Travel – Blue Moment

Day 154: Homestead

July 21, 2026July 21, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Alanna, Finland, StuartTagged 365 Project, Alanna, Finland, History, Stuart, TravelLeave a comment

Finland has an endless amount of small local museums – old farmsteads, workers’ quarters, historic homes, and museums devoted to wonderfully specific things like pharmacies, tar, logging or handicrafts.

Alanna’ animal camp was even held at one of them: Glims Farmstead Museum. And she was fascinated by its temporary exhibition on the importance of animal poo.

I often joke with Stuart about these little museums, as I have dragged him to probably fifty of them over the years. They may be somewhat “homespun,” but secretly (and maybe not that secretly) I really love them.

Every one of them exists because someone was passionate enough to preserve a small piece of history.

Day 121: Conference with a Drop of Gin

June 17, 2026June 21, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Europe, Travelling, WorkTagged 365 Project, TravelLeave a comment

The main conference day.

It was pouring down the whole day, so I did not miss much by sitting inside and trying to learn something new.

I came to get more practical ideas of advanced AI in ecommerce. It’s a good thing that this is what I wanted. Every presentation focused on the topic, whether the title said so or not.

The weird thing about AI is that I have yet to meet a person who does not feel behind the curve. Cowork launched four months ago, and already everyone feels they have missed the boat.

Or, this is what I tell myself – while quietly feeling I have missed the boat.

A trip to gin distillery helped.

Day 120: Cool Side of Tallinn

June 17, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Architecture, Europe, TravellingTagged 365 Project, Architecture, TravelLeave a comment

I returned to Tallinn, Estonia, today for a conference. As I had the evening to myself, I popped over for dinner in the newer part of the city center. It has several industrial buildings renovated into restaurants, little shops and galleries. What makes it cool, though, are the murals.

Day 116: Pop the Cork

June 11, 2026June 11, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Europe, Family, Luxembourg, TravellingTagged 365 Project, family, Travel, WineLeave a comment

I enjoy sparkling wine in any occassion, but still it remains the drink I most associate with my mum. And, to a slightly lesser degree, to my sister.

We’ve drunk it together on many occassions over the years, but I think the connection was born in Luxembourg. Stuart and I lived there for a few years, and my entire family came for a spring visit. We spent a whole day in the Mosel wine region, walking, eating asparagus dishes and drinking wine – both sparkling and not. My mum, Noora and I bought a magnum-sized bottle to take home and top the weekend off. If I remember right, we ended up giggling a lot.

Day 100: On Cloud Nine

May 21, 2026May 21, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Europe, Travelling, WorkTagged 365 Project, TravelLeave a comment

Day 100 – feels like an achievement! I had hoped to do something special for the occassion but – appropriately enough – I spent the day travelling.

A few special moments above the clouds. Then frantic rush on the ground. Broken laptop. Last minute presentation prep literally in the lobby. On my colleague’s laptop. Great lunch. Productive meetings. Good coctails. Another mad rush.

Looking back, it feels like a pretty good analogy for my everyday life.

Day 87: Railway

May 5, 2026May 4, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Architecture, Helsinki, TravellingTagged 365 Project, Architecture, Helsinki, History, TravelLeave a comment

Train travel in Finland is incredibly comfortable and, in many instances, very convenient. But as it feels awkward to start taking photos in a train carriage, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Instead, I took a few shots at the Helsinki railway station. At a first glance, it is a quite a modest building. In fact, as I never eat at the station, I passed through the building a hundred times before properly looking around. Especially the restaurants in the old section are gorgeous Art Nouveau. Not something you expect from such a small railway station.

The metro tunnel underneath, less so.

Day 86: Old Kokkola

May 4, 2026May 4, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Architecture, Finland, Travelling, WorkTagged 365 Project, Architecture, Finland, History, TravelLeave a comment

I travelled to Kokkola for work today. It’s a small town on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia. In spring, before the nature awakens, there isn’t all that much to see. In summer, it can be nice (so I hear).

The old town of Kokkola has some beautiful wooden houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, with a few dating back to the 17th. They were definitely worth a walk.

Day 85: Small Bites

May 3, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Architecture, Europe, Outdoors, TravellingTagged 365 Project, Outdoors, Scenery, TravelLeave a comment

With my siblings, good food, good drinks, and escape rooms tend to go hand in hand. That didn’t leave much time for any other sightseeing. With stormy, rainy weather, it hardly felt like a loss.

In between showers, I managed a few quick pictures around town and a short visit to Fotografiska – still my favourite photo museum in the city.

Day 84: The Great Escape

May 2, 2026May 2, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Activities, Europe, Family, TravellingTagged 365 Project, Activities, family, TravelLeave a comment

As said before, escape rooms are a thing in my family. The idea of going to Tallinn for an “escape trip” started off as a joke. But turning jokes into reality is also a thing in my family (e.g., annual the-most-useless-useful-Christmas-present competition).

One weekend, four rooms. Three of the rooms were actually hard, one was… an experience… We escaped three of the rooms, but are now trapped to a haunted orphanage for all eternity.

Luckily there was drinks after.

Day 83: Tallinn

May 1, 2026May 2, 2026Posted in 365 Project, Architecture, Europe, Family, Stuart, TravellingTagged 365 Project, family, Outdoors, Scenery, Stuart, TravelLeave a comment

Tallinn is just a 2 hour ferry ride from Helsinki, which makes it a perfect weekend get-away with Stuart, my brother, sister, and brother-in-law.

Tallinn is an old Hansa city and the old town is just beautiful. As a tourist, one rarely wonders outside of the old town. However, one purpose for the trip was to solve a number of escape rooms – none of which are in the old town.

One down, three to go. And we got to see some of the modern Tallinn too.