It's time to hit the road, so to say

For me, there aren't summer holidays without a journey planned somewhere. Idling at home is not my ideal way to spend time and that's probably the reason why I'm not even eager to take my holidays from work. Nevertheless, this year, being forced to remain in my country I needed to compensate for this lack of opportunity and try to make something out of the summer holidays. Exploring my country is something we have been planning, even though so far it would be only for a one-day-trips. 

One place I always wanted to see was the city (or town if you want to be more precise) of Hämenlinna in south Finland. The city is not really far from Helsinki, but for some reason, I always found it easier to fly to a farther destination, rather than taking the car and drive for a hundred kilometers to reach a closer location. 

Nevertheless, this is what we did this time, as our first journey to discover the beauties of our country. As I said driving one kilometer north from Helsinki, you will easily reach Hämeenlinna a city with 68000 inhabitants in the historical province of Tavastia.

This is the oldest city located in the inland of Finland and it's famous for being the birthplace of the composer Jean Sibelius and the medieval castle.

The first human settlement in the area was recorded during the Viking Age (793-1066 AD) and the castle was built in the 13th century to secure the Swedish power in central Finland. A village was built around the castle to provide services and goods, but only in 1639 was granted the status of "city" and in 1862 the first railway was opened to connect Hämeenlinna with Helsinki.

The city isn't at all anything big, and people who travel to visit it, generally do so for the medieval castle, the military museum, and the Jean Sibelius museum. 

Like every castle in the past, its construction date is uncertain, as it was built in stages. Most certainly it was completed by the end of the 13th century. 

One important goal of the Swedish expedition had been to link the province of Häme more tightly to the Swedish kingdom. 

This aim, which was influenced by foreign policy considerations, required the maintenance of a strong military fortress. Of equal importance, however, was the desire to tax this relatively wealthy region, and thus to set certain demands concerning the exterior forms of rule.

The oldest part of the castle is known as the fortified camp. This included a square-shaped greystone wall, with defensive towers at the northern, eastern, and southern corners. 

The view from the top floor of the castle is charming as it is the whole building itself.

This has been one strange month, where I could dedicate just a little amount of time to blog and being on any social platforms. This because I've been busy with the new release of my novel, about which I'm going to talk about very soon!

I hope you enjoyed this journey in my country and will see you soon for new adventures and news about the life of a Wandering Writer.

Take care!

A garden can become a place to surprise you

It's not like I woke up one morning, and they were there, but I knew something was growing, and that was also something I've never planted myself, or at least that was something I didn't remember having purchased for my garden.

I'm talking about two bushes of roses.

I always loved those flowers in my life, and they've always had a special place in my garden:

Yet, when I moved first in this house and the garden wasn't at all set, I planned a special place for them, together with other species of flowers to create a lovely bouquet of colors and scents. Now, I also know what kind of roses I've chosen, and white roses weren't much on the list.

A few years later, something started to grow, and I was wondering whether it was one of those roses which I thought they died out and found new life from the roots I hadn't remove, or they were something new. I didn't eradicate then because they were not harming, and they filled up nicely the empty spaces. Now, thy never made any flower, so I was really wondering about their origin and their specie.

I did wait, and meantime, I kept trimming them every fall and spring. They were growing nicely yet no flowers.

This until this summer, when finally they started to bloom and to show their beauty. White roses:

Indeed those were roses I've never planted myself; the only explanation is that the seeds have been brought to my garden by the wind or the birds.

I was pleasantly surprised and happy to see them blooming after many years of just having the bush. I cannot say which kind of specie they belong to, as I haven't purchased in the first place, but I believe they make a great addition to my garden.

Once again, when you let nature help you with the choice of flowers for your garden, you will undoubtedly get fantastic surprises.

Do you have a garden? What do you plant there?

Stay safe and tuned!