Welcome.

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Welcome to my blog. I want to share anything that inspires me.

I plan to share the best experiences and images I can. I hope you enjoy them.

Richard.

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Travelling in Japan Part 1 (Tokyo)

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Friday 28th December: Travelling to Helsinki Our journey to Japan began on Friday 28th December 2018 in Manchester airport. We boarded the 5.50pm flight to Helsinki excited to be spending a night in Finland before heading to Tokyo. We landed at Vantaa airport in the freezing cold, surrounded by thick snow. I've always loved the snow in Finland. It makes everything look picturesque. We headed to Espoo and met the family and had a sauna before bed. We got up early the following morning and took Gapu and Reku for a walk to the nearby forest. We came across another dog, a chocolate lab, who's owner told us he was from the same guide dog school as Gapu and Reku. We then went to Sello to buy a few bits and pieces before our flight in the afternoon. It was nice to see the Christmas lights and decorations were still up. We had lunch, packed our bags and headed for the airport. We took the train and got through security very quickly. Our 9.5 hour flight was delayed so we found ...
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Training and homing Guide Dogs in Finland

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One of my favourite things to do when visiting my family in Finland is taking the dogs for a walk around the Espoo neighbourhood. When I first went to Finland I met Gapu (9) who was a permenant member of the family and Vauhti (3) who was being trained to be a guide dog. Vauhti would go back to the guide dog school for periods of time and then spend time with the family the rest of the time. Vauhti Vauhti passed the guide dog training test earlier this year and was subsequently homed with a visually impaired person. If the dog does not pass the test after a year, they are not taken on as guide dogs and are homed with families. The family has worked with the Guide Dog school http://opaskoirakoulu.fi/?lang=en since 1999 when they adopted their first dog, Cola. Cola Reko and Gapu With the recent addition of Reko, a white Labrador to the family, I thought it would be nice to look at how my Finnish family got connected to the Guide Dog school and ended up givi...
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Travelling in Japan - Part 2 (Gunma & Osaka)

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The second week of our trip in Japan took us to the north of Tokyo to the Takaragawa ryokan onsen in Minakami-Machi, Gunma. We travelled by train to the north where we greeted by gorgeous white snow. We traveled to the onsen by bus and started our retreat to the Japanese mountains. Takaragawa onsen in Minakami-Machi, Gunma. After signing in, we went to our room which was a traditional Japanese ryokan room with sliding doors and a large table in the centre of the room which you would sit at, cross legged. We put on our yukatas and headed out to the hot baths. The snow was falling into the hot spring river that ran through the onsen creating a winter wonderland. We relaxed in one of the larger baths for a while, enjoying the warm water and the beautiful scenery. We felt relaxed and very lucky. That evening, we had a delicious 4 course Japanese meal which was beautifully presented. This included shabu-shabu where we cooked our own meat and vegetables. The food just ke...
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