My last couple of weeks in Berlin have been quite relaxing, but at the same time full of things to take care of. Like I wrote in my last article, I'm leaving Berlin with mixed feelings. I've had a great time here and I've made some good friends, that I hope to keep in touch with after I leave. I'm throwing a goodbye party on Friday, where I hope to get say a proper goodbye to the people I've spent my summer with. It will be a goodbye for a while, hopefully not for forever.

Last week I acquired some things that I'll need on my coming InterRail trip. I found this great outdoors store, Globetrotter. It's a huge store with everything you might need for outdoors activities. I got myself a foldaway backpack and travel pillow, both from Meru, which is quite the good manufacturer of outdoors equipment. How the quality really is, well, I might be able to tell you that after the trip. The store also has its house label, which is funny because it has a finnish name: Kaikkialla. It is apparently developed together with some Nordic countries and it seems the name is made up by a Finnish associate. I am still looking for sandals for the trip, and I'm starting to lean towards Birkenstocks, of which I at least know that they are of good quality.

My colleague Ana had her last day at the office last Thursday, so she invited me to a barbeque at her place on Wednesday. Her American flatmate was flying back to the U.S. on the next day as well, so she had also invited some guest. We were all complaining about the crappy weather and had a nice evening with delicious bbq food.

A funny thing happened the next day when Ana and I went to the shopping center in Steglitz. We were walking through the mall when all of a sudden a handsome guy in his underwear came to us. He turned out to be promoting a new underwear shop and offered us a glass of sparkling wine and gave us both a beautiful rose. I wouldn't mind getting roses from a handsome guy more often...

The weekend I mostly spent reading for a essay about social media and actually following the social (and traditional) media on the terrible events in Oslo and Utøya. It is very shocking to hear that someone is capable to such horrible deeds. He performed a massacre on his own people and shows no remorse for what he did. It is scary to hear that everyone seemed to think he was a good and nice guy and nobody could've imagined him doing such a thing. I mean how do we know that the people around us aren't planning such an attack? I feel that there is a false sense of security up in the northern countries and the neutral grounds maybe aren't that neutral after all. I do agree with what the Norwegian Premier Minister Stoltenberg said about not letting such thing scare us away from our northern value and I can with comfort quote the surviving girl how stated in the BBC interview that if one person can show this much hate, think about how much love we can all show together. It is a very comforting thought in there uncertain times that instead of spreading violence and hate, we should concentrate on spreading caring and love. And this thought has to start in each and every one on a personal level in the daily life.

It has been interesting to read about social media and at the same time follow what actually happens in the social media. I mean the news on the attacks were on Twitter and Facebook way before the news hit the international media. There sure is some truth to the fact that news travel fast, but social media faster. I will be sure to include these notes in my essay, which I'm actually looking forward to write.

But back to Berlin. Or well actually we'll make a stop back in Tampere. I have got some interesting news upon my return to Finland. I have been offered a job at a translation office and if all goes well I might start working for them as s freelance translator in September. Which means that I might be able to cut down on working in the restaurants, which then again means that I might have more free weekends in the near future. I really hope it works out because it would be amazing to work in the area that I've studied for four years. I also have news on the studies: if my professors gives a positive answer, I might have a subject for my Masters Thesis. I'm so happy about this, because I've struggled really hard to try to find a subject.

One reason for not doing very much last week, is that the weather has been horrible. It's really cold and rainy, which makes me a bit jealous on Finland for the hot and sunny weather. On Sunday the weather got a bit better and since Matt came back from his parents, we decided to go to Mauerpark, where there's a huge flee market every Sunday. It was just as full as usual there and I enjoyed the atmosphere as usual. I even found myself a hat, which I've been trying to find for weeks!

I might post one more text this week but then I'm not sure when the next one will be. I'm hoping to be able to report about the InterRail adventure in eastern Europe, but I can't promise anything. Til then and see you later.

Oh and I might add some photos to this article later, so have another look in a few days!

Buongiorno, mi chiamo Katja e sono finlandese

My second last week has begun and I am working with mixed feelings. On the other side I'm happy to go on holiday and eventually going home to Finland. I'm even looking forward to being at the university, and most of all: I miss my friends! Last week I took a look at the courses that are being offered in the fall, and it looks quite good. Hopefully all the course will actually be organized... I have a lot to do at the moment with organizing the Interrail trip (I got the tickets last week!): getting all equipment, organizing accommodation, planning the route... There's also some things to take care of considering leaving Germany: packing, sending things back, trying to find a job back in Tampere and I naturally have to organize a farewell party! Well there are a few things. And I still have to work every day! I'm actually looking forward to the weekend, because I haven't planned anything special. All the same, today I initially wanted to write about my weekend in Venice.

Starting on Friday morning at 6 am with the bus, we arrived in Venice at our hotel 12 (!) hours later. And we flew there! Actually the flight was almost the shortest time to travel; the bus and train ride to Schönefeld airport took almost an hour and the bus rides and train ride from Bergamo airport to the hotel took 4,5 hours altogether... Upon arriving at the airport in Bergamo, the difference in climate was noticable. Even though Berlin is only about 800 km south of Venice (air route), it was so much warmer and you could notice the humid Mediterranean air.

Our "kitschy" hotel Villa Dori on the Venetian Riviera.

Our bus from the airport to Bergamo was 15 minutes late and we were sure that we would miss our train. As we arrived at the bus station and saw the horribly long lines at the ticket counter, we decided to just run to the train and ask if it was possible to buy a ticket in the train. The train conductor couldn't speak a word English and our (well my) Italian wasn't good enough to understand what he was saying. It was a funny situation where everyone was talking and waving and finally the man just told us to get in. The ticket was 5 euros more expensive than it would've been at the ticket counter, but the train got us there more than 2,5 hours earlier than the other train, that would've left one hour later. We were really hungry when we got to Mestre, which is the mainland of Venice, and after getting a small bite we got to our hotel at about 4.30 pm.

It would've been amazing to do a gondola ride, but the prices weren't really
suitable for students: 100 euros for 50 minutes... That's what I call a good hours salary!

Most streets in Venice aren't actually streets, but canals.

After a quick shower we took the local bus to Venice. Our tourist guide from 2003 made us realize how much more expensive everything has gotten. According to the guide a 72-hour-ticket was supposed to cost 18 euros, we paid 33. But for that money we were able to use the public transports as much as we wanted, so we decided to start our Venice-tour with a ride around the island with a Vaporetto, which is the boat version of a subway or a tram. On the other side of the island we took a short walk on Murano, which is a tiny island next to Venice, famous for its glass art. There were so much beautiful things there, sculptures, glasses, plates, jewellery - you name it! I got myself a small glass magnet in the shape of a bird.

Murano island is the home of many glass manufacturers.

I really need to go back to Venice in February to see the carneval!

A happy tourist

One thing about Vaporettos that differentiate them from trams (except for the fact that they're boats) is that they aren't really very fast. It takes little over an hours to go around the island and taking one of the Vaporettos on the Canale Grande, that goes through the island, takes about 30 minutes. And as you might know, the island isn't that big. So by the time we got back from Murano, we were already quite hungry. We had dinner at a small restaurant on the north side of the island. It was very cozy, but you have to be careful that you get what you order. When you eat fish, the price usually is written for the amount of 100 grams. Well, naturally they don't serve you just a piece of a fish, but a whole one, so the price can be even three to four times what it says on the menu.

The Canale Grande at nighttime...

...and at daytime.

We hadn't really planned anything special for the weekend, so on the next day we came to Venice at about eleven and just strolled around in the city, taking a look at the beautiful small streets and the canals. We saw the Rialto Market and the Rialto Bridge, St. Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace and the St. Mark's Basilica. In the afternoon it was so hot and we got really tired, so we decided to go to the park and take it easy for a while. We found a nice park bench at the Biennale and I took a little nap. Luckily Matt stayed awake, because upon leaving he told me that there were some strange guys walking around the park. One time he closed his eyes for a few seconds and when he opened them, he saw that this guy was coming closer. When the guy noticed that Matt wasn't sleeping he turned back... Probably pickpockets! Well, we were lucky (or smart) enough to not have anything stolen from us. In the evening we had dinner at the most amazing little pizzeria. The waiters were amazing and the service outstanding! One of the waiters actually brought the whole dessert cart outside, just to show us the different cakes upon ordering dessert.

One of the most amazing pizzas I've ever had. With horse meat!

Party people waiting for the fireworks of the Redentore (redeemer) festival.
The Redentore cathedral in the background.

The Rialto Bridge and its tourists.

On Saturday we took an earlier start heading to Lido, a long island just outside of Venice. It is a popular luxury resort for famous and rich people, but most of all it is famous for its long long beach. We rented bikes, paying only 8 euros for the entire day and started by biking along the beach. In the middle of the east side of the island there are the tourist beaches with cabins, restaurants, cafes and all kind of touristy stuff. We headed towards the south end of the island and discovered a beautiful part with a lot less people. We went almost to the south end where we took a break enjoying the sun and swimming in the Adriatic sea. It was divine, even though I didn't like the salty water that much, it left a layer on the skin that wasn't very enjoyable. Yet again I realized how careful I have to be with enjoying the sun. Even though I put on sunscreen, after biking around for a few hours, my arms and face were quite red. Luckily it turned out not to be that bad: after bathing my arms and face in aprés sun cream, the red turned into a deep beautiful brown - probably browner than ever! Matt wasn't as lucky - when I told him in the morning to put on some sunscreen, he refused and suffered from an aching back and arms the next night...

The eastern coastline of Lido isn't just sand.

On our last day we took care of getting some gifts and souvenirs. I got myself a beautiful Venetian mask and we bought some colorful pasta. We had to check out from the hotel already in the morning so we were forced to bring our bags with us to the city. After queuing at the railway station for 20 minutes to put our bags to storage I asked at the information point if there's another possibility to store our things for the day. She told us that there was another "left luggage" (like the Italians beautifully have translated it) at the bus terminal, but probably the queues would be just as long because of the people coming from the cruise ships. How wrong she was! There was no queues at all and the only thing we regretted was not asking about that right away. The last day was nice and sunny and we just took it easy, after running around the islands for three days. The last 3 hours we spent on the waterbuses just enjoying the sea breeze and protecting our burned skins from the sun.

Water, water and more water. It's all about boats in Venice.

Looking out over the roofs from the Doge's Palace

The Doge's Palace from the inside. Yes, we did some sightseeing as well.

The Venetian lagoon from above

Fishy business

Hanover my love (now with photos!)

Last week, after starting to recover from Vienna, I spontaneously decided to go to Hanover for the weekend. I was planning on doing that during the summer anyway, and I noticed that I was running out of time. The week wasn't all about resting though, I went to see the dome with a colleague one day and on another we went to the theatre at Park Monbijou again, this time to see the play Winter's Tale by Shakespear.

A Winter's Tale by William Shakespear

On Thursday, after stuffing my 30-hour-week into four days, I took the train to Lower Saxony. I arrived late in he city and one hour even later I came to aunts house in Letter, a small village close to the city. I say village, since that's what they call it here, in Finland they would call them suburbs... Letter is a very cozy suburb of Hanover, only half an hour bus ride away from the city centre. I lived with my aunt for 6 months in 2006, so it is quite the comfortable feeling to go there, almost like going home. My aunt lives in a big villa next to her mother-in-law. Both houses are on the same land lot, which makes a beautiful garden. My aunt loves to work at her garden, but last Christmas she had a heart attack, so she's recovering at the moment and doesn't have the energy to work at the garden. It didn't look that way though, it was just as beautiful as ever.

Love at first sight

The next day my cousin brought her dog to daycare at my aunts, and I was happy to get the chance to see them both. I love my cousin, but she was very stressed at the moment, because she has a lot going on at work. I hope she will have the chance to take some time off and come and visit us relatives in Finland very soon. Me and my aunt (and the cutest Labrador ever) made us a comfy day doing mostly nothing. We played some Skip-Bo, cooked and took a walk with the dog. In the afternoon I headed to the city to spend the rest of the weekend there. First I went to see my Croatian friend Ana. Her family was visiting and I was happy to see them all again. A bit later we headed to the city to meet some other friends. Starting with a wine at Extrablatt where my old colleague Rami works, continuing to Colosseum with Ana's sister Dragana to have some ice cream with strawberries, and finally ending up in Linden, the part of the city where I used to live, at the cafe Stubenwechsel with our friend Alexander. My friend Janina got off work at half past ten, and after getting my bags at Ana's place, Janina and me sat down on the sofa, had a glass of sparkling wine and remembering good old times. At half past twelve we were exhausted and went to bed like two old ladies - well certainly not as two young girlfriends who haven't seen each other in quite the while...

Anas beautiful granddaughter Alicia

There was a reason for getting to bed early though - for Saturday we had made quite the plans. After enjoying breakfast at the bagel shop next door we headed to Janina's office to borrow bikes. In the morning it was quite cloudy, but just in time for getting the bikes, the sun came out and it turned out to be an amazing day! We biked around the lake Maschsee and headed for the beautiful green area Ricklinger Teiche, where there's many ponds and great swimming opportunities to swim during the summer. We biked around for a while after which we found a nice place to lie down and enjoy the sun. We were quite annoyed though that we hadn't thought of bringing swimming suits and towels... Not that the ponds are that inviting, when you compare with the beautifully clean lakes in Finland, but in that heat it would've still been refreshing.

Taking a break was absolutely necessary on that hot summer day!

When we came home we were starving, so we made a delicious wok with glass noodles and chicken. We took it easy, freshened up and headed out on the town. We met up with Lena, a good friend and old colleague of mine and her friend Jasper. Our first stop was a cocktail bar called Heaven, where the cocktails are delicious and quite cheap, especially during happy hour... After being in Heaven we came back to the ground and headed to a bar called Peanuts, which was one of Jasper's favourite places. It was quite cozy and nice and we enjoyed a few drinks there before continuing to Steintor, which is a bar area in Hanover. First we hit Sansibar, which brought up a lot of memories, since I used to go there quite frequently while living in Hanover. Our last stop was a rock bar called Rocker (very innovative...), where we just had one more drink. Before going home we stopped at one of the best kebab restaurants in Hanover, Öz Urfa. I think it's open almost 24/7, at least I've never seen in being closed, and they have delicious Turkish food. We finally came home at about 4.30 in the morning, and fell dead in bed.

Delicious wok food

The next morning we slept long and had breakfast at about 2.30 in the afternoon. The weather was quite nice, so we decided to go out, to get the chance to enjoy it even a little. It turned out to be quite warm, so we went to a cafe called Bar Celona, where we experienced one the most rude waiters ever! I ordered an ice cream with fruit, and when it came the ice cream was melted. Of course I sent it back and after two minutes the waiter came back with the same portion saying that there were two scoops of ice cream like promised in the menu, and it wasn't his fault that it was already melted! I've never experienced anything as rude! So I went to the bar with the ice cream and told them what happened. The waitress was totally nice and brought the ice cream to the kitchen and after like two minutes I had two new scoops of ice cream. I do have to say, the waiter didn't get a tip from me and I will probably never go back to that cafe. A little later we went to a sushi bar with all you can eat sushi for 12,90 euros. Again we experienced totally rude service and not so good sushi. The selection was crappy in comparison to what they had on the menu, and we got the same things all the time. That's one more place I will never go to again!

Those people who say that Hanover is ugly, haven't ever REALLY been theree!

Well, if you don't consider the bad service, I had a great time in Hanover, all thanks to my amazing friends. I got kind of "home sick", if you can call missing Hanover that. Part of me wished that I could live there again, but then again, there are so many other places I'd like to live, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to enjoy Hanover again as a citizen of the city. But you never know what the future will bring. I will hopefully be finished with my studies in one year, and then I have the world at my feet, and a lot of adventures ahead of me.

A view over the Nazi-lake Maschsee in Hanover (Hitler was the one who commissioned it)

Speaking of adventures, I have one coming up in the near future. This coming weekend Matt and me are going to Venice. We'll be there for four days and hopefully I will have a lot of great stories to tell when I get back. Til then...

Kaisers and other royals

I gotta tell you, flying with another airline than Ryanair feels quite luxurious. I've had the possibility to compare a couple of airline since I'm here, and I do have to say that AirBerlin is not bad when you consider the relatively cheap price. Sure, it isn't quite as cheap as Ryanair, but the service is considerably better. Upon boarding (on European flights) you get to choose from various magazines, the seats are relatively large, they offer a drink and a snack and there is a screen where they show films and tv-series. I was all in all very happy about flying with AirBerlin. When coming back from Southern Germany we flew with easyjet, which could very much be compared with Ryanair.

I love these small streets, it would be great to get to live by one of these some day.

I arrived in Vienna late, my flight landed at half past ten and Alina picked me up. After getting my bag and taking the train to the center, Alina lives in the 3rd district, it was already half past eleven and we were completely exhausted. Very unlike of young girls, we decided to go to bed, so that we could get up early in the morning. Alina lives in a beautiful 4-room-apartment together with two guys, Lex and Benji. Vienna is divided in 23 districts of which the city centre with the royal buildings is the 1st district. Like I said before, Alina lives in the 3rd district, which is also called the embassy district, because most of the embassies are situated there, including the Finnish embassy.

Horror-bathroom in Vienna.

Old-style stairs.

On Saturday our plan was to go see the Spanish Royal Riding School of Vienna. The Lipizzaner horses are on summer holiday at the moment, but they have a practice called "morning work", which takes place from 10-12. I have to give it to the Austrians, they are generous enough to offer a student discount almost everywhere, which of course is amazing. On morning work the riding school gives you a 50 % student discount, and I think on most other events as well. On Thursday 07.07. they would have had a huge ball at the riding school, which made me very sad, since I was there one week to early. The ticket for the ball would have been very expensive, but I'm sure it would have been a night to remember. I decided to do it at some point though. In the future.

I want one of those hats too!

The manege at morning practice.

Birdie watching the horses practice.

After seeing the beautiful white horses (and one black) we were starving, so we headed to the museum quartier to have breakfast. At the Leopold-museum there was a restaurant and they had the most delicious breakfast. We went there on Sunday as well... Upon planning the weekend I had told Alina that I didn't have any other special wishes on the program, except for the riding school, but I didn't want to do shopping. Still we decided to go to the Maria-Hilfer-Straße, which is the main shopping street in Vienna. There was a beautiful church called Mariahilfer Church, from which I somehow got a very Italian feeling. Running around on the shopping street we at some point noticed that it was already late, so we decided to get a coffee at a coffee shop called das Möbel, which means as much as "the piece of furniture". The reason for the name is the fact that you can actually buy the furniture in the cafe. The furniture is made by young designers and the concept is also created by them.

You could call Vienna the city of horses:
they are everywhere, on wall, statues, in shops... You name it!

The yard at the museum quartier was full of colorful plastic sofas where chilling at sunny weather would've been amazing. Well, I guess the weather didn't want me to try that.

The beautiful Mariahilfer Church was built between 1686 and 1689.

The Mariahilfer Church has an impressive wooden altar.

Ambiente of das Möbel.

In the evening we got ready for a night on the town with Alinas friend Amber. After having a few drinks we headed to the Naschmarkt, which is the most popular market in Vienna. It is really big and there are both restaurants and stands where you can buy food. When we got there at about eleven in the evening, all the stands were naturally closed, but there were some restaurants open and we stayed at one which name I don't remember. The food was fantastic though, I had lamb chops with rosemary potatoes and veggies and it was totally delicious. After dinner we went to a club which Alinas colleague had suggested, she had said that it is THE place to go while in Vienna and that it was a must. Well, we were totally disappointed. The club was called Passage and at that night there was the 30 Seconds To Mars after party. We paid 15 euros entrance and it sucked. The music was bad, the people were too drunk and the service was horrible. On the way out I told the guys at the wardrobe that if they wanted to get tips they should help the ladies with their jackets instead of just standing there chatting with each other.

In Vienna there are a lot of funny commercials at the stations.

When we came home the boys were watching a film - well Lex was, Benji was napping on the couch. Alina stayed and watched the movie for a bit, but I went to bed, I was exhausted! I guess I'm getting too old for the party scene...

For Sunday we had planned a big sightseeing tour, but the weather wasn't on our side. We started off with breakfast in Leopold - again. While there it started raining - no pouring, so we ran across the yard to the museum quartier and had a look at the gift shop and the book store. We got an umbrella and I found a great book on photography. Next we headed to the cathedral Stephansdom and had a look inside. It is a very beautiful church, but I liked the Maria Hilfer Church a lot more, because of its simple facade. At that point we noticed getting hungry again so we went to a place called Maschu Maschu to have the best falafel in town. On the way there our NEW umbrella broke down - well spent 10 euros, I was pissed! Amber met us at the restaurant, and she (amazing Amber) brought us each an umbrella. Which naturally resulted in it not raining at all anymore.

Delicious breakfast at Leopold.

At this point we were totally frozen so we decided to go home to get more clothes. On the way we stumbled upon the Hundertwasserhaus that we had planned on seeing anyway. We had a look at this amazing house that was designed by the architects Josef Krawina and Peter Pelikan and the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. It is a beautiful building with 52 apartments, 4 offices, 16 private and 3 shared roof terasses. Unfortunately it isn't possible to see how the building looks like on the inside, since the apartments are private. How amazing would it be to know someone who lives there, that way it would be possible to see how it looks like on the inside. The artist Hundertwasser has designed several other buildings that are also called Hundertwasser houses, but the one in Vienna is the most famous one.

The Hundertwasserhaus has a beautiful colorful facade.

With some warmer clothes we continued to Wiener Prater, which is a a huge public park close to Vienna city centre. The name most likely derives from the Latin word pratum which means meadow, but there are also other more unlikely explanations for of the name. The park is situated in the 2nd district and on one corner of it there is a amusement area called Wurstelprater, which also is the home of the famous ferris wheel, Wiener Riesenrad.

The Wiener Riesenrad was one of the earliest Ferris wheels,
erected in 1897 to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef I's golden jubilee.

Vienna hovering in wind and rain.

Two friends enjoying the warmth of the ferris wheel cabin.

After having dinner at a Balkan restaurant we finished off the evening at the royal part of Vienna having a look at the Hofburg Palace area, which has been the documented seat of government since 1279 for various empires and republics.

The Hofburg Palace was supposed to be built as a round fortress, but the construction
was interrupted by the war, and then they hadn't an empire anymore...

The subway station at the royal area is called Herrengasse,
which means as much as the lords alley.

Vienna is a beautiful city and way too big to discover in just two days. I saw very much, but still there was so much that I didn't see. The history of the Austria and Vienna is amazingly interesting and of grave importance to European history. Austria was a portal between Prussia and Rome and the roots of the royal families go way back. I am sure to go back one day to see more of this beautiful but windy city (with some more clothes the next time...) But firstly I will see to that I watch the Sisi-movies, which give a good look into Austrian history. Finally I have to say that even though the weather wasn't co-operating, I had a great time and fell in love with this charming capital.

Little time and a lot to do.