Hanna's Travel Stories...

Dear r 13,
Karelia, here we come! The hut at the lake was small and wooden, a wood burner and a sauna inside. Two beds and a sofa as furniture. No taps, just the lake. A painting of some pines and a hut by a river, an old-fashioned radio, a microwave, a stove… basically all this hut is. Oh, I forgot the boat. A small rowing boat to explore the large, black lake. An island, miniature and coated in a forest and blueberry weeds, mushrooms, too. A stiff breeze ruffled the lake as the boat drifted toward the island, making it look like a weird hairdo. A few lily pads and stems that looked like horsetail poked out of the lake like stubble from a man’s beard. What might we see? A moose? A bear? Perhaps a wolf? We let our imagination run wild.

From Hanna.

P.S: We went canoeing on the squirrel route (it was BYO squirrel!). check out this link for more information by a travel magazine: www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/start-to-finnish-a-strenuous-canoe-trip-in-finlands-lake-district-is-the-perfect-family-escape-1772180.html



Hi room 13,

I breathed deep. The musty smell of old books reached my nose, making me want to sneeze. A steep stairway led up to the 1st floor. We raced up the stairs, our feet slapping on the stone. The scent grew stronger and within moments we were faced with shelves upon shelves of books. Old, new, bright, dull, fiction or not…. Who cares! My mum tramped up a few floors while I explored the kid’s section. Too bad that most of the books were in Finnish! However, they did have a generous selection of English literature. I chose a book and settled down to read. After a while my mum came back and said she wanted to show me something. I followed her up to the 6th floor and we gazed down the stairwell. A spiral staircase wound into a coil like a snake. It was very cool! We found these links on the internet and thought they might be interesting.
locatinghelsinki.wordpress.com/2007/09/04/rikhardinkadun-kirjasto
www.flickr.com/photos/60027857@N00/2559923383

We also went to a smoke sauna, a zoo, and for a swim near our apartment block that week.

Yours,

Hanna Ott(er)