Where did September go?

First and foremost, the blog is not dead. It did experience a bit of a hiatus though. The reason is that Ines and I were enjoying each other's company in lovely Finland. I think I can speak for both of us and say that we were in "holiday mode"...and blogging isn't much of a holiday activity. However, it can make for good blogging subject matter. At least it might make our friends a bit jealous and/or motivate them to visit Finland. Hmmm, now what should I say about the last 2 weeks? I'll start with an easy topic, the weather. For the first week Ines was visiting, her cousin Alex was with us. Alex got to experience Finland at its most depressing: cold, gray, and rainy. Ok, there were one or two days the sun made an appearence, but it did seem like fall came suddenly and coincidentally with the visit of Ines and Alex. However, after Alex left, when it was just Ines and I, the weather was much, much better. It was warm enough to be walking around in just a t-shirt. Not gonna be many more days like that this year. Enough small talk about Finnish weather and on to some bigger news. Ines and I celebrated 2 years together on the 16th. Wild huh? We planned to have a romantic day and evening together, and we accomplished that goal. However, there was one funny anecdote I'd like to share. As we were walking in the city center, we passed a Rax Pizza Buffet (all-you-can-eat pizza place). I commented on how delicious the pizza smelled, and Ines responded by asking if we should eat there in the evening. I replied by saying that a buffet isn't romantic because I always try to eat as much as I possibly can. Stuffing one's face just isn't romantic. Later in the evening, we decided to go to a Chinese restaurant...that's kinda romantic, right? Well, it must have been fate because they happened to have a buffet. I just couldn't help myself; I ordered the buffet. Thus, I have to admit that I took some of the romance out of the evening by taking the buffet, but I managed to limit myself to only 3 plates. I was full but not puking full. So is there a lesson in this story? Probably not, but I'll espouse one anyways. Here goes: romance can be dampened but not killed by too much Chinese food. Not such a useful lesson I guess. Maybe the lesson is that I need to stop being tempted by the concept of "all-you-can-eat".

Now I (Ines) feel like I also have to provide a food story. Because my cousin and I were lucky with food in Finland. The day we arrived we had to wait in Tampere for the train to Jyväskylä. As usual. Thus we went to Hesburger (much better than McDonald´s or Burger King) to eat some delicious Finnish burgers. I ordered the veggie burger but got the one with chicken. Since I don´t eat meat I had to complain (sorry, Hesburger staff). And what did we get for complaining? Free ice cream! And a week later Alex and me went to the fish market in Jyväskylä and got a salmon dish for half the price. Interesting food experiences. But we didn´t eat all the time. We also drank. And on the boat to Tallinn Dan and me performed "New York, New York" in the Karaoke Bar. I have to admit that we were really bad. Probably because we had some beer, lonkero and Vana Tallin before. Like most of the people on the boat.

In this retrospect on the Finland holiday we mustn´t forget out summer cottage experience with grilling sausages outside in the rain and smoke sauna in the pitch black dark. A bit creepy. I enjoyed Finland and hope that I can go back there soon, even though Dan won´t be living in Jyväskylä anymore. I´m so happy that Dan moves to Germany. Juhu!!