World through Sunflower Eyes

One can never have too many birthday cakes... nor too many guests in the house. The best way to spend your birthday is to be surrounded with your friends and loved ones. For a Leo woman that is the best birthday present one can give - your time! <3 This year, I ended up baking myself delicious gluten-free tiramisu in layer cake form to accompany a ready-made sacher cake. I made two different versions, one based on the traditional Italian tiramisu. But since some do not like the mix of Amaretto liquor and coffee so much, I used Italian chocolate liquor spiced up with peperoncino for the other one - tasted amazing with such rich flavors! Truly worth trying. To make it look like a cake, I made a normal fluffy cake layer with cocoa powder as the bottom layer. For the following layers I used the gluten-free ladyfingers, aka Savoiardi. All the layers are soaked with the rich liquor-coffee syrup. To the filling, I added some extra flavor by adding dulce de lech...

Chania, in Crete, is simply a charming city with its picturesque old town and Venetian harbour. It is a city full of life at an island pace. The atmosphere is very laid-back but with a nice token of Venetian charm mixed to it. Most of the sights like historic buildings, churches and craft shops are located in the old town. The old buildings still display some of the marvellous wonders of both Venetian and Turkish design. I just enjoyed wandering the streets around the old town and the harbour. Even took a touristic ride on a horse carriage just for the fun of it! The harbour area is filled with modern restaurants, bars and cafés with the Venetian lighthouse acting as a landmark. There is a great variety of delicious, tasty food. The best discoveries you make by wondering around all the back streets and other parts of Chania - you can find very nice tavernas filled with local people and excellent home-made food. I also tried out some great cocktails, my favorite one was c...

After plenty of relaxing time spent at the summer cottage in Finland, I decided to hop on a plane and head for an island vacay in Crete. I just had to get my Greek get-away also this summer. What a perfect choice it was! Crete is a perfect combination of amazing beaches, historical towns, warm climate and tasty food. The island certainly captures your heart with its natural beauty and friendly, generous people - it feels like a small country in itself.  I could have stayed longer than nine days. I have previously spent only one day in the town of Heraklion, but now I decided to experience more in detail the towns of Chania and Rethymno. I absolutely enjoyed both towns - very lively and offering so much to do. The old towns in both places are beautiful with full of historical sights. I also spent an entire day at the Elafonissi beach. So amazing - loved the pink sand and clear turquoise water! I just recommend going there early to avoid the worst crowds and getting your ...