Summer and Archipelago Food Photography

The summers before last one my holiday started with a drive and a boat trip to my dear and talented friend Marina's family island. We loaded the car and then the boat with a lot of photography gear and lots of food and wine.

The island is amazing and the guest house is even more amazing. It feels like you are in the French countryside even thought you are at the Finnish archipelago.

We dedicated three days for cooking, styling, photography, sipping wine, eating and going to sauna. We were so obsessed with the food photography that one day we had two lunches. I think I gained weight at least one kilogram.

More pictures on Instagram under #archipelagofoodphotography. Also read Marina's blog post here.

Beautiful Apartment in Amsterdam

Last February Hertta & I travelled to Amsterdam to visit my old and dear friend Maikki. Maikki studied Fashion Merchandise Management in London and is currently working in Amsterdam. It was quite difficult to find an apartment to rent in Amsterdam so Maikki decided to buy one at the Oud-West area.

At the moment I am again in Amsterdam and staying with Maikki for three weeks.

I just fell in love with Maikki's apartment and I see why she ended up buying this one. The building is really narrow as they are in Holland. The house was built in 1906. There are four apartments in this building.

Art on the wall by Pilvi Takala.

There are 57 m² that covers two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a living room. Top it all off there are two balconies and big windows.

I remember Maikki had a great sense for style and interior decorations when we were younger. Her first apartment in Töölö was unique and characteristic. Then she moved to London, there I never went to visit her but when she moved to Zürich for work I stayed with her. Her apartment was beautiful and she had the same Marimekko curtains Carrie Bradshaw had in her apartment in Sex and the City. But this apartment in Amsterdam is way more nicer than the ones before. She also lived in Hong Kong but there I never visited (though we went to Kuala Lumpur together at that time).

I still have 1,5 weeks to enjoy this beautiful apartment and the lovely company of Maikki. Oh, and I also just love Amsterdam, I could see myself living in here.

More Amsterdam pictures on Instagram #tlhamsterdam.

HTL Stockholm, a Beautiful Boutique Hotel

Kaunis putiikkihotelli HTL Stockholm - Suomenkielinen käännös löytyy alta.

When Hertta & I traveled to Stockholm we were first thinking of renting an Airbnb apartment but we ended up going to a hotel. We choose HTL Stockholm as I got a good blogger deal with them. It is quite new hotel in really good location on Kungsgatan. They also have a new hotel on Upplandsgatan, and two others in Oslo, Norway.

HTL Hotels focuses on the essentials. A beautiful boutique hotel like this can keep their prices down when not offering some of the services you can travel without. For example they don't have a gym but you will find the best gyms in Stockholm nearby.

There is a possibility to check-in by yourself on a selfservice counter. And you can use your smart phone as a key to enter your room. Everything is made quick and easy.

At the lobby you will find a cafe and a small shop to buy something to eat or everyday necessaries.

Rooms are modern and decorated with Scandinavian style. Everything seems to be functional. The color coral runs thru the hotel.

HTL Hotels can also compete with their tasty breakfast. It is one of the best hotel breakfasts I've had. As I do not enjoy buffet style eating I enjoyed the simplicity of this quality breakfast. They serve musli, joghurt, fresh fruit, croissants, jams, smoothies, juices and hot drinks. All the items are beautifully set and carefully selected.

More pictures on Instagram #tlhstockholm #HTLkungsgatan.

HTL Hotels
Stockholm, Sweden
htlhotels.com

In cooperation with HTL Hotels.

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Kaunis putiikkihotelli HTL Stockholm

Viimekeväisellä Tukholman-reissulla yövyimme Hertan kanssa funktionaalisessa ja skandinaavisen kauniissa HTL Stockholmissa Kungsgatanilla. Hotellista on karsittu kaikki turha poissa, joten he voivat tarjota huoneita edullisemmin kuin putiikkihotellit yleensä. HTL Stockholm kilpailee myös laadukkaalla aamiaisella. Toivovottavasti saamme tämän hotellin myös Helsinkiin.

Lisää kuvia Instagramissa #tlhstockholm #HTLkungsgatan.

HTL Hotels
Stockholm, Sweden
htlhotels.com

Yhteistyössä HTL Hotels.

Blogville - Balsamic Vinegar

On my BlogVille journey after visiting the parmigiano reggiano factory we also visited a balsamic vinegar factory Acetaia Picci. The factory is run by a family and the son was the one who gave us a tour at the farm and their museum.

The procedure to make the balsamic vinegar is slow, and the more aged it is the more thicker and tastier it gets. We had an opportunity to taste all the balsamic vinegars they produce. You could really tell the difference between the youngest and the oldest vinegars. The producer told us that when he travels he has his own small bottle of basamic vinegar with him to use it even at the restaurants. I think that is so cute.

After learning about the balsamic vinegar procedure we had a lovely lunch made by the mother of the manufacturer. They used to own a Michelin Star restaurant so the lunch was amazing, naturally.

Erbazzone is one of my favorites in the Italian cuisine. It's a spinach pie.

Pannacotta with strawberries and thick blasamic vinegar, naturally.

Acetaia Picci
Via Roncaglio 29
42025 Cavriago
Reggio Emilia, Italy
acetaiapicci.com

More photos on Instagram #tlhblogville.

Sponsored by BlogVille & Emilia Romagna Region Tourist Board.

BlogVille - Parmigiano Reggiano

During the BlogVille journey we visited a parmigiano reggiano factory Caseificio Scalabrini and learned how the cheese is made. It is more difficult procedure that you would guess. Read more about the procedure from here.

The milk is freshly milked every morning from the cows that are living at the factory's farm. When we visited the factory there we three workers all the time working with the milk in tanks and making the cheese. We followed through the procedure. After seeing the whole procedure we went to see the hall where the cheese is matured. It was amazing, shelves filled with an enormous amount of parmigiano reggiano cheese. The smell was heavy but delicious.

We also had an amazing opportunity to see when they cut open one huge 40 kg parmigiano reggiano cheese. It took quite a while for two man to cut it open. The smell was incredible and we got to taste fresh and the best middle pieces of the cheese. It was definitely the best parmigiano reggiano I ever tasted. So soft and creamy. We also had a tasting of different age parmigiano reggianos to see the difference. What a fantastic opportunity.

The percussion hammer is used to tap the cheese on various points to test how the maturing is going on.

Caseificio Scalabrini
Via San Michele 1
42021 Bibbioano
Reggio Emilia, Italy

More photos on Instagram #tlhblogville.

Sponsored by BlogVille & Emilia Romagna Region Tourist Board.

BlogVille - Reggio Emilia

A month ago I spent amazing time in Italy all arranged by the BlogVille. When I arrived to Bologna we left the same day to visit Reggio Emilia for the weekend. We spend there three nights and stayed at the hotel Albergo delle Notarie. Reggio Emilia is a small and beautiful city in Northern Italy. First night we had a dinner at a traditional restaurant called Ristorante Canossa. We had a lovely meal with pasta, meat and desserts all combined with lambrusco wine, typical for the region.

The next day we visited parmigiano reggiano factory Caseificio Scalabrini and learned how the real parmesan cheese is made. And after that we visited a balsamic vinegar maker Acetaia Picci. (A blog post coming up soon!)

At Reggio Emilia there was the annual Lambrusco Wine Competition Awards event at the Teatro Municipale. The theater is old and amazingly beautiful, build in 1857. After announcing the awards there was a lambrusco tasting and a buffet dinner. We tasted many lambrusco and rose wines and had a fun evening.

We also had an opportunity to visit Rinaldini's lambrusco and rose winery. The journey also included a visit to Frattoria Rossi to learn how to make pasta and enjoy a lovely dinner.

Reggio Emilia is a beautiful city to visit. I could go again, definitely!

More photos on Instagram #tlhblogville.

Sponsored by BlogVille & Emilia Romagna Region Tourist Board.