SOUL PLACES

If it's true what some people say that soul places exist, i.e places where you feel at home and light and wonderful and like you belong there ... then these are ours. Apart from the fact that they are just pretty, there is something rather inexplicable about them that speaks to us and attracts us.

Hanna's place: Löpö, a lonely beach in Lieksa



Marko's place: A parking lot between Joensuu and Lieksa. We have hundreds of pictures of this place, and we always stop there. Rain or shine, night or day, it always looks special. And this year, something special happened when we were approaching it: Berni and Michi called us to inform us about the birth of their daughter Salome. In honor of this special girl, this place will from now on be known as "Salome". Welcome to this world, Salome, we hope that one day (sooner rather than later) we can show you "your" place.

ELÄMÄ LIEKSASSA

Yes, life in Lieksa is the best thing we can imagine for a vacation. Forests, lakes, garden and - tottakai - sauna! Wonderful! Even though we both have to work a little, in this environment it's more than bearable.










And we continued the tradition of visiting the place where we got married: Paateri

OUR HOMES SAY HELLO

So this is it, this is where we come from: Langenlois, Austria, and Lieksa, Finland, the places forever engraved in our lives. Only because we have these roots, we also have those wings ...

Hanna's home, the wine-Mekka of Austria:



Marko's home, known for the prettiest swimming (and skiing) places (see next post)



And this is what we left behind for good - our first apartment! *sigh*

SUMMER BABIES

This has definitely been the summer of babies. Augustin, Lina, Antonín, Kasperi, and, of course our brand-new nephew Elias who will be missed A LOT. To all the babies we met this summer: Welcome to this world, it was so great to see you!!! To those of you in Europe: We hope you'll have a wonderful year and time for us again next summer. We can't even imagine all the things you will learn and we'll be missing, but we'll try and be in your lives from the other side of the pond. Take good care of yourselves and your parents!

ONE MORE TIME

before Hanna left the country again she had to see her bracelet buddies (minus Barb who was excused for honeymoony reasons but present in thoughts). But bracelet bodies have evolved - it's chilly sisters now! Thank you, sisters, for a superrelaxed, wonderful time in Salzburg. Let's do it again next year!! *sigh*




Thanks for making me coffee (!!), Mavie!

MIRACLES

that Hanna's dad can work: Amazing produce! Impressive, humbling and, most of all, delicious!

OVERDUE

Come on, babies! Everyone is waiting and looking forward to meeting you! (No pressure, of course. Come when you're ready!)

SO CLOSE, NO MATTER HOW FAR

... couldn't be much more from the heart. Even though we are (once again) a few countries apart, we feel so close. Skyping with you is always the highlight of my day.

GOOD BYE, HORMAYRGASSE!

Everything is put into pieces, wrapped, shipped, sold on ebay, cleared out, or given to friends and family members. After this really exhausting work, living in the empty apartment felt kind of relaxing - even though we should have kept at least a plate and a fork ... Thank you, dear first apartment, for giving us 6 wonderful years together. Many memorable moments connected to you will stay with us forever.

REVIVED!

Leaving burning hot Vienna and exhausting clearing out work for a while was the best thing we could do. Waldviertel was the perfect place, Maria and Rudi the perfect company. We feel so revived after swimming and mountain biking for 2 days. Sauna and Mohnsterz helped a lot, too. :-) Aww, Waldviertel! Thank you, guys!








Never forget the delicious taste of Wurstsemmel!