We’re back from having an amazing time in Helsinki! Thanks so much Visit Helsinki and Visit Finland for such a great trip. We’ve loved the city and its people and can’t wait to share all the places we visited on a new City Guide. In the meantime, here are some snaps from our time there. You can see many more on our Instagram profile:
www.instagram.com/futurepositive_
We’re really excited to announce that in just a couple of weeks we will be travelling to Helsinki to produce a new City Guide in partnership with Visit Helsinki. It will be our first time in Finland and we can’t wait to see what its capital has to offer.
In anticipation to our trip, we have prepared a list of things we are excited about and look forward to experiencing when we arrive to Helsinki.
Food is an essential part of our guides and we can’t wait to try some of Finland’s delicacies. There are so many dishes we want to taste that we’re not sure where to start, but we want to make sure we don’t leave the country without trying Karelian Pies (a traditional pastry made of rye flour and rice), Grillimakkara (sausages made for grilling and served with mustard), Korvapuusti (Cinammon buns) and Leipäjuusto (known in English as Finnish squeaky cheese).
Photo by Dan Zelazo via Flickr Creative Commons
One of the things we’re most excited about is being able to see the work of Finnish designer and architect Alvar Aalto in person. Aalto’s buildings are spread across the city, including his own house and studio, and we’re looking forward to seeing some of his creations such as the Finlandia Hall, the Academic Bookshop and the Kulttuuritalo.
Photo by Ro Rro via Flickr Creative Commons
Covering 4 different neighbourhoods in the heart of Helsinki, The Design District will definitely be our destination during most of our trip. With a list of almost 200 different shops, galleries and businesses, it will be difficult to see all of them but we’ve already started making our selection of independent designers and cafés to include in our guide!
Photo by IK’s World Trip via Flickr Creative Commons
Kallio is known as Helsinki’s hipster and up-and-coming district. From what we’ve read, this lively area is bursting with designers opening their own stores, artisan cafés (we’re especially interested in Good Life Coffee) and bars where you can enjoy cheaper drinks compared to the rest of the city – sounds like a good plan!
Photo by /Kallu via Flickr Creative Commons
Make sure to check our Instagram profile to follow our trip live in just a couple of weeks!
A Book from Lind is an independent publishing house founded by Jakob Vestergaard and Tine Lind. Jakob, a writer and travel editor at Danish newspaper Information and Tine, an art historian and designer, quit their jobs and sold their house to have more time to spend with their family and friends, and to start their own publishing project.
Small Wonders of Rome is their first guide to the city where they lived last year, and which will be followed by two additional guides to Italy’s capital and two for Copenhagen later this year. This little guide features a map and 42 carefully selected places to eat, drink, see and pause in three central neighbourhoods, divided into four different categories: Out of the ordinary, On the table, Pause and think, and To your health.
Printed in Denmark on high-quality FSC certified paper, A book from Lind‘s guides are designed to be small enough to carry with you comfortably on your trips, and can be easily folded to see just one category or the map whilst discovering the city.
We have two Small Wonders of Rome guides to give away. For a chance to win a copy, you only need to follow A Book from Lind and Future Positive on Twitter, and retweet the tweet below. We will choose two random winners on 18th May.
Win a copy of @lindbooks‘ guide Small Wonders of Rome on our blog: http://t.co/e0Dxkol1Ef #giveaway #competition pic.twitter.com/w6kP3vYjYW
— Future Positive (@FuturePositive_) May 4, 2015
If this beauty of Spain is your next destination, these are some of the places that, when seen, leave an unforgettable memory.
Barcelona is said to be a magical city and represents a visual delight and atmosphere that combines elegance and refinement with Catalan charm.
Its streets reveal a medieval romance in her Gothic neighborhood and her breath pauses with a look at the architecture of Gaudi and his contemporaries. This is just enough reason to wonder when to travel and what to see in Barcelona.
Made of art, Barcelona is one of the few cities whose appearance has for the most part been shaped by an artist who, through his creative spirit, has given her unique, distinctive and recognizable sights.
Barcelona sights do not end with beautiful Gaudi creations, but this gem of Spain will knock off the feet of every visitor with its diverse architecture, neighborhoods, streets, long sandy beaches.
Image via Unsplash
Here are 5 incredible places to visit if you are in Barcelona, that you shouldn’t miss:
When you say: “Barcelona City Center” is mostly referring to this square. The square occupies about 50,000 square meters, is circular and has 9 streets, of which 2 are the most famous in Barcelona:
La Rambla (wide promenade in the center of the old part of the city) and Passeig de Gracia which is considered the most glamorous street in Barcelona. In this picturesque square several statues and fountains “look” at each other, there are several metro and bus lines next to the square, and there is a train station underground.
El Corte Ingles, the largest shopping mall chain in Spain, is also located here. The Placa de Catalunya is certainly a place worth visiting and you will be hard to miss, even if you were in Barcelona for only one day.
What will leave you breathless in fairytale Barcelona is one of the most interesting sights of Catalonia – the Church of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) designed by architect Antonio Gaudi and which has become synonymous with the city of Barcelona. Started in 1882 and unfinished to date, it has been the subject of much controversy. It is considered Gaudi’s masterpiece.
He worked on it until his death in 1926. Such grandeur and work with so many details are nowhere to be seen. It’s just something indescribable.
However many times you have seen the Sagrada Familia in pictures, the feeling of seeing it live is unmatched.
The colorful walk from Catalonia Square to La Ramblas Street ends with the Gate of Peace on which the Columbus Monument is located, erected in honor of the famous sailor who discovered the New World in 1392 in search of India. The right hand outstretched on the statue is pointing in the direction of Genoa, which is in the opposite direction to America.
And, if you wish, you can climb up to Christopher, at an altitude of 87m and soak up the view of the whole of Barcelona, the pearl of the Mediterranean.
Another strong reason to travel to Barcelona, and what sights and attractions to visit.
Barcelona will seem unreal if you also visit the famous Gaudi’s, Park Guell. This is one of the world’s most impressive artificial landscapes and the perfect place for your photography.
Guell Park is the place where Gaudi’s ideas about the unity of art and nature are best realized. It extends over several hectares of green space in northwestern Barcelona.
Everything is mushroom-shaped in this park, it is an unusual place, so when you enter you might think that you came to shoot an interesting fairy tale.
So at the entrance, you will be greeted by two houses whose shape is reminiscent of illustrations from popular picture books and you will be greeted by the famous lizard standing along the stairs. They lead to a hall with pillars resting on a terrace on the surface of which a long, undulating wall is formed, which is the longest bench in the world.
From the terrace, you have a beautiful view of the city and the sea. The park also houses the Gaudi House Museum, which displays many sketches by this remarkable artist and sculptor.
This large 30ha park is also home to the Barcelona Zoo. About 7,500 animals, represented through 400 species, are on an area that occupies about 13 acres of the park.
Some of the most famous animals in this garden are gorillas, orangutans, dolphins, wolves, snow leopards, crocodiles, and alligators. The former zoo star and attraction, the albino gorilla is known as Snowflake, died in 2004.
The park also has a small lake, a popular spot where you can rent a boat and paddle. There are several statues in the park, most notably the huge stone mammoth and metal cat.
At the northern corner of the park is the imposing fountain La Cascada (Cascade) built for the 1888 Universal Exhibition.
These are just some of the most famous places and attractions which to see this amazing city. Of course, if you stay longer, you can see in detail the best sites to see in Barcelona.
Mas Que un club, the slogan of one of the largest football clubs in the world – Barcelona. Meaning: “More than a club.” If you ask me then the city of Barcelona is Mas Que un Ciudad or “More than a city”.
It is coming up to that time of year where we look at what we hope to achieve and do next year and how to go about doing them. Some people call them resolutions; others call them goals and dreams. Whatever you call them, it is important to get the very best out of them.
If one of your resolutions for 2021 is to get outside more and experience the great outdoors and everything it has to offer, here are our tips to help you to get the most out if it.
Before you attempt anything, whether you fancy trying out wild water swimming, mountain climbing, fishing or anything else, make sure that you have all the right gear. It is a huge part of not just having fun and being successful out there, but keeping you safe and healthy as well. If you try climbing up a mountain in a pair of standard trainers, you are going to end up with at best sore ankles and feet, at worst falling, getting stuck or breaking something. There are some things that are essentials, some that are common sense and some that are just plain great ideas. A Wet & Dry Changing Robe, for example, makes sitting around more comfortable and helps you to get changed discreetly and conveniently.
We have all watched the films, right? 127 hours is a great example of what not to do – do not go anywhere without making sure at least one other person, preferably more, know where you are going and what time you are expected to be back. This is particularly important if you are heading to somewhere remote or going out alone. Never change your route without letting someone know either. It is how way too many horror stories start.
This can be a hard balance to achieve sometimes. What is the point in doing something amazing if you are not present at that moment and taking it all in? However, at the same time, what is the point in doing something amazing if you do not have something to look back on in the future? Take photos, make videos, record things, write them down – but do not do so much that you spend your whole time behind a camera and not enjoying them as they are at that moment.
Even in the best-planned and seemingly risk-free adventure, things can and go wrong, so knowing what to do in an emergency is essential. What will you do if your car breaks down or you get completely lost with no signal? What happens if someone becomes ill or gets injured? Foreseeing some possible emergency scenarios and having an idea of what you will do if they ever happen is important.
The outdoors is something pretty amazing, and if you have decided to make the most out of it in 2021, well done. Take something from it, learn new things about yourself but make sure you are prepared for every eventuality.