Finnish adventure extraordinaire

I really wanted this trip to end first before i actually wrote a new post. But almost 15 days is way too much.

As my friend is casually pricing her unwanted clothes for a sale in a local flea market I though i would actually be useful. So i cleaned the dishes, washed the cups and polished the forks. And i thought about writing.

So here i am, at 2:16 am in Turku, Finland trying to reflect of the things i did so far in my first 4 days here.

Not much happened between the last post and traveling. Actually i sucked in the last exam, but that is alright since I am going to drop that class for something that is actually worth my time.

The only noteworthy thing is pretending to study for the exam with Jaime, when instead we were actually shooting green-eyed monsters to space with some things that resembled a spaceship and get them into orbit (Portuguese engineering bro!). The game was called Kerbal Space Program and it was fun seeing Jaime fume in frustration as he tried to crash his ship into the sun and make frankestein-ships that crashed meters after launching. I will also never forget his reaction when he just set the launch zone on fire and created an atomic bomb crater. Good job man.

Then we went for a walk in the city. More like biking with whatever was left of Marley. We went for a crapburger at MAX's and i got pickles in mine, which sucked because i specifically asked for no pickles. The baboon laughed at me but life is a bitch so i would take revenge soon. Hihihi.

We are off so he can buy a present for his girlfriend. We venture hopelessly in a store that sells accessories and after many fake jewels and even more shiny owls we get in a store that has actually nice stuff. He picks something after a lot of Mediterranean whining and we wait 15 minutes next to the counter. So i tell the owner of the store that if his girlfriend does not like the earrings then he should wear them to the exam tomorrow because they will match his eyes. He burst in to laughter, called me an idiot and we had more fun.

Oh, Marley died. I am very proud of him because he died exactly when i wanted him to. The rear wheel was shattered exactly when i reached town to get my bus card for Finland. He got me to the examination building before. He endured and then just let go near the ending. Good boy. He is currently left next to the cafeteria next to the river, or so i hope, because he is not even worth scraps. Take care Marley.

It is the last day and i have to be at the airport around 5:40 as my plane leaves at 6:40. That means i have to take the bus from Uppsala at least at 5:00 and be there earlier since i live far away from the center.

So i pack my clothes and do random crap. I have a 1 hour bath and i have not slept at all. The time is 2 am and i do not sleep:

1. because i am an idiot
2. because i will probably lose my flight

Hoping i will get the first bus at 3:56 i wait at the bus stop listening to some music. I make it to the center at 4:15 and the bus leaves at 4:33 am. My god it is so cold. I wait at bus stop for number 801 to Arlanda. It leaves every :33 and :03 minutes.

There is this tiny petite thailand girl there and i get into a short boring chat with her just to pass some time. We talk about thailand and the cold weather and her working in MAX's in the airport. She was 19 years old.

The bus ride is nice, as it is so warm and clean and so cozy so i try to sleep a bit. But already i am in arlanda in terminal 5 so i blaze towards the Pressbyrån and devour 2 kanelbullars.

Apparently it is very easy to leave Sweden as i just printed my boarding pass and never had to show any kind of identity. I find a nice bench to die for a few minutes and casually wait for the boarding.

Waiting sleepless for the airplane.

I finally make it to the airplane, i stuff my small handbag in the upper storage and there i am sitting next to 2 french guys. My god i wanted to kill myself and punch them in the throat. One of them was singing Last Christmas i gave you my heart with ze mozt horrible acczent and the other one was mumbling until time stood still. I look at my watch. Only 10 minutes have passed. Dear lord.

I told him to shut up and he muttered something in french. I told him that i understand you you mongrel and he kept singing. Then Holger's picture was all over my head.

Something along these lines, but with a moose.

We finally arrive. I can't wait to get out of the god forsaken airplane. And the next 3 minutes until the doors open are a nightmare. These guys just don't shut up. And i get down the stairs and see them in front of me. Good grief.

I go outside the terminal and follow the crown. I get to a dead end and everything is just so confusing. I call Carita and tell her i am just outside terminal one. She says she is in terminal 2 which is like a kilometer in the other direction. Cry me a river Kostas, you wanted an adventure no? At least i had some nice things to see on the way.

One can always be happy when it involves chocolate!

There we are on our way to Turku. We have some chitchat and i am on the verge of dying from sleep deprivation. But it so fun and it is so beautiful outside, full of forests and rocks and water. And apparently there are signs that say *Watch out for the mooses*. 

Turku is a small town of around 100000 people in the southwest part of Finland and everything is also written in Swedish since it's some sort of the second official language. It took us around 1.5 hour to get there. We immediately slept for hours.

Her lovely dog Ippu was so scared of me in the beginning. She is so shy with strangers. 4 days on and she is sleeping on my feet in the time of writing. Yay.

Sweet Ippu, the lovely Shetland Sheepdog.

The first day was really casual then with the only thing worth noting was our dinner in a nice cozy student restaurant called Kerttu where we had fantastic food like a chicken spicy pasta. And then we slept again for so long.

The next day was more adventurous i guess as i had my first walk in the town center. I sat around in the local mall where i had more chocolate and coffee to kickstart my day with a smile.

Yummy right?

Then i was introduced to the local McDonald's like shops of fast food, Hesburger. I find it quite funny because if you translate it in Greek it can mean shitburger. But they were actually pretty decent quality and i was a happy panda after eating.

You could translate this into you will shit kebab. Lol.

Then we moved to the famous Ittala crystal designers and i bought stuff for my sister and my friend Afroditi.

The central square of Turku.

The town is pretty and i took pictures everywhere, however i cannot use all of them from my digital camera right now, so i will update later or just ninja them in a future post. This is more of a photo album from now on until the end actually. Visit Finland, it is worth it. Oh it is also very very cold, like -5 to 0 Celcius usually so dress warm, winter is coming.

There is always a river it seems! Just like Uppsala.

Friday i had some spare time so i just walked alone towards the center. It was around 2.5km from the student apartments so i walked in like 20 minutes there. I also saw a nice graffiti on a wall.

Such a nice view and artistic expression.

I met another friend, sweet Olka and we had a lovely cup of coffee in Robert's Cafe downtown. She is a lovely mother of 2 and a great person. Do not piss her off because she has biceps of steel! Thank you for the fantastic day Olka!

There is something majestic about the churches in Scandinavia.

She also took me to the library where i took even more pictures, taking my total tally to over 150 in 3 days.

What a lovely library and everything so quiet.

I went home and we took Ippu for a walk, then visited the old Turku Castle. It was very windy so we didn't stay long there.

Speechless by the scenery really.

Scattered around the garden were also small wooden houses that were inhabited by people back then. Can't beat a classic.

Imaging living there.

Back home again and my friend cooked me a delicious spicy chicken risotto to die for. I thanked her so much and slept happy like a cat.

Saturday, the day of the El Clasico and i did not give a shit about it. I have so much fun here and i feel so free and unchained. I just walk the dog, have fun, watch movies and eat. I eat a lot. Today we bought a huge bag of candies and we ate into Blanko, another overpriced restaurant where i ate papardelles with chicken thigh and vegetables. We then went to a bar downtown called Papu, where we drank sangria and sat on slings. It was mexican and i guess i look very young because the bartender asked for my ID.

I think i should sleep now because it is 3:21 am.

Goodnight Sweden. Goodnight Finland. See you soon! I expect your comments and opinions!

Halloween is coming!