“There comes a time in every woman’s life where the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne” said Bette Davis. I must point out that those times also need a comfortable chair and girl talk.
(Champagne Bar at Stockmann, Helsinki, Finland; May 2015)
Hello you lovely readers,
Thank you so much for continuing to like and follow This Blue Marble. While I prefer to share less about myself and more about our wonderful world, along with the thoughts I have when I see what I end up photographing, I wanted to show you another angle. Instead of talking about the lovely features of Vilnius, I would like to share that the photo above was taken in a freezing hail storm after a long day of meetings and networking, when my feet ached and before we almost missed the flights back home.
Backing up 20 hours when we were whisked over to Vilnius from Stockholm one Thursday night. 10 seconds time to observe the lovely gift box of chocolates on my bed and the lovely book crossing shelf in my room. 2 more seconds to observe there were 2 functioning power plugs for my 4 devices. Defeating the exhaustion in an attempt to see at least one block of the city we ventured down to the city hall square and in to a bar which treated us to hugging couches, tolerable wine, and drunk wrestling Norwegians. Afterwards more work on my presentation, lights out at 1 am, and on again at 7 am.
8.30 am to 3.30 pm was presentations, meetings, lunch networking, and more meetings in two locations. A splendidly set up day by our lovely hostess. No time for anything else except for focusing on the present moment. At 3 pm my head was beginning to get soft. I kept losing my belongings. We called it a day, took photos, and had a refreshing walk and a pleasant conversation with our hostess in the cold, with alternating rain and hail.
And then there were no taxis to take us to the airport. None in all of Vilnius. A ride was wonderfully offered. But all Vilnius was one traffic jam – hence, apparently, no taxis. We almost missed our flights – at least I thought so until mine ended up being delayed.
At the airport in Helsinki a random taxi cab pulled up, the driver got out, grabbed my suitcase, and said “Hello! To Lauttasaari, was it?” As we drove home I wondered whether it is a good thing or a bad thing that I am personally recognized by a handful of the 1,400 taxi drivers in Helsinki.
Lovely readers, this time I chose to tell you about my day instead of just my thoughts, with a pretty photo. Do tell me if you would like more personal content from time to time. And if you read all the way to here and only want to read about Vilnius, here you go.
(Vilnius, Lithuania; April 2015)
Which is better: to always chase the next thing, or to be truly content with what one has? And yet, can there be improvement if we did not actively seek it? What is the difference between contentedness and lethargy? Is ambition healthy? If we all simply let life happen to us, as taught by many wise souls, would anyone of us have the drive to make the world a better place?
Many big questions for a little weekend break. In the meantime, happy Easter and spring break to you all.
(Helsinki, Finland; April 2015)
Did you ever find you never got to do that simplest little thing you always wanted to do? Or how you haven’t got a single step closer to a big dream that always hovers so close but not close enough to do something about catching it?
I always wanted to complete a coloring book from start to finish. The past three years I have been yearning to see the French Riviera in spring. I still have not experienced the (relatively) new Helsinki Music Center, and there are many books my friends have recommended that I still have not read.
Until this spring. This spring I have read all Moomin books, completed a coloring book on horses, gone back to Kathmandu, and seen a concert at the Helsinki Music Center. I also have a trip to Cannes in my calendar, an Indian head massage scheduled, and I have read 3 books out of 20 that my friends recommended to me. All thanks to Day Zero Project. 101 goals in 1001 days.
What an adventure it will be to stay a night in a treehouse, go to St Helena with the Royal Mail liner ship, and learn to make Limoncello. Why not live a little with me? List your goals and live today.
(Helsinki, Finland; March 2015)
Here is a suggestion on how to waste our resources and grow your carbon footprint: stuff a garbage bag full of kids’ winter clothes. Honestly intend to send them to Nepal, for kids who battle against survival each winter up in the cold mountain plateaus. But first, fly the bag from Aarhus (Denmark) to Copenhagen. Then take it from Copenhagen to Helsinki. Next check it onboard a flight to Stockholm. And finally, after this little tour of the Nordics, ship it to Nepal along with the next group traveling.
Some wasteful clothes… fortunately there can be no price limit on saving children’s lives.
(Around the Nordics; March 2015)
While the wind howls, the sea roars, and snow flurries spin in the air outside, I have traveled to 19th century Alaska and South America with R. E. Sahlberg, a Finnish explorer. And I am warmed by my toasty slippers and my cup of green tea.
(Helsinki, Finland; January 2015)
It was a cool, rainy midsummer, but it was still mid-summer. Now it is mid-winter. Oh summer, why are you so far away? Is it not unreasonable to require us to speed through space half a lapse around the sun until we see you again?
(Helsinki, Finland; June 2014)
So much to see on this blue marble, and so little time in a lifetime. I once owned a book called “501 must-visit islands”, a beautiful little thing that used to give me equal amounts of inspiration as anxiety. You see, in a dark hour I calculated that even if I visited two islands every year I would need to live for 250 years to see them all. And then there would be the 501 must-visit cities and then the 501 landscapes and sacred places and beaches…. Human time is too short even for a full-time explorer.
As it happened, that book wandered out through the door together with my previous life. And so here below is a compilation of things this experience junkie has had the time to see, feel, touch, and hear. Perhaps it is soon complete – perhaps it is just the beginning.
1. Ate cow’s stomach, jellyfish soup, snake, and reindeer heart (I’m actually vegetarian)
2. Stood on top of the Christo Redentor, the Eiffel tower, the Empire State building, the Sagrada Familia church, the Kuala Lumpur Tower, and the observatories on La Palma.
3. Fished piranhas and ate aquarium fish
4. Stood on the roof above a mosque in a holy city listening to the prayer call
5. Swam with wild pink dolphins in the Amazon
6. Got bitten by a fish and a seagull and petted baby manatees
7. Climbed a volcano
8. Snow shoed in the Rockies
9. Visited micro countries: the Vatican, San Marino, and Liechtenstein
10. Went to two former “ends of the world”: Sagres, Portugal; and El Hierro, the Canary islands
11. Wandered in catacombs
12. Got pick-pocketed in Barcelona
13. Rode a camel in the Sahara and horseback in Hollywood hills
14. Drove around the mountains in the world’s most unsafe car with failing brakes (Tata Indica), steered a Tunisian horse cart, and rode in a gondola
15. Met a locally famous Sami (Lappish) rap artist and talked about reindeer farming
16. Danced ceilidh in Scotland and samba in Rio
17. Saw the Pink Floyd ballet at La Scala in Milan
18. Went to three gold-rush time saloons in California, one which had the ceiling pinned full with dollar bills
19. Saw the Stonehenge, Callanish, the Temple of Heaven, St. Paul’s Cathedral in the Vatican, and Bhaktapur holy city in Nepal
20. Practised ashtanga yoga at sunrise on Crete
21. Slept in a cave full of bats and in a floating house above huge caymans
22. Stood on a hilltop with India in one horizon and Tibet in the opposite horizon
23. Tracked dolphins deep in the Amazon and in the Indian Ocean.
Live today.
We packed our bags and presents and cats and groceries and headed for a christmas in the country, for the very first time. Christmas is probably the least probable time of the year when we find ourselves thinking of change. Yet it is change my thoughts unwillingly return to each year, and the reminder of how much I was against the changes that shaped our christmas from a beloved tradition to a glove that just does not fit.
Traditions are not meant to be broken, but sometimes life goes on and old ways cling to us desperately like the last leaves on winter-bare trees. Sometimes a shrug and a shake may be a better way. Sometimes a sparse arrangement of the most precious baubles and garlands and angels is better than a tree so covered in tinsel one barely sees the branches underneath. Even if it seems like traditions can be set in stone, they all have had to flex through time to stay on board. Sometimes it is time to gently nudge them into new grooves and discover how surprisingly smooth this can be, and how welcome the end result.
(Loviisa, Finland; December 2014)
The reindeer must have their own hangar. With bales of lichen instead of tanks of kerosine. But in vain I looked for mincemeat pies in the lounge bar. Perhaps Santa stopped by here last night?
(Finnair lounge, Helsinki airport, Finland; December 2014)
This blue marble 