enjoying panna cotta on my day-off

i have been craving for panna cotta for several days already. my boss made it for dessert at work, and when i tasted it, i wanted more! so, i searched for a recipe on the web and i was surprised how easy it is to make. 

i prepared the cream base a day before and put it in the fridge. the next morning, as soon as i got out of bed, i made the berry jelly. i used the frozen strawberries and cloudberries that i picked up from the farm and swamp last year. 

and the result, i ate four out of the five servings that i made! it was so good that after i ate one serving, i have to eat another one. i left one for daddy, though...

since i got all the energy from the panna cotta, i decided to clean our windows and re-pot my plants on my day-off. i feel so productive and happy!

Lättähattu ride

i have some days off and a it's perfect timing that it was the weekend when the old train goes on a trip from Lahti to Heinola and vice versa. this only happens on some weekends in the summer. yesterday, june 8, was their first trip. 

i walked all the way to Salpausselkä where the train stops. i completely forgot that the train will also stop at the main train station. nuh! but it doesn't matter. it was a nice warm day to walk around.

it was scorching hot inside the train. the wagon that i got into was like a sauna. i didn't even sweat that much in the sauna, but on the train, wow! so after two stops, i went to the other wagon and it was much cooler there! there was an opening on the ceiling and one window was open, as well. life got so much better! 😊

i find it amazing that people still look forward to this kind of happening. every station (there were three) where the train stopped, there were a lot of people waiting, taking photos...there was even a band playing at one station. people put up bazaars and kiosks. it makes me feel human when i see these kind of things.

i bought a one way ticket, so when we arrived in Heinola i got off the train and decided to walk around the town. i found a nice cafe on top of a tower. they have delicious pulla and good coffee. plus, the view was awesome! i don't know, i just have a thing with high places. they make me feel so high, too! 

after about a couple of hours in Heinola, i got on the bus back to Lahti with a happy soul. and when i got home, i treated myself with ice cream to celebrate the wonderful experience on the Lättähattu and a nice day in Heinola. 

more information about the train trips from Lahti to Heinola can be found on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hoyryllaheinolaan/

first of May

i was lucky to have a day-off on the first of May. Jukka is always off from work on the weekends and most of the time, i am working on saturdays and sundays. that means, we don't get to spend more time together or just go somewhere randomly.

but on May 1, we were able to walk around the city of Lahti, have brunch at a cafe and even went to Helsinki! 💕

we got up around 9. we had light breakfast at home, then we prepared to go to the city. i always walk to the city whenever i have to do errands there, but it is rare for Jukka to go there on foot. so, it feels kind of special to me that we walked to the city together.

this is at the front of one restaurant near the city hall.

i liked the details of their windows.

can't see much of it in this photo though...

next stop was Kahvila Oscari. it's one of the coolest cafes in Lahti. it used to be an old house, well actually it still is an old house. the owner kept that kind of 50's vibes in the place. they have yummy cakes. and that day, we got to enjoy brunch there. they had two kinds of sausages, karjalan pie, potato salad, fruit salad and cakes. my eyes were so hungry, (my tummy wasn't) so i took as much food as my eyes could take. i almost didn't make it to dessert. i just took it easy, like daddy said. 

i made it through dessert!

after brunch, we decided to check what's going on at the tori. as expected, it was full of people. people were sitting outside having their coffee, kids were clinging on their balloons and pets, like Fasu, were having the time of their lives smelling the present.

one of the entertainments at the tori...

we watched the circus for a while, then headed home. when we got home, we fed Amanda and Fasu then drove to Helsinki.

days before the first of May, i asked Jukka if we could go to Roihuvuori Kirsikka Puisto. i wanted to see the cherry blossoms. i was a little worried that we were too early, like the cherry trees haven't blossomed yet. but as we walked towards the garden from the parking area, we started to see pinkish glow of the cherry blossoms. oh, they were so beautiful! my heart felt warmer. and i felt relieved that our one hour drive didn't go to waste.

it was definitely one of the best firsts of May that i've ever had!