When you want to take a break from the snow and cold in winter-y Helsinki you can either go to a sauna or visit the Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden. Actually I like both options equally, although the latter is a slightly more visibly pleasing activity 😉 In all the places that I travel to, I try Read article…
nature
Suomenlinna: a not so Helsinki Secret
Everyone, truly everyone: from Helsinki locals to avid travelers, told me to visit the Unesco World Heritage site of Suomenlinna when in Helsinki. It felt a bit like: "You have to visit the Eiffel tower", which usually makes me want to skip a site or monument alltogether. But not in the case of Suomenlinna: it Read article…
Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam
The negative temperatures and consequences on the indoor temperatures in our home really got to me the other day. I have a bit of a trauma because we spent 7 winters in our home without proper heating. Keeping yourself warm is a fulltime activity and hard to combine with computer work. This time it wasn't Read article…
My favorite jungles of 2015
Lush green urban jungles seemed to be everywhere I went in 2015. I visited half a dozen botanical gardens and a planty jungle shop and stayed at a true Urban Jungle Bloggers hotel. These were my favorite jungles from this year. An abundance of palm trees, cactus plants and succulents at the Jardins Mossèn Costa Read article…
Let’s kiss under the mistletoe
One light string in our Euphorbia was our only Christmas decoration at home up until now. But I spotted "some" mistletoe in the tree in front of our home. For the first time there were berries in there and I couldn't resist to get a few. It took an hour to get the entire bush Read article…
Bananaaaaa!
Yes, I’m going bananas! It has nothing to do with minions, but with a crazy ear infection that’s been chasing me for the past month. The different kinds of pills ease the pain but make me nauseous and I don’t feel strong enough to run (so frustrating!). And overall I feel a bit bleh, despite Read article…
Jardí Botànic in Valencia
With the current COP21 conference in full swing here in Paris, I can only find one reason why the climate change would be a "good" idea. It would make it possible to plant my cactus plants and palm trees directly in our garden instead of keeping them in pots. I would be able to grow Read article…
Desert de Les Palmes
What a heavy week. Ever since I heard that there was "something" going on in Paris on Friday night, my emotions were all over the place: horrified, shocked, angry, sad, scared, invincible… We hear about suicide attacks in far-away countries, war crimes, poverty, epidemics, natural disasters every day on the news. But this week the Read article…
Vale – Venga – Adios!
Finally after some very long and intense months (ehmmm it's been 2 years since our last big break!) we arrived in Spain. This past week we stayed in the Pyrenees, or even better in Spanish: los Pirineos. And that's immediately my biggest frustration of the week: I don't speak Spanish. I read and understand it Read article…
It’s a moody wednesday
So the other day I had a brilliant idea. I would buy some beautiful fresh flowers in Holland for the upcoming Urban Jungle Bloggers October edition (it will be all about Plants & Flowers!). The flower shops here in Nogent have a very artificial choice of flowers and bouquets that contain 80% fill-up greenery. I Read article…
