Barcelona Street Performer

I ran into this gem of a street performance while walking along the boardwalk / seafront. It seems that this amazing gal belongs in Cirque du Soleil!

P1150309 from shirah-eden on Vimeo.

Birthday Pulahdus

I just celebrated my first birthday.

In Finland, that is.

The 23-year milestone called for something radical, so I took to the beach in southern Helsinki and - having successfully convinced only one other person (my cousin & roommate, Maya) to join me - splashed around in the waves for a quick dip. Or, as we say in Finnish: pulahdus!

It was a high of 5 degrees Celsius today (41 F) and something like 7 degrees in the water.  We took beach towels, sunglasses and tanning lotion to accessorize our bikini ensembles, but ended up getting too cold to care about those.  It was windy and the weather channel's "Feel's Like" estimate was 3 degrees.  So it was a quick in and quick out birthday swim, but the kite surfers in full neoprene bodysuits wanted photos with us and kept telling us "what brave girls" we are.

Overall a chilly experience but definitely worth the memories!

Ukrainian Summer

One day, a few months ago, I turned on my camera to snap a shot of something interesting and accidentally flipped it to the video dial.  Later, while uploading and reviewing my photos on my computer, I ran across this video clip and was so happy about the mistake -- seeing the 15-second clip really brought back to life the memory and the experience of that day.

And so here and there, whenever I remember, I try to catch little clips of the day - both the exciting once-in-a-lifetime moments and the everyday routines.  Things like riding the tram, grocery shopping, and hanging out with friends at the pub are so easily forgotten in the hustle and bustle of continuing life in yet another new city.  I wanted something dynamic to remind me of my summer in Odessa. While sitting in Kiev's Borispol Airport this weekend I compiled my clips from the last few months in Ukraine and voilà...

July 2011 - A Whirlwind of Excitement!

It's hard to believe that it's been practically an entire month since I've updated No Journey Wasted!  I appreciate the concerned notes from family and friends, but I don't want you to worry -- I've really been quite well (and busy!) and just haven't had a chance to upload any of the hundreds of pictures I've taken during my recent trips to Kiev, to Yalta (in the Crimea region of Ukraine), and to Chisinau (Moldova).  These have all been fantastic journeys during which I've met wonderful, interesting people; been confronted by a mixture of beautiful scenery and impoverished peoples; and experienced some events that I will surely never forget.  Among these: Watching dolphins in the tranquil, early morning waters off the Black Sea coast in Yalta; Playing cards all night in the train with an adorable Moldovan girl and her ballerina mother on the way back to Odessa from Simferopol, Ukraine; and randomly meeting one of my best childhood friends who was vacationing in Odessa while on leave from his deployment in Afghanistan.  Life continues to be full of surprises!

Odessa: Ultimate Eastern European Vacation Destination

I've been in Odessa for less than 48 hours, and already I've explored downtown on foot, eaten at some delicious local restaurants, refreshed my wardrobe with attire appropriate for the 95F (35C) weather, attended a spectacular performance of Madame Butterfly at the world-famous Odessa Opera House, spent a morning sunning on the beach (during which I fell asleep in the sun and will continue to pay for that nap as my sunburn becomes more and more painful), swam in the Black Sea, and made Ukrainian friends at the Irish pub next door to my apartment.

Quest for King's Gate

On my last day in Helsinki, Kiri and I took the ferry to the island of Suomenlinna, where we spent the afternoon exploring the old fortress.

Our first stop when the ferry landed was the Visitor Information building, where I picked up a map and immediately started looking through the "special attractions" page.  I don't often follow the guides very closely, as my sightseeing strategy falls into the "wander and see what happens" category, but I always browse the recommended достопримечательности (say "dostopreemyechatyelnostee," the Russian word for "tourist attractions") and usually pick one or two of them to set as my destination.  You should never wander without a final destination.

We decided that King's Gate would be our terminus, and very quickly our capricious exploring turned into the "Quest for King's Gate."

Waiting for our ferry to depart from the mainland,
we walked around the market at Kauppatori
(in Finnish 'kauppa' means 'market' and 'tori' means 'square')

Helsinki Seascapes

One of my most favorite parts of the day is walking at the seaside in the early morning or around sunset.  It actually feels more like living on a huge lake than a sea, because we're sheltered from the wind by the gulf and surrounding islands. In fact, Finland has 179,584 islands -- the most of any country in the world.  There are also 187,888 lakes.  I'm more than content with the mere 10 islands I can spot from the lookout at Kaivopuisto.

Sunnier times, a sunnier place

Nashville's gloomy weather and a conversation with one of my very favorite French language enthusiasts has left me dreaming of summer evenings in Cannes....

I've recently been looking at real estate in Provence; not much, just a little home to spend where I can escape the cold Nashville winters and enjoy the relaxing French countryside.  I've started a list of friends who've agreed to come for a visit to this eventual home of mine, so if this sounds like something you'd like to do, I'd be happy to add you!


I haven't yet signed a lease, so for now you'll have to settle for this seashore panorama. (Click the photo to enlarge.)