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.

Blonde in Lisbon

On Tuesday morning, after some difficulties at Madrid airport (just couldn't find the Departures area in terminal 1. I felt so stupid going back and forth only seeing signs with "T2, T3 or T4"" or "Arrivals". No "Departures", "Boarding Gates" or "Security Check". Finally I realized there's a sign with a picture of a plane taking off - still no text but I figured out it must represent the Departures. Luckily I was in no hurry, but still, after carrying all my stuff in vain for almost half an hour: I hate Madrid airport.Or maybe I should be dyslexic or illiterate to get the logic faster. That was actually like in the Madrid city centre: the street signs have both the name of the street and a picture illustrating it on them, because until Middle Ages most of the people couldn't read. Just that there was only the picture this time.), I finally arrived safely in Lisbon. 

Getting from the airport to the city centre was the easiest and cheapest that I've had so far on my trip: you can take the metro and it only costs 1,40 € (or 1,25 € if you don't have to change the line).

My hostel (Yes! Hostel) was located in the city centre near the Commercial Square and the Baixa/Chiado metro station. Great location, nice atmosphere, friendly staff, practical rooms (a sink and a huge safety locker for everyone under their bed where you could easily lock all your stuff in) and an all-round breakfast buffet. Price didn't hurt the wallet too much: 10 €/night in a 6 bed female dorm. An absolutely great place for backpackers!

In Madrid, I'd got a "Lisbon-guide" done by S's Lisbon-born friend P with all possible sight-seeing and culture-related tips. Sights: São Jorge Castle, Praca Comercio, Santa Justa Elevator. Alfama neighborhood with narrow alleys, tiny local restaurants, churches and great views from the top of the hill. Chiado neighborhood for shopping. Historical tram line 28. Belem neighborhood for the Belem Tower, Jeronimos Monastery and "Pastéis de Belem" which are delicious sweet pastries baked with an ancient secret recipe of the monastery monks. 25th of April Bridge (Lisbon equivalent for Golden Gate Bridge). Colombo shopping centre next to the Colégio Militar/Luz metro station. All in all, Lisbon is very hilly. That means there are lots of places with amazing views over the city, but also that if you climb on top of all of them, your thighs will kill you in the evening... No kidding!

Lisbon (Portugal) is very cheap compared to many other European countries, but what irritated me as a tourist were the entrance fees into the sights. The castle fee was reasonable (4 € for students), but in the Belem area you could only get discount with a youth card "Euro under 26". I find it a bit weird that there were no student discounts available, and no way I would pay 8 euro for climbing into a regular tower.

A downside in Lisbon are pickpockets: they are everywhere. I was almost paranoid with my purse and smart phone... Once I was buing some stamps when I realized my jacket pocket was open and my purse wasn't there! My heart jumped into my throat I kept blaming myself for being so stupid and careless and what would I do now with no money and credit card and everything - then I realized I'd just taken the purse out of my pocket myself 10 seconds earlier and was holding it in my other hand. Oh. Talk about goldfish memory... So no pickpocketing from me this time.

 Another irritating thing is that when you look different (blond hair), you really get all the possible attention from every male person in a 50 m radar from you. Some might find it flattering, but after two weeks in Spain and Portugal I swear you'll be ready to dye your hair into dark brown just to be able to walk on the street for a moment with nobody shouting "Hola guapa! Hey babe!" and winking to you. I totally feel for the celebs with paparazzis hunting them!

The weather in Spain and Portugal wasn't the best possible: at times it was quite windy and it even rained a few times. Anyway, I loved it, because the temperature was still near +20 degrees Celcius, so it was like the Finnish summer. What I will miss the most were the shopping opportunities we don't have in Finland (not in Germany, either?): the chains Bershka, Blanco, Pull&Bear, Springfield and Stradivarius in every street corner. Oh, and Hollister and Abercrombie&Fitch as well (didn't see them in Portugal though, but in Spain anyway). Though I'm still quite disappointed there were no shirtless male models in the Madrid Abercrombie... Haha.

Budget so far:

Flights: 142 €

Other transport: 232 €

Accommodation: 132 €

Food: 145 €

Shopping: 147 €

Others: 60 €

=858 €

Mmmmmadrid

I’m actually in Dublin already (and have been to Lisbon as well – I’m just so busy seeing new places that I don’t really have time to write about them!), but here comes Madrid!

Looking out from the bus window on Saturday I could see snow-topped mountains on my right and the silhouette of Madrid with some impressive skyscrapers on my left. A funny fact: Madrid has the same amount of inhabitants as the whole of Finland (over 5 million).

I’m so happy I got to stay at S’s family’s place, because that way I could see the more authentic side of Madrid, not just the tourist attractions. With S and her parents as my local guides, I had a Madrid-sight-seeing tour by car: the skyscrapers, the football stadium Santiago Bernabeu (first time we drove by it Real Madrid was just playing against FC Barcelona and you could hear the horns and cheering coming from the stadium), statue of Columbus, the huge museum Prado, Nuevos Ministerios, embassy buildings, posh hotels, bull fighting ring, Bank of Spain, the National Library…

Madrid is so huge I would totally recommend seeing it by car in order to get a bigger picture. Though I’d never try to drive one there by myself… Even though the traffic isn’t as bad as in Rome or in Beijing (in China you don’t have to go to a driving school, you can just buy yourself a license), it’s still somewhat chaotic in a Nordic scale. There are more than one traffic lights in each crossroads with all of them showing a different colour, and I couldn’t really tell the connection between the light and where and when it actually was okay to go or not, based on what I saw the drivers do. Slaloming past slower drivers was totally accepted also in the middle of crossroads, and nobody bothered to use a blinker when doing so.

Things to see by foot and by subway: the city center. The Cathedral, Royal Palace, Opera, Plaza de España, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol (the “0 km” spot is located there – all the distances are being measured from that point), Grand Via and the surrounding streets for shopping. I visited the Royal Palace on a rainy morning; the entrance was 5 euro for students. I went very touristic and decided to take a guided tour as well: 7 euro. That was a bad idea, because it so wasn’t worth it… I suppose I had wished the guide would tell some juicy gossip and real life stories of the past and present royals, but nope. She was only telling in her bad English the same things we could’ve read on the signs standing in every room and what we saw with our own eyes: “The chandelier is made of silver and crystals, can you see it?” Oh yes we can, we’re not blind.

I heard that of the big cities in Europe, Madrid has the greatest amount of trees. They’ve been planted to give shadow in the summer, when the temperatures easily rise to 40 degrees Celcius. A great place to enjoy nature in the metropolis is Retiro park, the “Central Park” of Madrid. I went there jogging on Sunday and it was full of tourists and locals enjoying the sunny afternoon. There’s a lake in the middle of park where you can rent a small rowing boat, I’d love to try that on my next visit! There are also lots of cafés and statues, fountains and a couple of palaces there in addition to the sand paths and asphalt roads (great for roller skating) along with the forest and large grass areas. A lovely place for a picnic in the summer!

I also got a glimpse of Spanish gastronomy during my stay in Madrid. S’s mom cooked something typical Spanish for each lunch and dinner, unfortunately the only name I can remember is paella. But everything was so delicious! With S I visited the best churro café in Madrid, Chocolateria San Gines, and had a cup of hot melted chocolate with some warn churros. I was so full afterwards that I could barely walk anymore! After that we went to a huge ham store to buy some iberico for the dinner. There were all kinds of ham everywhere: in the counter, on the wall, hanging from the ceiling. It was the first time I actually saw a real pork leg and the way the ham slices were cut from it. I’ve always eaten any kind of meat with a good appetite, but after seeing how real (pig-like) the ham looks before it’s in slices – I couldn’t eat ham that night in the dinner.

Another authentic experience was a birthday party of a university friend of S. The atmosphere was great: everyone (including and especially the guys) were dancing to the Latino music from the very beginning (and I mean really dancing, not just waving their arms), there was a real piñata with candy, confetti, carnival horns and masks etc. inside it (it was the first time for me to see a piñata live and not in America’s Funniest Home Videos. This time nobody got hit by the stick, but after the piñata had been exploded on the floor, everybody kept slipping on the stuff and falling down), me teaching them how to make an “ice fishing” dance move and them teaching some rude Spanish words to me.

Another culturally interesting experience was my visit to S’s university to have lunch in the uni cafeteria. It’s a private catholic university, which can be seen in many things: there’s a church inside the university, their master’s diploma is signed by the Pope, almost everybody’s wearing designer clothes and the cafeteria is more like a restaurant with its white tablecloths and waiters serving you (you just sit and order from the table). There’s also a huge difference in the student culture when compared to the Finnish one: it’s an exception not to live with your parents through the university studies (whereas in Finland most of us move out the second we get our high school diploma).

And, once again I got a bad conscience for being so “old” and not being a graduate yet. “What, you’re 22 and not even a bachelor? In Spain that would be way too old…” Apparently in Spain you graduate from high school when you’re 18, go straight to university and get your master’s degree by the mature age of 23. As much as I respect the exceptional Spanish efficiency in this field, I prefer the Finnish culture with its gap years and not rushing through your studies. You’ve got the rest of your life time to work, so why not enjoy the freedom of student life while you still can!

THANK YOU S for the best possible days in Madrid!!!!! And neeext episode: alone in Lisbon, the promised city of pick pockets! Not the best place for a blondie to travel to on her own…

Budget so far:

Flights: 112 €

Other transport: 221 €

Accommodation: 102 €

Food: 122 €

Shopping: 87 €

Others: 50 €

=694 €

Zigzagging Zaragoza

From Wednesday ’til Saturday I got to enjoy E’s hospitality in her Erasmus-city Zaragoza. This time we didn’t quite nail everything anymore…

On Thursday the weather wasn’t on our side (rain in Spain, what a disaster!), so after sleeping long, some jogging home-cooked lunch and drinking melted chocolate with a chocolate chip cookie in the cutest café in the world (with all the floral wallpapers, romantic furniture and girly decorations it looked like inside Tinkerbell’s hmmhmm) we decided to explore a huge mall located a bit outside of the city. The trip should’ve taken about half an hour with two bus lines (and a 10 minute walk in between the bus stops). Because we hadn’t needed a map so far on our trip (and because we were in E’s hometown), we just got going and hopped on the first bus.

When I look back now, I think the first mistake we made was to head into a 90 degrees wrong direction when changing the bus. No, actually the first mistake of E was not to take an umbrella with her, and my first mistake was to wear my old worn out sneakers with a hole in their foot sole (surprise surprise, they’re not water proof). The next mistake was to continue walking into that wrong direction for almost half an hour (why didn’t it ring a bell that the walking distance should’ve been much shorter?).

The third mistake was to finally try to locate us with E’s smart phone’s Google maps and do it wrong. After another 20 minutes of walking into another wrong direction the next mistake was made: we finally located ourselves on the map correctly, but didn’t return back the same route we had come. No, we were confident we could find a shortcut to another bus stop, so we just kept walking.

After one and a half hours walking in the forest and along a highway and finding two cemeteries but no sight of a bus stop, the sun had gone down and we both were soaking wet and cold since it had been raining cats and dogs all the time. There were almost tears in our eyes when we finally found the bus going to the mall. Luckily the mall (Puerto Venecia if my memory serves me right) was worth of all that trouble. I found a new pair of sneakers for 11 euro, and also bought some dry socks to change into and a pair of gloves (1.50 €) to replace those I lost in Seville. E bought a cute pink umbrella and we also treated ourselves with some over-expensive chocolate.

Lady Fortuna had obviously turned her back on me that day, because I got some kind of tummy bug from the dinner we had later that night with E’s Erasmus-friends. I ended up admiring the bathroom in E’s place for most of Friday. Eventually in the evening I could eat something again and we made a nice sight-seeing stroll around the city centre in the soft lights after sunset. It was great to end the day with a relaxing pizza/movie night watching a sweet rom com (Something Borrowed).

Now I’m sitting in a bus on my way to Madrid. Can’t wait to see my host S, a Spanish-German friend of mine who did her Erasmus in Tübingen this winter!

Budget so far:

Flights: 112 €

Other transport: 221 €

Accommodation: 102 €

Food: 116 €

Shopping: 87 €

Others: 31 €

=669 €