keskiviikko 27. kesäkuuta 2012

The Midsummer fest

Podersdorf/Gols/Sopron/Budapest 22–26.6.2012

Guess where we slept the Thursday night. Not in the tent, no. We were too scared about the storm and the fact that our tent was under a tree. So we escaped to the shower building. We spend like two hours there sleeping on the floor with our sleeping bags. Felt like a bum.

Finally the storm calmed down and we went back to our tent. Alles gut. In the morning we went to the showers in the right meaning ;) After refreshing we went to a nearby hotel to use their internet and in the evening hanged out with the guys we met on Wednesday night when they rescued us. We went to a local pub in their village to taste some truly Austrian spritzers. The guys had to leave but we decided to continue the night, because it was Midsummer Eve and it would have been against all traditions to be sober. We chilled out on the beach until the sun set. After some more wine we got this great idea to go look for some action in the center. So we went to the first bar we saw. It turned out to be a bad idea, because the place was filled with too young and too weird guys. We left home, or at least we tried. Somehow we managed to get lost on the way, even it was just about 500 meters long. Then a nice dog helped us to find the way to the tent.

And then comes the blackout part. Neither of us really remembers crashing in the tent. The next memory I have is that Piritta is calling my name and standing outside the tent shaking from the cold. She tells me that something is wrong, our tent has crashed. I choose not to believe what she is saying. After I come to my senses I however realize that she is right. The tent’s fabric is touching my face. And there is water everywhere. What the hell, I crawl out from the crashed tent and we start looking for explanation for the situation. Two of our neighbors (who we believe to have done this) were just about to pass out in their tent, and they didn’t seem to have seen anything. They just invited us to sleep in their tent. We refused the offer and were so pissed off. We started gathering our stuff from the wet tent. Then a good-for-nothing security guy came to the seen. We were laughing because there was nothing else to do and we were so tired. The security guy just told us that ok, good that you are laughing about this. Just then we also realized that some of the parts missing from the tent were on the road on the other side of the fence. He agreed to pick them up with us and also to give us a ride to the tourist information, which he claimed to be open at the time. It was 5 am. We didn’t believe him, but because he offered to take us there we agreed to go. Well surprise surprise it was closed. Even when he tried to force the electric doors open it still remained locked. We gave each other the look - what the fuck is happening.

We ended up to this hotel near the camping site. We waited about 1,5 hours in a totally empty lobby until the staff came to work at 7 am. We got a room (which we couldn’t afford) and went to sleep.

When we finally got up we wanted to do something useful so we rented two bikes and went to see the national park near the lake. All together we biked about 30 km that day. The scenery was so beautiful! There were so many wine fields, area was so flat and there wasn’t really any forest anywhere. Quite a big difference when compared to Finnish national parks. It also seemed to be a paradise for people who are interested in birds.

In the evening we continued celebrating Midsummer by grilling on the beach during sunset.

On Sunday we were homeless again. So we headed to the beach to chill out with all our stuff. The day was so hot. We spend some hours there until a friend contacted and invited us to watch some live American football with them. Of course we went, even though we didn’t understand much about the game. Luckily we went also see a soccer game (England-Italy), so we actually managed to follow the game. We watched the soccer game in the same local pub we had been on Friday. For some reason we found ourselves quite wasted again (no wonder after drinking like five shots each). But anyway we had so much fun and visited also some other bars in the other towns nearby. We ended up at a friend’s place again and continued the night until morning. We even tried to watch a movie like 7 am, but it of course went to hell, we all fell asleep. It was quite interesting to wake up in the middle of the night (maybe 11 am) and have no idea where the hell I was. Luckily I managed to figure it out after a while. I did have lost Piritta again though. I was quite sure that she was still in the same house, so I went back to sleep.

“In the morning” we got ourselves together and were ready to move on to Hungary. We were even offered a ride to the other side of the border, we were so happy about that. Maybe the idea was to finally get rid of us ;D Anyway we were very thankful for the ride, it made our travelling much easier.

On the way to Hungary the ground shaking hangover got worse and we had to focus not to throw up. We got to this town called Sopron and there we spent some time looking for a hostel. We found one in a great place (which we figured out the next day when we were leaving, at the time we got there we were too out to realize it) and for good price.

On Tuesday morning (today) we left to hitchhike throw Budapest to Serbia to see Piritta’s friend. We got to Budapest quite nicely but in here we decided to take a night train to Novi Sad, because we don’t really have much time left before Bulgaria, so the train seemed like a good idea right now. At the moment we are sitting here in one of the six railway stations hoping that we picked the right one. We’ll find out that soon, the train is supposed to leave in an hour.

All in all the time in Austria was great, we are so happy that we went there. We met some brilliant people (like the ones who broke our tent) and the Midsummer Fest was really unforgettable one! Danke schön guys and see you one day in Finland! ;)


Piritta and the beach

On the beach loving the scenery


In the hotel lobby feeling desperate

And our lucky number

On the way to the National Park





Our Midsummer fest on the beach


Maybe the food cooks faster if you stare at it



Night out


perjantai 22. kesäkuuta 2012

Thumbs up!

Somewhere on the road 18 – 21.6.2012

On Monday morning it was time to carry on our journey. We decided try to hitchhike. Povilas took us to the main road that leads to Poland. It was pretty exciting, first time for both of us! Please mom don't panic, we know that hitchhiking can be risky, but anything can happen anywhere else too. Someone could rob us also in bus stop. Hitchhiking is a great way to meet new people and it’s kind of social sustainable development ;D. And it goes nicely with our budget. Of course we had plan B, if no one would have given us a ride. 

We waited about two hours in the sunshine until a sympathetic old grandpa looking truck driver stopped. We didn’t speak same language, but we understood that he was going to Poland, so we jumped in. Thank god Minna bought us a map of Poland so he showed where he was going. He took us over 400 km, near to Warsaw. He was really nice man, giving us tips and buying us food, sausage soup. We didn’t want to be rude, but we did our best to avoid the meat. It wasn’t that easy.

We ended up near to one of places where the EM football championship was held. You could really see that, because almost in every car was (mostly Poland’s) flags. We continued hitchhiking. We got two rides and ended up one gas station. The time was already around 11 pm and we were thinking to find a place for our tent and sleep over night. But in the gas station this German man offered to take us next 100 km further. He had BMW, so we got to enjoy air-condition for the first time in the whole day. It was really nice because the temperature was over 30 degrees.

He left us another gas station and we still wanted to stay in our tent for the night. So we started looking for a good place for the tent. In the dark. We really didn’t see much, we had a tiny flash light. Suddenly we heard barking and we saw a homeless dog. It looked aggressive and we got scared. So scared that we went back to the gas station to asked the personal if there was any hostels nearby. We were told that there was one in four kilometers away. After wondering in the yard for some minutes the guy came out and gave us a ride to the motel. So we spent the night safely inside after all.

In the morning after breakfast that was included to the room price, we went again beside the road. After few minutes two young firemen came by foot and offered us a ride to next town. Apparently they had stayed in the same motel and they were going to diving to one lake. They were really nice and drop us once again to a gas station. We continued hitchhiking next to this woman we realized to be a prostitute. We moved further away. We didn’t have to wait long to get a new ride to all the way to Czech Republic. The truck driver stopped just 35 km away from Brno, the city I was having an exchange period last year. We had to get there somehow and meet some of my friends that still were there.

We made it, but the driver left us few kilometers out of the town. We were so sweaty when we walked to the center. We hanged out with my friends all night playing table football and pool. It was so fun and I was so happy to see them again. When we walked home the sun was rising. It was so beautiful.

After few hours sleep, we woke up, took a shower (not together ;D) and went to eat in the center. We were totally destroyed and it took us quite a while to continue traveling. We decided to go first to Bratislava and from there to Austria, lake am Neusiedlersee. We wanted to spend Midsummer Eve camping there and to see a national park nearby.

We got easily ride to Bratislava and we ended up to cross the border by foot. In the border on Austria’s side was the biggest windmill park in the Europe. In the darkness we could only see the warning lights of the mills. One friendly Austrian man took us to a McDonalds 30 km from the camping side. We knew that the campsite was closed already so we stayed in the McDonalds till it closed in midnight. But then strong thunder storm started. Oh fuck. It was really heavy rain and lots of huge lightnings. Nothing like in back home. We asked the staff if there was any hostel near, but just expensive hotel. We couldn’t afford that.  Just half an hour before the mac was closing some local guys came to us and asked if we needed any help. We ended up hanging out with them. They were really nice guys and totally saved us from the storm. When we drove with the guys the storm felt to be right above us. We couldn’t see the road because of the heavy rain and when lightning stroke it lightened everything around us. I already though that it would hit us. 

Because all the hostels were full, one Sebastian offered us to sleep in a free room. We also got some friends to sleep with: two snakes and two geckos. In the morning Sebastian took us to a camping side. Now it looks like it’s going to rain again. Hopefully it’s not a thunder storm.

Okay the lightning started. It really is thunder storm. And our tent is under a tree. Wish us luck.

Happy Midsummer Eve to everyone! Be safe. 

Where the hitchhiking started, Kaunas, Lithuania.

The road almost leaded to Wroclaw, Poland

Aji, Minna & Jan

Minna, Aji, Jan & Shaldu, Brno Czech Republic

Aji & Piri, Brno

"See you next month in Finland"

Good morning Brno

Where are we..?

Not long walk to Austria

How to communicate with non-English speaking drivers

We are ready for Midsummer Eve

Everyday is Halloween


Kaunas, Lithuania 16.6.2012

Yes – we managed to get out of Riga after all. We arrived in Kaunas at 2.40 am after quite an unpleasant journey. Piritta’s friend Povilas was there to pick us up from the bus station, thanks so much for that. We were so tired that we went right to sleep after getting to the apartment.

Next morning I woke up to the sound of door bell ringing. I crawled out of bed and went to see what’s going on. I can’t find Piritta anywhere, I’m alone in the apartment. Everything is in it’s place, Pirittas shoes are inside and her phone is on the table. Then suddenly the phone starts ringing. I answer and end up explaining Povilas (who I met only shortly the previous night) that I just woke up and managed already somehow loose Piritta. Just about then the door went and Piritta came in. She had been “exploring” the building, apparently trying to open the door for Povilas. I already imagined that she had been kidnapped or something. Good morning everyone.

So after everyone had been found again we made a plan to go see some sights in the old town and grab something to eat on the way. But before that I of course had to go and embarrass myself by slipping quite loudly in the shower, as if I hadn’t made a fool of myself already. Well I didn’t hurt myself, guess that’s the main point. Unless if you take into a count the mental damages of course. In that case I was a total wreck.


We went to eat in to this Hare Krishna place and the food was good! Then we walked around the old town and this small park, which was kind of an island next to the old town. There was still some time to kill before we would meet Povilas in the afternoon, so after exploring this shopping center we stopped to have this delicious looking ice cream. It was to die for.

Later we met Povilas and went see the Denmark-Portugal game with some of his colleagues. We also made a plan to go visit Vilnius the next day. The tickets should be quite cheap for students, so we thought that why not. The train would leave in the morning, so we would spend almost the whole day there and then come back in the evening.


Vilnius 14.6.2012

The ticket would have been cheap if they would have accepted our Finnish student cards. The sellers we really rude and it seemed that they didn’t speak any English. So we weren’t even able to explain that the cards were student cards. Hmmrrr.

Anyway, Vilnus was nice city, with the old town, 50 churches and many more statues and let’s not forget a river that every capital must have. In Vilnus I really liked the huge amount of parks and the republic of Uzupis. Uzupis is a part of town, but it’s independent. They have their own flag, president, parliament, army (12 people ;D) and constitution law.

The atmosphere in Uzupis was a mix of bohemian relaxed lifestyle and the creativity of the locals, for example the streets where filled with the locals art. The whole ideology could be seen in the constitution of Uzupis, which was there in the street for people to see, and it was also translated into like 14 different minority languages including Finnish! Me and Piritta were so surprised that we had to take a picture. The text itself was quite fun, you might be able to read some of it from the pic. Especially number nine: everyone has the right to be lazy or just do nothing at all, was great, we totally agreed. The street art was also very nice. The title of this text comes from this graffiti we saw on one building. It could be!

We didn’t really stay in Vilnius for that long, we decided to jump into a train and go back to Kaunas as the tour was over. There we decided to have a relaxed night at home. Not that exiting but we were very tired and it was kind of a luxurious to have “a home” to go to.


15.6.2012

After a lazy night we had a lazy morning. When we finally got up we spend the whole afternoon making lunch for our hosts. After two hours work we had managed to prepare a meal that was supposed to be a vegetable risotto. It didn’t impress anyone though. Wonder why.

In the evening we went to the old town to wonder around with Povilas, after he’s car decided to break down in the old town. Then he had to head out to a graduation party with friends, so me and Piritta decided to walk to the apartment. In the evening we continued them we started in the morning, and had a lazy night watching The Big Bang Theory. We did do some laundry so we wouldn’t feel totally lazy.


16.6.2012

Saturday. The sun was shining so we went to see this Monastery with Povilas. We walked around the whole area, which was so beautiful. Then we had a picnic by the lake and after that headed to the centrum because Piritta’s shoes were breaking down. We couldn’t find any suitable ones so we headed to a restaurant to try this one traditional Lithuanian dish, which you can see here. It was good, very summery!

After eating it was time to go and chill out in the market square. We tried to watch some football from this huge screen but we found out it wouldn’t start until 22 pm. Too bad, we decided to head home. First we had to go to a store though, because I had a sore throat and decided to try cure it by trying this traditional Lithuanian liquor that had honey in it. It actually worked! At least my throat was ok the next day.


17.6.2012

On our last day in Lithuania we decided to go see this free tour we had already tried in Riga and Vilnius. In the company’s web site they said that the tour would start at noon from “the white church”. We never found this “white church”, because apparently there happens to be several buildings that fit the description. We ended up going to see the town by ourselves, Povilas showed some great places around the town. Later in the evening we had some wine and went to see the football game in a bar. Portugal – Holland 2-1.

We had lost of plans what to do in Lithuania, but one after another they crashed. Most we are sad that we never made it to the seaside, Neringa, which we heard is extremely beautiful. Maybe next time.


Street art, Kaunas, Lithuania

We had some problems with internet connection

Girl dreaming, Vilnius

Vilnius

Border of Republic of Uzupis and Vilnius

Mermaid of Uzupis

World's first backpacker, Uzupis 

Uzupis

True? Only in Uzupis

The constitution of Uzupis in Finnish

Uzupis

Vilnius

Vilnius

Kaunas

Kaunas

Traditional Lithuanian cold soup, Kaunas.

Morning coffees in front of a white church, Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas

Kaunas

We found Fazer, Kaunas