Midsummer finds

When ever I'm in Finland for mid summer festivities, I want to enjoy pancakes and coffee in the early morning at the local market place near our summerhouse. As always, the place was buzzing already at 8 am, so I hurried to get the right kind of potatoes that go well with Baltic herring and salmon and summer's first fresh strawberries.

On my way back to sea shore I popped in to a local flea market and made some interesting finds with just few euros; An old Fortuna board game and a white vase that had similar pattern painted on it as one of my old treasures.

The turquoise smaller one was painted by my great grandmother in 1954. The fortuna game is really in bad shape, but I love the pale greenish paint on the edges and the tiny crooked nails look adorable. I wonder how many exciting games some kids might have played with it in the old days?

I remembered my greenish vase had triangles painted on it, nut this was a surprise to find out they are so similar when I placed them next to each other. I guess they're from the same era.

At the minute I laid my eyes on that Fortuna I knew what it is going to be doubling as: A jewelry display!

I'm not sure if it's "chic", but it's definitely shabby!

Sunday sunday...

Since we live in Finland, it's about time we write little something about vintage shopping in our home town Tampere. One of our most recent vintage shopping sprees took place in Suvi-Fintage event, held by local vintage enthusiasts. The event took place in Tallipiha stable yards, which is a tourist attraction in the centre of Tampere. Tallipiha is a nice place to visit even without any special event. Small craft shops and cafés offer a relaxing getaway from the noise of the city and the surroundings take you back in time.

At Tallipiha you can find different kinds of hand crafts and there's a chocolate shop open year round.

We had there a lovely, laid back Sunday shopping and eating ice cream...

On our way home we popped in to a giant ginger bread house in the city center.

We'll write more about vintage shopping in Tampere soon. Until next time!

Shopping in Como, Italy

We wanted to write about vintage shopping in Como, but since there are just couple of shops even remotely vintage, we are going to share what we think are the must see spots in this beautiful northern Italian city.

The reason why we travel to same city every year at the same time is Swing Crash Festival, one of Europe's biggest swing dance events during summer. We usually shop during the day and dance the night away... In between we enjoy Italian cuisine with nice wines. Here are some of our top picks from our latest trip:

Vintage shops

For clothes there's a shop called Mercatino Michela on Via Francisco Benzi 13. They mostly had modern fashion but there were some vintage pieces as well. The prices are quite high from our point of view.

We've only managed to find one shop that sells vintage stuff that's not really "old antique". It's located behind the main bus station and it's called Mercatino Usato. They have loads of stuff from past decades and prices are fairly cheap.

There's a department store called COIN in the center of Como (Via Boldoni 3), you can find people selling random vintage items next to the store in a small alley on most days. Handbags, jewelry and watches would be items to look for from those tables.

Vintage reptile embossed leather purse found last summer. 

Shoe shops

Our two favourite shoe shops are Square and Black One. Square has all the shoes categorized by size and they all cost the same, this year 30 eur, but we've seen 15 eur days too. And they got Italian leather shoes!

A shop called Black One has a great selection of Italian shoes, and the prices are very competitive, you can find chic leather shoes for 40 euros or even cheaper. Blackone is located on Piazza S. Fedele. We've never left Blackone without a new pair of shoes!

Square on Via Giuseppe Rovelli

Take a break

While us girls spend an hour in each shoe shop trying everything in our size, our male companions sit down for a cold beer in Café Tropical. They have nice seating outside and very friendly and welcoming staff. Sometimes they bring a complimentary snack. Their bathroom in the back yard is also something to see. Somewhat an exotic experience, go and find out!

Cafe Tropical is located opposite to Square shoe shop on Via Giuseppe Rovelli

Rosé wine for cooling down between shoe shops

Wine & dine

There are plenty of good restaurants in Como. Our all time favorites are the Il Pomodorino on Via Cinque Giornate and La Darsena by the lake. Pomodorino has outside seating in a small courtyart, very good place for a romantic dinner. La Darsena is the place to go if you want to watch the sunset while you eat. Both places serve pizza, price approx. 8-12 euros, bottle of local wine 20-25 euros.

Dessert

Gelato is the obvious choice for dessert, snack, breakfast and for cooling down on a hot summer day. If you want something else, we recommend frozen yoghurt from the Yogurt & Co. It's delicious! 

Other stuff

If you are staying in Como for longer there are plenty of cool things to see and do. If the weather's nice (it usually is) there's a beach near the fountain. Just walk on the right hand side of the lake  (looking from the Piazza Cavour) untill you see a big fountain in the lake. There's a pizza restaurant and they've got a little private beach on their back yard. They charge for everything, but for 15 euros you'll get an entrance, towel and a sun bed.

Be a tourist

There are boats going to every little village along the banks of lago di Como. A great day trip is to visit Bellagio. It's quite touristic, but there's a chance to bump into George Clooney...

If you've already traveled along the lake, so next step is to try a bit of hiking up the hill. For beginners (like us) we recommend riding the Funicolare up to Brunate and walking the trail up to the Volta Lighthouse. the altitude is 900 meters above sea level, so remember to keep hydrated and take it easy if the weather is hot.

When you're walking up the hill and you see this sign, you're not even close. So take a break and have a cold drink, the view is great!

Wiev from Dolce Basilico

More shopping?

If you are up for some vintage shopping, hop on the train and ride to Milano. If you've rented a car and are into more modern look, there's a massive outlet mall in Switzerland side of the border, it's called FoxTown.

There's a market each Saturday next to the wall that surrounds Como from south. You'll find loads of cheap Chinese clothes from there, but also some Italian clothing and shoes. Watch your purse, it can get crowded in there!

Weekends timeless vintage finds

I was visiting my old home town Pori for mothers day and popped in to an Antique fair. I really wouldn't called it "a fair", more like few sellers with old magazines, haberdashery and glass wases, but of course I couldn't leave without buying something!

I've been looking for a vintage watch for ages, and I finally found it!

It's an old Swiss made Certina, bought it for 2 euros. I don't know if it'll ever work, but it's a pretty accessory even if it doesn't show correct time. Now it has stopped on 5 o'clock so it's always tea time for me now! I also bought the hat needle with 2 euros, not bad?

I had to check what new Certinas look like nowadays, and I found one looking just like mine. It's a Certina Caimano, 395 euros in Atomic Clock.

Certina Caimano

Vintage shopping in Munich

I've been traveling! Two times in Germany (first Munich/February, then Bremen/March)  this year and just returned from California... Two out of these three trips have been more or less accidental, but I don't mind. ;)

Trip to Munich was mainly for swing dancing and I actually planned that trip. There's the annual Rock That Swing Festival and this was my third time there. It's funny, really. Third time there was the first time that I actually got to see something besides classrooms and evening dance venues. The festival is lots of fun, but there are so many classes, the evening parties start early and if you want to eat something between the dance classes and the party, there really is no time to wander around. This time I decided to skip some lessons...

I had an agenda. I wanted to know if there were any cool vintage shopping opportuneties in Munich. I checked the internet and chose some places before the trip. There are plenty of second hand shops and costume shops in Munich, but I was more interested in the actual vintage.

First choice would have been Alexa's (Utzschneiderstrasse 10). The shop has good reputation and I would have loved to go there. Unfortunately when I decided to go shopping it was too late in the afternoon and the shop would have been closed by the time I would have walked there, so next time with better luck (and timing)! Alexa's has been around since 1985 and people say it has good selection of vintage clothing, shoes and accessories. The price level is said to be medium. Some other bloggers have featured this shop too and if you'd like to read more, go to Styleclicker's. Next time in Munich Alexa's will be on my list.

So, I looked at my other my options and went to Vertigo Vintage (Corneliusstrasse 19). It was still going to be open for a while... The place has some groovy stuff, but more late 60's to 70's kind of vintage than the 30's to early 60's kind I'm after. Still worth a visit.

I knew there was also another shop nearby: Tricia Leonard's, but at the time I only knew the name of the street, not the number, so I didn't know if I was going to the right direction. I was about to give up searching when I saw it. I couln't believe my luck when i saw that the shop was still open!

This was really my kind of place with beautiful hats, shoes, bags and jewelry. Not so much clothing, but really worth the walk. I ended up buing a beautiful 40's purse and some vintage millinery cherries. The prices were very decent and Tricia was soooo very helpful and nice (and I just found out she's also a jazz singer!). So if going to Munich be sure to visit her store (Baaderstrasse 53), it's a real gem! Meet my beautiful new handbag and those cherries:

The walk back to our hotel was a real treat. I discovered that the next street, Fraunhoferstrasse, was crowded with antique shops from Baaderstrasse all the way to Müllerstrasse! Yes, by that time they were all closed, but the shop windows made me drool.

So, I'll be sure to go there too next time I'm in Munich. ;)

Since I had really little time in Munich I didn't get to see everything I wanted, but there's always next time...

Some other interesting vintage/second hand shops in Munich I'd like to see:
Gerdismann (Fraunhoferstrasse 9) - Classics for men
Kleidsam (Blutenburgstrasse 65) - Second hand fashions for women
Patina (Türkenstrasse 63) - Fashions from past and present times, but also furniture!
Xdress (Augustenstrasse 104) - Stuff from 20's to 70's, for sale or rent
Zsa Zsa (Schellingstrasse 66) - Original rarities from 20's to 60's and repros

Then there's also Kostüm Kontor. They've closed their store, but there's a website... only in German so I don't understand what it says. Too bad for me. ;)

Enjoying Istanbul

I recently had a chance to visit beautiful Istanbul for a long weekend. I stayed over at my friend's place and  ended up spending most of my time in the area between Taksim square and Galata Tower. The area is good for shopping, bar hopping and sitting in small cafés. It's far enough from the touristic attractions so you can enjoy the laid back atmosphere of the ancient city in peace. Istanbul has a lot of options for night life especially if you're into dancing. I had a change to attend a swing dance and a milonga (argentine tango), both were great, such enthusiastic and welcoming people!

I love Turkish food: I's healthy, colorful and tastes amazing. Grilled eggplant, yogurt, herbs.... Oddly enough the best meal I had was a brunch in Cafe Privato . Their breakfast was a perfect combination of sweet home made fruit jams, pancakes, turkish pastry, cheese, olives, salad ... My pictures won't do the justice to the food, so here's a picture of turkish tea glass.

There are some other good restaurants and cafes nearby. For a magnificient view, try Leb-i Derya (their chocolate souffle is to die for) and Konak, which has a big rooftop café. Watch out for the seagulls! Konak has a patisserie downstairs with some delicious cakes and pastries. Here's a tip; buy a piece of cake to go and have a picnic outside!

Enough about the food, let's move on to shopping. The shopping street Iskiklal will have enough shops for one day or even two (Sephora and MAC for makeup, ByRetro on Suriye Pasaji for vintage clothes and Penti for stockings and pantyhose). If you're looking for something other than everyday clothing brands I suggest you step on those little streets that go left and right from Istiklal.

For funky t-shirts I recommend popping in Crash, "New design and second hand collection" (near Galata tower) and Harikalar Dükkani, that has all kinds of fun gifts and little stuff to bring home. Harikalar Dükkani is on really small street near Galata, you'll know you're getting close when you see white rabbits on the walls.

ByRetro

Almost all the little shops on narrow streets sell jewellery, some were nice, some a bit too "touristy kitch" to my taste.  I found three pairs of cool earrings from one of those places.