Tag Archives: Helsinki

I Think We Are Ready To Go Home

it cannot get better than this picture

March 30, 2015

One week. It went so fast and in the same time it also went so slow.

My favorite team today. This dog was such an animated trooper

sniff sniff… bear bear…

I woke up without my last night’s cold and was ready for action. This morning we checked out an agility competition and then took the dogs for a last long hike. Just between you and me, by the middle of the week I just called it the “Trail of Tears…” I have to confess that even though, we take our dogs for daily hikes in the woods on our property upstate NY, Marja-Leena elevated hiking with her dogs to a different level.

Agyag on the Trail of Tears (she trailed I teared)

I also talked to my sister on the phone, it was such a delight to be in the same time zone with her. We already started making plans for our upcoming fall trip to Hungary and Romania.

I start getting inpatient and somewhat uneasy about tomorrow’s flight for the dog. All should be just fine… Packed up my stuff and ready to go to bed. Tomorrow this time I’ll be back home in NY.

it is mine…

It is easy like one, two, three…

one,

two,

three…

It Is Not A Laughing Matter

March 29, 2015

"Naurava Koira" the Laughing Dog Agility arena. They do not make dog cheese

“Naurava Koira” or the “Laughing Dog” Agility arena. When you’ll go to Helsinki and want to eat cheese, remember, they do not make cheese…

“The Laughing Cow” cheese brand, or “Naurava Lehma,” When you’ll go to Helsinki and want to practice agility, remember, they do not do agility…

I wanted to see some Finnish Pumis in action, so Marja Leena took me to a Pumi agility seminar, held by Lotta Vuorela at the Naurava Koira or “Laughing Dog” Agility Arena. When we got there, a few of the participants asked us not to photograph them. Of course, we obliged their request so viola, here they are not…

The agility arena

Lotta Vuolera explaines to…

Although, I do not speak Finnish, I liked the trainer, Lotta Vuorela’s style while training the participants and their Pumis. It was great to see so many Pumis at one place (I counted 16 of them.) The facility is high, clean, bright and has a quality synthetic turf. I guess it is true after all, if you build it, they will come.

some Pumis left…

some Pumis came…,

some Pumis worked…

We also visited Carita Friberg of Noisy Kennel. We met Noisy Dog’s Dante”Musti,” Jellom’s Gigi “Pirre” and Noisy Dog’s Elegia “Piki.” Our host Carita invited us for breakfast, we ate some delicious Pumi shaped Linzer made with the Friberg’s home made Pumi cookie cutter. On the way home, we stopped by a cafe place to drink something warm to relieve my cold. I also skipped the daily hike to rest up a little before the end of the day.

Pumi cookie cutter

and the Pumi Linzers, shaped by the Pumi cookie cutter…

: Carita Friberg is getting an undivided attention – I wonder why…

Carita Friberg of Noisy Dog’s Kennel

City Hopping in Helsinki

March 27, 2015

The Central Railway Station of Helsinki

We’ve decided that we had enough of the dogs and went to see Helsinki yesterday. Strolled through part of Kluuvi, the commercial center of the City. It has a shopping center, the University of Helsinki, Movie theaters, museums and the Helsinki Central Railway Station among many other things. One interesting fact that I learned that the Square has two entrances, one for the public and a second one for the President of Finland…

Civic center a euphenism for a place where you smell th

“City center” a euphemism for shop until you drop dead…

The first Finnish brewery, an integral part of our city "hopping"

The indoor city market

vintage beer tanks. During WWI and WWII they justinstalled wheels and tracks and they had war tanks...

During our city “hopping” we bumped into these vintage beer tanks. During WWI and WWII they probably just installed wheels and tracks on them and they had war tanks They must have been useful during seize fires (they could brew beer until the fights picked up again…)

beer/war tanks I guess they nevermade it to the front line they were pulled over for drunk driving

beer/war tanks I would not be surprised if they had never made it to the front line the drivers probably were pulled over for drunk driving

buy buy baby who can resist in a narrow alley?

buy buy baby who can resist the great aromas of gourmet food and spices floating in the narrow alley of the city market?

Fresh fish

and the canned goods I bet I could find fermented shark fin if I looked more carefully…

Kapelli

We also checked out the exhibitions at the contemporary Art center, “Kiasma.” After the culture rush, we escaped to some fine shopping places and checked into some great food stores. It was such a breath of fresh air to spend some time in cafe houses, fine restaurants and (only…) browsing ( this is for Laszlo in case he reads this entry) in some high end department store after our local convenient stores and Walmart upstate NY.

our appropriations of one of the installations at the Kiasma:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7bOLNMGI9Q<—Click here

a very interesting drink that I learned from Marja-Leena if you want to know it contact me privately

yum yum pastries

the famous historic Kapelli cafe, bar, restaurant where the bohemians and artists, of Helsinki gathered the the past 150 years or so including Sibelius, the composer.

the famous historic Kapelli cafe, bar, restaurant where the bohemians and artists, of Helsinki gathered the past 150 years or so including Sibelius, the composer.

Scandinavia cafe

the contemporary art center “Kiasma”

one might think twice wondering in these hallways with a hangover

Tom of Finland

At the end of the day I felt like a tired farm girl who got lost in the city.

The Daughter of the Baltic…

August 4, 2014

The Coat of Arms of Helsinki…

Kaffogo Agyag is chilling in the bar yesterday after we've arrived yesterday. Is in't this cool? Ig you've ever wanted to be a dog, Helsinki is the place for it...

Kaffogo Agyag is chilling in the bar after we’ve arrived last night. Is in’t this cool? If you’ve ever wanted to be a dog, Helsinki is the place for it…

…Helsinki aka Helsingfors if you are Swedish…. We have arrived yesterday in the evening and just wanted to chill the rest of the day.

In a nutshell, the history of the city went like this (you can fill in the details by reading about Helsinki’s history on the internet, it is quite interesting): Sweden, Russia Sweden, The great plague, Russia, Sweden The fire of Turku (the capital moves to Helsinki) Russia, Sweeden one last time, The Grand Duchy of Finland, Russia, Finnish Civil war Whites again Reds (the whites won) the German Kaiser. First World War, than WWII (to finish the first one…). After the landmark event of the 1952 Olympics, Helsinki has never looked back and has developed into a world class city…

A SPOT sattelite image of part of the Metropolitan Area of Helsinki.

Did you know that Helsinki is the northernmost capital among all EU states? Also, Helsinki is among the top ten most liveable cities. But the coolest thing above all is that Helsinki was selected the World Design Capital in 2012 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. It is a biannual election and Helsinki’s mandate expires this year, in 2014.

So here I am Helsinki, I have a few days to explore you, especially the design and architectural part of you. (Photos will come later…)

Does anyone know a great Tango Club around here…?

The Savvy Pumi and the SAWO Show

August 3, 2014

Kaffogo Agyag on her daily hunting exbedition on the nerby trails...

Kaffogo Agyag on her daily hunting expedition on the nerby trails…

All good things come to an end – for a short while… We have finished the first leg of our trip up here in Kuopio, Finland. The result of the third day was,

KAFFOGO AGYAG CAC and RES.CACIB – second place overall.

I was excited to discover a field of black currant bushes. I was harvesting from the top while Agyag was eating the low hanging fruits (no pun intended…)

I am proud of my girl. She has impressed all three of the judges with her conformation as well as her outstanding disposition. We move on to Helsinki with three excellent evaluations earned from FCI judges from three different countries. The consistency of of last year’s evaluation of Kaffogo Agyag during the Hungarian World Dog Show week and the current descriptions here in Finland are very reassuring. Of course, the Lion share of our success goes to Anna Varadi of Kaffogo Kennel in Hungary and Helena Matilla of Karvakorvan Kennel in Finland the two breeders where Agyag comes from.

We’ve been having a super time. People are welcoming, open and helpful. The dog show was well organized with plenty of information provided for everyone to easily get around. Last night’s party was a great finishing touch of the Kuopio trip. Special thanks to Marianne, Jyrki, Jukka and Heidi Forsti of Fifikus Kennel and all their friends, making me feel so comfortable. The dinner was a big plate of Paella with fresh Salmon. It was a delicious treat and the wine selection was also outstanding. By the way there was no tango, so I still have to catch it somewhere during the rest of my trip.

Greenhouse Effect…

Today, we are moving down south to Helsinki, where soon I will hook up with Stacy Lehman and Taru Parvin for a cruise trip to Stockholm, Sweden. (The Scandinavian version of Ladies’ Night Out.) before the WDS.

The Adoration of the Magus…

Day one…

Day two…

Day three…

In the same time, Kaffogo Agyag, is inpatiently waiting to check her messages posted on the big city fire hydrants, the “Canine Renal Bulletin.” Who knew that there has been a serious canine social media out there…?

Jumalan Terve Finland…

August 1, 2014

…which means “God’s Peace or Hello… We are here in Suomi.

By the way readers, did you know that Finland has the largest fundamentalist Christian movement in Europe? Laestadianism. It is awesome that the welfare state and a conservative Lutheran movement can actually coexist relatively seamlessly. I guess, we have something to learn about tolerance here in the U.S. But this topic is for another day because I am here for the great Annual International Canine Pilgrimage, the World Dog Show and not for a Purity Ball.

Every dog is going to the World Dog Show to Helsinki. THis is the great Annual Canine Pilgrimage - THis year in Helsinki.

Every dog is going to the World Dog Show to Helsinki. – This year in Helsinki. This is the Great International Canine Pilgrimage

"Jumalan Terve" Finland or "God's Piece" or Hello You will think I was born here...

“Jumalan Terve” Finland! or “God’s Peace” or Hello… You will think I was born here…

We’ve made it across the pond and start with a rather tight schedule. Driving up to Kuopio in the night, (found a B&B – cabin with Sauna in the country just south of Kuopio) where we will stay for three days while driving back and forth to the SAWO international dog show.

Puli, Pumi, Mudi... naming of these breeds, yes, it is certainly a telltale for some compulsive tendencies BUT...

Mudi Puli, Pumi… naming of these breeds, yes, it is certainly a tell-tale sign for some compulsive tendencies BUT…

…c’mon how do you call this? (talking about OCD…)

I had a sort of “killing time” conversation with a Swedish passenger (I think she was from there…) from NYC to Amsterdam on the plane. After she found out about the purpose of my trip, we talked about herding dogs and at one point she was kind of of ironically referring to Hungarian herding breeds and breeders as OCD (because of the names of the Hungarian breeds – Puli, Pumi, Mudi…) I did not have an answer for her right on the plain but than, while sitting in Amsterdam, in a magazine I saw a tourism ad with the flags of the Scandinavian countries I wish I could ask her about that (talking about OCD…)

My rental car is rather small (you have to flush it twice…) however, with a superior gas milage – comparing it to our gas-guzzlers back in the states. I need compromise my comfort in order to save money on gas that is rather expensive over here. All those gas taxes and fees must support national education, the Finnish students who are way ahead of their American counterparts in math and science. But that is OK because once they finish their education (or Finnish their education) in Finland, we just give them working visas and move them to the U.S. to strengthen our economy. We just love a superior highly educated work force in the US. Thank you Finland so I guess, we are even after all.

This is it for today and now, we are off up north, to the woods. Hope to see you all in Kuopio tomorrow.

Santa Claus and the Nordic Tango… A Country in the “Impossible Bottle” on the Top of the World

July 27, 2014

Finlandia Welcomes You/me…

I hoped to meet Santa while in Finland, however, he has been in the U.S. ( I saw him driving through last week in Stormville NY. I guess I am not lucky just like Major DiBlasio who saw only the second in command at the Vatican while vacationing in Italy. I guess I will meet only the elves.... How tall they are anyway...?.

I hoped to meet Santa while in Finland, however, he has been in the U.S. ( I saw him driving through Stormville NY last week.) I guess I am not lucky just like Mayor DiBlasio of NYC who could only see the second in command at the Vatican while vacationing in Italy. I guess I will meet only the elves…. How tall are they anyway…?.

“Vodka from the Top of the World…The Ice Cold Hot seven feet tall Ice skating siren

Next Wednesday I’ll be en route to Helsinki, Finland. I am going to the World Dog Show 2014 with Kaffogo Agyag. Since I’ll be blogging our journey, I hope you will follow our adventures. For a start, here are some essential facts about Finland.

The rugged ultimate Finnish specimen. He has it all... the woman and the ice sculpture too... have a drink buddy...

The rugged ultimate Finnish specimen. He has it all… the woman, the ice sculpture and the vodka too… have a drink buddy…

I’ve never been in “Suomi”, so I am looking forward to this trip to the top of the world. It should be like home coming… back to my Finno -Ugric roots. I will spend 12 days there while traveling around. I will be crossing back and forth the land of Santa Claus and expecting to see a crowd of of tall blond people dancing tango in every ballroom, clubs and other establishments including public saunas. I believe in this because I am coming from the U.S. and because many years ago I saw a documentary film that has claimed that Finnish people are crazy about tango. The premise of this film of course was

Who is the most known Finnish person in the U.S.? Of course it depends on…If you ask me the first name to pop in my head is the late Tom of Finland akaTouko Laaksonen. I love his work.

Tango Tango Tango…

feeding on the contrast between the homeland of tango, Argentina, the global center of hot blood supply reserve versus the ice cold appearance of Finnish temperament with its rather complicated sociological as well as psychological package. But these topics are for a different blog entry written by shrinks, sociologists and anthropologists to explore…

My memory works in an odd way. Another thing I remember about Finland, is an ad in a glossy magazine from the 1990’s. It was about Finlandia Vodka. I recall looking at the bare winter landscape on the two-page ad with the ice cold and hot (what a perfect misnomer…) sexy blond, long legged, about seven foot tall speed skater (just to clarify things I am 5’4″…) the even taller curvy ice sculpture in the middle part of the picture, the ice fisherman, the rugged ultimate Finnish male specimen on the right and of course the insert in the corner, the Finlandia Vodka bottle with the message, “Finlandia Vodka from the Top of the World.” It was like a puzzle, did not make too much sense after my high school geography studies. I was taught that the top of the world was the land of Mt. Everest and K2. But because I went to high school in Romania, in the Land of Vampires where the King of Shoemakers, ruled a nation of bare-footed beggars, one never really knew what was true one learned in school… (talking about living in the world of hyperreality…)

this is serious Santa land…

Anyway, after all I realized that I have been swallowed by the bottomless black hole of advertising media where reality and fiction are seamlessly interchangeable. Let’s admit, it has been an effective ad…

Another crazy story that stuck in my mind about Finland is the income based traffic ticket article I’ve red somwhere. In Finland, the more money one earns the more one pays for speeding tickets. I do not know wether this is for real or not, but I am taking along my last year’s income tax return because I will be driving a lot.

So as you can see, I am well prepared, my expectations are pretty realistic and I am seriously looking forward to running into you Pumi people in Funland (sp?) on the top of our two dimensional world, either for a few steps of tango or a big glass of dry martini during the World Dog Show In August.

See you there!

Catskill Pumi

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