Finland’s National Bird, The Whooper Swan

The Whooper Swan is Finland’s National Bird. You can also see the swan on the Finnish 1 euro coin. The Whooper Swans pair for life.

Recently I had a friend visit me that I had not seen in 20 years and I took her to Iittala. Iittala is a Finnish glassworks company. I have collected several pieces, but one of my favorites are the Birds by Toikka. We also visited Stockmann and currently during the tourist season they have a theme going on the 5th floor called <Feels like Finland. This display is going on from May 31 – August 24, 2013. The really cool part was that they have Heikki Väisänen, an Iittala glassblower blowing glass objects right there in the store on certain dates in June. See Stockmann’s website for more information. We were able to watch him make different objects. My friend, Jennifer and I both picked up Swans that Heikki had blown and signed. Together we will remember being reunited in Helsinki when we look at these birds on our shelves – a pair for life.. Also for Jennifer this was her first solo adventure in Europe. I am so happy she took on this challenge to rekindle a friendship!

Jennifer and I – Reunited after 20 years in Helsinki

Giro d’Espoo 2013

This past Sunday we enjoyed cheering on all the cyclists that took part in the Giro d’Espoo. It was a windy day and comfortable temperatures. The cyclists seemed to not care. The 111 km route ran along the Espoo first saattoajona rantaraittia, then moved to Kirkkonummen side. Kylmälä and Veikkola through the route returned in Espoo, Kauniasten and back into the end zone.

The riders went right past our house in Tapiola. We stood out there with our coffee and cheered. Christian even had some Tekla riders taking part. We even had one notice Christian and he waved and gave greetings as he rode by. Later in the day we headed to the finish line which was Espoo Sports Center. We cheered on lots of cyclists as they came across the finish line. The girls were wishing that their Uncle Chris was here with us to watch or so we could cheer for him. Here are a few pictures and a video Christian put together from the event.

Visit the Giro d’Espoo web page here
http://www.girodespoo.com