september rain

Hej to all of you,
Time to write a line again!
It is sunday and raining, typical weather for this time of year in Finland, one never knows when the sun is going to show itself again, it is a constant grey layer on the sky, water is dripping down, and we sit inside, nobody seems to want to go outside on days like this. But we did have a lovely sunny week, so a few days of rain is ok, if it stays at that:) and of course,we do not have too many weeks left until we close the doors here and move south to South Africa again. Only 7 more weeks. We are looking forward to that, and I think we are quite organized this year, house rented in Cape town for the whole stay, so that will be our address if you want to come for as visit:)
Before we leave I have quite a bit of planning to do still, small details for the tours, as there will be 7 of them, good planning means half the job done. It will be a hectic season but what can I say, I LOVE IT!!
Sometimes I think of all the decisions and routes chosen that has taken me to this, a life and job that gives me so much and is just perfect as it is, I can still handle all work on my own, just as I wanted from start, I never wanted a big impersonal business , I just wanted to be able to help people in a personal way and therefore Im happy as long as the business stays in the limit of what I can handle. And also as a family, having the possibility to live in both countries, for Nico to see family, and for the girls, to know their family in both countries and to learn and see differences, values.
This is my thoughts this rainy sunday:)
Last week was busy, I went on a cruise to Tallin on wednesday organized by the finnish travel agency, me representing South africa, as I guide their SA tours. It was nice to meet other people in the industry and answering questions about SA.
I also made the decision to take part in MATKA 2011 in Helsinki, a travel show, even if I can´t be there myself, but Lena& Simon will help me out again :) Thanks,it means a lot!
Summer went so quick, in July we went to Stockholm, by car+ Silja Line. First we drove to Helsinki, stayed 1 night and took the boat over to Stockholm, did all the kiddies things, Gröna Lund, Juni backen, Skansen, and stayed at Hasselbacken, what a good choise as all activities where on the door step. And then we visited my cousin Malin & husband Janne+ boys Phillip and Hugo, in Eckerö, my cousin Mats came also over with son Albin,we had such a lovely stay, nice summer evening,good food and the best view on the island! Will try to put a picture in. Thank you for a lovely evening Malin&Janne, we will do it again next summer!
In beginning on summer, June 22, Nico turned 40 years old!..and yes,as the age gets higher the parties get bigger...we did have a party for him, and even if it was rainy, we had a great time and partied late. One gift he got was 2 tickets to the U2 concert in Helsinki in end of August. A child free weekend, not too often that happens as our girls are part of our luggage wherever we go:)My dear mom looked after Liina& Viivi( which she does with a smile)as we started our journey to Helsinki for the weekend. What a struggle to get a hotel,as I only started looking for hotels a week in advance. Luckily I got trough booking.com a hotel in the middle of the city that somehow became available as I search the site constantly, getting a bit desperate:) But we where lucky. Friday night sorted, but no chance finding anything for saturday, but that was fine,change of plan, we went on a daycruise to Tallin on saturday and drove trough to Tampere in the evening instead. But,back to the concert, it was amazing! it was a sunny day-evening and when U2 started playing, the moon was in the background. What I like about U2, the stage appareance,their old songs and the message delivered. A great show!
On saturday morning we where off to Tallin, but missed the first boat:) Not that we overslept, but because we drove to the wrong terminal, lesson learned, read carefully all details on the ticket! So, we decided we take the next boat that goes, instead of waiting for 2 hours for next Silja Line departure, we got onboard this other old boat leaving 30min later, once onboard we thought it might be a good idea to check how long this journey will take...3 hours, 1 hour longer than the other,so at the end we scored 30min!Anyway, we made it to Tallin, spent the day there relaxing in oldtown, walking up and down the streets, enjoying a huge lunch and some hot chocolate at the chocolate shop, a nice day. On the way back to the terminal we decided to check the shopping center by the harbour, and almost got lost between the Hello Kitty, Ape-shirts hanging on your left,right and above, same things allover!
Summer went too quick but that seems to be pace these days, you wait for something long, it comes and is gone before you know.

I will try to write a few times more before we are changíng continent, get my writing habit back:)
Next event to plan at home is Liinas 4th brithday on the 30.09!
Pictures of this and that , summer 2010,will also come up any day soon.

Hugs,

Jannika