Collecting countries and colds

I've had some bad luck with the weather this year (well I know the whole Europe has had, except for Finland. And that's not where I've been to.)

It all started with an orienteering camp in Åhus, in the south coast of Sweden, over Easter holidays. It was supposed to be all sunny and bare ground for great orienteering, but of course it had to snow there for the one last time before summer just on that weekend. But to my big surprise, I overcame my despise of coldness and got the sparkle of orienteering again!

The second encounter with unexpected coldness was during my four day trip to Paris with my Tübinger-Finn-Scott friend E. It was my first real time in Paris (the accidental over-night staying in an airport hotel due to the delayed Finnair flight in January doesn't count), so I was totally looking forward to it.
It all started in the best possible way with a free entry to Disneyland (thank's to E's sister E working there): a childhood dream come true! I've dreamed about Disneyland since I was little and kept seeing the ads for it in the beginning of each Disney film (and we had all of them at home, so I really saw that ad all the time). I spotted lots of princesses in Disneyland and got a pic taken with Minnie Mouse, but it was freezing cold, so I also caught a cold. Heh.

The youth hostel (Peace & Love Hostel) I stayed in was the absolute worst I've ever been to. It was so dirty and creepy looking, no keys to the room, no proper reservation system: they'd overbooked the dungeon - sorry, 14-bed dorm - on both nights I slept there. When I first arrived, they just finally threw someone's luggage down from their messy bed and told me to sleep in it. It was an ancient, rusty three-storey bunk bed that kept creaking every time one of us even breathed. The window had to be kept open to avoid us suffocating even though there were minus degrees outside, and of course my bed was right next to it. So the next day I wasn't so enthusiastic anymore while strolling in Louvre with a fever - but I have to say: Mona Lisa's actually not that small everybody says. It's a decent size portrait; why would you even expect it to cover a whole wall or something? I also spotted a real life pick-pocket league chased by the police from Louvre to Seine: it was so cool how the police finally got them all circled and arrested. That event marked the turn of my luck: I changed to a decent priced, nice, clean, safe and well located youth hostel "Absolute Paris Hostel", slept 16 hours in a row, overcame my cold and spent a wonderful last day exploring all the major sights. All's well that ends well.

Then came the Pentecost holidays (one whole week free from university), and the long planned two week road trip to Italy (Lake Garda, Venice, Trieste) and Croatia (Split, Zadar, Zagreb) with my great Finnish orienteering friends E, L and L. Thanks to the freezing end of May weather in Germany, I caught a cold the day before the trip. This time it didn't go away by sleeping but evolved into angry sinusitis, so I had no choice but to get some antibiotics - for the fifth time this year. Always the sinusitis. I had to take it a bit easier, so I couldn't hike as much as I'd wanted. It didn't matter so much though, since the weather gods weren't on our side: we only had a couple of non-rainy days there. We should've gone to Finland instead, since it was the hottest country of whole Europe during that time. Typical. Anyway, of us four, three got ill on that vacation, and one of us even had to be taken to a Croatian hospital. Luckily all the people were incredibly nice and we got all worked out despite the language barrier. Croatia was a great country with breathtaking landscape, and I hope I'll get to explore it again one day - maybe all healthy and with some better luck with the weather.

That's it for my memorable Euro-trips and thus a farewell for blogging in English - next time back to Finnish with some up-to-date posting.

I'm still here!

Just for your information: I didn't get stuck in Lisbon or anything, I just didn't have any access to WiFi in the last episodes of my Euro-trip (or any time to write a blog text either).
Just to sum it up:

Dublin was dull and grey and rainy. But for its defense, St. Patrick's Day was just one week after my stay, so I'm sure I would've got a hugely better impression of the city had I visited it then. The hostel I stayed in was great (Isaacs Hostel), though I wouldn't recommend anyone to book a bed in a 14 bed dorm: That. Smell. Was. Indescribable. And if you sleep with the window open, you'll get cold. There was an interesting fellow traveller in the hostel, let's call her "Olmi". Whenever I went to the common room downstairs, she was there crouched over her laptop playing WOW. Seriously, first thing in the morning and last in the evening, during the whole day. Enjoying Dublin, I suppose.

London wasn't so sunny either, but at least it didn't rain! And the multicultural flavour of the metropolis just stole my heart! Luckily I had the best possible guide aka hostess, my friend H from Helsinki, touring me around the sights. There's just so much to see and experience! My personal highlight was King's Cross Station Platform 9 3/4. I literally grew up with Harry Potter, so that was like a pilgrimage for me. About the peculiarities: I didn't quite figure out the left hand traffic yet, and I highly doubt I ever will... It just makes no sense for my brain.

The last three days of England were spent in Southampton and Bath, with my former summer job colleague J hosting me. Must-see in Southampton: Titanic Museum. The best museum I've ever been to! So interactive (and of course, me being a huge Titanic fan, that was another pilgrimage). I seriously could've spent a whole day in there! Unfortunately I only had half a day time, so I guess I'll just have to get back there someday. An ancient Roman spa centre, Bath was my last destination. It kind of wrapped the whole tour up, since I started it in Wiesbaden, another roman spa town. I spent the most relaxing day in the local thermal bath, lying in a rooftop pool with breath taking views over the town. It was sunny, so I actually got my first tan lines there and then! Oh and I visited Jane Austen museum as well, but it wasn't so noteworthy as the Titanic one.

About the budget count. When I arrived in London, H told me just to translate all the prices directly from pounds to euro, so that I wouldn't be so upset about how expensive everything is. That's exactly what I did, and that's also the reason I stopped counting my travel budget. The less you know, the less painful it is for you.

In my next post I'll sum up my other trips of this late spring: Paris, an orienteering training camp in Sweden and a two-week road trip in Italy and Croatia. Now I totally am out of money. Luckily I still had just enough to be able to buy a ticket back home in the end of July, but that's just about it.