Sinimalist

lifestyle blog

Archives for July 2018

COUNTRY LIFE

I´ve been on vacation for 1,5 weeks. The first thing I did when I got out of the office was a train ride away from the city. After a few hours I arrived to the lovely Finnish country side and felt the immediate effect of it. No stress, no schedules or busy people running around. I was on vacation, no question about it.

Our family has a summer house that is located literally in the middle of nowhere. It´s an old farm that used to belong to my grandparents and it´s located in a small village with a population of around 30 people. When you look out the window, all you see is horses, grain fields and lots of forest, so this pretty much is a perfect getaway from the hectic city life. I even had trouble sleeping at first, because it is so extremely quiet in here!

So, what do you do in a place like this? Pretty much nothing, and that is the beauty of it. Sure, there are strawberries to pick and a garden to look after, but that´s about it. When it´s time to have dinner, this time I cannot rely on Wolt or a nearby restaurant. Instead, I walk out the door, dig out some potatoes from the ground and collect a little salad from the garden. Whether we are baking or cooking, we get to collect most of our food from our own garden. So there is a lot of time on my hands, which means lots of sun bathing. And collecting flowers. And sun bathing.


So, at the moment everything is perfect. Well, almost. There are hundreds of horse flies everywhere, and they make me lose my mind! Then again, if that is my biggest concern, it only means that life is good at the moment 🙂

Dress Asos

SEYCHELLES

A few months ago we wanted to escape the chill of Finnish winter with my boyfriend and took off to Seychelles. It was such an amazing experience and I wanna share some of the Seychelles magic with you. Seychelles is world famous for its beaches, crystal clear waters and spectacular nature. The islands are unique, since they are formed of granite. The rock formations are spectacular, especially the ones on the beaches.

It´s unbelievable that Seychelles isn´t more popular or well known (at least in Finland that is). We received a lot of raised eyebrows and questions when we told our friends about our vacation plans. Most of the tourists on Seychelles seemed to be German, with a few Italians and French here and there. Overall, the vibe on the islands and among the tourists was relaxed and very well-behaved, something you won´t see in Thailand or Ibiza. The two weeks we spent on the islands went by way too fast. Unfortunately we didn´t get to do everything on the must-do-on-Seychelles-list, but here´s a few tips on what do in there.

1. LA DIGUE

The island of La Digue is a must. It is only 3km wide and 5km long and everybody rides around with bikes. There are only a few cars, but mostly they are taxis and minibuses for driving tourists between the ferry and the hotels. You can rent bikes anywhere, our bikes cost us about 7€ per day and we got them from the hotel. The vibe on La Digue is very relaxed. You can ride around the on narrow roads that weave through lush rain forests, massive rock formations and beaches and find yourself an isolated beach where you can spend an entire day more or less alone. And there are no locals trying to sell you stuff you don’t need for a “special price”. More on the beaches of La Digue below…

Grand Anse beach

2. RENT A CAR

The prices aren´t too bad and the traffic is ok, at least on the island of Praslin, where we drove around in our small Hyundai. I guess you need to be at least a decent driver to enjoy Seychelles by car. The traffic is left-handed, the roads are narrow and there are a few massive hills, which can be challenging for a less experienced driver. Other than that, renting a car is a smart move, since there is a lot to discover and you get a nice sense freedom when you are able go wherever and whenever you want to.

3. BEACHES

The beaches are spectacular pretty much everywhere you go. We spend our two weeks on two different islands, La Digue and Praslin, a week each. There´s no shortage of nice beaches, most of them are very quiet and if you get bored, just on your snorkeling gear and head out for a swim. You can spot rays, turtles, octopuses and other exotic fish in the vicinity of the beaches. Plus, the climate is very nice, it is amazingly calm for a place that is surrounded by thousands of miles of ocean. A local taxi driver explained that Seychelles is located in a tranquil part of the Indian Ocean, due to ocean currents and winds. The climate is hot, sunny and very calm, bigger storms and cyclones are extremely rare in Seychelles. Then again, this is how the taxi driver told us, so maybe this claim doesn´t hold any scientific value.

On La Digue, there are plenty cool beaches to discover. The world famous Source D´Argent was very nice indeed, but our favorite was a remote beach called Petite Anse. It takes a 15 minute trek over some rough rocky terrain from another great beach, Grand Anse but it definitely is worth the effort. The first thing we saw on Petite Anse were three manta rays swimming only a few meters from the beach in full courtship mode! I don´t think it gets much more unique than that! However, the waves on these two beaches are no joke, as I discovered after being tossed around a few times. But that is another story…’

grand anse

4. VALLE´E DE MAI NATIONAL PARK

We visited Vallée de Mai nature reserve, which was like a movie set for Jurassic Park. Massive palm trees, endemic bird species and fruit bats flying above the canopy created a magical vibe in the jungle. Spending time in the shades of the jungle also serves as a good balancer for the hot sun at the beach, as if you´d want a break from sun bathing! 🙂 Anyway, this is definitely a place worth visiting.

Here is a well written piece about the basics of Seychelles, check it out! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask 🙂

 

10 USELESS FACTS ABOUT ME

1. I absolutely hate leggings. I have never used them and I never will. If anyone sees me wearing them, then you know that I’ve finally lost it. White leggings are the worst, wearing them is such an understatement to your legs.

2. I’ve never been on a diet this unhealthy. A couple of days ago I ordered a delivery pizza for breakfast, then had 2 meals from McDonald’s for lunch. Didn’t even leave the bed in between. Today I got a hold of myself and enjoyed a healthy green smoothie called Bolt. Now I’m hoping that this stuff will make run like Usain himself. Maybe I need to work on the other areas of my diet as well to achieve that…well, I always have time and energy for a fitness project, so why not!

3. I rarely sit on our couch at home, even though it’s nice. I’d rather admire it from a distance.

4. I’m a cheese cake lover and I have tasted so many different sorts of it, that I am somewhat of an expert on the matter. It is hard to find a proper, tasty cheese cake these days, since everyone keeps adding different flavors to their cakes. I prefer smooth and simple, classic New Yorker style cakes. Beauty lies in simplicity!

5. I can’t wait to get my hands on a new renovation project, unfortunately it’s hard to find an apartment that is in bad enough condition for my extreme makeover!

6. I’m extremely persistent and I won’t give up easily, but when it comes to Minna Parikka’s Mickey Mouse shoes I’m ready to admit my defeat.

7. I think carrara marble has to be matte coated. Always.

8. I have refueled a car only once in my life. I won’t do it again, for a good reason.

9. Lately I’ve taught myself to like the taste of coconut. But I still can’t stand Bounty, the one chocolate bar that I will not touch under any circumstances.

10. My passion is sauna because I’m always cold. Being cold all the time is super annoying to me, but for my family and friends too. A car trip in the summer heat is always a game of switching the air conditioning back and forth with the others. This year I have only felt warm in a sauna and our trip to Seychelles. More of that trip later…