Bean's visit

Adam Bean, my boyfriend for those that do not know, came to visit me this past week! He was only here for 4 days, but they were a fantastic 4 days at that. He used his dad's frequent flier miles, so he got a really good deal on his ticket. He arrived on Saturday around 3ish, so we had from then until Tuesday night when he left around 3 am.

Saturday we just relaxed and enjoyed being with each other most of the day. That night we went out for a little bit to watch a Rugby match between Ireland and Scotland.

This seems really weird, but it wasn't until Bean came that I think all of this became real to me. I mean I know I have been living in Finland for about 2 months now, but it became such a reality with Bean's visit. I know that seems crazy, but it is hard to explain.

Anyways, Sunday we went to this bay area on another side of town. It had this Winter Garden that was really pretty and the Olympic Stadium from 1952. There was this tower that you could go up and see the whole city.

Monday we went to Suomenlinna, the sea fortress. It was really cold outside, but it was also really pretty. It is made up of a couple islands. On the ferry ride over we were amazed at the ice in the water. It has been melting (slowly), so there were huge chunks of ice all in the water. It sounds lame, but it was actually really cool. Soumenlinna was really pretty and neat, with random underground passages and walls to climb through. Crazy.

Tuesday we took the train to the Finnish Science Museum. It was fun, lame at some points, but still fun. Although we went to this Planetarium video that we thought would be really neat, but turned out to be really weird. We made it fun though.

Since Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day we found this random Irish pub to hang out in. There was this "Irish" band playing live with a bunch of old people wearing big Guinness green hats, so we were entertained.

Now Bean is gone and I am back to reality. It was such a nice break with his visit and we had so fun together. It was nice to show him my life this semester, where I live and who I hang out with.

Not only was I sad today since Bean left last night, but I had to deal with my computer. Bean brought the Recovery disk I thought I needed to fix it. However, after talking to a couple HP people on the phone, I found out I didn't need it all along... meaning this whole month I have gone without a computer was pointless. I really just had to press F11 a bunch of times... yea.... I know. I think I lost everything too. I say think because I also think it is still on my computer. I am not sure, but I am going to try and recover all my pictures and files and music. I can handle not having my music since it is on my i pod, and I don't think I had any really important documents saved, I just want to get my pictures back. At least I haven't deleted any from my camera since I have been in Helsinki.

Good news is I have computer again!!

Bad news is my time here is almost up. I mean this is my half way point, but I have less than 2 months just in Helsinki. It is all going by so fast!

Above are pictures of Bean's visit.

Backpacking

This past week was our "spring break" or really just the break in-between grading periods. My friend Asha and I went to Riga, Latvia and Tallinn, Estonia. This was my first time really backpacking through Europe, so I was really excited. We left on a train on Monday from Helsinki to Tampere. There is this really cheap airline, Ryanair, which flies out of Tampere but not Helsinki. Once we got in Tampere we had to find the bus station, and then take the bus to the airport. Luckily we caught everything just in time. So turns out the reason Ryanair is so cheap is because the airport was a warehouse! Our boarding passes were hand written and the plane looked just like their website - obnoxiously bright and flashy. Our flight was only an hour long, but they spent the entire time over the speakers trying to sell us stuff. It was very funny.

Finally we arrived in Riga!! We stayed at a hostel called Fun Friendly Franks. There were actually 4 other girls that go to school with us in Helsinki on the same flight and hostel too. Right outside the hostel was this bridge that was basically the Memphis Bridge and then some. That made me laugh, but no one else really got it.

The next day we explored Riga! The first thing we did was find the market. Wow was the market amazing! We bought a couple things for breakfast, and I don't think we each went over a euro. Helsinki is actually really expensive, so it was a nice break. Latvia isn't on the euro, but the Lat. After falling in the love with the market, we explored some important sites around the city. We stayed in the old city the whole time since that was where most of the tourist sites were. The old city in Riga was sweet, but not as sweet as Tallinn's old city. I do think Riga's old city is more incorporated into their daily live though.

Once we saw all the major sites, we went to the Museum of Occupation, which explained Latvia's history with the Soviets and Nazis. It was incredibly sad. The Russians occupied Latvia until the Nazis took over, which were actually seen as a saving grace for the Latvians. Then, the Russians took back over from the Nazis. It is so sad and interesting to hear of Russia's rule over the Baltic States (Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania).

Ok, well after that we went to this sweet restaurant for lunch where I got, of course, meat and potatoes with sour cream. It is actually really good. I never thought sour cream would be my number one dipping sauce, but it's pretty yummy on almost everything I have eaten here.

We met some really neat people at Frank's hostel. One girl, Nell, is an American who lives in Poland teaching English. Then we met this group of Australians that were travelling. It was actually 3 Australians and 1 Brit they picked up along the way. They actually had this crazy guy in their room who ended up macing them!! I know, crazy right! Turns out that crazy guy was on the run from Lithuania for macing someone. In the end we all laughed and joked about it (well not the macer who was escorted out by the police). Slightly intense though.

So after our day and half in Riga, we headed off to Tallinn, Estonia. Yes, I have already been there, but only for a day. So we took a 4 hour bus ride from Riga to Tallinn. It was a long ride with only the view of snowy fields from the window.

After a very long bus ride, we finally arrived in Tallinn. Our hostel was this sweet homey looking place in the old town, very different from Frank's. We went out that night and explored the old city, which was so beautiful at night time! We found this sweet French restaurant (themed like the one I had gone to before). It very sweet with candles everywhere. We had mushroom soup and filet mignon! Living the high life. It wasn't as cheap as Riga, but we thought we would treat ourselves. We kept taking pictures of everything, so our server opened this other room for us to take pictures in. I thought that was sweet until I saw what it was full of... animal heads! ahh!!! We took a couple pictures then got out of there, or at least I wanted to get out of there. But it was sweet of her to do that. She thought we were such tourists, which of course we were.

We spent a lot of time hanging out in Riga that we were really worn-out when we got to Tallinn... so we actually watched a little TV! I haven't watched TV from an actual Television is almost 3 months! I mean yes I have been watching Grey's Anatomy a lot with Asha and Abbie on the computer, but that is different. We actually watched a little Grey's on this TV, haha, but only because it was on! We also watched a little Discovery Channel and ESPN America. The America part at the end made me laugh. It was the Alabama vs. Auburn basketball game! I was all into it (who would have thought I would have missed ESPN), but Asha didn't really care at all.

So after having a lazy night, we woke up energized for Tallinn! We decided to go for the market again since it is the cheapest way to get breakfast. We had to venture outside the old town to get there. The market wasn't nearly as amazing as Riga's and actually slightly creepy, but we still managed. We found this pretty park to eat in right next to the old city castle wall. We also found this amazing work out center. It looked like a playground, but it was an outdoor workout room! It was pretty crazy.

Although I had already been to Tallinn, it was also fun and different with Asha. We did the walking tour guide again, but in a different order than I did before. The sun actually came out half way through the day! Not only was the sun out, but it wasn't that cold either (I mean, it wasn't freezing like it always is)!

Finally after touring all of old city Tallinn and warming up in the sweetest tea room, we were off on the ferry back home to Helsinki. Please note that we used almost every form of transportation in just 4 days (we didn't use the tram though). The ferry ride back wasn't as entertaining as the one before, mainly because good ole Steve Webb wasn't there to entertain. However, we were pretty tired from everything, so the relaxation was nice.

Now I am back in Helsinki. It is actually snowing pretty hard today. I don't think that is fair at all considering it is 70 in Tennessee right now! However, I guess I should be enjoying the snow while I can.

Above are just some photos of me and Asha in Riga, Tallinn, and the neat outdoor workout area.