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!

If I can't hear your hearbeat it's because you are too far away...

It has been another weird week, coming to an end.

My last post proved to be a hit beyond imagination. But i did have loads to say and share. I hoped you enjoyed reading through my content, some of the messages and comments i received were heartwarming and unexpected!

So sorry for the hiatus of posts, as exam period is approaching fast and i just finished writing another report about GIS that revolved around the Uppsala River, Fyrisån. The river spans from the north until Lake Mälaren. The river passes through Uppsala and is a place of great importance and Scandinavian lore, as great Viking battles took place here! Tomorrow I hope i can take my angel and watch the annual rowing contest between Uppsala and Lund!

Who said magic does not exist?

I have been a bad boy lately. And along with my despicable comrades Jaime, Holger and recently Marie the french girl we have been so bad that we are joking that karma will avenge us. And every day it actually does. Today was my turn once more! But that's a story for later, let's kick it up a notch with the incredible Botanical Garden! You can run, chill, eat, relax, study here it's breathtaking.

Looks like a palace instead.

Monday as usual was a day of lectures. We moved to Jaime's favorite territory, the Geosphere. Practically earthquakes, volcanoes, rocks for you normal folks! The first 2 hours were normal. But man the next 2 were a rollercoaster. Justin Bieber gave his place to a man that sold drugs, according to Holger (he is a good teacher, but we are horrible). So i spent the next 2 hours making Holger explode from trying to prevent his not so discrete laughs from bursting out in the room.

We discussed the windmill, Marley, i asked him to loan me money from his wallet (which he lost in his previous karma attack), we talked about opium and his daughters stupidity as well as the newly created PC game, Baboon Simulator 2017. He also showed me the most idiotic webpage i have ever seen in my life: I love you like a fat lady loves apples. Why? Why does this exist? Oh well, it's Holger, he loves to proCATinate. He particularly loves cat 62.

I went to the local ICA to buy a drink, some cheese and bread, yogurt and chips. Then i Marley'd my way back home listening to some drums n bass tunes. 

 

Since i share everything here i will say that i was thinking about running the marathon with my angel. We were first and in the last 200 meters she twisted her ankle. I stopped and looked back, like 500 meters the next athlete was coming. I could have won but i wanted us to finish together. So i picked her up around my waist and overcame my pain and tiredness. We won the race and after the finish line i put her down, i dropped on my knees while the crowd cheered and clapped, and she gave me the worlds most loving kiss and i put my hands on her cheeks. Ah time passed fast until home.

Along these lines..

I texted her as usual. I care for her well-being. And i went to sleep. Happy. Oh i also missed swedish class. I was not in the mood to learn that day.

Then i wake up in Tuesday. I am supposed to meet Jaime and Holger in the GIS lab to do some project work, a task that is becoming increasingly difficult due to sucking and trolling. At 12ish we had a meeting with the project director for information on how to register for the spring classes. I picked 2 from Hydrology, 1 from Paleobiology and one from the Ekonomikum, entrepreneurship so i can learn how to manage and start up businesses. And to be close to my russian love.

Entering our Faculty...

That's it. That's it for the day really. I stayed home and finished some more exercises, read about the seminar the next day, proCATinated a bit, sent another barrage of love poems and messages to my princess and went to sleep late. I did take some pictures that day but I really liked this one.

 

Winter is coming!

It's seminar day. That means our discussion and debate day. I'm with the usual suspects, Marie, Sara, Erik and Paulo. I read an article regarding volcanoes and their effect to the extinction of species (dinosaurs anyone?). I ate 3 kanelbullars as usual. It was so funny. One of the teachers was typing messages on the iphone and the other was talking. When my article's turn came i spoke with confidence and vigor. I finished talking and those ignorant baboons (Holger and Jaime) barraged me with messages. Bastards!

Did i mention that in the morning we were supposed to do more GIS project work and i didn't go because i got struck by karma as usual and felt sick? And that those Top Gear-like friends sent me supporting messages saying that chechens broke my kneecaps? :D

Then i reluctantly went to the swedish class. Half of it was empty. I sad next to some boring german girls and some others. I was texting my love and Despoina to pass time. In the end it got interesting as we divided into groups and we asked the others questions about Sweden and Uppsala. We named our team IKEA and face off against Kanelbullar.

Back at home i played some ridiculous CS: Global Offensive on my super crap laptop with Holger and his friends. It was hilariously bad but fun. I kept sending more sweet goodnights to my Russian angel princess and dreamed about her all night long like a baby.

Landscapes to die for.

The beauty of this country is astounding. What better way to kickstart your day with such scenery, or simply the sun caressing your house gently? I sent another lovely message to princess (i need to find a nickname or i will keep repeating myself) and Marley tortured me for 20 minutes until i got to the GeoCentrum.

So beautiful...i wish she woke up next to me..

Holger was missing. It was his time to take Karma in the butt. He was sick with fever so it was me and Marie in the lab trying to tackle the watershed map that i mentioned in the beginning. We finished 2 hours earlier so i went home! Yay! Apparently my lack of silly content and adventures these days is covered by the fact that i have so many wonderful pictures to show!

I would swim there if it wasn't so cold :D

It's so hard not being able to express my self freely regarding my princess here. If you follow my blog and you know me, then you know who she is. I wrote her some beautiful things these days. From the heart. Let's just say she makes my heart warm, my pulse skyrockets and i want to get lost inside those magical eyes and smile.

Bleeding love..

She made me so happy yesterday. She told me she misses me and that i am a unique man with a heart of gold and  that she loves what i write. I could never ask for a better compliment. I want to care and protect her, her drive and fierce passion inspires me. We are destined for great things and i will put heart and soul into this baby, i promise you.

I had the best sleep since i arrived here. I told her that her words brought joy inside me and that i almost cried from happiness. Thank you. I also wrote some special love messages to my best lovely friend in Greece, Aggeliki who just turned 25 and i miss and love her very much, along with my other 2 babies, Athina and Katerina (<3). She replied in the morning being touched by my words. I am happy i have them. I wake up every day and i look at our photo and i feel them close to me.

Enough time to take a pretty picture outside my house.

Friday is upon us. I wake up 30 times and i have a lab exercise at 13:15. I have a shower and wear some fancy clothes, i expect to meet my angel hopefully. I get Marley and after 1 kilometer, while listening to my favorite tunes during the lyrics "Will you take me out of here when I'm staring down the barrel" Karma strikes again. I guess Marley took the lyrics seriously and decided to remove the chain from the pedals.

So there i am, bamboozled, confounded and miserable trying to fix the chain with my hands. Oh it was dirty. Where was this bike, in a mud pit? My hands are black, like my black black heart. I make my self to the university. I try to clean my hands. I am late for 30 minutes but i show the professor what happened while Jaime does the windmill laughing at me. We do some lab work involving chemistry and we try to melt down rocks by pouring acid on them.

First time in a lab after 6 years...

That's it for the day. We make some stupid stuff with Jaime and Marie, we buy some stuff from ICA and i go back home. Marley worked and tried to kill Jaime some times and throw him off the road. In the meantime a granny of 70 years old overtook us like Sebastian Vettel  almost throwing us off the bikes.

So here i am home, finishing papers, studying and sending the most loving messages ever imagined to my girl. She promised me to meet tomorrow. I hope we do, i miss her so much and i live for the 2-3 hours i see her each week. Until then i will pretend to hug her like a fluffy bunny. I did want to go with her to the "Dress like a cat party". I did not go because everything feels less fun without you my princess. But but but, i still have material for you to wrap this up! Because in Uppsala, the party never stops!

Meow?

Wow you hyena!

I will include one bonus picture from another era that i found disturbing before we all go to our cozy beds. Someone sent me this one, i didn't find it myself lol.

DAFUQ?

And that's it. 5 days in a nutshell. I though i wouldn't have much to write about, but i did. Nice! Until next time, please leave me a comment, support me, subscribe, share me or just like me! It's improtant for me and it keeps me going! We are approaching the 10000 viewers barrier soon! In the meantime...

Goodnight Sweden! Oh and princes....this is for you...

I will keep you safe because i care...