Saturday, November 26, 2016

What do I miss from Finland? Top7

I bet there are some things everybody are missing from their home country if they live abroad. I don't know the next time I will be visiting Finland so maybe I feel a bit home sick and sentimental about everything related to Finland. I'm even planning to order a package online full of Finnish treats!



So, What do I miss from Finland?
1. Family and all my friends and loved ones. 
People I miss the most! I think this is quite obvious remark, but it is the truth. I can try to cook something Finnish here, but I can not spend all the time I wish to with the people that I miss. I'm happy that it is possible to stay in touch via skype, facebook, whatsapp... but it is still different when you are not able to hug and to be honest I'm not the best person to stay in touch via internet. That is why I really appreciate my friends who get that. When we are able to see each other again it feels that we just saw yesterday.

2. Sauna
The warm relaxing feeling without any stupid restrictions like: you can not throw water or there is a maximum temperature that is not enough or you can not bring children to sauna. I have tried sauna here a couple of times but it was like torture as I couldn't throw any water. The sauna was so dry it was almost impossible to breathe. Never again! I miss the normal Finnish sauna.

3. Food! For example: rye bread, black sausage, carelian pie, different milk products, liver casserole (maksalaatikko), hot wings.....
There are many kind of foods that are not sold here or I'm not able to prepare them on my own. Also our oven is the size of a microwave so that I'm not able to prepare everything I wish. I miss Finnish supermarket and all the products (just not the prices!). Before Christmas I'm planning to bake many Finnish treats, for example cinnamon rolls, gingerbread's and maybe even Christmas tarts.

4. Candy, specially all black candies! 
I can get good chocolate and normal candy from Poland, but salty licorice and salmiak! I also miss normal candy by weight, there is something similar in Poland but everything is always hard and dry and the selection is not as good. I can not wait to order my package!

5. Drinks, like glögi, longdrink(lonkero) and different kind of ciders.
I want glögi for Christmas, I think there is something in Ikea but the selection is not as good I could hope for. Lonkero is a soft alcohol drink sold in Finland, I don't like it so much anymore but as I don't like beer I hope to have bigger variety of choices. The same goes for ciders, in Poland you can find only a couple of brands and couple of tastes where as in Finland there is a plenty of different kind of tastes.

6. Easy instructions how to do things, for example for university
I feel that in Finland I was always able to find easy instructions how I should do something and here I just should know. Not any official infos about anything, everything I have learned about the whole university system is from my friends. We are now having a separate classes for writing thesis with our supervisors. At the same time I know that in Finland you could have a separate class for research, for writing and meetings with the supervisors. I miss this feeling that I know everything!

7. Nature
We live in the city so that it is hard to find a place just for yourself. I miss everything clean and green. I have grown up in a place where the nature was always close, just to go out for a walk in the forest and barely see anybody else. Playing in the forest and building some shelters, climbing to trees.... Maybe I wouldn't do the same things anymore but I miss walking alone, being able to pick berries and mushrooms.

There is many more things that I miss, the list could probably be endless. Even when I miss many things from Finland that doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy here. I feel happy and that Wroclaw is my home now. I could also make a list why I love my life here, but for now, feeling a bit sentimental about Finland list about the things I really miss felt more suitable.

-Camilla

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Stockholm Part2

Hey, now is the time to tell you what we saw in Stockholm!

On Friday afternoon we went to the Moderna Museet, the admission is free for some of the collections. 
Moderna Museet has one of Europe's finest collections of modern and contemporary art. It inculdes key works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Dorothea Tanning, Andy Warhol and Niki de Saint Phalle.
-Moderna Museet



On Saturday we went to the Royal Palace of Stockholm. Part of the palace is a museum. We visited the Royal Apartments and exhibition of the Royal wedding dresses. I haven't visited the Palace before even when I have visited Stockholm many times and now it seems that we have still part of the palace to see; the Treasury. 






When we were leaving from the palace we saw a demonstration and an opposing demonstration. It started to get a bit violent so we decided to leave. On our way to find another way out from the Old town we saw police with horses coming to break the violent part of the opposing demonstration. Link to the news about the happenings:
https://www.rt.com/news/366683-stockholm-neo-nazi-march/


On Saturday evening we went to the Fotografiska, it is just next to the Viking line terminal and open till very late! During our visit there was exhibition 1-2-3-4 of the work from Anton Corbijn. He has taken pictures from well known bands and musicians, for example The Rolling Stones, Courtney Love, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, Metallica and Bruce Springsteen. 


Also on both days while in Stockholm we were walking in the Old town (Gamla Stan). There are a lot of nice small boutiques for handcraft and souvenirs. The architecture itself is beautiful too, small streets and different atmosphere than in the rest of the city.

Every time we go to Stockholm we want to eat in Mongolian restaurant :D It started maybe 4-5 years ago and now it is more like a tradition. The restaurant we went for the first time is not working anymore but luckily we found similar one. The point is, that it is a buffet and you pick everything to your plate so that it is not cooked yet. The cook will prepare your plate in front of your eyes. 

If you haven't been in Stockholm before I also recommend Vasamuseet, maritime museum that displays the 17th century warship Vasa!

-Camilla

Monday, November 14, 2016

Trip to Stockholm! Part 1

We had a family gathering in Stockholm for this weekend. We traveled to Stockholm from Poland and my family from Finland. It was great to see my family and have a small vacation at the same time with the people that I love. It is so important for me to see my family and just know that they are always there for me, willing to travel just to spend a couple of days with me. (Crying a bit now...)



But yea, our travel to Sweden didn't start in the perfect manner. Our flight was leaving from Katowice early in the morning. We bought tickets to the train just day before and there were no seats anymore. We also bought bus tickets from the train station to the airport. When we got to the Wroclaw train station, we noticed that the train is 35 minutes late. We were supposed to hop in to the bus just 30 minutes after the train was supposed to arrive. We got to the train and luckily we got seats so that I was able to sleep a bit. Eventually the train was 40 minutes late and we missed the only bus to the airport. We checked from the web that taxi would cost 160zl..... Way too much.... We got an idea and for the first time we used Uber. That costed only 89zl (a lot but not as much as the taxi....) We got to the airport on time just with one experience more. The Uber car was brand new and clean, the driver was driving very well compared to some carzy taxi drivers in Poland, it was a good experince and I can see myself using Uber again sometime.

Our flight was on time and we landed to Skavasta (still 80min bus drive to Stockholm city). In the city my family came to the bus station and the family weekend was ready to start, everybody at the same time at the same place!

Just days before we arrived to Stockholm there was a huge snow chaos. Some flights were cancelled and it was almost impossible to move by any transportation. I'm happy that this didn't influence our trip and the situation was already under control. In the old town we saw that the road was closed for a while as the workers were cleaning the roofs of the buildings and pushing the snow to the ground. The snow is so heavy for the buildings and also if it would fall on its own it could be very dangerous for the people walking down on the street.




We all have visited Stockholm many times before. It is quite common to take a ferry from Finland to Sweden and stay in the city at least for one day. There were still things we haven't done before when it comes to sight seeing. In my next post I will write about the things we did and saw, with some tips and my favorites!

-Camilla