Hi friends!
I meant to post earlier, but I keep postponing - part of me thinks that if I just finish this one thing the house will be presentable, but I think it will be a few weeks before the house feels photo worthy. We have most of our Ikea furniture built, but we only just got all of our clothes out of boxes. We aren't quite settled in yet.
Our new house is on the waterfront in Kalasatama. Kala, meaning fish, and Satama, meaning harbor. The area is very new. It used to be an industrial port district, but the boats have been shifted to another area and pedestrian bridges have been built, and the area is under an impressive amount of construction building new apartments and stores and a giant mall. The best part for us is that the new mall, which opens on Aaron's birthday (soon!), houses a metro station. That means we have a direct connection to the metro within a 5 minute walk, which is the best way to get pretty much anywhere in the city. Metro trains run as frequent as every 3 minutes, so there is barely any waiting (but that waiting is indoors anyway!). Even better, we are just two pedestrian bridges and a trail away from the zoo (15 min walk), which is an island! Once Soren has the ability to appreciate it, we're going to get some annual memberships.
Our apartment is on the 5th floor, with an incredible view of the waterfront. Our main living area has a full length balcony which is very private. Our bedrooms have windows into the courtyard, which also feels very private. It's a very quiet area. It is still summer break in Finland, when many businesses shut down and people use the majority of their vacation, so the waterfront is filled with leisure boats, kayakers, paddle boarders, and fishermen. We even see hot air balloons regularly - I really need to figure out where they are coming from!
Sunset currently is around 10 pm, with sunrise around 5am. As a nursing mom, I think I'm the only one awake to see the few hours of true darkness.
The major downside at the moment is that Finnish air conditioning is not what and American thinks of when they say air conditioning. I would call it a small central fan that brings in fresh air. It is certainly not meant to cool anything, and it doesn't. Highs have been in the 80s all this week with high humidity and little wind. We've been doing what we can to strategically open windows and close blinds, but the best bet has been lots of cold showers. The cats are melting and hanging out in the sauna, which is ironically the coolest spot in the house! The heat wave should break today - I hope!
Soren is happy to have a nursery again, and his parents are happy to have a crib that isn't all the way on the floor! Little man is getting SO BIG.
That's all for now. More next time!
-Sarah
I meant to post earlier, but I keep postponing - part of me thinks that if I just finish this one thing the house will be presentable, but I think it will be a few weeks before the house feels photo worthy. We have most of our Ikea furniture built, but we only just got all of our clothes out of boxes. We aren't quite settled in yet.
Our new house is on the waterfront in Kalasatama. Kala, meaning fish, and Satama, meaning harbor. The area is very new. It used to be an industrial port district, but the boats have been shifted to another area and pedestrian bridges have been built, and the area is under an impressive amount of construction building new apartments and stores and a giant mall. The best part for us is that the new mall, which opens on Aaron's birthday (soon!), houses a metro station. That means we have a direct connection to the metro within a 5 minute walk, which is the best way to get pretty much anywhere in the city. Metro trains run as frequent as every 3 minutes, so there is barely any waiting (but that waiting is indoors anyway!). Even better, we are just two pedestrian bridges and a trail away from the zoo (15 min walk), which is an island! Once Soren has the ability to appreciate it, we're going to get some annual memberships.
Our apartment is on the 5th floor, with an incredible view of the waterfront. Our main living area has a full length balcony which is very private. Our bedrooms have windows into the courtyard, which also feels very private. It's a very quiet area. It is still summer break in Finland, when many businesses shut down and people use the majority of their vacation, so the waterfront is filled with leisure boats, kayakers, paddle boarders, and fishermen. We even see hot air balloons regularly - I really need to figure out where they are coming from!
The major downside at the moment is that Finnish air conditioning is not what and American thinks of when they say air conditioning. I would call it a small central fan that brings in fresh air. It is certainly not meant to cool anything, and it doesn't. Highs have been in the 80s all this week with high humidity and little wind. We've been doing what we can to strategically open windows and close blinds, but the best bet has been lots of cold showers. The cats are melting and hanging out in the sauna, which is ironically the coolest spot in the house! The heat wave should break today - I hope!
Soren is happy to have a nursery again, and his parents are happy to have a crib that isn't all the way on the floor! Little man is getting SO BIG.
-Sarah
Thanks. Sounds wonderful. Got the full scoop from Carol this morning.
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