Lost in life and in Eastern Europe: heinäkuuta 2012

perjantai 27. heinäkuuta 2012

The core of the trip

25.7.2012

Sushi, rain, nests of white storks, ice cream, weird coffee, wet tent, searching for working internet, swearing, sweating, frustration, bad public transport, the joy of hitchhiking, new and old friends, weird breakfasts, bounty, Olavi Uusivirta, miss, balloons, spritzers, swimming, losing the tent, biking, walking, darkness, flies, Roxette, jackals, snakes, sun, burned skin, tanned skin, full moon, couch surfing, shopping, empty wallet, stars, fireflies, great helpful people, beautiful nature, beaches, sleeping, the Cyrillic alphabet, messy bag, heavy pack bags, scratches, kittens with nails, searching nail polish remover, sending postcards, greenness, lifting water with broken bucket, writing this blog, anxiety, Flo-Rida – Whistle, zucchini, laughing, tequila with cinnamon and orange, bus, train, car, boat, airplane, thunder storm, huge phone bill, broken shoes, super glue, hurting shoulders, painted nails, passive smoking, blisters on feet, the feeling of freedom, the salty smell of an ocean, warm wind, mountain roads, rakia, getting lost, finding the right place.

What a beautiful, adventurous, amazing and unforgettable trip. Now it’s time to go home. We want to thank everybody: all the great, helpful people we met on the way, all the new friends we got and the people who have taken the time to read this blog. It wouldn't have been the same without you guys. Thank you all! We'll miss you.

Until we meet again,

Piritta & Minna

The last days of action

Sofia 22–25.7.2012

The train stations had the same problem as the streets, there weren't that many name labels to mark the destinations or platforms. So we took the wrong train to Sofia and ended up paying extra 4 levas in the train. The good thing was that the train we jumped in went to Sofia as well, so it wasn’t that bad.

In Sofia we went to a hostel for one night, because we had agreed to go couch surfing only from Monday till Wednesday. We found a hostel quite easily and since we had nothing planned for the evening, we went to eat sushi and took a free guided tour. We realized how much history you can see in Sofia. We both really liked the city, it’s not too big, it’s cosy.

Next day we had planned to meet Piritta’s Erasmus friends, Lora and Jamie. With them we went up to a mountain, to a lake. We hoped it would have been cooler up there, but it really wasn’t. We had good time and we rented this boat and had a picnic in the middle of the lake. The sun was shining and the water was sparkling. Beautiful.

Later we met Eli, another Erasmus friend of mine, and they helped us to find our couch surfing host. I think we wouldn't have made it without our friends! We are extremely talented in getting lost in Bulgaria. Yes, with or without a map, day time or in the evening, whether the way was just one kilometer or 5 kilometers. Always.

We ended up having a beer in a park. There was a lot of people hanging out. On the way to the park we crossed the lover’s bridge where there was a small exhibition of pictures of different Bulgarian traditions. For example pictures of weddings, horse raise, New Year and Easter. Did you know that in the winter priest throws this wooden cross in an icy lake and then men try to catch it? The one who catches it will have a good health for that year. On the way we also saw dance performances of Folklore festivals.

Tuesday was our last day. We couldn't really comprehend that. We spent the day again with Lora and Jamie visiting huge cathedral and a vegetable market. We also bought some souvenirs and really wanted to go visit a Foreign Art Gallery but it of course was closed on Tuesdays. Instead we visited another Sofia’s art gallery. We also went to the Russian church. There you were able to make a wish by writing it down and putting it into this wooden box. This tradition dates way back, and it's believed that the saint will make the wishes come true. We of course made some wishes there.

Around six we met Eli again and went to another huge park where Eli and Jamie wanted to attend class of Brazilian martial art. It was kind of mixture of fighting, dance and music. Me, Minna and Lora felt a bit tired so we were content just to watch others doing the sport. And I was also wearing a miniskirt so it wouldn’t have been so easy to do sports anyway.

It was already dark (around nine-ten) when we left home to pack our stuff. Since none of us really knew the park, the teacher of the Brazilian martial art guided us. For sake of our last day we took a snaps of rakia (this Balkan booze made of grapes) at our host’s place when we finally got there.

Then the morning of departure came. We walked to the center with our bags and met Lora on a bus stop. On the way there we had again a dog leading us to the right direction, weird. We found Lora and took a bus to the airport, thinking that we'll save money by not taking a taxi. Well the plan kind of back fired, because we ended up getting fines for our big back bags. Apparently you are not allowed to take big luggage in the bus without buying an extra ticket for the bag itself. We didn't know that, so we had to pay 10€ each. So much for saving money. The flights however went fine, we had no problems and got to Finland safely.

On a free tour, the public bath place.
Sofia

On the mountain, somewhere near Sofia

The lake and people fishing

Tree and the tradition with bracelets

Up we go

Starting picnic on the boat

Jamie & Lora

A rabbit made from bottle caps, Sofia

The art exhibition on Lover's bridge, Sofia

Break on the bridge, Sofia

Minna, Piri, Lora, Jamie & Eli

Watching the show, International Folklore Festival, Sofia

Graffiti, Sofia

Jamie chatting, Sofia

The church with the wishes, Sofia

Exploring the streets, Sofia

In the park. Others doing sports on
the background, Sofia

Some packing to do, the last night in Sofia

Minna amazed after finding some gluten
free bread on the last night in Sofia

Piri saving the plant

There were grapes outside the house! Sofia

Waiting for the bus, Sofia

Piri's last gum. It had had a ruff journey.

Tasted good though

Scenery from the plane

lauantai 21. heinäkuuta 2012

When things start to fall apart

Varna/Plovdiv 16–21.7.2012

The hostel’s staff came to the scene eventually and we got a dorm there. We were too tired to do anything that night, so we decided to head out the next night instead. When wondering in the streets looking for the hostel we had ran into this local girl Illy, who offered us her help and also invited us to hang out with her and her friends. So on Monday night we went out with them, it was so great :) They showed us around Varna and told so many stories regarding the city and generally about Bulgaria. After dark we went to see this amazing view near one lighthouse. From there you could see the coastline and the city, it was beautiful. We were going to see it from the lighthouse itself, but there was a storm coming, so we had to head back to the beach. The storm didn’t run into us, we could only see the lightnings in the horizon. So nothing like the ones in Austria, but the wind was however strong enough to throw several kilos of sand into our eyes.

After the tour we went to this bar on the beach to play some foosball. Or the others did, I suffered an annoying headache so I decided just to watch from aside. The evening was however great! It was so nice that Illy and her friends wanted to show us around the city. We liked it very much :) Thank you guys!

I and Piri aren’t really that fond of sunbathing or lying on the beach all day, but on Tuesday we made an exception. This was after all the first time that we had reached a sea during our trip (If you don’t count the time we left Helsinki). So Tuesday we booked tickets to a night train to take us to Plovdiv later that night, and then spent the day on the beach. Day was nice and the train trip wasn’t bad either, even though you couldn’t really sleep in there.

So we got to Plovdiv early on Wednesday morning. The first thing to do was to find a hostel again, surprise surprise. We found one, but there wasn’t anyone at the reception, so we left to find another place. And as if we hadn’t already gotten lost enough times, we got lost again. Frustrating. There are hardly any street labels on the streets, so even if you have a map or an address it doesn’t necessarily mean that you found your way to the right place. At least when it comes to us it certainly doesn’t. After asking some locals for help we got to the hostel and went to sleep.

The old town in Plovdiv is beautiful, and there aren’t as many tourists as on the coast. It’s very idyllic in a way, even though there has been quite much renovation done, and the main streets here have quite a modern look. You can still find some little boutiques and old buildings though. There are many historical sights here dating back for example to the Roman times. We went to see many sights; they are quite close together as the center is so small. We started to feel ourselves like real mass tourists already ;) But the truth is that because the place is quite small and we don’t know any locals here, there isn’t that much to do. That’s why sightseeing has been such a big thing here. And we went to see some museums too! I really liked the City Art Gallery we went to, the paintings were amazing. Mainly portraits made with oil on canvas, they were so good. Apparently Plovdiv has been known as the city of artists.

As I told already, there have been some boring moments too, as we ran out of things to do here. So let me introduce you Winston. He is another result of our creative minds. Greetings to Chuck Noland. You can see a picture of Winston among the other pics here.

So. This is our last day in Plovdiv. Maybe that’s a good thing ;D Tomorrow we head to Sofia, where we are going to stay three nights before going HOME :o It’s kind of creepy to even say that word :/ It means that the wonderful, joyful, amazing adventurous trip is about to be over... But let’s not think that yet. There is still time left, let’s make the best of it!

P.S. It seems that the trip has had quite negative effects on our stuff. My shoes and my bag broke, I’ve had to clue them back together several times and Piri is right now trying to repair her dress which broke too. Things are falling apart around us. Maybe that’s a sign to go home. Or just a sign to buy better quality stuff ;)