Reunion in Pyhäranta, Finland!!

That red spot is where the journey took place: Pyhäranta in southwest Finland.

This my journey, about 1420km. Our guests Beatrice and Freya travelled only between those southermost spots (the northermost is the place were I live)

12.8


This was something I had been waiting for a long time. For a year, exactly. I was on my way to Helsinki airport to see some old friends of mine - Freya from Germany and Beatrice from Italy, the girls of South Carolina! :-) Finland has still the heat on - the hottest summer for some 100 years keeps continuing, some 30 degrees that day. I had made a sign for them: "Welcome to Finland, Freya and Beatrice!". There I sit waiting in the arrival terminal in Helsinki-Vantaa airport. I was so nervous for some reason, thinking what if they don't appear? My nervousness proved unnecessary, when Freya came to view, being one of the last ones coming from the plane! Cheerfull hugs and we had to go to completely other side of the air port where Beatrice was about to arrive at any moment. We made it, and even had to wait for some 10 minutes. I hadn't seen Beatrice for 2 years, so there was reason for excitement. There she came, and I was let to hug her as well! There was also Kaarin, a friend of Beatrice, welcoming her. Bea had met her in the Netherlands that summer. We all took a bus to the centre and checked the main sights - train station, churches, harbour, market place... well, I don't know anything else in Helsinki to show, it's not one of my favorite cities. Also this time it was so full of people rushing from place to place - tourists, locals, businessmen etc... We took our first visit to Hesburger, a Finnish version from McDonalds (Bea and Freya thought that's funny) and ate tortillas that broke into our hands and were full of horrible jalopenos. We also found the most scariest toilet in Finland with gas and sprinkler centre in it - we needed a toilet card to use it? I wasn't brave enough. The light was greepy blue because of the drug users. Not a good first impression of Finland.. We had to take a train to Turku, Henriikka was going to host us by the Baltic sea in Pyhäranta. We all had tucked our suitcases into one small box in the train station. They hardly made it in, and we hardly could open it because it was so full. But the thing was that we saved 4 €uros by tucking all the bags to same box (actually 3 big suitcases). The journey from Helsinki to Turku passed by taking pictures of traditional Finnish train stations in Salo, Kupittaa and some other places...

In Turku Henriikka came to pick us up (and Bea went to toilet in a train which almost left before she came out). It didn't take long until we were in the backwoods and our foreign friends thought we had driven it all the way to Lapland.. yep- the distances are long, we're still in the most populated southern Finland (even you can't see any sign of life around). After an hour we arrived to Henriikka's cottage, which was just too perfect for our Reunion - new, luxorius cottage + and old, small one + outside toilet + sleeping barn with an ocean view, sun setting gently and weather so nicely warm. It can't get more Finnish than that. Our "tourists" took the first 100 pictures and we made fun poses in front of the sun set. And of course, talked, talked and talked more! So much to talk to! :) We played some card games and finally tried to sleep, but being so tired we couldn't. Finally we fell asleep laughing...

The sunset

The magical lights after the sunset

In the morning

 

13.8

It felt so good to get up in the morning when the sun was shining and it was already hot outside. Not usual in Finland, our guests are really lucky.  That day we went to visit the city of Rauma, about 20km from Henriikka's place. Even I hadn't ever been there. It really was beautiful - the old city was all wooden, about 200-300 hundread years old (true- we don't have long history like Italians or Egyptians, but it still feels awesome to see 300 hundread years old wooden buildings still in use). My feet hurt, I had choosed the wrong shoes... We tried to find a cheap place to drink some soda, but of course those elegant cafeterias were too expensive for us (one small soft drink costed from 2,5€ to 3€). We saw the old church and the even older church, which had burned down (like our oldest city, Turku). Then we returned to Henriikka's place, and did something really traditional Finnish things: played Mölkky (I suck, Freya won) and heated the sauna (and drank sauna beer). Beatrice thought sauna is too hot, but Freya was brave enough to sit on the top. Still, we couldn't throw much water to the sauna stove. Water in the ocean was warm (about 20c), but the bottom was covered with nasty plants. Some friends of Henriikka arrived while we were swimming. They played music so loud and had a great amount of alcohol with them! We continued swimming, and made a ambitious plan - to swim to the island nearby. And we did it! But I'm sorry to say that we don't have any pictures to prove that, because they couldn't hear us due to the loudy music... The music and our screams "pictureee" echoed along the serene ocean...

Once we had dryed ourselves, we joined the others and took one beer. Unfortunately they weren't really capable to speak English, we had problems trying to teach them the rules of the Italian card game, Merda. It didn't work out since they were too drunk... We cooked some chicken and sausages and continued our conversation inside, because there was some mosquitoes and the night was getting little chilly (and one of the guys tried to make too strong booze for us).It's just amazing how we can talk for hours without getting bored, there's always something more to talk. It was like 1 o clock when we finally fell asleep..

14.8

This was the day Emmi was about to join us! Just like yesterday, it was so warm in the morning, amazingly warm. Good day to hit JukuPark, a new water park in Turku. Shopping and clubbing are part of our plans as well. On our way to Turku we saw some clouds coming, but the temperature was still just below 30C. There Emmi stood waiting for us. :) Quick hugs and we rushed to the water park! It was smaller than we had thought, but we still had fun. Especially one ride was really thrilling, I did it like 4 times and every time I screamed like a little kid. Waiting for lunch took almost one hour - why only one grill is open when they have 4 of them? We also tried the public sauna, it was quite crowded and not nearly as good as Henriikka's wooden sauna. It started to drip and wind got stronger - we were freezing even the temperature was like 25c. Sauna felt good.

After swimming we prepared ourselves for the evening - shopping and possibly some clubbing! We had only 1 hour to do shopping and after that we checked the sights of Turku. It was new for me as well, I've been to Turku a couple of times but never really checked out the city. The river and it's surrounding were pretty with all the restaurant-boats. We ate some hot dogs and ice cream. Unfortunately the clubs won't open until 11, se we had to spend the evening some way. We went to a bar called "Porobaari" (=a reindeer bar), ordered some drink and played Uno for 3 hours. The game we played  in Spartanburg back in the summer of 2008! We recalled some memories like "International rules!!" and the legend of ZIZU: "who? me? you?"


After that we went to eat again in Hesburger. Beatrice is only 17 so we had to make a plan for the night club (in Finland they are really accurate and always ask ID, you have to be either 18 or 20, sometimes even more to enter a night club). Plan a) Beatrice is Italian and she didn't know she has to show ID when entering a club and she left it to the cottage b) Beatrice forgot her wallet and pleasepleaseplease let here in she will return to Italy the next day and this is her last chance. First we tried to enter Onnela, with low success - plan a didn't work out. There's another night club called "Monkeys" were you have to be 20 to get in (only Emmi of us is 20) so not a very good option, but worth do try. I went first and he asked my ID - I said like pleasepleaseplease I'll behave well. Then Emmi said she's 20 and she'll look for us. We told that the rest are also 19, so he let us in without asking ID from Beatrice!! Great. It was so early that no one was there yet. We took some cocktails and enjoyed the music. We were a little curious because we thought the club should be bigger, and later we realised there's upstairs were they play some more recent dance music. It was much better! We danced so much, and the DJ playd "We no speak Americano" after 10 minutes I had asked it. Grrreatness! Very good music there, but also so hot. We had to cool off every 15 minutes. A typical Finnish night life - that was it! It was like 5 o clock when we arrived to Henriikka's cottage, we were so damn tired that we fell asleep before even noticing...

15.8

On Sunday we went to Rauma, played some mini golf and did some shopping. I shared the first place with Henriikka in Mini golf! In Henriikka's place we went to sauna and swimming. The air had cooled off a little but the temperature was still above 20. Card games, talking, making funny pictures, having a great time together.. that was it!

16.8

Something special for Monday: a cruise to the archipelago of Rauma: The island of Kylmäpihlaja. There was a light house waiting for us. It was warm but really windy, especially on the boat and in the island. The waves were huge! The island was quite remote but not very special. The funniest thing was the "guide" who wasn't really sure how to explain all those things in English. And I'm not sure if there even was much to say.. But we enjoyed! The best things were the waves, wind and good pictures. There was also a nice flock of birds in the island. Back in Rauma we ate well in Rosso. I took a reindeer pasta. The evening was the same as before!

17.8

The last day together.. We spent it by picking blue berries and cooked "lätty"s. It's kind of a thin pancake, very typical Finnish food. We put some ice cream, blue berries, sugar and jam on it - delicious!! It felt so bad to start to pack our stuff... But the last night was memorable and full of pictures! (in the end we had more than 1000 pictures, all very good quality).

18.8

The last day.. We went to Rauma early in the morning, ate in Hesburgers and took a buss to different directions.. Emmi took a buss to Vaasa, Freya and Beatrice to Helsinki, I to Turku and Henriikka returned to Pyhäranta. It was sad to say good byes. We sang our South Carolina song "All summer long" and hugged each others for some 15 minutes. Finally it was time to go...

The week was full of great quality time and get-together, looking forward to the next reunion somewhere!!

2010 Italy: We No Speak Americano!

This is my journey in Italy. We made over 1000km by car and train across northern Italy.

This is were the journey took place: Truccazzano in northern Italy. The line shows my path from my home to Bergamo.

 

Cassano d'Adda

Ciao! I've just arrived from an amazing trip in Italy. Let's see what it included.

30.7

I spent the last night in Lapua, waking up 5 o clock and taking a train first from Lapua to Seinäjoki and then continuing to Tampere. It has been a seriously hot season in Finland and I was amazed how it was so warm already at 6 o clock, I'm used to be frozed to death while waiting the train at early morning. The day before had been the hottest day in the history of Finland - 37 degrees. I had 4 hours before my flight would take off in Tampere airport, so I purchased a book for 2 euros and settled to a nice park to read it and watch the city wake up. Finally I was on the plain - Ryanair, 3rd time this year - and began to continue my book. Telling the truth, it was horrible, what else can I expect? I didn't know how long the flight would take, so I fell asleep. I was also terribly hungry, but - to save money - I choosed starving instead of supporting Ryanair by buying an overpriced sandwich. Once the plain started shaking badly and the safety belt light went on, but I couldn't understand the Italian accent the hostess used to explain the situation. So I stayed calm. Finally - after few hours - the high mountains came to view and I knew I was close. 15 more minutes and we started the landing to Bergamo. There Erica was already waiting for me - so nice to see her again!! It was quite warm outside, but very bearable. We headed for her home in Truccazzano through the corn fields - of which I'm very envious since we don't have those in the north - and I was introduced to her mother. She was just like I had imagined Italian people - very hospitable, even she didn't speak english at all. After settling down we went to see the city close to Truccazzano - Cassano d'Adda - where her friend was coming to see her. The name of the friend remains a secret, since it is surely not possible to pronounce, so may he be called "Gucci" (actually that name was an invention of Andrea, who I'll meet soon). We ate a delicous, famous Italian ice cream, which was just so different comparing to what I'm used to. So soft, so sweet, so delicious! The first thing Gucci had to tell me was the real truth of Italy - the separation between south and north. South is Africa, the place of "Terranos"(I don't know if this expression is an invention of him, obviously it's not meant for 
 public use).

View from Erica's terrace (the building she lives was much better than the one in this picture)

After a while we went back to Erica's place and I changed clothes to eat (actually I had forgotten my hungriness which was almost excruciating on the plane) in Bergamo. Gucci joined us. It started to thunder and rain. Anyway I have to say that Bergamo is now listed as one of my favorite cities - the old town was situated on the hill, and I made a time travel to the medieval time. The downpour was so bad, we 3 got a little wet under one small umbrella. We found the restaurant and started waiting for the food, now that I realized my hungriness. First serving was a kind of pasta which was stuffed with meat. So good, but at the same time, so filling. The next serving was polenta, which I had never seen nor heard before. It was a kind of porridge made of corn and cheese (or that's what it seemed and tasted). The next serving was mushrooms, rabbit and chicken. It was all too good, and I wished I could eat more, but my stomach didn't give in. First time I enjoyed red wine with food, I guess it needs the real Italian food to taste good. That serving included all the traditional foods of Bergamo. After the dinner ("dinner" in Italy is eaten late in the evening, at 9 or so) and headed back for Cassano d'Adda. Gucci's and Erica's friend Andrea wanted to meet us in one of the pubs. Andrea was told to be the craziest but also the smartest friend of Erica. We all took one beer- the guys took one litre, me half litre and Erica the driver's beer. After that the guys were already a little drunk, seems like Italians are incapable to handle alcohol. Andrea introduced proudly his Italian car - Fiat Punto - which had a dent on it due to one unfortunate drunken night when Andrea was trying to put it to garage with low success. This time the car was to stay there, and he jumped to our car. We went to Erica's place to play some cards and maybe sip few more beers. I was taught two Italian card games, which were quite similar to Finnish ones. I was a team with Andrea and we won all the games - we were too powerful. Or maybe Gucci was a little bit too drunk. After that we went to play Fifa 2010 and Gucci sacked out on sofa - drinking is surely not for Italians. I was to tired, it was already 4 o clock in the night. After the game I had to say good nights and went to sleep - first day had included a lot of fun and laugh!

31.7

Duomo di Milani and the piqeons

 

Skyline Milano

This is were the Rich shop and the price tags are 4-numbered

Second day in the country of pizza. We had to wake up quite early to take a train to Milano. Actually Milano was quite close, but due to roadworks we had to make a part of the trip by buss which made it slower. The buss was all full of people with no air condition. Finally we were in Milano and I spotted something unusually big and beautiful - Duomo di Milano. I really can't find words to discribe it's grandeur! It was about the size of a football stadium and every inch was so delicately detailed. The 3rd biggest church in the entire world! We went to the front side and found groups of pigeons around some who fed them. It didn't take long after I got a handful of corn to my both hands and some black guys whistled pigeons in my arms. Birdlover as I am, I enjoyed that and the guys took pictures of us in front of Duomo (see the picture above). After the corn was finished and few pictures taken, the guys began to beg money: "10 euro! 5 euro!". Finally Erica gave then 1,5euros and they gave up. What a robbery! There was many of them, all cheating tourists who don't necessarily understand the value of euro. We tried to go inside the Duomo but there was some strict regulations that forbidded open necklines and short skirts and shorts. So we weren't let in to see the magnificient interior. Anyway, after we paid 5 euros we were let to climp to the roof of Duomo. There was so many steps that I was completely out of breath! Anyway it was worth it - the landscape across Milano was really beautiful. Up there I was able to see the details more closely. I'm a little acrophobic so I was afraid the church was going to fall down after 1000 years it has stood there. The next place to visit was a gallery full of old paintings, mostly related to religion. They were huge, but after seeing 10 I felt I had seen all of them. Then we visited some old castle in Milano. My feet were so dead, I have no idea of what made me to choose high heels for a trip to Milano.. Some black guys tried to cheat us to buy a bracelet, but we knew what they were heading for and didn't let them to cheat us. Walking hurt so much that I was so ready to go back to Truccazzanno! We rested a little bit and went to buy a pizza for a dinner. Italian pizza was good, but not as good as I had expected! I've eaten better ones, but for sure this was a fast food pizza, not the real Italian one. Gucci and a friend of Erica came and talked some Italian, I just listened without understanding anything. Italian is such a beautiful language that I can easily listen it for hours without understanding anything! And it's not that hard, I've picked few words and learnt some Italian.


In the evening we went to a bar called "Jamaica". It was really Jamaica themed with palm trees and Caribbean feeling. We took a cocktail which was full of all kinds of fruits and berries, I couldn't recognize all of them, nor did I like them all. In the bottom there was some vodka which was flavoured with the juice coming from the fruits. Yam yam yam! Anyway, I was really tired, now that I remembered how less I had slept the night before. So we went back to Erica's place and I fell asleep...

1.8

Early morning and it was time to go to the Lake Garda! We picked up Andrea to travel with us. He made a nice rap out of Finnish words he had learnt (numbers and funny words). The city by the lake - of which name I don't remember - was really elegant and beautiful typical Italian city. I felt so hot and was ready to go to swim to the greenish-blue water of Garda. It was so nicely warm and refreshing at the same time. We played some ball games, swam, took sun and rented a pedalo. So we pedalled quite far away from the beach and enjoyed the unusual silence in Italy during August. So nice!! The lake is so beautiful, surrounded by mountains. Andea sang us some Pavarotti (or something like that, I'm not very good in knowing opera singers) and I felt like "oh, this is the real Italy". After pedaling we headed for the narrow streets of the city to look for a nice restaurant to eat some traditional Italian food. So we found one and ate some fish and pasta (drinking wine, of course). The day in Garda was just great, it wasn't so full of tourists from over the World (tourists from Italy, yes, but I don't consider them as tourists).

We went back to Erica's place, took a shower and started to get ready for evening. Andrea had made a promise to be our driver this night. So, our plan was to go to some Indian pub to smoke some narghile/shisha (I don't really know what is the correct word, we don't have those in Finland). We spend a great amount of time searching for it, but finally we made it. It was really 'off-the-beaten-track', only the locals who really know that place would go there. Still, it was almost full of people. We got the shisha-thing and at first we didn't know how to use it (first time for Erica as well), but in the end we were competiting who can suck the most smoke out of it. It was so fun, and it made us laugh a bit. Or maybe that was because the cocktail we drank, and the one meter of shots! Now we got the real party feeling and took another shisha. Erica laughed so bad se almost fell to the floor. When we were finished, we decided to go dancing to night club in Milano. We danced and sang in the car, but couldn't find the place. It took at least one hour to find it, the clock was like half past one. We had really bad luck, the bouncer didn't let us in since it was so late and they were about to close in half an hour. Hence we decided to find another one! It took one more hour. Half past two we found another outside club, which was - SUPRISE - also closing in half an hour (it was Sunday, so the clubs aren't open that late, I guess). So we danced and sang our way back to Erica's place, though I fell asleep in the one hour drive. Despite the drawbacks we faced, I had amazingly great time that day!! I still have to admit the fact I realised two years ago - Italians are crazy, but in a good way.


2.8

Like always on my trips, I was so tired in the morning. I had problems getting my eyes open after 5 hours of sleep. We had some great plans for that day - Venice! Erica's mum hadn't been in Venice for many years, so she joined us. It was sooo long away, and the roads were so blocked due to Italian travel season - they all wanted to go to Venice. It took about 4 hours to get to the harbour, where we had to pick a ferry to Venice. The 4 hours the journey took didn't bother me, since I was let to admire the beautiful landscapes - wine fields, mountains etc.. It hit me by surprise that there is no cars nor roads in Venice. The ferry was so full of tourists, a little foretaste from what was coming. Venice was almost like I had thought it - picturesque. The streets on the harbour side were almost empty, I really love those narrow streets and old, run-down, romantic buildings. I could stay there for hours just to walk around and enjoy the canals, bridges and buildings.. But that was just the other side of Venice, and we really had to visit the centre with all the sights. I noticed that the close we get to the centre, the more tourists the was. In the end, I could hardly walk. I was stuck in the middle of tourists from all over the World! And the stupid pigeon-feeding-cheaters were back! Ugh, I wanted to go away, I could hardly see the ground under all these people! And what was the building we came to see? Oh, it's under renovation, great. We went to park to eat some sandwiches - a short escape from the craziness. Fortunately Erica's mum has an idea how to get away from this - to go by boat to the isle of Murano - the city of handmade glass. The boat trip took almost an hour, but finally - we had space. The island wasn't as elegant as Venice, but surely more enjoyable than the human jam in Venice. We shopped in glass shops that the island was full of, and I found some souvenirs. Some people even live in this island (almost no one lives in Venice, only tourists), we got lost in some kind of suburb.

Then we decided to go back to Venice, but we had to wait for the return boat for an hour. I was so tired - almost fell asleep on the boat. In Milano the hectic atmosphere was still on. We made ourselves to the clearer roads and looked once more some sights. There's so much to see for the ones intrested in history (not me, as you've seen). I really much enjoyed walking back to the harbour through the one-meter-narrow streets (that smelled a little like drain). What if the whole city was like that? Then this would be my personal favorite city. No cars at all - it was so quiet in some parts. Flowers, bridges, boats - surely a great place to spend honey moon. The streets were full of all kinds of shops - surreal fashion and art. And price tags. Venice is full of those - everything - I mean EVERYTHING costs. Tourists are walking wallets. I am not. Venice is the kind of place everyone has to see ones - it's so unique and one of a kind place. But I felt good watching the sun setting above Venice - I was leaving it behind. Long journey back to Truccazzano, and I hadn't even packed. Sad to leave Italy now, when I have just began to really like it and the people living on it. Once more I have to admit no myself - every country is so unique, so great, that I wish I had enough time in my life to visit them all. I don't have, but I want to explore as many as I can - it's impossible to make favorites when all of them are so different and awesome. :-)



3.8

Waking up, taking my stuff and off to Bergamo airport. Good byes to Erica and that was it! In the air port I met a black man who started to have a small-talk with me, and I imidiatelly noticed he's American. That accent was something I had misses... wait a second, I know that accent! He was from North Carolina and had visited the same places as I! What a coincidence. I loved to listen to him speaking, but he had to go. I had also, Ryanair was waiting for me. This had been a great trip - new experience from a new country. Much was like I had expected, and much was like I hadn't. Still, it always feels good to go back to Finland - even I'm yearning for a new trip very soon, that's for sure. :-) No plans made yet, but before christmas I'll be full of new ideas of how to spend my study benefits and ease my travel fever.

2010 Germany: Sleepless nights & endless laughs in Bremen, Germany

This is our journey in Germany. We travelled only about 100km since the only place we visited outside Bremen was Rotenburg an der Wümme.

This is were the journey took place: Bremen in northeast Germany.

10.5

It didn't take more than a month to get back to abroad. I couldn't do any wishes for the destination, since this trip was going to be free - my pay for two days of working for a study fair. The destination is Germany, that I've been missing since my return to Finland last August, and the city of Bremen, the city of rats (an old fairytale). I stayed overnight at 9-10.5 at my cousin in Tampere, and left early in the morning for Tampere airport, where I met the rest 40-something fair assistants. We used Ryanair, which was quite uncomfortable, like the previous time. We landed to cold Germany, took a tram to our glorious The Grand Hostel Bremen, and went eating to a place that we seeked for half an hour - at last it was just 1 minute away. Bremen doesn't differ much from Helsinki, except the buildings are different architecture, so no culture shock observed. Of course the people speak different language, which didn't turn out a problem. First we went to Universum Bremen - the science center, which was quite... pointless, I would say. Just a waste of time, really. After that we had time to figure out our schedule for the evening - first of all, exploring the city. Too many clothing stores, Bremen is a paradise for shopping! Finally our feet were dead. Now we wanted a German beer, but finding a potential pub proved a bit tricky. Finally we ate one pizza, delicious one, and green lemon- beers, that my friends Minttu and Maija were really suspicious about. Actually a beer with lemon is really a good combination. Next we wanted to find a sports bar where to watch Finland vs. Germany- ice hockey game, and followed the others to an irish pub called Paddy's. Paddy's became our hangout. I took few local beers from Bremen - Beck's - and when the game started, we made a deal - one shot for each goal! The shots were really funny named: slippery nipples, blow job, sperm bomb, brain damage etc... First Finland made a goal, and we took slippery nipples, which was really good. Then we tried the others, that were also okay. Finland won the game, and we sang the national anthem - Germans were a bit ashamed :-) At last we took our last shot, called "Red Liner", which had tabasco on it, that we didn't know. We burned our mouths and it took half an hour to recover. The last tram had already took off, so we had to take a taxi. Some of us were brave enough to walk back to the hostel that was over 5km away.

11.5

Me and Freya in Rottenburg!

Rottenburg

Hauptbahnhof - railway station!

Bremer Stadtmusikanten

I was terribly tired in the morning since I had to wake up 6 o clock in the mornig and go to the train station: Freya was about to come to join us for a day! A happy reunion. A bus came to pick us up in the train station and we left for Rottenburg to see a local vocational school that co-operates with a Finnish vocational school in Seinäjoki. Nothing interesting, really, but the food they made for as was great. Back to Bremen and we went to look around the city with Freya and Minttu. We found the famous statue (look at the picture above), did some shopping, ate pasta and went to see a windmill-restaurant. We also found some funny shades that I wore in the train station when Freya was going back to Essen by train. So good byes again, but only for a short while! :) I was really tired, but somehow I found some energy and bought few locak Beck's from the shop and joined the others in the hostel. The idea was just to drink the beers and go to sleep earlier than yesterday, but someone had heard about a fancy club called "Stubu Musikkellar" where's a lady's night on Thursday, and so I pretty much had to join. First we went to Paddy's and took an Irish Flag shot, and then to Stubu. The others couldn't go to Stubu since they were too young, but me, Minttu, Maija and Risto were let in. Stubu was awesome!! I've never seen such atmosphere in any night club. People were dancing some German dance songs, drinks were cheap and people nice and social. Time flew and it was quite late before we even noticed. It was raining so bad outside, we were all wet. We went to tram and had fun trying to speak German with some locals. I can't even tell how much we laughed!! We ran to our hostel in a downpour, and noticed no one had keys. Some man came to open the door, and being very tired I fell asleep immidiately.


12.5

I was even more tired than any other day - after just 2 hours of sleeping. I felt like my vital functions were to halt. Tired as I was, I laughed to everything. An excursion to Jacobs University was a torture. As a university it was very interesting - an international private university where the lessons are taught in English, very unique in Germany. Anyway, we went back to our hostel and I fell asleep before I even noticed. Well, I heard Minttu making funny voices when she was about to fall asleep, and that made us laugh. In the evening we went back to the city centre, ate something and went back to sleep.


13.5

That day I just woke up 4 o clock and flew back to Finland. A funny trip finnished succesfully! In Finland it was some 20 degrees warmer than in Germany, that took me by suprise. Just like flying to South Carolina!