Summer vacation part 2 (Greece)

After the first portion of our summer vacation we spent a few nice sunny days in Finland with a few of my cousins from the United States and later got ready for the main highlight of the summer, a trip to the Island of Crete.  Greece had been on my wish list for many, many years and for some reason we had never made it down there.  There are so many possibilities in Greece and various Islands to explore, it was overwhelming just trying to decide on the best itinerary for a one week trip.  After doing our research on the Greek mainland and many of the Islands, we decided on the largest of the Greek Islands (Crete).

Crete offers so much variety for the visitor and it seemed like the best choice for a family with younger children.  Sure there are more romantic smaller Islands to explore as well as the main land with it's distinct culture and many archaeological wonders like the Parthenon.  With the Greek crisis still going on we had no interest in going to Athens for now and wanted to avoid the smaller, touristy Islands like Mykonos, Naxos or Santorini.  Crete features a bit of everything, gorgeous beaches, special Cretan food and wine, many archaeological ruins from the Minoan era and gorgeous canyons and mountains.  Our family stayed at a Scandinavian sponsored resort near the city of Chania.  The resort had a mix of Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and Danes.  I think I was the only American in the entire resort and our kids were probably the only children who spoke English.  That wasn't a problem and the Greek staff was very friendly and curious about our mixed Finnish/American family.

During the week we visited two of the most well known beaches on the Island (Elafonisi and Phalasarna).  We also journeyed half way across the Island to visit the famous Minoan ruins of Knossos which feature ruins of a civilization that dates back as far as 3400 BC!  It was amazing to think about a civilization even older than the Greek and Roman periods while I was walking around their ancient city with my family.  We also spent a few days exploring the famous city of Chania which features a wonderful old town and Venetian port from the 16th century. However, perhaps the best part of the trip was just relaxing around the sandy beaches and swimming pool while soaking in the sun and enjoying the wonderful Greek food and drink.  In comparison to Finland where it costs roughly 100 euros for our family (4 total) to enjoy a decent dinner with food and drinks, it was about half of that or 50 euros total.  I am still going through Greek salad burnout now, but while there I was thoroughly enjoying those tasty fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and Feta cheese in the classic Greek salad.  The week was very special and raced by quickly, but the pleasant memories are forever burned into my mind.  Crete is a special place and I definitely plan on returning to Greece in the future.

Stayed tuned for the final portion of our summer vacation, part 3 which will be featured in my next blog post! 

Winter break week has arrived in Finland

Where has all the time gone?  It seems like it was just Christmas and now suddenly the ski week also known as the "winter break" has arrived.  Every school in Finland has one week off in February and that week changes depending on what part of the country you live in.  The goal is that that everyone doesn't take the week off at the same time.  Seems like a reasonable plan and then one would expect that every ski resort or vacation spot is not surrounded with millions of screaming children.  :)

What does the typical Finnish family do for a winter break?  That really depends on the family's budget and its interests.  It seems that there are two distinct types of vacations that people take during the Finnish winter holiday.  There are the sun seekers who just need a break from the long Finnish winter and there are the snow lovers, who enjoy skiing, sledding, ice skating and other outdoor winter sports.  There might even be a lucky few families who manage to do a little of both during the week long break.  The sun seekers from Finland have a few favorite destination spots.  The most popular by far seems to be the Canary Islands.  The folks from the United States might have no clue about this small cluster of Islands off the coast of Northern Africa owned by Spain.  I haven't been there myself, but it seems the Canary Islands have taken over as the Hawaiian Islands alternative for Europeans.  There are a few other sunny options in February, but none quite as popular as the Canary Islands.  Other prominent destinations for sun seeking Finns include Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in Northern Africa.  For those more adventurous with additional time on their hands, some might even venture all the way to Thailand.   There are direct flights from Helsinki to Thailand and those are growing more popular with Finns. The southern European countries of Spain, Greece and Italy are beautiful and pleasant in the winter, but also might be a bit cool this time a year so they are not as popular.

Then there is the snow sports seeking crowd. There are a multitude of options for these folks.  Many loyal to their country decide to fly or drive up to Lapland for a pseudo downhill ski vacation.  I say pseudo because if you aren't really that familiar with Finland, it is a very flat country.  The northern part of the country (Lapland, etc.) gets a bit steeper, but I think the largest mountain is Halti at only 1,324 meters.  I am from the San Francisco Bay Area and we have a 1,024 meter mountain alongside my little home town.  Suffice to say there are many 1 kilometer mountains in California and we even see mountains in the 2 and 3+ kilometer range.  Others may choose to go exploring the Alps and other wonderful ski places throughout Europe.   There are many choices scattered throughout Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria and other countries.   The budget minded stay home and hit the local cross country trails, sledding hills and some small downhill resorts.  For example, within 5 to 10 minutes from my home there are hundreds of kilometers of cross country ski trails, sledding hills and natural ice rinks.  Our kids should have plenty of activities to choose from if we stay local.  I prefer to cross country ski when I have the time because it is such a great overall exercise and it is a great way to get out to the nature at the same time.  My kids enjoy skating, sledding and building snowmen.

Winter is cold, winter is long, winter is horrible.... Yea, you have already heard it all from many Finnish blogs, and I have been guilty myself of repeating similar thoughts.  In spite of everything, winter is also a joyous time of the year and the snow scenery can be captivating and magical.  Make the most of it and then take the pleasure to know that once old man winter decides to crawl back into his cave there will be bright days ahead for many months.

Recharging my batteries before the long Finnish winter

After 15 months of living in Finland, I waited patiently and finally made it back home.  Knowing that November is a dark and dreary month in Finland, I thought I would take advantage of the cheaper late autumn flights and come home for the Thanksgiving holiday. Also, I thought the longer being away from home would hopefully help me to rediscover and appreciate it more. I was very excited to make the long journey back to California after so long and had some nervous anticipation of what to expect after having been away from family and friends for so long.

It felt quite surreal as the plane touched down in San Francisco International airport.  Was the Bay Area going to be this magical land of my lost dreams or just a big let down?   Well, the trip home started with a massive traffic jam along the freeways from the airport in San Francisco most of the way home to Moraga where my parents reside.  The ride home would normally only take 40 minutes, but in bumper to bumper traffic it turned into about 1 hour 20 minutes to get home.  Welcome back home Mark, if you didn't forget we actually have "real" traffic here in California, not like Finland.

Like anyone who leaves their country and returns home to visit, there are certain items one craves and misses.  For me, they were simple items, like eating fresh hummus, fresh salsa and authentic Mexican food (not Tex Mex).  Not to mention, getting good San Francisco sourdough bread.  Oh, those little pleasures in life.  Of course, it was awesome catching up with family and friends and getting a big dose of sunshine.  We actually headed up to the Sonoma Valley (an area famous for vineyards) one day and had a beautiful outdoor lunch at Francis Ford Coppola's winery.  We lucked out with the weather on that day, as it as actually around 22 Celsius (71 Fahrenheit).  I had forgotten that Novembers in Northern California can actually be quite nice if one is lucky.  The weather went from about 16 - 22 Celsius during my stay (60-71 Fahrenheit).  Coming from a cold and rainy Finland, this was just what the doctor ordered.

What did I really learn and notice about coming back to the San Francisco Bay Area from Finland? Besides the ever present traffic and crowds, I also noticed the American marketing machine is still on full throttle ahead.  I went to a Target shop (US chain store that has a bit of everything) to grab some small items to bring back to Finland.  It was becoming the Christmas season (mid November), but still a bit early and before the famous Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving Holiday).  However, the store was packed and frantic shoppers were buying everyone under the sun.  The store and shoppers were definitely on full Xmas mode.  I guess that is one thing I had forgotten while living in Finland.  With the exception of Hullut Päivät (Crazy days) at Stockmann, Finland doesn't really engage in this kind of marketing fervor and mad house shopping.  Also, I noticed that I had to keep a bit of a closer eye on my 6 year old son while shopping in large stores and even playing outside in the front yard of my parent's home. The United States is a big place and unfortunately children do occasionally get snatched or hit by cars.  Even though I grew up and lived in very safe neighborhoods in California, I would definitely say that Finland as a whole is safer.

So, the trip was wonderful in may ways and my batteries were definitely recharged.  I will always have a place in my heart for the San Francisco Bay Area that is not going away.  With that said, I think experiencing a different place and a new culture can only grow you as an individual.  Did coming home make me regret moving with my family to Finland?  No, I wouldn't say so, but it definitely made me appreciate things at home I might have once taken for granted.   There isn't month that goes by when someone in Finland asks me why I decided to leave sunny California behind to come here.   Beyond explaining the family move, I usually tell them the same thing, I tell them that California is and will always be my home and it is not going away.  I let them know that I am happy to experience their country and explore a new culture in Europe and I tell them that I will eventually return to my San Francisco Bay Area when this Scandinavian interlude ends.

Sun seeking in Spain and the Costa Brava

La Sagrada Familia Cathedral Barcelona

The final leg of our summer travels had our family journeying off to Spain to enjoy the sunshine in Barcelona and the Costa Brava.  We visited my wife's law school friend who is a native Catalan and currently lives in Barcelona and has a summer house on the Costa Brava.   The Catalans are very proud of their heritage and wish to become a sovereign nation as they once were 300 years ago. The heat and humidity hit us like a great wall of steam as we left the airport and headed by taxi to the apartment we were renting in the Gracia neighborhood.  This wonderful neighborhood was not located in the city center, but was very charming and full of lively squares and unique shops.  In my opinion, there is no better way to get the feeling of a city then staying near the locals in a residential neighborhood versus the standard downtown tourist centric area.

Casa Batllo by Gaudi in Barcelona

Barcelona is quite large in my opinion and there are many interesting sights to see.  However, in addition to all the wonderful sights and sounds of Barcelona, there is the amazing food. And if you are coming from Scandinavia like me, then you can appreciate all the assortments of tapas, paella, seafood and other culinary treats from this area.  This area of Catalonia is especially renowned for their chefs and Catalan cooking.  During our 4 day stay in the area we feasted on much of the food I mentioned and usually washed it down with a 3 euro glass of Spanish wine.  Yes, that is correct, you can get a glass of wine in a restaurant for 3 euros in Spain, which is about the same cost as a glass of juice.  In Finland you are lucky to be able to get a glass of wine on the menu for less than 10 Euros.  Several mornings jogs up the hill from our neighborhood to Parc Guell helped me burn off the meals and make room for more Catalan gastranomic treats.

Dali Museum in Figueres, Costa Brava

The top tourist areas in Barcelona are the church La Sagrada Famila, Gaudi's famous architectural buildings which include Parc Guelll and Casa Battlo, and the Ramblas and Gothic Quarters.  This is just a few of the main highlights as there is much to see in this great city.  It is hard for me to admit, but we actually paid for one of those double decker tour buses and zoomed around the city soaking in the sun and the sights.  I am not one to typically pay for a tourist bus, however with 2 kids in tow, this seemed like a reasonable option.  The subway is actually very good in Barcelona as well, so we also used it for many of our longer destinations.  We really enjoyed all that Barcelona offered, but suffered a bit in the heat and humidity.  Even though I am a native of California, having lived in Finland for the last year means that I have adjusted to cooler weather patterns.  Barcelona is an amazing city in many ways and I would highly recommend a visit, but think twice if coming in the middle of the summer.  It is hot, extremely popular, crowded and you might be fighting your way through the tourist center.

So, after 4 days in sunny Barcelona, we made the journey via rental car to the Costa Brava.  We drove to the idyllic seaside village of Llanca while stopping at Figueres en route.  Figueres was Salvador Dali's home city and prominently features the Dali museum.  It actually seems that Figueres has built tourism around the Dali museum, which dominates several blocks of the downtown.  We have always been fascinated by Dali's work and thought since we were passing through that this would be a perfect opportunity to see the museum.  We waited in line for over 30 minutes just to get in the door to this extremely popular museum.  Once inside were delighted by his extraordinary collection of paintings, drawings and other bits and pieces.  Dali was the ultimate surrealist artist in my opinion.  Then after a few hours we ventured back to the road that would eventually land us in the coastal city of Llanca.  Llanca is our Catalan host Eva's summer home and they have a very large castle like summer house that has passed many generations in her family.   This was the most amazing building that I have ever stayed in and the construction dated back approximately 1,000 years.  You could almost feel the spirits roaming around as you passed through each room in this amazing building.  The "guest home" portion of the building had a kitchen, family room and 3 bedrooms and the main section was about twice as large.  Downstairs in the courtyard featured an old and very deep water well and also an ancient dungeon.  The dungeon door was an original with old but thick wood and iron bars to keep it shut.  When Eva opened the door for us, you could actually see the scratch marks from former prisoners kept there during the 14 century.  Very cool and a bit spooky at the same time.  I felt as if I was in a time warp as Eva gave us a tour of the entire place.  Every nook and cranny of the building had something unique and interesting to offer dating back into the Middle Ages.

Hilltop castle in Costa Brava -similar construction to Eva's home

In addition to staying at her summer home, we explored the coast a bit which included a death defying drive up the coastal mountains to an old castle that Eva claims is built by the same folks who created her family's summer home.  We also spent a half day at the beach soaking in the rays and the children loved exploring the sea life which included sea urchins and octopus.  Everything about the Costa Brava and the cute villages were just amazing.  You here stories about many sun seekers from Northern Europe going down to the Costa Del Sol for vacation, but I think they have overlooked this gem of a place.  I absolutely loved Catalonia and the Costa Brava and would return in a heartbeat.  Living in Finland is nice, but an escape to the amazing Costa Brava should rank high on everyone's European wish list.