I had like the weirdest dream ever.
It made no sense but I try to put the fragments together in some sensible order so that I can share my confusion with you.
SCENE #1: THE AIRPORT. The dream started at some Finnish airport assumedly, I was going home all alone. The airport was huuuuge, nothing like Helsinki-Vantaa, but more like three JFK's put together. I was waiting for my luggage when I suddenly saw some woman dragging my trolley very casually on an upper level. I panicked and yelled 'Hey! She just stole one of my bags!'. I ran like hell after her and tried to make it to the upper level but couldn't, all the escalators were headed down, not up... I felt sooo frustrated. And of course that was the bag with the coolest clothes.
SCENE #2. THE GARDEN. Then I remember being in some unidentifiable backgarden with my aunt Anne, my uncle Olli, and supposedly my family as well. I was telling them what it was like to be on exchange and mentioned something that surprised even myself in the dream - I was going on another exchange this autumn 'cos it was part of my degree.
SCENE #3: THE PERISHING DOG. The third scene was in some unknown shabby house, with ragged clothes and fabrics hanging everywhere. There were me, my mom and Lauri. And Cindy was suddenly there too, alive. As we know, dreams have different rules from the normal world, so it was sort of normal for dead people and animals to be reborn and die again after a while. Anyway, Cindy was there, withering and thin like a skeleton, probably close to dying again. In the dream I recalled another dream I had in February (so that was a dream within a dream, weird) where Cindy was shrinking and shrinking and in the end so tiny that she fell through the drain filter in our bathroom and disappeared forever.
Anyway, I got a brilliant idea and poured half a bottle of Salmiakki Koskenkorva (black salty liquorice vodka) into Cindy's mouth, wishing it would make her better :D But no, the booze just made her even sleepier (surprise), silmät vaan luppasi :( ...I panicked that she might die of the liquor, so we phoned the vet to come over. He came and assured me there was nothing to worry about, the dog is fine, and should she die of the booze, at least she'd die happily drunk.
SCENE #4: CRYING IN THE NIGHT. In the last scene the night had fallen, it was nearly pitch dark, and I tried to sleep in that shabby anonymous house but couldn't. I walked to the bed where Lauri was sleeping, woke him up and started crying that 'I cannot be here, I've got nothing to do here, I have nothing to cling to, why did I have to come here this early, why can't I be back in Glasgow!'
Then I woke up, glancing around suspiciously, wondering where the hell I am... and god, what a relief it was to realise I'm still here in Glasgow!
Dreams are so weird. At least this one didn't have much to do with reality 'cos:
a) I'm not going home alone but with Lauri and my parents after our tour
b) I have no intentions of going on another Erasmus exchange, I want to graduate asap (maybe a PhD abroad if I feel like pursuing an academic career, but that's not in near future)
c) we'll have a funeral for Cindy in July :(
d) I'm not all that distressed about going back home - of course it's reeeeally sad and depressing to say goodbye to people and Glasgow and this feeling and all this idleness, but... I've got a summer vacation waiting ;)
Still the dream left me with this gloomy and ominous feeling for the whole day.
Wednesday 30 May 2007
Tuesday 29 May 2007
Free as a Bird! Let's Make Tour Itineraries!
Today I had my first and last exam. It's over! Yay!! It's over! *jumping out of joy* I'm free! No more studying! No more do I have to feel bad about being lazy all day, now I can be As Lazy As I Wish!
I'm going to develop my idleness into a form of art during the coming months, because it will be my default mode for all summer. I won't work a single day. I will just lay in the sun and read the monstrous pile of books I've bought here. Ooooh, cannot wait! *a sunny smiley* I might be the only person here who doesn't actually feel that bad and sad about going back home, because I have the whole vacation waiting for me there. And Lauri and friends and family of course, that goes without saying.
And before that I have loads of fun to look forward to here in Scotland. On Wednesday next week Lauri is coming here. First two days in Glasgow, then on Friday 8th June off to York and Yorkshire Dales. The magic of Hadrian's Wall on the way there, the rollercoasters of Alton Towers on the way back, yippee! So there for three days, until Monday 11th.
Then, my parents are joining us on the following Wednesday, the 13th. First two days in Glasgow, again, and then on Friday the 15th off to Our Grand Tour of Scotland, starting from Glasgow, ending in Edinburgh, 9 days on the road in between! So Finland is calling on Sunday 24th June - mark that in your calendars ;)
For the better part of the last seven days I've acted as a tour organiser to the best of my ability. The itinerary for the trip has become quite clear by now (as we are four people, two of us parents, touring in June, we are just compelled to book accommodation in advance - my parents wouldn't certainly like spending the night under stars in the middle of nowhere - something me&Lauri could do in a really desperate situation). The touring schedule goes like this:
FRI 15.6. The trip starts. Glasgow ---> Bannockburn (1314 battlefields) -> Stirling (bridge & Wallace Monument) -> Kilchurn Castle -> drive through Loch Lomond ---> Night in Tarbert, Kintyre.
SAT 16.6. Day trip to Islay and Bruichladdich Distillery where the whisky cask 'Mr. Piispanen and friends' is located (Lauri is a co-owner :) ---> Night in Oban.
SUN 17.6. Day trip to Iona, the place where St. Columba formed his monastery back in 'the year of sausage and bread' (a Finnish saying, sounds pretty wicked translated btw! :D ). Night in Oban.
MON 18.6. Hiking around Glencoe. Driving northwest past the Five Sisters of Kintail mountain range for example... ---> Night in Portree, Isle of Skye.
TUE 19.6. Touring the Isle of Skye. Night in Portree.
WED 20.6. Touring and hiking on the Isle of Skye or in Torridon (quite nearby). Still in Portree for the night.
THU 21.6. Off to the picturesque Eilean Donan Castle -> to say hello to the Loch Ness Monster -> to wonder at the Urquhart Castle and to ---> Inverness, where we spend the night.
FRI 22.6. Driving southwards. Inverness -> Dunkeld and Birnam Wood (my dad's obsessions again, 'When Birnam wood march to Dunsinane'... - the final battle in Macbeth, Shakespeare) -> Scone Palace (the crowning palace of all Scottish Kings and the place where the famous crowning seat, the Stone of Scone, used to be located) -> to Glasgow to get my stuff from Anna-Riitta's place ---> night in Edinburgh.
SAT 23.6. Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh... All of us except Lauri have seen the town so the day is basically reserved for unwinding, relaxing and shopping.
SUN 24.6. Finland calling... Bye bye Scotland! :( (but not for good!)
Dunno why I posted the itinerary here. Well, one reason. I think I won't be able to update my blog while we're there, so you can use this post to check where we're located on a given day ;)
Now gotta get a shower, I have to catch my friends on Ashton Lane, it's Sam's last night here. I'm ooooffffff......
I'm going to develop my idleness into a form of art during the coming months, because it will be my default mode for all summer. I won't work a single day. I will just lay in the sun and read the monstrous pile of books I've bought here. Ooooh, cannot wait! *a sunny smiley* I might be the only person here who doesn't actually feel that bad and sad about going back home, because I have the whole vacation waiting for me there. And Lauri and friends and family of course, that goes without saying.
And before that I have loads of fun to look forward to here in Scotland. On Wednesday next week Lauri is coming here. First two days in Glasgow, then on Friday 8th June off to York and Yorkshire Dales. The magic of Hadrian's Wall on the way there, the rollercoasters of Alton Towers on the way back, yippee! So there for three days, until Monday 11th.
Then, my parents are joining us on the following Wednesday, the 13th. First two days in Glasgow, again, and then on Friday the 15th off to Our Grand Tour of Scotland, starting from Glasgow, ending in Edinburgh, 9 days on the road in between! So Finland is calling on Sunday 24th June - mark that in your calendars ;)
For the better part of the last seven days I've acted as a tour organiser to the best of my ability. The itinerary for the trip has become quite clear by now (as we are four people, two of us parents, touring in June, we are just compelled to book accommodation in advance - my parents wouldn't certainly like spending the night under stars in the middle of nowhere - something me&Lauri could do in a really desperate situation). The touring schedule goes like this:
FRI 15.6. The trip starts. Glasgow ---> Bannockburn (1314 battlefields) -> Stirling (bridge & Wallace Monument) -> Kilchurn Castle -> drive through Loch Lomond ---> Night in Tarbert, Kintyre.
SAT 16.6. Day trip to Islay and Bruichladdich Distillery where the whisky cask 'Mr. Piispanen and friends' is located (Lauri is a co-owner :) ---> Night in Oban.
SUN 17.6. Day trip to Iona, the place where St. Columba formed his monastery back in 'the year of sausage and bread' (a Finnish saying, sounds pretty wicked translated btw! :D ). Night in Oban.
MON 18.6. Hiking around Glencoe. Driving northwest past the Five Sisters of Kintail mountain range for example... ---> Night in Portree, Isle of Skye.
TUE 19.6. Touring the Isle of Skye. Night in Portree.
WED 20.6. Touring and hiking on the Isle of Skye or in Torridon (quite nearby). Still in Portree for the night.
THU 21.6. Off to the picturesque Eilean Donan Castle -> to say hello to the Loch Ness Monster -> to wonder at the Urquhart Castle and to ---> Inverness, where we spend the night.
FRI 22.6. Driving southwards. Inverness -> Dunkeld and Birnam Wood (my dad's obsessions again, 'When Birnam wood march to Dunsinane'... - the final battle in Macbeth, Shakespeare) -> Scone Palace (the crowning palace of all Scottish Kings and the place where the famous crowning seat, the Stone of Scone, used to be located) -> to Glasgow to get my stuff from Anna-Riitta's place ---> night in Edinburgh.
SAT 23.6. Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh... All of us except Lauri have seen the town so the day is basically reserved for unwinding, relaxing and shopping.
SUN 24.6. Finland calling... Bye bye Scotland! :( (but not for good!)
Dunno why I posted the itinerary here. Well, one reason. I think I won't be able to update my blog while we're there, so you can use this post to check where we're located on a given day ;)
Now gotta get a shower, I have to catch my friends on Ashton Lane, it's Sam's last night here. I'm ooooffffff......
Saturday 26 May 2007
Jumping and Thumping at The Arches! Yay!!
WOW MAN!!!
Just got back from Glasgow's renowned megaclub The Arches. All I can say is WOW. I've been jumping to thumping techno bass, funky progressive house and quirky electro all night, running between three areas inside the hot and humid club, smiling all the time like a maniac ^__^ Slam, Ricardo Villalobos, Damian Lazarus, Loco Dice and Wighnomy Brothers were in charge, don't know any of them, but a big hand to them for a great night out anyway! :D The main act and the only one I knew beforehand was Josh Wink, a legendary techno/electro/house DJ/artist (yes, DJ's are artists - not the ones playing some commercial shit at skanky nightclubs but the more professional ones). You might have heard Josh Wink's classic minimalistic techno hit 'Higher State of Consciousness', dunno when he made it, anyway a classic in the field of electronic music.
Josh Wink in charge!
Btw, those who are not familiar with electronic stuff (or those who don't know the different genres and subgenres and think it's only some annoying and pointless THUMM-THUMM-THUMM all the time), you may wish to educate yourself and check out this funny site: Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music. Follow the link on that page and it'll take you to the guide. It's worthwhile and I bet you'll find some familiar songs there. Ishkur makes his opinion known and says loud and clear if he dislikes or likes some genre. So the website makes a hilarious read at least :)
Gosh, I'm being a teacher again! Willing to expand people's minds into unknown fields! :D God knows what will become of my future students under my influence...
Ok, enough off-topic. The Arches is soooo worth checking out if you're in Glasgow. They have different kinds of club nights to suit every taste - tomorrow there's R'n'B and hip hop I think, so disliking the THUMM-THUMM-THUMM is not an excuse for not visiting the place. They even have cheap student nights (I paid £20 for tonight, but only because there were big names playing).
One of the rooms, 'The Front Arches'.
Yay! The lights were decent as well - I missed some lasers though.
The club wasn't as huge as the Fabric in London (one of my fave clubs in the world), for example, but still bigger than any venue in Helsinki (except for the Cable Factory, but it doesn't host regular club nights). The place consisted of three different rooms or areas, whatever you wanna call them, plus two or three bars (I lost count). You were literally under the arches, like in the Cavern Club in Liverpool. The sound system was also good enough (although the floor wasn't a giant speaker like in Fabric ;)
I was there too!
One of the bars. £1.60 for a bottle of water, but free water after the bars were closed, so good all in all.
The last song was obviously 'Higher State of Consciousness' - as you can see, it brought people to a higher state of excitement as well!
Besides the awesome club and DJ sets I experienced Glasgow City Centre by Night. Believe it or not, I haven't made it to the city centre all spring. Just partied in someone's kitchens and at the QMU. Well, it's never too late. Especially the night bus turned out to be a funny and different experience from that in Helsinki. All the Glaswegians were so jovial and friendly, talking to each other and making funny jokes. I didn't understand any of them though, because a) I was still wearing my Double Ear Plug System (tm) - thanks to that, my ears are not ringing like hell now; and b) the working-class accent is still completely undecipherable. Anyway, no fighting or anything in the nightbus, but only happy (drunken) faces, nobody was sullen and silent like people always are in Helsinki. Absolutely Lovely! :) Now I know what they are talking about when they say Glaswegians are like one big family. The people were friendly also at The Arches. Lots of people struck up a conversation with me, asked me how I'm doing, where I'm from, and uttered in amazement, 'Wow, you're alone here?!'.
Crowds getting out of the club.
Again I took lots of cool videos to feed to you guys but unfortunately, thanks to Blogger's restrictions, I cannot add them here. I hope the pics here can convey at least half of the great atmosphere inside the club.
Friday 25 May 2007
Sights, Botanics, Mountains, Parties and Shopping, aaaah, Shopping!
Hi y'all. Sorry for no updates for the last week - first, too busy with hosting Riikka, then, too lazy doing anything. And for the last two days, too busy organising me & Lauri's Yorkshire getaway (taking place in two weeks, actually! gosh!) and our and my parents' Grand Tour of Scotland in late June. So, been booking accommodation, studying maps, checking ferry timetables, etc. etc. All the while I should have been studying for my literature exam on Tuesday! I know, being a tour organiser has just been another method of escaping from the fact that I should be studying instead. You feel that you're doing something important (which you are, of course), and feel very occupied and busy, but still, by the end of the day, you've done nothing for the actual exam. Oh, well. Tomorrow. Tomorrow.
Here's an account of what me and Riikka were up to for the last three days she was here (last Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Heaps of pics, I know. Too lazy to write it all down. A pic is worth a thousand words.
FRIDAY 18.5.
The forecast had predicted rain for the whole weekend, but luckily enough, the forecasters got it wrong, again. The sun was shining until late afternoon. Then the showers came, but fortunately we were done with our wee sightseeing already by then.
First, like with all my guests, we walked through Kelvingrove Park to wonder at my Harry Potter University. It really is one of the coolest ones in Britain! I've seen those in Cambridge, none looked as cool, and I've seen Anna-Riitta's pics of some lame buildings in Oxford... naaeh. Not one of them looks as cool as Glasgow ;)
Riikka getting lost in University Main Building.
We also checked out the Charles Rennie Macintosh house, a replica of the house where the famous Glaswegian architect once lived. We were not allowed to take pictures. It was cool anyway. Not awe-inspiring or breathtaking or nothing like that, but let's say that you can't live in Glasgow for 5 months and not check out the Macintosh House which is Right in the Middle of Campus!
After that, a wee stroll to Ashton Lane to get a cup of hot chololate at The Lane.
Ashton Lane in full colour.
Don't we look nice eh?
We continued the tour of West End in Botanical Gardens. I dare mention this was my second visit there *blush* ...Such a nice place so near the Uni, why haven't I spent more time there? Maybe because Kelvingrove Park is even nearer... Anyway, the Gardens were full of blossoming flowers, soooo beautiful! :) See for yourself:
Entering the Botanical Gardens.
Got any nuts?
Lovely!
Whoever happens to know the name of this funky tree, please make us all a bit wiser and tell it.
Inside the greenhouses. Riikka is wondering at the size a palm tree can take. Huge!
The greenhouse was abounding with amazing flowers. I wonder how nature can create such things as this bluey thing or the red ones below, for example?
After the Botanical Gardens the sky started to pour nice wee drops of rain on us, so on a bus and off to the city centre to check bus timetables to Loch Lomond for the weekend, to nourish our bodies at Friday's, and to buy groceries at Sainsbury's. Nothing special happened - by the end of the day we were just too weary to do anything particular. Had to go to sleep early, because there was an early bus to catch on Saturday morning. Yes, we were going hiking, baby!
SATURDAY 19.5.
The forecast had predicted really, REALLY awful weather for both Saturday and Sunday, so we had decided on Friday evening to set the alarm clock for 7:30am, look out of the window, and then decide whether to go hiking or to sleep 3 more hours. Well, we woke up, looked out of the window, realised that the weather wasn't of the nicest kind for any outdoor activities, but mad as we are, we still decided to get up and hurry for Buchanan Bus Station to catch a bus to Arrochar. Which turned out to be the best decision after all.
Arrochar is situated by Loch Long, west of Loch Lomond, near a peak called 'The Cobbler' which we were planning to conquer. PLANNING to. Up there the winds were so high and the terrain so slippery that we left the top of the mountain for another visit. And not just that, but Riikka was wearing sneakers and jeans, definitely not the kind of equipment for tackling mountain tops. We got quite near, though, and the views were fantastic anyhow, so worth the 2-hour ascent!
The Cobbler is behind that mountain top. Getting to the place where the track uphill starts.
A waterfall on our way up.
SLUGGITY SLUG! 'Onko huomenna pouta?'
Getting higher. Notice my new hiking boots! It was good to break them in on this hike before the summer.
Aragorn aproaching...
More views on the way up.
And this is how near the top we got! Quite well done eh?
A virtual kiss to the lucky one managing to spot me in this pic!
A happy wanderer.
On the way down we saw some amazing scenery...
...and these blue flowers called 'kissankello' (a cat's bell) in Finnish... what is this called in English? Anyone?
I had to take this pic to preach a bit. That morning there were still two tents on this site, but by the time we got down the tents were gone. What was left was this appalling pile of shit. Please people, clean up after you when camping in nature! Thank you!
So, made it back to the village of Arrochar just in time to have some light lunch and run for the bus (which we almost missed: ran on side of the street waiving like maniacs - and thank god the bus stopped and waited for us, because it would've been a 4-hour wait for the next one!).
In the evening there was a farewell party at Sam & Harry's place to one of my friends, Eva, who left back for Norway on Monday :( It was meant to be just our group of friends, but like all parties do here, also this one expanded because word spread, and there were people I had never even seen. Good for Riikka, she was as new to some people as I was :P
G and Antoine. Smile!
Maija, Petra, G and me (note my awful double chin, the result of Thorntons chocolaterie).
Sam had decided to give Eva the T-shirt of his brother's band, which we all signed, making her happier than ever *sob*
There was a pic of Riikka as well, but I forgot to edit that one in Photoshop, so I'll add it here later.
SUNDAY 20.5.
Shopping all day in the city centre. The usual: I got like four sacks of clothes and books, and Riikka got none. But what can a hopeless travel freak do if there's this amazing offer at Borders that you buy one guide book, and get another one half price?! Olen parantumaton. Got Lonely Planet Vienna and Stockholm (yay! waiting for the reunion meet!). And two for Yorkshire Dales. And loads of cheap jewellery and bric-a-bracs. And a pair of cool Primark's 'quality' trousers that will probably break apart in 2 months. Riikka even had to carry one of my bags back home:
In the evening, Indian food at the Wee Curry Shop. Nice, again, even though there was a slight confusion in the air when Riikka's raita turned out to be riata, which was, instead of a small yoghurt-based dip, a huge lettu (pancake). Oh, well. Not so familiar with Indian stuff yet. Luckily they didn't charge us for that.
At the Wee Curry Shop. Got that headband at Primark for £1. Like it.
Ok, that was our wee holiday, in brief. It was nice to have Riikka here, once again I got to see the touristic side of my home town and Edinburgh as well. Anyway, too tired to keep on blathering or to write anything wise now. Gotta get some sleep - 'cos tomorrow, I have to STUDY, BIG TIME!
Here's an account of what me and Riikka were up to for the last three days she was here (last Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Heaps of pics, I know. Too lazy to write it all down. A pic is worth a thousand words.
FRIDAY 18.5.
The forecast had predicted rain for the whole weekend, but luckily enough, the forecasters got it wrong, again. The sun was shining until late afternoon. Then the showers came, but fortunately we were done with our wee sightseeing already by then.
First, like with all my guests, we walked through Kelvingrove Park to wonder at my Harry Potter University. It really is one of the coolest ones in Britain! I've seen those in Cambridge, none looked as cool, and I've seen Anna-Riitta's pics of some lame buildings in Oxford... naaeh. Not one of them looks as cool as Glasgow ;)
Riikka getting lost in University Main Building.
We also checked out the Charles Rennie Macintosh house, a replica of the house where the famous Glaswegian architect once lived. We were not allowed to take pictures. It was cool anyway. Not awe-inspiring or breathtaking or nothing like that, but let's say that you can't live in Glasgow for 5 months and not check out the Macintosh House which is Right in the Middle of Campus!
After that, a wee stroll to Ashton Lane to get a cup of hot chololate at The Lane.
Ashton Lane in full colour.
Don't we look nice eh?
We continued the tour of West End in Botanical Gardens. I dare mention this was my second visit there *blush* ...Such a nice place so near the Uni, why haven't I spent more time there? Maybe because Kelvingrove Park is even nearer... Anyway, the Gardens were full of blossoming flowers, soooo beautiful! :) See for yourself:
Entering the Botanical Gardens.
Got any nuts?
Lovely!
Whoever happens to know the name of this funky tree, please make us all a bit wiser and tell it.
Inside the greenhouses. Riikka is wondering at the size a palm tree can take. Huge!
The greenhouse was abounding with amazing flowers. I wonder how nature can create such things as this bluey thing or the red ones below, for example?
After the Botanical Gardens the sky started to pour nice wee drops of rain on us, so on a bus and off to the city centre to check bus timetables to Loch Lomond for the weekend, to nourish our bodies at Friday's, and to buy groceries at Sainsbury's. Nothing special happened - by the end of the day we were just too weary to do anything particular. Had to go to sleep early, because there was an early bus to catch on Saturday morning. Yes, we were going hiking, baby!
SATURDAY 19.5.
The forecast had predicted really, REALLY awful weather for both Saturday and Sunday, so we had decided on Friday evening to set the alarm clock for 7:30am, look out of the window, and then decide whether to go hiking or to sleep 3 more hours. Well, we woke up, looked out of the window, realised that the weather wasn't of the nicest kind for any outdoor activities, but mad as we are, we still decided to get up and hurry for Buchanan Bus Station to catch a bus to Arrochar. Which turned out to be the best decision after all.
Arrochar is situated by Loch Long, west of Loch Lomond, near a peak called 'The Cobbler' which we were planning to conquer. PLANNING to. Up there the winds were so high and the terrain so slippery that we left the top of the mountain for another visit. And not just that, but Riikka was wearing sneakers and jeans, definitely not the kind of equipment for tackling mountain tops. We got quite near, though, and the views were fantastic anyhow, so worth the 2-hour ascent!
The Cobbler is behind that mountain top. Getting to the place where the track uphill starts.
A waterfall on our way up.
SLUGGITY SLUG! 'Onko huomenna pouta?'
Getting higher. Notice my new hiking boots! It was good to break them in on this hike before the summer.
Aragorn aproaching...
More views on the way up.
And this is how near the top we got! Quite well done eh?
A virtual kiss to the lucky one managing to spot me in this pic!
A happy wanderer.
On the way down we saw some amazing scenery...
...and these blue flowers called 'kissankello' (a cat's bell) in Finnish... what is this called in English? Anyone?
I had to take this pic to preach a bit. That morning there were still two tents on this site, but by the time we got down the tents were gone. What was left was this appalling pile of shit. Please people, clean up after you when camping in nature! Thank you!
So, made it back to the village of Arrochar just in time to have some light lunch and run for the bus (which we almost missed: ran on side of the street waiving like maniacs - and thank god the bus stopped and waited for us, because it would've been a 4-hour wait for the next one!).
In the evening there was a farewell party at Sam & Harry's place to one of my friends, Eva, who left back for Norway on Monday :( It was meant to be just our group of friends, but like all parties do here, also this one expanded because word spread, and there were people I had never even seen. Good for Riikka, she was as new to some people as I was :P
G and Antoine. Smile!
Maija, Petra, G and me (note my awful double chin, the result of Thorntons chocolaterie).
Sam had decided to give Eva the T-shirt of his brother's band, which we all signed, making her happier than ever *sob*
There was a pic of Riikka as well, but I forgot to edit that one in Photoshop, so I'll add it here later.
SUNDAY 20.5.
Shopping all day in the city centre. The usual: I got like four sacks of clothes and books, and Riikka got none. But what can a hopeless travel freak do if there's this amazing offer at Borders that you buy one guide book, and get another one half price?! Olen parantumaton. Got Lonely Planet Vienna and Stockholm (yay! waiting for the reunion meet!). And two for Yorkshire Dales. And loads of cheap jewellery and bric-a-bracs. And a pair of cool Primark's 'quality' trousers that will probably break apart in 2 months. Riikka even had to carry one of my bags back home:
In the evening, Indian food at the Wee Curry Shop. Nice, again, even though there was a slight confusion in the air when Riikka's raita turned out to be riata, which was, instead of a small yoghurt-based dip, a huge lettu (pancake). Oh, well. Not so familiar with Indian stuff yet. Luckily they didn't charge us for that.
At the Wee Curry Shop. Got that headband at Primark for £1. Like it.
Ok, that was our wee holiday, in brief. It was nice to have Riikka here, once again I got to see the touristic side of my home town and Edinburgh as well. Anyway, too tired to keep on blathering or to write anything wise now. Gotta get some sleep - 'cos tomorrow, I have to STUDY, BIG TIME!
Thursday 17 May 2007
In Edinburgh with Riikka
So my friend Riikka came today, hooray :) I slept too late, as usual, but still managed to get to Edinburgh just in time: at the very moment I stepped off the train in Waverley Station, Riikka called me that she's in the centre now. So, we spent our first day in Edinburgh, because that's where Riikka's plane landed. Here's a picture-focused post about our gorgeous day.
First, we headed to a nice wine bar to fill our bellies with some risotto. Mmmm!
Then off to the Castle. My third time. But still worth the 11 quid, because the Castle is so huge that you'll always spot something new. Here's Riikka and Mons Meg.
A cemetery for soldiers' dogs. Aaaawwww! :D Never seen that before!
Besides the usual Scottish Honours (crown jewels), the Stone of Scone and all, we also checked out some cool prisons from the 1700s and 1800s, some of which reminded me of Bad Girls TV series. There was also an amazing exhibition about prison life in the 1700s. All worth checking out if you, my beloved readers, happen to go to Edinburgh some day.
After the Castle we headed for Greyfriars Graveyard, where the grave of a famous skye terrier, Bobby, was to be found:
Me and Greyfriars Bobby. After his master's death this little terrier guarded his grave for 14 years until the very day he died. No matter what the weather! If you don't know the story, do go and read it, you cannot help falling in love with this little creature...
Bobby was buried near his master on the same graveyard. The stone says: 'Let his loyalty be a lesson to us all'.
After saying hello to Bobby we continued walking all the way to Holyrood Park. The goal was to tackle Arthur's Seat (tuttavallisesti, Artturin Palli), the greatest hilltop in the picture below (the pic is a view from the Castle):
On our way to Holyrood Park we came across this curious, futuristic building that later turned out to be the Parliament Halls. I'm sure this divided opinions when it was built.
As we stepped inside the Holyrood Park the sun began to shine. It was supposed to rain today so I was more than happy. Before tackling the Real Thing we had to do some warm-up excercises. Here are views on the way up another hilltop:
Puffing, puffing! 'Is it really this steep all the way up?!' Riikka wondered. She had just had the flu so she wasn't in the best condition for tackling hilltops. By the way, the bushes with yellow flowers smelled of Piz Buin sun lotion! Wonder why! Suddenly images of lying on a beach in Spain flashed in our minds :D
Arthur's Seat looming invitingly behind me. When Riikka saw it she asked dubiously, 'You mean it's THAT hilltop we're going to climb?!' Yep! :D Stories tell that people often climb up that hill after a night out, which sometimes ends quite miserably...
Short of breath. Taking a break before continuing the rather strenous climb.
Finally! Having a well-deserved break on the top.
Views from the top. The light was amazing.
We took another way down (which I wasn't aware of until today), a lot easier, just some light descent and then walking on a street back to our starting point. On our way there we saw nice little ponds and a gorgeous swan lake.
Arthur's Seat on the background.
The ruined wall adds the final touch to this pic, doesn't it?
After Holyrood Park, walking/crawling back to the centre to find a decent restaurant. I remembered that there's Garfunkel's somewhere which could cater for my craving for Asian stuff and Riikka's craving for salad. It took several phone calls to my parents (Edinburgh experts) and an hour to find that Garfunkel's though, but it was well worth the effort, I got tasty Thai Green Curry and Riikka filled her belly with unlimited salad bar. Mmmm!
Night was already falling when we hopped on the train to Glasgow. Three more days ahead, let's see what we figure out :) I don't know if I have time to keep you updated or not, but trying to ;)
First, we headed to a nice wine bar to fill our bellies with some risotto. Mmmm!
Then off to the Castle. My third time. But still worth the 11 quid, because the Castle is so huge that you'll always spot something new. Here's Riikka and Mons Meg.
A cemetery for soldiers' dogs. Aaaawwww! :D Never seen that before!
Besides the usual Scottish Honours (crown jewels), the Stone of Scone and all, we also checked out some cool prisons from the 1700s and 1800s, some of which reminded me of Bad Girls TV series. There was also an amazing exhibition about prison life in the 1700s. All worth checking out if you, my beloved readers, happen to go to Edinburgh some day.
After the Castle we headed for Greyfriars Graveyard, where the grave of a famous skye terrier, Bobby, was to be found:
Me and Greyfriars Bobby. After his master's death this little terrier guarded his grave for 14 years until the very day he died. No matter what the weather! If you don't know the story, do go and read it, you cannot help falling in love with this little creature...
Bobby was buried near his master on the same graveyard. The stone says: 'Let his loyalty be a lesson to us all'.
After saying hello to Bobby we continued walking all the way to Holyrood Park. The goal was to tackle Arthur's Seat (tuttavallisesti, Artturin Palli), the greatest hilltop in the picture below (the pic is a view from the Castle):
On our way to Holyrood Park we came across this curious, futuristic building that later turned out to be the Parliament Halls. I'm sure this divided opinions when it was built.
As we stepped inside the Holyrood Park the sun began to shine. It was supposed to rain today so I was more than happy. Before tackling the Real Thing we had to do some warm-up excercises. Here are views on the way up another hilltop:
Puffing, puffing! 'Is it really this steep all the way up?!' Riikka wondered. She had just had the flu so she wasn't in the best condition for tackling hilltops. By the way, the bushes with yellow flowers smelled of Piz Buin sun lotion! Wonder why! Suddenly images of lying on a beach in Spain flashed in our minds :D
Arthur's Seat looming invitingly behind me. When Riikka saw it she asked dubiously, 'You mean it's THAT hilltop we're going to climb?!' Yep! :D Stories tell that people often climb up that hill after a night out, which sometimes ends quite miserably...
Short of breath. Taking a break before continuing the rather strenous climb.
Finally! Having a well-deserved break on the top.
Views from the top. The light was amazing.
We took another way down (which I wasn't aware of until today), a lot easier, just some light descent and then walking on a street back to our starting point. On our way there we saw nice little ponds and a gorgeous swan lake.
Arthur's Seat on the background.
The ruined wall adds the final touch to this pic, doesn't it?
After Holyrood Park, walking/crawling back to the centre to find a decent restaurant. I remembered that there's Garfunkel's somewhere which could cater for my craving for Asian stuff and Riikka's craving for salad. It took several phone calls to my parents (Edinburgh experts) and an hour to find that Garfunkel's though, but it was well worth the effort, I got tasty Thai Green Curry and Riikka filled her belly with unlimited salad bar. Mmmm!
Night was already falling when we hopped on the train to Glasgow. Three more days ahead, let's see what we figure out :) I don't know if I have time to keep you updated or not, but trying to ;)
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