mercoledì 26 agosto 2015

Tallinn day two

The next day we had a good breakfast and another swim in the pools. Me and Carlotta had our hairs cut at the hotel. The hair dresser remembered us from last year.


Then we went out to do some more shopping before taking the ferry back at 16.30. This time we found the Rotermanni shopping centre which we didn't find last time, because it was a bit hidden. It was worth seeing. It was built in an old factory and there were very nice coffee shops, some good shops and the Kalev chocolate shop.















Tallinn, here we come! Day one

Tallinn is such a nice little town, so I wanted to go there again this year. Just in time to see Daniele in Lovisa before he flew off with his friend to Monaco and get to know the mother of his friend who had invited him to Monaco.
Then we took the bus to Helsinki and we went to my friend Alexandra in Espoo and the next day by the ferry to Tallinn.

We stayed at the same hotel as last year, Tallink Spa & Conference hotel. It's a good choice if you want to relax in the pools and saunas after having walked around the city.

When we arrived we first had a soup lunch in the Soup gallery where you can eat as much as you want of different kinds of soups and bread for only 5 euros.

We were a group of girls of different ages and different needs, so we all had to be a bit flexible. While we were walking around in the old town, which I love, the 10-year-old wanted to go to the hotel and the pools and the teenagers wanted to go to the modern part of Tallinn where they could find shops that interested them. Francesca took some photos of the old town just to show her parents and Sofia said she had seen all that last year already. Well, after I had forced everyone to take the mandatory walk up to the Toompea hill where you have a view over the old town, we went to the shopping centers in the modern part of Tallinn. When we all were tired the pools and the saunas were waiting for us at the hotel. Just perfect!



















Family reunion in Santalahti

The last years we have organized a summer get-together with some of my realatives in Santalahti. It's a camping site with a restaurant, a café, a playground, a beach and a mini golf course, so there's a lot of space and things to do for everyone. There were my mother, my brother and sister, my sister's two daughters with their families, or part of them. A good tradition that I hope we will keep up as long as possible.
The weather was beautiful and the sea water had warmed up at least a little bit. After some mini golf playing, first in the water were the Italians! When I saw that Sofia, Carlotta and Francesca went there and stayed quite a while, I thought I could manage to do it, as well. Slowly I made it and once you got used to the cold water, it wasn't that terrible.
I had brought a little present from Italy to my godson, Justus. Justus is my sister's daughter's 2-year-old son. He and specially his bigger sister didn't think the water was cold at all.
Before going home we had an ice cream and something to drink in the café.



Day trip to Varissaari

There are some nice small islands outside Kotka. The weather had been so cool so we hadn't been at any of them yet. On the 11th of August schools started in Kotka and when they start, also the boat traffic to the islands stops. So now that the weather finally had got a bit warmer we had to hurry to go to at least the nearest islands, which is called Varissaari. It's only a 10 minute's boat ride from Kotka.
We packed our picnic bag and spent a few relaxing hours there. The sea water was still very cold, but Carlotta took a quick swim anyway.






A heart in the nature


Our picnic place in Varissaari




Relax - one of the few moments all three of my children were gathered this summer



The summer restaurant in Varissaari



Old cannons in the summer restaurant