finland trip, part one

okay, so my blog has pretty much died, succumbing to the competition of instagram's ease of use and convenience.. but i have felt so much encouragement and support for my trip to finland this spring, from so many, and this is the best outlet i can think of to share my trip with all who are interested. 

also this way, you can look at read at your own convenience and interest level!

quick summary:

i come from a family of six girls. we are all very connected to our maiden name: bendio. it is finnish (in finland, it's Pöntiö) we were very close to our finnish grandpa, and love our heritage. 

last year my sister, mary, decided to go to finland- she met a finnish woman who encouraged her, and there was a place to stay since my mom's sister was in helsinki with her husband, serving as the LDS mission president there. i was so excited, and once she decided to wait a year, i was totally on board to go with her! i needed that much time to save my money!

we went to finland in may 2014. neither of us had been there, and didn't speak the language. however, my grandpa had been there to visit in the 1980's and my other sister, kaarina, served an LDS mission to finland in the 1990's. both of them made contact with relatives, which we were able to do, as well!

 here is my first good look at the country, from the airplane! it was so surreal and exciting, after 15 hours in flight, along with hours spent in airports, to finally be arriving in finland! not to mention the year + i had spend dreaming, planning and earning/saving for the trip.

my sweet aunt and uncle picked us up from the airport (after we filled out the forms we needed to, to try to recover our lost checked luggage!) and took us to see the helsinki temple on our way to their home. such a gorgeous building, and so fun to see it right away and in person!

after we dropped our stuff off, and saw their house (the LDS mission home), my aunt remi took us for a walk on a path by the water. this is just down the street from their house! so fun to see this little island with a house on it! dreamy.

 my stylish, energetic aunt didn't hesitate to run up this huge granite rock- in heels, no less- to show us her enthusiasm and love for this beautiful country! i loved her exuberance, so fitting for how we were feeling- finally being there!

 we walked along this beautiful path, enjoyed being outside and stretching our legs, breathing the fresh air and drinking in the scenery! spring flowers, birdsong, a rabbit, and lots of finns and their dogs all along the trail.

then back home for dinner, sauna (more on that, later!) and bed. mary and i had separate rooms, with four sleeping options in each!

the next morning we woke up early, setting the tone for the trip- not much sleep! but there was so much to do..
our uncle took us to the train station, and gave us his navigator to help us get back in a few days! the plan was to travel to kokkola, a few hours north of helsinki and stay overnight with a family friend, petra, who had stayed at my parent's house when i was in high school.

the trains were so cute!! and i loved the train station so much. really cool, mythical architecture.
it was fun to take the train and see the countryside. lots of trees, lots of picturesque lakes & houses.

i loved finland before i ever saw it, so it was no surprise to love it in person, but it became so much more real. realising this was an amazing experience. 

**click here to go to part two!