Warm sunshine, hot beats and cool people: that’s our Notting Hill Carnival 2019 in a nutshell. This past weekend marked the 4th time we’ve participated in the world-famous festival of Caribbean culture, and we had a blast. And yet, while dancing on the streets and admiring the passing sound systems, the social scientist in me… Continue reading Discovering London: The Notting Hill Carnival 2019
Tag: Expat Life
Keeping Fit in Amsterdam: Pilates with Puppies
Keeping fit can be fun. It sure was fun yesterday, when I celebrated the World Animal Day by doing pilates with puppies. Yes, you read that right: I attended a pilates class with dogs, sharing the yoga mat with a handful of furry friends. The event was held in De Pijp, one of Amsterdam’s hippest neighbourhoods,… Continue reading Keeping Fit in Amsterdam: Pilates with Puppies
KEEPING FIT IN AMSTERDAM: HOT FLOW YOGA JORDAAN
Today I want to introduce you to my favourite yoga studio. I’ve become quite an expert on them since moving to Amsterdam. In the last year and a half, I’ve sampled dozens of studios and more types of yoga than I even knew existed. Yet one of the first studios I tried has remained a firm favourite… Continue reading KEEPING FIT IN AMSTERDAM: HOT FLOW YOGA JORDAAN
Keeping Fit in Amsterdam: Barre + Beats at Studio 191 West
Ballet is one of the hardest sports out there, I remember mum telling little Liza during an interval in the foyer of the Finnish National Opera. She had worked with ballet dancers and seen first hand how much work went into the seemingly effortless performances like the one we were about to continue watching. Making it… Continue reading Keeping Fit in Amsterdam: Barre + Beats at Studio 191 West
Boat Parties and Orange Balloons, or Celebrating King’s Day in Amsterdam
Now I know it for sure: celebrating King’s Day in Amsterdam is best done aboard a boat. [What is King’s Day, I hear you ask? Well, as the name suggests, it’s a day dedicated to the Dutch ruler, currently King Willem-Alexander (until a few years ago, the party was known as the Queen’s Day after… Continue reading Boat Parties and Orange Balloons, or Celebrating King’s Day in Amsterdam
Party Like a King: 5 Tips for Celebrating King’s Day in Amsterdam
It’s that time of the year again – the whole of Holland is turning orange. No, I’m not talking about the world-renowned Keukenhof gardens or the famous tulip fields – I’m talking about King’s Day. What is King’s Day? Well, as the name suggests, it’s a day dedicated to the current Dutch King Willem-Alexander (until… Continue reading Party Like a King: 5 Tips for Celebrating King’s Day in Amsterdam
Reflections on the Russian elections
Today my beautiful and beloved country of birth votes for its next president. Sadly, I’m not a citizen and consequently can’t vote. Not that it would make a whole lot of difference – like in the Finnish presidential elections a couple of months back, everyone already knows who is going to win (in both cases,… Continue reading Reflections on the Russian elections
Monthly Roundup: January 2018
I’m sitting on a park bench. It’s 4pm and sun has just set behind the hills of San Francisco, yet it’s still warm enough for me to chill outside wearing nothing but a short summer dress that I got this afternoon for 3 dollars (we didn’t pack summer clothes as we definitely did not expect… Continue reading Monthly Roundup: January 2018
Meeting Her Majesty the Queen and Other Travel Highlights of 2017
It has become a tradition of mine to dedicate a couple of days around the turn of the year for looking back on the travels of the previous 12 months. Many of us travel so often these days that it can almost start feeling mundane, so it’s good to take time to appreciate that traveling is,… Continue reading Meeting Her Majesty the Queen and Other Travel Highlights of 2017