Flachau, Austria, January 2009.
At four o'clock in the afternoon the alarm goes on and the after-ski officially starts. That horrible Austrian party music fills the air and considerable amounts of beer and Jägermeister is served. Well, fortunately me and Pekka learned from our mistake and avoided that bar for the rest of the week. Sunny weather was great, new snow would have been even greater. A couple of good hikes and a few very enjoyable powder runs saved the skiing week. I got addicted to the TV series House watching one and a half seasons of it. A very relaxing week.
St Petersburg, Russia, January 2009.
Colossal buildings, wide roads, vast squares, magnificent river, great monuments. The city of St Petersburg, former Leningrad, felt very spacious and welcoming on a sunny day. On the other hand the foreign language and different culture made it almost scary on the first night of arrival. A run around the city in the dayligh made me relax and I could truly enjoy the city. I took Maria to a football game at San Siro so she got even by taking me to see ballet at the world famous Mariinsky Theatre. It's hard to believe this was my first time in Russia even though it's only 400km away.
Italy, October 2008.
Forza Milan! Now I can tick one more item off my "things to do before I die" list. I saw AC Milan play at San Siro! They beat Sampdoria 3-0 with one of the legends of our time, Ronaldinho scoring two. The game was only one of the highlights of the trip. Before exploring the city center of Milan me and Maria spent two days around the beautiful lake Como and got to see some magnificent scenery. Due to lack of time and weather we didn't hike the surrounding mountains as we planned, so we decided we must go back. I also got a climpse of the snowy tops of the Italian Alps, next time I'll bring my skis.
Norway, June 2008.
What a memorable midsummer celebration! Skiing on top of Galdhopiggen, the highest top in Northern Europe, and enjoying a bottle of sparkling wine with friends. Stryn and Jotunheim areas in Norway are really a playgroung for outdoor enthusiasts. We were there for two weeks with Lauri (and Juho, Pekka, Ingrid and others) ski-touring and hiking. I'm 101 percent sure I will go back. The cherry on top of my holiday trip was Tellu Tellervo "summer camp" in Elisaari, near Inkoo. I managed to hitch-hike a ride back home by sail. Too good!
Pyhä, Finland, May 2008.
Not so very serious Holy Trophy telemark-skiing competition was the highlight of this year 1st of May celebrations. A couple of celebration drinks really boosted your courage for the chinese downhill, long jump and hillock races. We got four days of sunshine and above 10 degrees celcius, the snow literally melt from underneath your ski. Sunday was the last day of the season at Pyhä but was it the last day of the season for me, let's see. Many thanks for the Finnish Telemark Association and Tellu Tellervot for organising the event and for great company!
Lyngen, Norway, March 2008.
Lyngen peninsula keeps amazing me every time I go there. This was the third Easter in a row for me in Lyngen and maybe the best one so far. The highlight of the trip was getting on the top of Jiehkevarri, the highest point on the peninsula (1833m). That journey took us 14 hours and it was -20 degrees celcius the whole day. Sun was fortunately shining, we got lots of great photos. You can check out my best shots by clicking on the skier on the left.
Vuokatti, Finland, December 2007. I'm a better skier than ever! The one week telemark ski-instructor course in Vuokatti was about meeting lots of new people and making good friends, getting good exercise 5 hours per day and learning new stuff about one of my top hobbies, telemark skiing. Thank you Tellu Tellervot and the rest of you telemarkers for making it an awesome week! We need to meet up and enjoy some more Jallu-flamed crepes.
The weather was a bit funny in Vuokatti during the week. When I arrived it was raining (fortunately there was still enough snow for skiing) and after new years it was -20 Celcius.
Dublin, Ireland , October 2007.
The purpose for my first visit to Ireland was originally to run the Dublin Marathon on 29.10. However, I decided a couple months back that I'm not going to run but just visit my friend Ilkka who works in Dublin. I did go to see the marathon and ran around the Phoenix park and watched the race. We had a comprehensive pub tour with Ile the first night and the next one we were playing soccer with "the lads". I also got a taste of the brilliant quality of fresh fish dishes in the Howth peninsula. To my dissappointment I fell sick on the night of Halloween, so sick I even visited a public hospital. Very brief visit, never saw a doctor.
I warmly recommend that you visit the Kilmanheim gaol if you're interested in the Irish fight for their independence. Step into The Temple Bar on the left to see some of my photos.
Stockholm, Sweden , June 2007. Troy and Joanna came for a visit from Australia and after showing them around Helsinki, I took them to Stockholm. By coincidence, I also had a work meeting there during the same week and so I got to spend four days getting to know the capital of our belowed neighbouring country, Sweden. Crossing the Gulf of Bothnia from Turku to Stockholm, you pass through the largest archipelago in the world and you never loose sight of land on the 10 hour journey across, which I found amazing! The boat trips between Turku/Helsinki and Stockholm are humorously called "booze-cruises". Very striking nick-name.
Lyngen, Norway, April 2007. Norway became a tradition. The rugged mountains and the forbidding but yet so beautiful Arctic Sea are as impressive now as they were last year. And they will impress us, Arto, Ville S, Ville R, Juho and Lauri again next year. We had lot's of new snow this year, some would argue a bit too much. Because of the constant blizzard the visibility was poor and prevented us from taking the full advantage of the awesome scenery and skiing. Thanks Viggo for your cabin and hospitality, hopefully that sauna is finished by next Easter! Follow the skiers to more pics!
Zermatt, Switzerland, February 2007. A week at the Swiss Alps = snow, sun, scenery and skiing. This experience I shared with Ville, Heidi, Mikko, Tiina, Lauri, Elina and Jukka, thank you all for the company and good humour! The fact that there was a 20 centimeter snow dump on Monday meant that we were having lots of fun in the off-piste areas the rest of the week. Bought myself a new pair of skis called "Work Stinx". What a name for a ski, hey!
You can find a picture collage of our trip by following the Matterhorn peak on the left.
London, December 2006. Visited Allan and Danica and Joanne and Anthony for five days. Thanks for having me there guys and welcome to Finland! Had a great week strolling around different parts of the city, watching people and randomly popping in to pubs and bars. I really did nothing and still did quite enough. I postponed the museum visits, theatre shows, musicals, movies, clubs, premiership soccer games and all other London must do's for my future visits. And the next one, I think, will be quite soon. Click the picture for more...
Lyngen, Norway, April 2006. Ski-touring in Nothern Norway with Ville, Ville and Kuju. U n b e l i e v a b l e! Our week around Lyngen Peninsula was my second best skiing trip ever. Adventure, exercise, scenery, tight places, speed, snow, sun, sauna, peace and quiet... but no beer. Follow the link behind the picture to get an idea of what I'm talking about.
Australia, July 2004 - June 2005. In June 2004 I had just finished my university studies and my work contract came to an end. I took off for a one year trip to Down Under. I spent eleven months in Australia, working and travelling and enjoying the weather, most of the time. I saw many extraordinary places, met heaps of extraordinary people and experienced lot's of extraordinary things. Clicking on the picture will get you to some travel photos and stories. By chance, two of my friends were heading off to New Zealand for a three week skiing trip at the same time. I just couldn't resist the temptation to join them. More about that below.
New Zealand, July 2004. Kaijus & Ville: "Arto, we are going to go skiing in New Zealand for three weeks." Me: "Oh, I'm heading in the same direction, may I join you?" Kaijus & Ville: "Sure, see you there on 12th of July." Me: "Okay, see you there." This is how the best things start. Ended up spending an adventure packed three weeks in New Zealand with Kaijus and Ville. It doesn't get better than that, I reckon. Some nice photos with comments can be found by clicking on the picture on the left.
