Pimut Puolassa

Viisi meidän suvun naista viettämässä kaupunkilomaa ulkomailla. Uhka vai mahdollisuus? Sanottakoot, että ennen tuota reissua olin ehkä aavistuksen epäileväinen, mutta hyvinhän meillä  loppujen lopuksi meni. 

Tällainen asetelma oli meinaan meikäläiselle varsin erikoinen, sillä aiemmin reissannut ympäriinsä pääasiassa yksin. Tai korkeintaan kera yhden ystävän. Tällä kertaa mukana oli kuitenkin niin monta muuttujaa, että pisti pakostakin hieman jännittämään. Mitä siis tehdä kun enää ei voisikaan mennä paikasta toiseen (siis kierrellä ympäriinsä) täysin oman mielen mukaan, vaan sitä tulisi kuunnella muun matkaseurueen toiveita ja mielenkiinnon kohteita. Entä milloin meistä kullekin yllättää nälkä ja mistä löytää jokaiselle kelpaava rafla juuri ennen kuin kenenkään mahdollinen nälkäkiukku astuu estradille. 

You must learn to let go. Release the stress.
You were never in control anyway.

- Steve Maraboli

Nooh, kyllä noita hampaita tuli aavistuksen verran kiristettyä, mutta ei onneksi kaiken aikaa. Kelloon tuli erilainen ääni sen jälkeen, kun asennoitui olevansa sellaisella matkalla, jossa seura on se tärkein. Muulla ei niin väliä, kunhan vain hengailtaisiin kimpassa ja tutustuttaisiin kaikkeen mitä Gdańskissa  olisi ihmeteltävää. Jaettiin porukka jossain kohtaa kuitenkin osaksi aikaa kahtia, niin se jos jokin toi oman helpotuksensa päivän etenemistahtiin.  

Gdańsk on aika pieni kaupunki ja jonka näkemiseen riitti hyvin tavallinen viikonloppu. Siis kolme päivää ja kaksi yötä. Ja meitä kun oli sen verran monta, niin oltiin varattu huone huoneistohotellista, jonka ikkunnasta oli näkymät tuolle ekassa kuvassa näkyvälle maailmanpyörälle. Toki ikkunasta sai ihastella myös aika ajoin ohi lipuvaa merirosvolaivaa! Oi kumpa olisin vaan ollut vuosia nuorempi, niin olisin niin mennyt kyytiin.   

Yksi asia kuitenkin jäi vähän nakuttamaan. Nimittäin se, ettei ollut riittävästi aikaa kiertää museoissa tai muissa sen sellaisissa. Ja pelkästään siis tämän vuoksi voin todeta, että ompahan yksi syy käydä samaisessa kaupungissa joskus tulevaisuudessa uudestaan. Niin ja toisekseen ne kulmapuodin lämpimäiset munkit! Ai hitsit kun ne oli nannaa.

Kulttuurin jäädessä lähes olemattomaksi, niin tällä reissulla käveltiin, otettiin erittäin lyhyt, mutta yksi hauskimmista taksimatkoista ikinä ja shoppailtiin yllättävän paljon. Niin ja siis tämä viimeksi mainittu ihan omaan normiini nähden. Mutta sitten taas toisaalta, jos kerran olet pienehkössä kaupungissa syksyllä, jolloin säätkään eivät välttämättä ole kovin kummoiset, niin shoppailuhan on varsin mainio tapa puuskuttaa menemään. Syömistä ja juomista unohtamatta!

Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges.

- Bryant McGill

Pretzels in Berlin

What happens in Berlin stays at Berlin. This might be the case for someone but not for us. At least not for this time. So, for a while ago we decided to travel to Berlin. We just wanted to have a kinda easy-going holiday in some place where we could relax and have a good time together. And we really managed to do alot even though our long weekend trip lasted only for four days.

 You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.

-Rumi

The city itself was so incredibly efforthless place to hang out and place where you could explore even some little weirder things. Meaning if you have the guts to take it to the next level. Or like us, dare to go to a proper club to dance like never before. Well, that would be all about that one wacky night.

And regardless the fact that I'm currently feeling pretty pleased with my life, I would travel to anywhere right away if I only could. There's just too many places in this globe where I haven't been yet. 

If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads.

- Anatole France

On se reissaaminen vaan mukavaa. Tai noh, tällä kertaa oltiin kyllä lomalla, sillä mihinkään ei ollut kiire eikä ohjelmassa ollut yhtäkään pakollista tekemistä. Tehtiin siis mitä ja milloin huvitti. Toki meillä, tai pikemminkin ehkä minulla, oli muutama paikka missä halusin ehdottomasti käydä ja joihin pääsinkin.

Ihan joka puolelle ei tosiaan ehditty, mutta ompahan syy lähteä kyseiseen kaupunkiin joskus uudestaan. Kenties vaikka jo ensi syksynä, sillä onhan tuo Berliini aika leppoisa mesta. Oleilu oli suht huoletonta ja eniten päänvaivaa taisi tulla vain isoimmista asemista, joissa tuli muutaman kerran vaihdettua metroa. Mutta niitäkin oppi kyllä välttämään heti oman "kotireitin" tultua tutuksi. Ja niin kuin moni on jo ennen ja jälkeen matkan ehtinyt toteamaan, niin Berliinin tekee helpoksi juuri se fakta, että siellä kaikki tunnetusti toimii. Niin eikä syöminenkään tuottanut tuskaa vaan valikoimista pystyi valitsemaan vaikka currywurstin tai mac-and-cheesen!

Yksi suurta hämmennystä aiheuttaneesta piirteestä oli kuitenkin hiljaisuus. Ja joka oli siis näin suomalaisittain varsin posiitinen seikka. Siellä täällä köpötellessään tuli meinaan melko äkkiä huomattua se, että heti kun ohitti jotkin kaupat ja meni sivummalle, niin oli lähes hiiren hiljaista. Alkujaan sitä hieman oudoksui kun kerran oltiin suht isossa kaupungissa, mutta hetken päästä siitä vain nautti. Fiilis oli kuin koto-Suomessa konsanaan.

Design a life that you are inspired to live.

- Annette White

Uppsala i mitt hjärta

Oh, how great it was to spend few days in Uppsala after all these years. Though it has been only there years since my last visit, I felt myself even more excited when I got off from the bus at the Centralstation.

It's the city where I spend my student exchange in 2014. And I can still remember the feelings which I had during the first days. One of them was kinda liberating emotion, one big relief with plenty of confusion on the side. But luckily I found myself a friend who's simply awesome and our friendship means a lot to me. 

In Uppsala we went to see the views from the castle, had a fika at Storken (which is the best coffee place in town) and cycled around without any bike lights (oops). Cycling is simply the best thing you can do over there 'cause everything runs so fluently (thanks to separated bike lanes). You don't need to do nothing else than just enjoy the ride.    

If there ever comes a day when we can't be together,

keep me in your heart. I'll stay there forever.

- Winnie the Pooh

At Sunday we took a train to Stockholm where we did the most obvious choice and walked to Gamla stan and from there we continued towards Södermalm. We had heard about this "rock". The highest natural point where you could see some really good views over the whole city. At first we wandered through Monteliusvägen and after that became this gorgeous place called Skinnarviksberget.  The place is also very popular among the locals and yeah the views from up there were pretty cool. Only if we had had some pizza and bottles of beers with us.

Each one of us can make a difference. Together we make change.

- Barbara Mikulski

I don't know when we gonna meet again, it can take either months or years. In the meanwhile we'll  keep in touch and we'll always continue our talks where we last remained. With this girl it's every time like that there had been only days since our last meeting or call. Talking about this and that. Gossiping. Talking seriously about our futures. Speaking out our true feelings. Laughing. 

Time is the longest distance between places.

- Tennese Williams

Trip to Cambodia part. 3

Our second island hopping destination was Koh Rong Samloem. After arriving to Saracen Bay by a speed ferry we started to look for a place to stay. It was much more quieter beach than Otres and we actually had to walk a while before we found some desk that looked like a proper reception.

If you're travelling outside of the actual high seasons there's no need to book every accommodation beforehand. There's always some free dorm bed or room at somewhere. At least if you aren't that picky about standard frames or luxury services. 

This longer voyage was a bit safer than the earlier boat ride to Koh Ta Kiev.

     

We managed to book us a double bed from a dorm which was kinda wide open. So, the space itself was again all open and also a little breezy (as it were air-conditioned) 'cause there wasn't any doors etc. When going to sleep we just pulled down the tarp (suom. pressu) to block the rain for coming straight to our drying clothes. And regardless of all the nightly voices and unknown crackles I slept strangely good during our entire trip. Thanks to the refreshing weather of Southeast Asian climate.  

Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.

- Josh Billings

At Samloem we could finally read some books and properly ease up our pace for few days. Before this we had only fled from horrible hucksters and looked up to some monumental sights of Angkor. Now our main task was to take it easy and enjoy some early morning swims and overall silece.

As usual our stay lasted for 3 days. So, we had already learned by now that 2 nights it's enough at one place. Within those days we had yet again just enough hours to explore the beach and to do what we liked. And what comes to food I think that we ate the most disappointing meal in Sacaren Bay. There might be several reasons for that but I bet that the biggest one is that all the dishes they served at restaurants, were modified to tourists. I mean that they had adjusted the flavors and reduced a lot of the spices.

For us foodlovers it was a real pity 'cause we had some high expectations for them. But in the end we flushed our deeply sorrow with few drinks and hoped for better luck in the future!       

My favorite spot was in that particular hammock.

And remember guys not to get sunburn over your body. It's not nice and your body is your temple.

From the island we took another speed ferry ride to the shore and headed to the bus station from where we continued towards our next destination, the city of Kampot.

God gave me a great body and it's my duty to take care of my physical temple.

- Jean Claude Van Damme

Trip to Cambodia part. 1

People asked the question why and we're like why not? So, despite everyones suspicions we decided to go to a place which had a fascinating but at the same time really outrageous history.

We planned a roughly plan for the upcoming 18 days and went through it once more before we took off one sunny Monday afternoon. At first we wanted to see the hidden temples of Angkor and to see them we headed to Siem Reap. To the city where the world largest religious monument where once built.

All glory comes from daring to begin.

- Eugene F. Ware 

To get to the temples we hired a Tuk Tuk driver for the day and bought ourselves entrance tickets or Angkor-Passes how they're actually called in the ticket office. And because we're staying in the city for 4 nights we had allowed us a plenty of time to see all the most famous spots in a good peaceful pace. We took the 3-day passes which costed $62 apiece. The last thing to do was to check that our knees and shoulders were covered (for respectable manners) before they stamped our tickets at the gate.

Views from our (private) pool. The hotel itself located in a little calmer area far enough from the Pub Streets fuss. 

The first days at temples were a bit cloudy and even after all efforts we couldn't see any amazing sunset or sunrise. But there was so much more to see than just those things. Such as the gigantic Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm the temple surrounded by jungle, the corridors in Preah Khan and many more. 

And all these things I'm going to tell up here are going to be only a short glimpses about our trip. You can ask me anything you want, but I'm not writing down every single details, timetables, names or prices. It would take days so I don't have time to do so.

The temples were well hidden in the jungle and because it wasn't yet a dry season, we got see water in some of the basins and moats.

Waiting for the sunrise at 5am with few other tourist at Angkor Wat.

The only thing missing at the moat of Angkor Thom was crocodiles.

All in all the temples were definitely worth seeing and the city of Siem Reap was nice. I had some of my favorite dishes in there and it was more likely to get food with glass noodles over there than any other places we visited. Like we afterwards learned, most of the restaurants where we tend to eat offered only "yellow" egg noodles which I can't eat, unfortunately. In those cases I just chose some rice dish and it was completely fine.

Ruins at Preah Khan.

And for those who yet don't know I've a head of Buddha on my sleeve. And even though I've had it for a few years now I had never thought that it would get me in to situations like this. More or less in abroad! To a situation where I'd have to hide it from the others just because it might be disrespectful for them. For their culture and religion. And yes I've to admit that it felt a little awkward, expecially when we saw some monks.. at least I tried to cover "it" for a second and wear some t-shirts or scarfs everytime possible. "This is me, take it or leave it. I'm here on a holiday, not to violate your belief".

Some familiar faces at Bayon.

So, luckily in Cambodia I only needed to cover my skin when visiting the temples just like any other woman in there. The only problem happened when we're in Thailand where it was almost (kinda) illegal to have Buddha tattoos (specially the heads). You could see the bans in here and there, but because we noticed the very first signs at the airport we had no choise than "smuggle" my dear piece of art through the passport controls and keep it hidden the while being in Bangkok. "This is me, take it or leave it. I'm here only for a few days with a friend of mine, I want no harm". 

People forget years and remember moments.

- Ann Beattie

Barcelona 2/2

If you're considering travelling around Europe, remember to do it on off-season. It's undoubtedly the best time of the year to do so. Actually it may be the one and only way to do so. It will ensure that there's fewer tourists than usual so that you'll be able to meet up with the locals and to get to know all their daily rituals. You don't need to stand in queues either just to see some famous sight. Or wait for hours to get to enter one remarkable building only to see something magnificent and breathtaking.

   

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.

- Voltaire 

Off-season travelling has so many advantages but I'm not going to list them. The only thing I still can say about it that you've to experience it yourself. And once you've done that you can't do anything else except continue doing so. The same thing applies even to solo travelling which is my personal favorite. Each of us needs a little excitement to our lives and that because it's totally worth it.  

By losing your goal, you have lost your way.

- Khalil Gibran

During our stay in BCN I wanted to show some the most popular sights to my mother even though I'd already saw a few of them a couple years earlier. At that time I was visiting the city with a dear friend of mine. Nevertheless in this trip we did a lot of things and saw some pretty cool places. We climbed at the top of Tibidabo with this old funicular and got to see the best views over the whole city from the tower of the basilica.

Another great views where from Montserrat which is also known as the symbol of Catalonia. But first we needed to catch up a little different kind of ride to get there. And because I'm afraid of heights the minutes in that yellow cable car felt like hours for me (though I was constantly counting my toes).  

   

   

One unexpected moment was when we're walking up and down around Montjuïc and found this one outdoor bar (called La Caseta del Migdia) at the top of the park. We didn't know its existence beforehand but after two hours scrambling it tasted so damn good to drink Coca-Colas up there.  

Everything you can imagine is real.

- Pablo Picasso

A little piece of UK

Eclipse of the sun, huge snails, a giant jar of ketchup, one lost tooth and a young boy yelling "mamma mia". 

These are all the things I remember about UK. My memories from our family vacation to Ipswich. The one and only trip to overseas we did when I was a child. When I was around 6-years old.

So, this time differed a lot from the previous one but in a good way of course. Another city meant new beautiful places and a different company meant it all. It's obvious that there's so much more you can do as an adult than as a child or youngster. Me and my friend had such a great time. We ate well and enjoyed some really good beers. All the pubs (even the bigger ones) were cosy and kinda sweet too. 

Portobello Road

King's Cross

St Albans Cathedral

There was so much to see but unfortunately time is limited. So, the rest of the places have to wait until the next time.

All the world is a birthday cake,

so take a piece, but not too much.

- George Harrison