Turku, jetlag and other stuff

Turku, jetlag and other stuff

19 Jul 2010

Whoever said jetlag doesn't exist has never done a long haul flight between Europe and Australia. And for some reason the jetlag is always worse on the return leg. Maybe that's because the holiday is over and it's back to the real world?

I've stopped waking at 1.00 a.m then falling asleep at 7.00, I'm now in the brain fog stage. I was asked today about my baking and replied that at the moment if I tried to make a cake, I'd probably put the shells into the cake batter and throw out the egg yolks so I shall wait until the fog lifts.

Somehow I am managing to get my photos edited and today's photos are from Turku in Finland. Turku has a lovely river which took me some time to find and a lively market square. Armed with my map I strode from my lodgings and promptly went in the wrong direction for about an hour before eventually finding my way back to the river.

It was a gorgeous sunny Sunday so the cafes were buzzing. I noticed a number of nice looking shops near the library and put them on my list of places to visit on the Monday. I then crossed the bridge to visit the cathedral.

Monday I went out early to catch the hustle and bustle of the markets. The strawberries smelt amazing so I bought a bag and they tasted as good as they looked and smelt.

Whole stalls were devoted to just dill and potatoes. Other stalls for plants and flowers.

I'd planned a visit to the Art Gallery but it was closed on Monday. Instead I caught the bus to Naantali and roamed around the old town for a bit.

The old town's skyline is dominated by the Convent Church and the Moomin World theme park

From Turku I caught the overnight ferry to Stockholm. I arrived in Stockholm just after the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria so the place was still decorated with floral tributes and ribbon garlands of yellow and blue.

It's the final week of Masterchef here so I'm off to watch the last few episoded. I was so surprised when I returned home to find that Marion had been eliminated. I would have put money on her to win the competition,

I'll be back again oon Wednesday so until then,

Jillian

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Flåm

Flåm

21 Jun 2010

Sorry for being such a tardy blogger but I've been too busy to work on my photos until now. You should have seen me designing collages this morning whilst on the train from Helsinki to Turku. That's right, I'm in Finland now but I'm yet to blog half my photos from Oslo. The good news is that they're all prepared and ready to go, so I can promise you 2 blog posts this week. These photos are from my trip to Fläm, part of the Norway in a Nutshell tour.

First stop on the journey was Finse, the highest altitude of the journey. It may have been summer but it's hard to tell in Finse. I could have sworn I felt snowflakes on my cheek.

The journey ended at Myrdal, where we caught the Flämsbana down into the valley to the tiny village of Fläm, population 500. Fläm rests at the heart of the Aurlands Fjord and it's a beautiful and peaceful place.

I decided to stay over night at the Flämsbrygga Hotel and I can thoroughly recommend it. The hotel is very new and the room was really sweet looking out over the fjord. I decided to take a walk to old Fläm to visit the church. It's a popular walk and I met many fellow travellers along the way, some animal and some human.

The next morning after another very hearty Scandinavian breakfast I boarded the boat for my fjord cruise to Gudvangen. Well the scenery was as breathtaking as promised so I took way too many photos. I'll just share a few with you.

 

Whilst I was AWOL, I noticed Holly from decor8 featured some of my Bison Shopshoot photos. Brian, the owner, emailed me last week and let me know that Bison now shops internationally which is good news for all of you not lucky enough to live around the corner from the Bison store. Brian also lived in Sweden for a time so he's given me some things to see and do when I hit Stockholm next week. 


Next time I write, I'll be sharing my photos from Bergen on Norway's west coast. So until then,


Jillian

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Travel Tips - Helsinki, Turku and Tallinn

Travel Tips - Helsinki, Turku and Tallinn

14 May 2010

Hi Every-one,

it's Friday at last and I have to say I am glad. It's been a big week and I can't wait to be tucked up in my bed. I collected my new car (finally) on Wednesday night and I'm still coming to terms with owning something so shiny and new. I'm almost too scared to drive it.

I'd like to thank Alischa from Bespoke Press for this lovely blog post about my work. Photography is a singular pursuit so what I try to do is satisfy myself. I'm a very hard taskmaster and rarely achieve my goal so I'm always thrilled when other people like what I do, so many thanks.



So as not to confuse you, this week I managed to track down a photo of Helsinki from the Bentours website because I'm looking for travel tips for Helsinki, Tallinn and Turku. I have a guidebook so I know the major touristy things to do but I'm looking for local knowledge. I'm going to be in Helsinki for 4 days so are there any shops/restaurants or cafes that I simply must not miss? Is there a place in Helsinki that would make a good shopshoot?

I'm looking forard to hearing from you, so either leave me a comment or send an email to info@jillianleiboff.com

Have a great weekend and I'll be back next week,

Jillian

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