Tallinn & Riga; Day 2

So we woke up for what was a hearty breakfast before heading out into the cold for some last minute shopping. Tallinn has a popular street (St Catherines Walk I think its called) where you can buy lots of hand made things. There are also lots of stalls selling pretty much the same thing at the same price - knitted gloves, hats, socks etc. However each stall has slightly different designs and you could spend an hour looking up and down deciding on your favourite pattern. In the end I went for this pair...

After that we went on a hunt for a cheap Estonian flag. There were quite a few around, but at 95kr (about €7) I was sure we could find cheaper. In the end we found one in a liquor store for 50kr. Sucess. A quick sweep of the CD stores, and then it was back to hotel to check out and start our journey to Riga.

Along the way, we made a lunch stop in a lovely town called Perno. I only walked around for 30 minutes, but I managed to take 26 photos! Not a bad average. There were just so many interesting buildings, a strange mix of wooden and concrete. a striking church had some interesting ice sculptures out front, which made for a nice photo I think...


But then it was back on the coach and on to Riga! It was dark by the time we arrived but some of us decided to go get our bearings before we all went out for lunch. We only made a quick circle round the hotel but managed to see the opera house, the freedom monument and the russian orthodox church.


After that we headed to what seemed to be the only option for Latvian cuisine, since its the only place anyone we asked could think of. Its was called Lido, and did good cheap food in a self-service style place. I just had chicken skewer and potatoes with salad. Then on to a bar. It was very cold, so we settled on one just 2 doors down from Lido! It was nice a cheap though, so we had a bottle of very cheap fizzy wine (think Labrusco) to share...

Then it was on to a club for the hard-core lot, but back to the hotel and bed for me. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

Eine Kleine EssenMusik

Is it normal for a philharmonic orchestra to start playing classical music in the middle of the university canteen I wonder? Hmm...

Tallinn & Riga; Day 1

Maybe doing these post's as 'days' is not a good idea. I was awake nearly 24 hours for the first day, so this might be a longish post...

So yes, I woke at 3am in order to get the coach at 4am. We were getting the ferry from Helsinki at 7am, so that we could get to Tallinn by 9am. We then had a bit of a wonder round before being met by our tour guide for the day. He had a very nice accent :) Anyway, he was a student from the university of Tallinn and so gave the perspective of young people in Estonia. Having only got its independence 18 years ago, it is still somewhat of a new country. It is however clearly taking its example from Finland. There are many Finnish companies here, and a lot of the shop and restaurant workers speak Finnish (its very similar to Estonian, and most of the tourists are Finns).

First he took us on the coach to the presidential palace. From here we could also see the art museum built into limestone (Estonia's national rock - do we have an official rock in the UK I wonder?) Anyway, the palace was very nice, and the flag was up so he was in. It was right by a lovely park with lots of ducks. Still happily swimming in the frozen lake. Nutters.


We then carried on to the song festival grounds. Every 4 years or so Estonia holds a huge song festival. Coincidently it is due to be held this summer. This is where I fell over for the first time all year. Very annoyed, thought I was getting the hang of this snow thing. Oh well.


We then had a quick look around a more wooden area of Tallinn before heading back to the old town. A few more chances to take some photos from the viewing platform and then it was time to check into the hotel. Was very nice, and very close to everything. (the breakfast was great too, hehe).


But after that it was time to go and sample a medieval feast. Tallinn's old town is really old. Medieval old. So they have a place called Olde Hansa, which serves authentic medieval cuisine (no potatoes here). They also sell items made in a medieval way. For example I bought a hand-made glass, complete with blobs on the side to help you grip it with your greasy hands. Luckily for our feast we were permitted knives and forks! The food was good, but quite rich. You really couldnt eat too much of it. After that we had another beer before heading back to the hotel to prepare for the evening.


Our tour guide was involved in ESN Tallinn, and told us that they were holding the welcome party for the new exchange students that night and we were very welcome to join them. Having been up since 3am, it probably wasnt a good idea. But the club was just 2minutes walk from the hotel, and we were going to be spending most of the next day on a coach, so I braved it (with a bit of a hand from some nice Estonian cider). Was a lot of fun. A nice place and relatively good music. Was tucked up in bed by 2am though.

Return from Tallinn & Riga

So I return from my trip to the baltics. And I'm shattered. But, it was by far the best trip of this year. I really really enjoyed myself. I just relaxed, didnt worry about work or money or anything. The company was great, the trip was well organised, and the destinations were great. And nothing went wrong! Hurrah! Well apart from the fact I left (my favourite) mittens in Tallinn and that I found my 175kr after I got back (about €10). But I'm planning to return to Tallinn again in the summer, so will spend them then, and also went and got myself another pair of those mittens since they are still selling them in Anttila.

Anyway, I have lots of pretty pictures, and interesting stories to tell, so will start on the diary's pronto! Just so long as I can keep awake...

Oh, also, I returned to find that we have a new housemate. (we also have only one small light still functioning in the kitchen... not good in the dark evenings). She's also from Spain, but seems a lot nicer than the nightmare housemate of last semester. She's only just arrived so doesn't know anyone yet, but is starting her placement at the hospital today. She's studying nursing and seems to be here for a similar thing as me, so we should get on alright. No crazy partys... not on weeknights at least ;)

You Get It And Go

Sorry for the lack of travel posts. I will definitely be posting about Lapland once I return from my weekend in the Baltics. Thats right, im away again. I will be leaving 4am(!) thursday morning for a 4-day trek around Tallinn & Riga. I went to Tallinn back in August, but I always hoped to get back there again before the year is out. Its very beautiful, and so close! And as a pit stop on the way to Riga, its ideal. I know there are rediculously cheap flights from Tampere to Riga, but by the time you add in the train fair to Tampere and back, this organised trip will work out about the same. And I get to view the scenary between here and Riga on the way. After the 16 hour coach trip to Lapland, this should be a dodle.

But in the meantime, this has been a surprisingly stressful few days. I was dying for the weekend to come, as I was still completely wiped from Lapland. Back to work on monday though, and I realised I still had to pay for this weekends trip, and I had left my bank stuff at home! Meant I had to take a 2 hour lunch break to go home, get my stuff, get back to town to the bank, and then wolf down lunch... And I had intended to finish off an important interim report that is due back at my home uni by the end of the month. I had set myself the deadline of finishing it before going to Lapland, but that didnt happen. So am determined to have it finished before Tallinn instead. Hopefully it will be in the post tomorrow afternoon!

Other things stressing me out include, the laundry room machines breaking down, meaning I've just flooded the bathroom in an attempt to get enough clean clothes to pack tomorrow night, and also the fact that my toe has decided to start playing up. My toe has hurt on and off for a while, but since Lapland it has definitely been more on than off. Especially today, at times it was so so painful I was starting to think it might be broken. I'll soldier on though...

So, until Monday (if I'm still alive!)

Don't You Know Who You Are? You're My Shooting Star

There's a song that, although quite old now, I return to time and time again. I have a terrible habit of buying albums because I like the single, listening to it once, and then discarding it. This is what I did with Air Traffic's album. However, I always had the feeling that if I just gave the album a chance, a bit of time to sit and really listen to it, that I would learn to love it. The fact that I keep going back to this song is a testament of how well-written the songs are.

So this week I have been listening to Fractured Life, and it is indeed starting to nestle a place in my heart. I don't love all the songs, but I certainly love more than just the one I'm going to share with you. No More Running Away is my current favourite, but the single that made me buy the album is called Shooting Star and its a beautifully dramatic love song. I don't understand how bands like Keane, Snow Patrol and Coldplay are so famous, and this band never really got a chance to shine.

Lapland Pictures

I havent had time this week to write up a diary of my Lapland trip, but for those of you that are interested you can view my photo album of pictures from the week here...

Lapland

General Musings on Life and Melodifestivalen

The last few days have been quite confusing for me. Potentially exciting, but still my head has been a bit all over the place. Its been quite a week in limbo as such. I returned from Lapland and went pretty much straight back to work. the result of this was having a nice long nap yesterday afternoon, before then staying up till 5am! And then today has been tidying my room in an attempt to locate my missing Finnish sim card so that I can do my laundry and think about repacking for my trip to Tallinn and Riga next weekend! Yes, I am a busy bee indeed. Its great though, I feel like the time is really ticking away. I'm already dreading having to leave this beautiful country. Really, I'm loving it so much. Even if it can be a little lonely at times...

Aaaaanyway. In other news, Måns Zelmerlöw is going to be in the second semi for Melodifestivalen this week. I have never watched it before, but I love Måns very much, and am excited about the new material that should be getting a release very soon. Hopefully before my return to Stockholm around July :) The song is called Hope & Glory, and you can listen to a clip of the song here. I have to admit I was a bit dissappointed on first listen, its not quite as 'cool' as Cara Mia, but actually after a few more listens I've decided its rather catchy, and just unashamedly poppy. I just hope that when I hear the whole thing along with the performance it will blow my socks off, hehe.

As for last weeks Melodifestivalen, I still haven't got round to listening to the songs that have actually made it to the final, but instead had a listen to Marie Sernaholt's and Jonathan Fagerlund's songs. Marie's is rather cool funky pop, and I like it. Jonathan's is more along the lines of the unashamedly cheesy pop, but I love it. It gets stuck in my head a lot, so will no doubt keep listening to it for a while yet. In fact, here's the performance...

Let Them Eat Cake

I LOVE the Finnish work ethic. Officially I started work over an hour ago, although I'm always at least 30minutes late on account of leaving my house 5km away at about the time that I'm supposed to start... Anyway, so after 20minutes of checking emails and things, I decide I should go and find my supervisor to ask about the days work. I find her eating cake in the coffee room (someone got married). She then explains that she hasnt decided what I need to do for the day yet, as she was distracted by the cake. So she tells me to sit and eat some cake while she goes and decides... Fabulous. No complaints here.

As for last night, my housemate came home and spared me from my boredom. The Russian Language Circle were meeting to go bowling, so I joined them. I have now learnt the numbers 1-10! Hurrah! haha. Oh, and I learnt the words for 'pin' and 'bowling ball'. I'm sure they'll come in very handy on my planned trip to Russia in April :)

Post-holiday Blues

Well, I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself tonight. Been a frustratingly boring week at work. Rachel is away. I'm all alone in my flat. I've lost my Finnish sim card. I'm bored. Ok, so very self-absorbed I know. Maybe I'll go listen to some Vroce to cheer myself up...



There, who can resist a smile after that!

Return From Lapland

I returned from my very tiring trip to Lapland at 6am this morning, and consequently have spent the day lounging around the flat. Its been lovely. In fact I've only been awake 8 hours, and am already considering returning to bed :p

The trip itself was different to what I had expected. I was a little disappointed on the first day if I'm honest. But then I embraced it for what it was, and relaxed and had fun. I spent 2 days skiing, and the husky dog safari was amazing. I have some beautiful pictures from atop the mountain. It was blooming cold (-25ish). And I have never watched so many films in such a short space of time (I think maybe 12 in 6 days!). So there is plenty to write about. Just give me time to gather my thoughts :)

Hope I havent missed anything while I was away. Its good to be back.

Lapland!!!

In less than 5 hours I will be off on my trip to Lapland! I realise I havent mentioned it much on here, but its mostly because I wasnt that excited about it I guess. But now that its here I am getting rather excited. I think the main thing putting me off is the overnight coach (!) journey. Eugh. We leave at 8:30 and get to Rovaniemi at 9am tomorrow morning. And then we have a couple more hours after that before we get to Levi. But I once went by coach to Italy on a school ski trip and that took literally 24 hours. So this should be a doddle. I'm armed with tons of videos of comedians and music videos on my ipod, and have a good book to tide me over. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep for some of it too.

Anyway, once that part is over there will of course be the amazing 5 days in the heart of Lapland. I have to say, despite there being snow here for a good week or so already, I am a bit jealous of the mad excitement of my friends back home playing in the snow. I havent really had the chance to yet. But I expect I'll have plenty of time to roll around in the snow. I promise to try and take lots of photos, but my camera is corrupted, and can be a bit temperamental. So we'll see.

On the itinerary for the week is; plenty of skiing, a husky dog safari, karaoke, Santa Claus village in Rovaniemi, Kemi snow castle, and lots of sauna time I expect.

To be honest, i'm looking forward to just having a relaxing few days in a cottage in the middle of a winter wonderland. Since August really, it feels like I havent stopped much. I need a holiday! hehe. I mean, Stockholm was such a rush, and Christmas didnt pan out exactly as I had hoped, so fingers crossed this will be more successful!

So, thats the last you'll hear from me till Monday now folks!

Afraid to take a chance and join you in the light

I know its old, but I've become just a little bit obsessed with this song...



I mentioned him earlier in a post about Melodifestivalen. He's in the first semi this week, but then so are a lot of other good (and more well-known) artists. I won't be near a computer to watch it anyway, so will just have to wait to hear what happens. Good luck Jonathan!

Cold Snap

I just want to share a few pics with you. The river here in Turku has been frozen for a while now, and I kpet meaning to take a photo. Friday I missed the bus, so decided to finally go and do it. So here are a selection of the photos taken.

Finnish Esc Selection - The Final, Part 2

So yes, last night was the Finnish national selection for eurovision, and as I said already that Waldo's People got through, but I thought I would elaborate on the whole proceedings a bit more, since I was lucky enough to be able to watch it, whereas I know the rest of Europe were deprived somewhat. Still, there was plenty going on last night I believe...

So the show got started at 8pm. I was still on my way to a friends house to settle down and watch it, so we missed the first few performances. These however were the 'second chance' songs. Those that had not qualified from previous weeks. These included Riikka, Tiara, Passionworks, Sani, Vink and Janita. We caught the last 3 or so, and got to enjoy the interval act (Scandinavian Hunks - think a topless version of stomp) while the voting took place. The two acts that were then announced to be through to final were Passionworks and Vink. I was happy for Vink. I liked the song, but felt they were in the hardest of the three semi's, so this worked well for them.

So then onto the final.

• We started with Kwan. The woman still hadnt improved and continued to sing out of tune. Not good.
• This was followed by Jari. The judges seemed to think he was wonderful, but were not sure that the song is a good fit for eurovision. My friend pointed out it sounds like a christmas song/hym, and she could be right. Nice ballad, but no good for esc.
• Then was the fabulous Signmark. Another good performance, with strong vocals from Osmo. You can't fault any of it really, just depends if the song can overcome the obvious genre barrier.
• Next up was Tapani Kansa. Well, he managed to get through the whole song without starting again this time. Still, the song was just as boring. My friend kindly translated some of the lyrics. Sounded all a bit depressing and not eurovision at all. Like Peace Will Come, but without the positive vibe.
• After that we have Waldo's People. I was 100% behind signmark until this came on. Its just so infectiously catchy. And tonights show took place on a bigger stage, so the performance is even more striking. Love the poi/fire juggling.
• Then we have Remu. I really didnt understand how this qualified. I took the time to watch the video a few days before, and now see it as a quirky 'joke' entry. I found myself enjoying it with this new perspective. Still, I dont think Europe would get the joke.
• Finally, we have Passionworks back again. The poor singer was suffering from larengitis, and so the vocals were somewhat raspy. However, the giant snowflake on her back did enough to distract from that. I do like the blokes vocals, but this is a typical metal song for Finland. Its time to try something new.
• Then, last but certainly not least, was Vink. a good, cheesy pop-punk song. Perhaps a little 'middle-of-the-road' though.

So the votes are calculated to see which 3 acts will go through to the SuperFinal. I voted for Signmark... just.

The 3 acts that made it to the SuperFinal to are Signmark, Waldo's People, and Passionworks. That was a surpise. I didnt understand the point of the 'second chance' round as I didnt believe that a song that didnt qualify the first time would stand a chance in the final. I was clearly wrong. So each act performs again (the poor woman from passionworks for the third time tonight, you could feel her pain, really).

A break for the news while the votes are casted and calculated. I vote again for Signmark.

When we return, it is announced that in third place is Passionworks. Signmark and Waldo's People make their way to the stage. Teräsbetoni from last year present the envelope with the results. Along the bottom of the screen we are shown that the winning act received 45% of the votes, and the second placing act 42%. And Waldo's People were announced to be the winning act. They perform once more. Good luck to them. I think this was a very wise choice. I am sad for Signmark, but it was an exciting final, with a lot of great songs to choose from. Well done YLE.

Finnish Esc Selection - The Final, Part 1

So I watched (almost) the whole thing last night, and the result was very pleasing :)



Yes, Waldo's People won. By quite a small margin. Signmark with Speakerbox was in a very close second. I love speakerbox and did vote for it, but looking at it from a eurovision perspective of what will do well, I think Lose Control ticks all the boxes. The rapping is a bit naff, but the chrous is so catchy, and that little drop-kick in the beat towards the end is just perfect. I think I'm happy with this choice, even if I'm a bit dissappointed for Signmark, but it would have been visa versa if Signmark had won and Waldo's People were second. Can't we send them both?

Oh, and after hearing the British choice today.... hmmm.... think I'll be adopting Finland as my eurovision home this year. I mean, its ok, but for a collaberation between supposedly britains best songwriter and a famous lyricist, I think it was fair to expect something more than just ok. Maybe they can work on it. Well, its the lyrics that bother me the most. Whats it all about. Generic and forgettable I'm afraid. Gotta give Jade credit though, she does sing it well.