my heart belongs to finland...

in the new york times 'great homes and destinations' section house hunting in finland was featured this weekend and it instantly flooded my heart like a title wave. a few summers ago we took a family trip to scandinavia and the baltics. among several of our stops was helsinki, finland and it was certainly my favorite spot of the trip. i loved it so much i vowed to someday go back and travel, possibly even live there for a little while if i could. have you ever been to a place away from home that feels like home in your heart? well that is exactly how finland felt to me. i started to reminisce here are few shots from our trip...

helsinki, finland...


temppeliaukio kirkko (rock church) is a must see when you visit. the lutheran church is blasted from the inside out of a solid granite. there are incredible vertical windows at the highest level that allow light to stream in, and has a stunning round copper roof...it's magnificent inside and so unassuming from the outside...


the other must see landmark is the eila hiltunen or the 'sibelius monument'. it is a monument dedicated to the finnish composer jean sibelius. i could have stayed here all day...



copenhagen, denmark...


this was our favorite sign in denmark, 'slut spurt', contrary to what we thought, it meant 'sale'...

tallin, estonia...




st. petersburg, russia...



i was an art history major in college, so to be able to see in person my favorite painting at the hermitage, 'the dance' by henri matisse, was the highlight of russia for me...



stockholm, sweden...


and this was my sisters favorite sign in stockholm...



oslo, norway (where it rained the ENTIRE time)...



arhus, denmark (where my mother gave us the wrong exchange rate, which we suffered for when out credit card statements came in the mail)...


as i was looking through these pictures from our trip i realized how many funny ones there were of my sister...she cracks me up sometimes...