sipping the tea, I'm burning the incenses...and oh boy I have difficulties of picking my favourite from the selection I've picked from Australia, Indonesia, Latvia and Estonia:

All these favourites of mine are Agarbathi incenses, just different brands with slightly different smells...I fell in love with the blue pack in Australia and bought the yellow one in Indonesia and started to like it too...then I went to Latvia and found both and someone recommended me the soft Satya Natural (top box) and that was beautiful! As my storage of all these started to get lower I found the little box of the 'Super Hit' from Estonia. So with these I calm myself and it really works, believe me! "Helps reduce negative and increase the positive aspects of all zodiac signs" (and headache to my partner!)

I put my Spotify (http://www.spotify.com/) on and find some acoustic guitar music (search for acoustic guitar music) which reminds me of Lisbon where I was exactly one year ago...here are some best parts of Lisbon:

notice the boy waving to me :)

And the evening is spent by drinking more hot drinks like Herrgårds Glögg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulled_wine) in the candlelight...

Enjoy your weekend! :)

"Zen" of travelling

I've come to the conclusion that once I'm in any country I have to have a massage, facial, foot massage or any beauty treatment. Without it I feel empty...

My opinion is that with money you won't get the best massage. You have to experience many places until you know what is good and what's not. I've had massages in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Australia, Indonesia, Finland and Latvia. I'm happy with any massage, it can be pure relaxation massage or deep tissue massage...most of the time I prefer the deep tissue massage as my neck and shoulders (basically my whole body) is always sore...

On my trip to Riga this weekend I went to my favourite place Shakti Centre and had one of the Ayurveda treatments which was called Sambahana...pure relaxation massage, and it definitely was one. I was snoring away after 30min of this 2h massage. I'm going back there in January and will have the deep tissue massage I like, called Raso Vai. At Shakti I feel like I've come to India, they do everything so professionally following the old ayurvedic traditions.

Here are my favourites and suggestions:

ClubMed, Bali

Shakti Centre, Riga

Furama Villas Spa, Bali

Six Senses Spa Kempinski Barbaros Bay, Turkey

Six Senses Punta Cana Resort & Spa, Dominican Republic

Planning already the next trip of Zen!