Kirkkonummi, Finland – For the first time, we celebrated the summer solstice, aka Midsummer in Finland. To our credit, this holiday in Finland looks very similar to the Midsummer feast we have when we’re home. Hyvää Juhannusta!
Hanko Front Museum
Hanko, Finland – We stopped at the Hanko Front Museum for a history lesson. The Hanko peninsula was the focus of the Continuation War between USSR and Finland in 1941-44. The museum is an excellent introduction to the conflict. Would-be…
Vanha Porvoo
Porvoo, Finland – Old Town in delightful Porvoo, aka Vanha Porvoo. The Finnish national poet, Johan Runeberg, is from Porvoo. Signs all over town commemorate this fact, including this one.
Riding the Lev Tolstoy
Helsinki, Finland – And… we’re in Finland! We journeyed from Moscow to Helsinki riding the Lev Tolstoy, a repeat of the overnight train journey we did three years ago. Our compartment was cozy. The twins stayed up late reading. They…
Finnish Midsummer Feast
Somerville, Mass – We don’t get to go to Finland this summer, so we decided we better host our own summer solstice celebration. I wrote to my Finnish family get advice on exactly what this should entail. The Finns wrote back: “Midsummer…
How Finland Keeps Kids Focused
Somerville, Mass – As a follow-up to my previous post about Free Play, here is another article from the Atlantic about an interesting (and not necessarily intuitive) discovery made by an American teaching in Finland. It’s no secret that I…
Good, Not So Good
Somerville, Mass – Weeks have gone by with no posts and I’m sure regular readers are overcome with curiosity–perhaps even concern–what’s been happening with the fearless duo? Did the twins run away to Moomin World? Did their mother decide to…
Finland Replay
Kirkkonummi, Finland – This year’s trip to Finland is basically a repeat of last year’s trip to Finland, without the diapers. That is a good thing. Daddio and I are busy working on our book. The twins are busy at…
The Goodnight Train
Helsinki, Finland – Regular readers will know that the twins are crazy about trains. We never met a kiddie train we didn’t ride. The time has come to test this love of riding the rails: what good is it unless…
42 Finnish Foods
Somerville, Mass – Let me preface this by saying that 42 is a pretty big number when it comes to Finnish foods. And “desperately need” are strong words, even if it is an attempt at funny by Buzz Feed. But…