This trip is a wonderful mix of the new (China, vising Poland without a visa, expensive shopping adventures, etc.) and the familiar (Sophie in Stockholm, paprika pringles, ol' blighty etc.) - but no part of the adventure has been such a delightful blend of the two than meeting my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins in the south of France.
We've taken up residence in a massive, old, lovely house for a week or so, and there's been lots of catching up, chatting, photo sharing and more chatting over breakfast this morning.
It's almost lunchtime, and time for Claire and I to take a walk to get acquainted with le neighbourhood. We're off with the parentals to visit some family friends who moved over here years ago.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tragedy!
Claire and I are leaving for France this afternoon.
Tomorrow the new I'm From Barcelona (awesome Swedish band) album 'Who Killed Harry Houdini?' is released in Sweden.
Fate is cruel sometimes. So I got myself a håkan hellström CD and lots of hudsalva lipbalm to make myself feel better. I think they're much more exciting souvenirs that painted horses.
Tomorrow the new I'm From Barcelona (awesome Swedish band) album 'Who Killed Harry Houdini?' is released in Sweden.
Fate is cruel sometimes. So I got myself a håkan hellström CD and lots of hudsalva lipbalm to make myself feel better. I think they're much more exciting souvenirs that painted horses.
Nutrition
I did promise a couple of posts ago that I would let you in on the secrect of how I am maintaining my vitamin intake while travelling. Here's the secret: Coke Light, Plus Vitamins... (ie. Diet Coke to the Aussies)
This perverse piece of marketing tastes the same as the non-vitamin-laden variety of low-calorie Coke, but in a half litre bottle contains 75% of one's daily B12 and Niacin intake. Heaven's knows why these two vitamins have been selected as important, anyone apart from vegans can get enough B12 through their daily intake of meat and/or eggs and dairy. I first saw (and purchased it in Finland, but its also in Sweden, with it's sister product that claims to contain antioxidants).
Still, I had to by a bottle. Looking at the weird and wacky products that global corporations market to different corners of the world is a particular travel fetish of mine. I'd have to say that this is right up there with some of the weirder and wackier ones I've seen.
Anyway, I've had no need for extra nutrition while at Sophie's. Today Claire and I are leaving for a day long train journey to Southern France, where our parents are spending some time. I've resolved, after the last 5 days of eating, to put myself on a bit of a diet. Only fruit, veggies, low fat yogurt, good bread, nice cheeses, quality red wine, premium chocolate, plenty of croissants... dang it, this is going to be harder than I thought...
This perverse piece of marketing tastes the same as the non-vitamin-laden variety of low-calorie Coke, but in a half litre bottle contains 75% of one's daily B12 and Niacin intake. Heaven's knows why these two vitamins have been selected as important, anyone apart from vegans can get enough B12 through their daily intake of meat and/or eggs and dairy. I first saw (and purchased it in Finland, but its also in Sweden, with it's sister product that claims to contain antioxidants).
Still, I had to by a bottle. Looking at the weird and wacky products that global corporations market to different corners of the world is a particular travel fetish of mine. I'd have to say that this is right up there with some of the weirder and wackier ones I've seen.
Anyway, I've had no need for extra nutrition while at Sophie's. Today Claire and I are leaving for a day long train journey to Southern France, where our parents are spending some time. I've resolved, after the last 5 days of eating, to put myself on a bit of a diet. Only fruit, veggies, low fat yogurt, good bread, nice cheeses, quality red wine, premium chocolate, plenty of croissants... dang it, this is going to be harder than I thought...
Monday, September 22, 2008
Cool People
Part two in a very sporadic series...
The guy in Estonia who pointed out to me that I left my Visa card in the ATM(/Bankomat/Cashpoint). Not one of my most lucid moments, but it was six o'clock in the morning and I'd spent a sleepless night on the bus. Unfortunately I was still in St Petersburg mode, so I thanked him profusely in Russian.
The Guard at the President's Palace in Helsinki who waved back to us when we went to visit. You won't find any of those Bearskins at Buckingham being so friendly. As mentioned in earlier posts, when it comes to Finland, everything is nice, even their gun wielding army personnel.
My Aunt Sophie, who is just like my grandmother, except more stubborn, more Swedish and, although it was thought to not be possible, more prone to constant chatter and constantly feeding people.If it were possible to kill with kindness then she would be a ruthless assassin indeed. She also lives in a very cool part of town.
Her apartment, where she has lived for 45 years, is in Sodermalm in Stockholm, an old working class area that has been invaded by students and hipsters (Melbournians, think of Brunswick but actually cool) so her neighbourhood is littered with excellent retro shopping, cool cafes and funky bars.
The guy in Estonia who pointed out to me that I left my Visa card in the ATM(/Bankomat/Cashpoint). Not one of my most lucid moments, but it was six o'clock in the morning and I'd spent a sleepless night on the bus. Unfortunately I was still in St Petersburg mode, so I thanked him profusely in Russian.
The Guard at the President's Palace in Helsinki who waved back to us when we went to visit. You won't find any of those Bearskins at Buckingham being so friendly. As mentioned in earlier posts, when it comes to Finland, everything is nice, even their gun wielding army personnel.
My Aunt Sophie, who is just like my grandmother, except more stubborn, more Swedish and, although it was thought to not be possible, more prone to constant chatter and constantly feeding people.If it were possible to kill with kindness then she would be a ruthless assassin indeed. She also lives in a very cool part of town.
Her apartment, where she has lived for 45 years, is in Sodermalm in Stockholm, an old working class area that has been invaded by students and hipsters (Melbournians, think of Brunswick but actually cool) so her neighbourhood is littered with excellent retro shopping, cool cafes and funky bars.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Today's Menu
Breakfast
Fruit (grapes and kiwifruit)
Porridge with jam and milk
6 different types of bread and biscuits (knakebrod, toast bread, Finnish bread, wafers, graham crackers, flat bread)
butter
6 different types of cheese (Gouda, Brie, Blue Castillo, White spreading cheese, yellow cheese, Gorgonzola)
tomato, cucumber, avocado and capsicum
marmalade
tea
juice
Lunch
Sauerkraut with beans
Cheesy tomato mushroom egg pie
Green Salad
Honey wine
Rum Cake with Cream
Apple Pie with Vanilla Custard
Tea
Chocolates (4 different types)
Licorice, cashew nuts, jelly lollies
Biscuits (choc wafers and almond biscuits)
Supper
Selection of breads, cheeses, salad.
Tea and juice
biscuits, chocolates and lollies
Fruit (grapes and kiwifruit)
Porridge with jam and milk
6 different types of bread and biscuits (knakebrod, toast bread, Finnish bread, wafers, graham crackers, flat bread)
butter
6 different types of cheese (Gouda, Brie, Blue Castillo, White spreading cheese, yellow cheese, Gorgonzola)
tomato, cucumber, avocado and capsicum
marmalade
tea
juice
Lunch
Sauerkraut with beans
Cheesy tomato mushroom egg pie
Green Salad
Honey wine
Rum Cake with Cream
Apple Pie with Vanilla Custard
Tea
Chocolates (4 different types)
Licorice, cashew nuts, jelly lollies
Biscuits (choc wafers and almond biscuits)
Supper
Selection of breads, cheeses, salad.
Tea and juice
biscuits, chocolates and lollies
Saturday, September 20, 2008
And I Woke Again Last Night, In A Strange Room
Today's blog title has been taken from a song by my friend Ben. I've always liked this song very much, but as it's a song about yearning and travelling, I've been thinking a lot about it lately.
When I am travelling, I always forget how much you take things for granted every morning when you wake up. At home, when I wake up I know what I'll have for breakfast, I know what I'm doing that day, and I know that I'll be back in the same bed at then end of it all, I know that it's likely Jen will still be asleep, and I know where the nearest post office is, and how much it will cost to send a letter. None of these things can be taken for granted while travelling; that's what makes it so much fun - but it can also make even the most mundane tasks exhausting and stressful.
Anyway I've been pondering these things because after a month, and about 16 different sleeping places by my rough count, this morning I didn't wake up in a strange room, but one that I am familiar with. Last time I was in Europe, about 5 years ago, I stayed in Stockholm, in this house and room and bed, for about 3 weeks. Stockholm is the first place in over a month where I don't actually have any strong inclination to play the tourist. I'm just going to let Sophie feed me, practice my Polish on her and walk around Stockholm pretending that I belong to this city. Because while Helsinki is nice, Stockholm is definitely cool.
(P.S. - Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day. It was exciting to be able to celebrate it in Viking territory, because we all know that they were the original and the best pirates.)
When I am travelling, I always forget how much you take things for granted every morning when you wake up. At home, when I wake up I know what I'll have for breakfast, I know what I'm doing that day, and I know that I'll be back in the same bed at then end of it all, I know that it's likely Jen will still be asleep, and I know where the nearest post office is, and how much it will cost to send a letter. None of these things can be taken for granted while travelling; that's what makes it so much fun - but it can also make even the most mundane tasks exhausting and stressful.
Anyway I've been pondering these things because after a month, and about 16 different sleeping places by my rough count, this morning I didn't wake up in a strange room, but one that I am familiar with. Last time I was in Europe, about 5 years ago, I stayed in Stockholm, in this house and room and bed, for about 3 weeks. Stockholm is the first place in over a month where I don't actually have any strong inclination to play the tourist. I'm just going to let Sophie feed me, practice my Polish on her and walk around Stockholm pretending that I belong to this city. Because while Helsinki is nice, Stockholm is definitely cool.
(P.S. - Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day. It was exciting to be able to celebrate it in Viking territory, because we all know that they were the original and the best pirates.)
Friday, September 19, 2008
The Baltic, See
So, being unable to find an ínternet cafe for the last few days, my octogenarian Aunt has a computer with excellent connection at her house. She says she doesn't understand it or use it, but that her children set it up for when they occasionally drop in. Thus, for the next four days while we´re in Stockholm I'll be able to attend to my backlog of emails and things to do. But before all of that, I can now tell you all about the Baltic adventures Claire and I have had since leaving our trans-Siberian family and venturing off on our own.
The overnight bus from St Petersburg was the final 'stressful' boarder crossing for us (excluding convincing the English boarder patrol to let us in) on this trip. We got to the boarder at 1am and spent 2 hours sitting around, being pulled off the bus, being put back off the bus etc. Thankfully we´re now in the EU, where there is virtually no boarder control between countries, and being Aussie doesn't mean pre-arranging visas for entry.
Tallinn It Like It Is
We got to Tallinn early on a raining Saturday morning, so it was dead quiet - we had the whole place to ourselves for a while. It's a very cute old city that has been very well preserved and restored. We spent two days binging on museums, churches, galleries, and, off all things, Mexican food. It really wasn't intentional, but each day around lunch time we just happened to come across a good looking, affordable Mexican restaurant, and seems Claire hasn't been within cooee of a tortilla for 8 months we made the most of the opportunity.
Tallinn is strange in that I'm not sure where the actual population of the city lives. The old town consists almost entirely of museums, galleries, souvenir stores, bad restaurants and cafes and more souvenirs. It's like Disney for Euro-Tourists. It's not even like Venice, where if you walk down enough side streets you'll find the local population. Normally this situation makes me sad, but the Estonians who I ran into and talked to seemed to be so genuinely proud of the city, and the extent to which it's been preserved that I gained an appreciation of what a feat that is, considering that it was pretty heavily bombed during WW2.
Architecture (And Islands and Food and Shopping) In Helsinki After 2 days in Estonia we caught a ferry north to Helsinki. Now, I've heard rumours that Helsinki is cool. Like Prague, Edinburgh, Berlin and Stockholm before it, Helsinki is apparently cool du jour. I'd have to say that it's not so much cool, but it's certainly nice. It is small, clean, open, and has that effortless Scandinavian elegance - but it's just too small and nice to be cool. It's full of chic kitchen wares rather than chic fashion, and it's cafes are homely, not boho. Still Claire and I had a lovely time there, we visited the island fortress Soumelinna, and spent a lot of time at the food hall (cheap baguettes helped to offset the otherwise costly nature of the Scandinavian lifestyle).We also did something that I've been avoiding for some time now, clothes shopping. We hit up all the cheap and cheerful retailers (H&M, Vero Moda, Indiska etc) and I now own more than 2 summer skirts and 3 t-shirts. This is really a positive step, because the weather has taken a turn for the colder in the last couple of weeks. While it was 22C in Moscow less than a fortnight ago, it was 6C in Helsinki yesterday. Given my predilection for gloves, scarves, hats and coats, the change in temperature has been met with great relish.
Taking Stock(holm)After an amusing overnight ferry ride, in which we were in a cabin deep in the hull (the part of the ship in which everyone in Titanic were Irish and died very early on) we have arrived in Stockholm. We're spending the next four nights with our Aunt Sophie (nan's sister). I'll post all about how much I love Stockholm later - provided Sophie doesn't feed us to death first...
The overnight bus from St Petersburg was the final 'stressful' boarder crossing for us (excluding convincing the English boarder patrol to let us in) on this trip. We got to the boarder at 1am and spent 2 hours sitting around, being pulled off the bus, being put back off the bus etc. Thankfully we´re now in the EU, where there is virtually no boarder control between countries, and being Aussie doesn't mean pre-arranging visas for entry.
Tallinn It Like It Is
We got to Tallinn early on a raining Saturday morning, so it was dead quiet - we had the whole place to ourselves for a while. It's a very cute old city that has been very well preserved and restored. We spent two days binging on museums, churches, galleries, and, off all things, Mexican food. It really wasn't intentional, but each day around lunch time we just happened to come across a good looking, affordable Mexican restaurant, and seems Claire hasn't been within cooee of a tortilla for 8 months we made the most of the opportunity.
Tallinn is strange in that I'm not sure where the actual population of the city lives. The old town consists almost entirely of museums, galleries, souvenir stores, bad restaurants and cafes and more souvenirs. It's like Disney for Euro-Tourists. It's not even like Venice, where if you walk down enough side streets you'll find the local population. Normally this situation makes me sad, but the Estonians who I ran into and talked to seemed to be so genuinely proud of the city, and the extent to which it's been preserved that I gained an appreciation of what a feat that is, considering that it was pretty heavily bombed during WW2.
Architecture (And Islands and Food and Shopping) In Helsinki After 2 days in Estonia we caught a ferry north to Helsinki. Now, I've heard rumours that Helsinki is cool. Like Prague, Edinburgh, Berlin and Stockholm before it, Helsinki is apparently cool du jour. I'd have to say that it's not so much cool, but it's certainly nice. It is small, clean, open, and has that effortless Scandinavian elegance - but it's just too small and nice to be cool. It's full of chic kitchen wares rather than chic fashion, and it's cafes are homely, not boho. Still Claire and I had a lovely time there, we visited the island fortress Soumelinna, and spent a lot of time at the food hall (cheap baguettes helped to offset the otherwise costly nature of the Scandinavian lifestyle).We also did something that I've been avoiding for some time now, clothes shopping. We hit up all the cheap and cheerful retailers (H&M, Vero Moda, Indiska etc) and I now own more than 2 summer skirts and 3 t-shirts. This is really a positive step, because the weather has taken a turn for the colder in the last couple of weeks. While it was 22C in Moscow less than a fortnight ago, it was 6C in Helsinki yesterday. Given my predilection for gloves, scarves, hats and coats, the change in temperature has been met with great relish.
Taking Stock(holm)After an amusing overnight ferry ride, in which we were in a cabin deep in the hull (the part of the ship in which everyone in Titanic were Irish and died very early on) we have arrived in Stockholm. We're spending the next four nights with our Aunt Sophie (nan's sister). I'll post all about how much I love Stockholm later - provided Sophie doesn't feed us to death first...
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