Casa particular - Trinidad, Cuba

A fortnight into our trip on Cuba we arrived at Trinidad.  A city known for its 19th century architecture. We arrived in the dark, but since we were told that every other house in Trinidad was a casa particular (the Cuban version of a B&B)  we weren't too worried about finding a place to sleep.   We arrived after sunset, but luckily the bus station is in the centre of town.

Sunset over Plaza Mayor 

We walked to the first casa and they were fully booked. So was the second. And third. Then we decided to walk to what we guessed was the main street and started ringing the bell with every house that had a sign.  Conveniently in Cuba all registered casas must have a sign. A few didn't even answer the door and the others were full. And it started to rain. Time for a change of plans.

Living room

We walked into a quieter street, looking for casa signs. First one: fully booked again, but could they recommend a place? Not really.... At that point a neighbour passed by, heard our question, and came to our rescue. He rang the bell at a door with a somewhat weathered casa sign, asked the old man that opened if he had room, and he did! We ended up with Miguel: in an amazing house, with a lovely courtyard and that had a very colonial era atmosphere.  Truely a hidden gem. (For more photos)
It turned out that everything during our stay in Cuba (November '15) was overbooked: so may people wanted to visit before the country opened up in 2016.

Breakfast spot

Miguel works as a physician in the mornings, but is a lovely host after that. He speaks both French and English and loves a chat, but doesn't bother you. Each morning a young couple arrives at the casa; she makes breakfasts and does the housekeeping, he takes care of the house, plants and animals; a large portion of the courtyard is dedicated to bird cages.  Imagine having your breakfast in a luscious green courtyard, with the chatter of birds. And those funny curly tailed lizards!

Curly tailed lizards

The house itself: very heigh ceilings, pastel colours, decorative tiles, shady veranda, and the furniture and bathroom came right out of the 1930s! We really enjoyed our relaxing stay

Cuban colours

I just returned from Cuba: a nation in transition. I'll leave my deeper thoughts for a next post, but right now I just want to share a few photos that are in my mind typical for Cuba.  The colours of her streets.

Typical art deco building in Havana's Vedado

In Havana you can easily distinguish in which area you are, by looking in at the buildings.  Vedado was built in the first halve of the 20th century: Think roaring twenties, art deco in pastel.

Wandering in the streets of Havana Vieja

Havana Vieja is, at the name says, the old part of the city. Though nowadays you can argue about the 'old':  This area is tourist town, and heavily renovated. But very respectfully renovated I must add.

Walking in Trinidad

Trinidad was built during the sugar boom in the 19th century. Colonial style buildings, super high ceilings, wrought iron lattices, and cobbled streets.

Camaguey

Camagüey is one of the very few cities in Cuba that isn't built in a grid like street pattern. Because it was raided several times by pirates it was actually designed as a maze.

Camaguey

Midnight sun - Pyhä, Lapland

When I go away in the summer, somehow it usually is outside of Europe and for a longer period. This July I happened to end up in Northern Finland for a week.

We stayed next to Pyhä Luosto national park, about 100 km north of the Arctic circle. Now, of course above the arctic circle, you have the 24 hour winter nights, but also the 24 hour summer sun! When I was there, it was one of the last weeks that the midnight sun was visible. For me, living much further south, this was an impressive phenomenon.

On one of my nights here, I decided to take a walk around the park. I was so happy I did.
I spend a few hours enjoying the twilight at 2 am at the lake. It was cold, it was quiet, and magic. I watched the mist appear over the lake. The lake itself at moments seemed frozen in time, not a ripple in it.

It's impossible to capture the magic of those hours in words, or in photos. Here is my best attempt, but go out there and make your own memory.

What to do in Helsingfors - Helsinki

We went to Helsinki in juli 2015. Helsinki was not on our 'places-we-must-visit-list', but we had a few stopovers there on our way to and from Asia, and we decided it was about time we got of that airport. And we are happy we did.  The weather forecast was not very good (mostly rain), but turned out pretty well. Since we went in the summer, the days are very long. The sun did set, but was down only for a few hours. So what did we do while we were there?

Helsinki harbour

We visited most of the places that are in the guidebooks and a few places that I read about on different blogs.  Our first evening we walked to the Sibelius monument, the Temppeliaukion kirkko (Rock church, that was closed unfortunately) and after that went into town for a burger and a beer. Then we watched the sun set over Lapinlahti from the Hietaniemen cemetary.

The old Arabia factory

We spent the most of our Friday in town, walking down the Pohjoisesplanadi and the Eteläesplanadi, admiring the gorgeous Jugenstill buildings and the cool stuff in the design shops. I just love Finnish design, so one of the places I wanted to visit was the old Arabia factory. The whole area is now turned into a housing area and really lovely. The factory itself was a tad dissapointing, though I did get my hands on a collectors item from the Iitttala outlet.

Back in town we visited the improptu photo exhibition on the top floor of the Akateeminen Kirjakauppa (Academic bookshop) and of course regularly stopped for coffee with cakes. The Finns do love their cakes.

View from the ferry

There are several markethalls (Kauppahalli) in Helsinki. A nice, albeit touristy one, is near the main harbour: the Vanha Kaupahalli (Old Markethall). Another one is the Hakaniemi Kaupahalli that has the Sunday flea market. Unfortunately the rain was pouring down on Sunday, so we skipped that one. Other places we visited were the Lutheran cathedral and the Russian orthodox cathedral.
Great contrast between the two.

Glooming skies over the Lutheran cathedral

On Saterday it was just lovely weather and we decided to visit one of the islands, and went to Suomenlinna, the old fortress island.  We took a public ferry, and during the boat ride we had a nice view over the Helsinki waterfront.  Suomenlinna consists of five interconnected islands. One has a village on it, and another one still houses the Finnish Naval Academy.  The church dome actually doubles as a light house. I had never seen that before.
The seaside islands are mostly natural, with of course the occasional canon and seawall. It was a lovely day out.
 

Travel tips:

• Buy a public transport pass for several days. Buying a pass for a few days is cheaper than buying single day passes, and it's just relaxing to hop on and off the trams.
• We bought a 4-day pass for 2 zones, since this was the same pice as a 4-day pass for 1 zone and 2 separate airport tickets.
• If you want to visit the Araba factory: take tram 6 or 8 to the second to last stop.
• You can use your day pass for the ferry to Suomenlinna.
• When visiting Suomenlinna: use sunscreen!

BBQ Korean style - Seoul

If you ask Koreans for dinner recommandations, you can be sure most will say Korean barbecue is the way to go. So naturally, that's what we had. Several times.
Korean barbecue has different name depending on the type and cut of meat that you order.

Informal Samyeopsal place

The first night in Seoul went out for Samgyeopsal (삼겹살) in a busy, informal eatery. Samgyeopsal is pork belly barbecue. We sat down at a little table/barbecue made from a drum, and ordered meat for three people. When you place you order, they fire up the barbecue, and the little side dishes are served. These side dishes are called banchan (반찬).You do not have any saying in the side dishes you'll get. That's for the kitchen to decide. But you can be sure there will be at least one dish of kimchi (김치).

Barbecue with side dishes

Once your meat is cooked, the fun continues. Along with the banchan you got some greens. This can be different types of lettuce, and usually you also get a few wild sesame (perilla) leaves. Put a piece of meat on there, add some sauces and/or veggies, fold the leaf and enjoy your bundle of yumminess.
Generally the staff will help you with cooking, or take over if they think you are not cooking it correctly: we smoked out that first place! Whoops....

Consecutive steps of our 2nd barbecue

So we had another go a few nights later. In a slightly fancier restaurant that had electric cooking plates installed in the table. We picked a leaner cut of pork this time. In this restaurant, the ritual started with some vegetables on the plate, carefully put in the correct position. Then the meat was put on there, and..... cut into strips with the ultimate Korean cooking utensil: scissors.
The strips were cooked, and then flambéed.
After this dinner, a dessert was cooked on that same plate, consisting of rice and cheese.

In a supermarket, pretty lettuce is slod by the leaf!

Our third and final barbecue was in Jeju-si, with the famous Jeju black pig. This time was a combination of the previous barbecues. A fancy table plate with streaky belly meat. The people at the table next to us were no shy in telling us if we did something wrong. We had to place the giant mushroom at the correct position (left side, not right side), cook the meat longer before cutting it, and not put the veggies on there just yet. Did I mention the Koreans are quite fond of doing things in the correct manner?

Barbecue basics: banchan, leaves and scissors

Since these barbecues tend to be smelly, you can always get a big plastic bag to put your coats in. You can order drinks with you meal, but water is served for free in any restaurant.

Korean cultural snippets - South of the DMZ

It's been a while since I posted anything. The main reason is that I've been too busy working, but I have made a quick trip to Korea as well! And even though we have spent a fortnight there, which isn't really short I you think about it objectively, it did feel like a quick trip!

Memorial Park in Munsan

So this post is about my first impressions of Korea. It felt to me like a mixture of Chinese and Japanese. Which is probably true. Korea has long been a satelite state of the Chinese imperium, and later has been occupied by Japan. So the noise definitely sounded Chinese to me, but the way things are done in a set manner, the emphasis on the 'correct way' of doning anything, reminded me very much of Japan.

View over Munsan (to the north)

And the fact that Korea has been in a permanent state of war since the 1950's does show. The people themselfs do not seem very concerned with it. But for us tourists, it was quite visible in places.
We visited our friend, who lives in the border town Munsan (1 hour north of Seoul), and we decided to go on a morning walk in the surrounding country side. The path started right behind the memorial park. And then passed trenches and foxholes, not used at that moment, but very well maintained. But it was quite busy that morning with other hikers and no one but us seemed to notice the millitary appearance.

Walking past trenches

Now.... the correct manner to go hiking in Korea. Firstly, you need to wear the proper hiking gear. That means: hiking trousers in a bright colour, with black patches on the inside of you legs. A matching long sleeved, light wear jacket. Both in this season's colour. The seasonal colours this spring were orange or pink, we were told that last autumn they were burgundy and mustard.
Under your jacket you wear a long sleeved shirt, the woman wear a large sunshade and the man a cap, and every one wears trainers with neon laces. Of course you carry a backpack. Optional accesoires are walking poles, bandana and gloves.

Typical Korean hiker (from SFA)