T̶w̶o̶ One p̶e̶r̶p̶e̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶t̶s̶ immigrant settling into home country number five.
Julie 
As I mentioned in my first post about Estonia, we absolutely loved Tallinn. The old medieval city couldn’t have been cuter, and learning about the history of Estonia was quite fascinating. Estonia has been independent for very little of its history, which makes this particular period seem quite cherished and celebrated. Perhaps it’s this new-found pride in their country that allows the Estonians to smile politely at the herds of tourists tromping through their historical city center.
This weekend we grabbed our perpetually-packed suitcases and headed to Zurich to visit friends. The weather was what most people call “gorgeous”, and we made the most of it by spending time in and around the lake (and on the roof deck). Lake Zurich is the part of Zurich I miss most, especially during the … Read more
Thumbing back through the guidebook to remember what we did, I notice how very warped and wrinkled the Helsinki pages are. It rained for almost all of our time in Helsinki, but we still found it to be a delightful city. Helsinki Sights We got quite waterlogged exploring the city by tram and on foot. … Read more
Hey, can you point me to any past posts that tell a bit more of your story? How you became an expat (nomad)? Thanks again! -Bonnie, The Blue Suitcase I admit, this blog is definitely missing an “about” page, which I always intended to add whenever 1) I got around to switching blog platforms or … Read more
Our time in Åland was marked by dramatic, stormy weather, but luckily we had one day that was almost completely without rain. We made the most of it by renting a tandem bike and exploring several islands. The bike only had one gear, and took a little getting used to. I dare say we looked … Read more
I have a thing for places whose names start with Å. Take Å, for example, which we visited last year. When I read about a group of islands off of Finland called Åland, I knew I had to go there, too. I can tell you’re impressed with my sophisticated decision-making process. Åland is a group … Read more
Whenever we visit a city, Scott and I both instinctively size it up based on whether we would want to live there someday. Stockholm gets a big “yes” from both of us. It’s big, beautiful, and full of stuff to see, do, and eat. Guess I have a thing for cities built on islands. The … Read more
Still having fun in Finland. The middle tap dispenses something called “Long Drink”. I didn’t try it. We spent an evening at Vaakahuoneen Paviljonki watching the Siberian Teachers, a jazz band. Not sure where they’re from. Turku’s castle proved a nice place to hide out from the sun. When walking down the street in Turku, … Read more
Greetings from Turku, Finland, where we are trying to hide from the hot glowing ball in the sky. Not such an easy task when it is beating down on you for 19 hours a day. Not that I’m really complaining – we are still having a lovely time. Since arriving in Finland, we have been … Read more
I have more to tell you about Estonia, but I think that will have to wait until we get home. For now we are busy taking in Finland. My favorite bits so far have included the local fashion (you can really imagine Lordi coming from this country) and the copious amounts of free ice water … Read more