Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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On Tour with History and Literature

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It has been rather quiet on the blog for the last week. That is because I have been to England and was too busy with sightseeing. The aim for the trip was to pursue my interests in history and literature. I had such a great time and it was all so interesting that I have hardly come back to the 21st century yet. Still lingering in the border land of historical events and writer houses and books.

During the next couple of weeks I will be sharing glimpses of my tour, and thoughts about what I have been seeing. Here a short itinerary of the trip.

  • The Tower of London (with a history since 1066 there is a lot to see)
  • Kensington Palace (Victoria Revealed, The Queen’s and King’s State Rooms)
  • Leicester in the footsteps of Richard III (very interesting)
  • Brighton (just enjoying a sunny day and a little bit of rest from sightseeing)
  • Dorchester in the footsteps of Thomas Hardy (both the cottage where he was born and Max Gate which he built and where he lived most of his life)
  • The Templar Church (beautiful; we have to see what Dan Brown wrote and what the Master of the Templar says about it)
  • Tate Britain (main aim to see the Pre-Raphaelites)


I cannot go around the lovely museum shops without buying books and this time also a few souvenirs! There was such a lot of interesting books on the people concerned. I also bought a guide book about Devon and Cornwall (future trip) and two books about quotes and sayings, all in all, 12 books and 1 booklet! The bag was somewhat more heavy on the way back than on the way out.





The posts about the above subjects will be mixed with reviews. In the pipe-line are two reviews of books I have read; one about Richard III and the Princes in the Tower by A.J. Pollard (non-fiction) and Desperate Romantics by Franny Moyle (non-fiction) about the Pre-Raphaelites. The reviews will include my ideas and thoughts from the visits.

Millais' 'Ophelia'

I hope there will be something for all of you in the upcoming posts. Please share your own experiences, ideas and thoughts.




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