tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18620802557078046252024-02-18T18:32:04.722-08:00Postcards from SuomiMeg and I are studying abroad in Tampere, Finland for the fall semester. We will be taking classes at the University of Tampere and hopefully traveling all over Europe! Check back for pictures and stories!Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-27422469286008230472009-10-22T19:47:00.000-07:002009-10-22T19:56:42.809-07:00Thinking about getting some TOMS...<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>It is for a good cause, after all. :)<div><br /></div><div>They also seem like a slightly more practical option than flats for winter. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mairal Cordones ($69), Poe TOMS ($54), Ash Canvas TOMS ($44) all from <a href="http://www.tomsshoes.com">TOMS</a></div><div><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_BcMrMTcOrnJUF-8_JUkkgVPBY2JrEyLHlqYIjHEXQYNA-Tvtue7Tk-ppSLyo0fWQeSQcicYm5BKPFycDvvXg-BHTzskF7hCp-cWtdeEDvK7LUC939jxAxk1Y8Pp3xyc2VmTwjiF4wAA/s320/mairal+cordones+69.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395622353425639058" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFUP59S3pKRnPwL5RjlA-yEzbZ_Ku2t1uhbKvjoMDipC2iY7_oHJ-EVv_52gJPaGx2Vx3BWh8HrAuQzeXZ8iIdZf3bzkCpx2yHgiVVcjgIrZRMAS9tC01hruublor366ShqqaGwJlOzxy/s320/poe+toms+54.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395622344787381874" /></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-42855740353479308522008-12-20T01:26:00.000-08:002008-12-20T01:52:14.200-08:00My Goodness, Have a Guiness: A Belated Update from DublinSo it has been a couple weeks now, but Meg and I spent a lovely long weekend in Dublin, Ireland. I have to say it was probably one of the cities I enjoyed the most. It was also comforting to hear people speaking english. I don't think I really thought about it until we got there and it was like "whoa I can actually talk to people and I sort of halfway fit in???"<br /><br />It seems like a really diverse city with people living there from all over the world. I can see why. It is a big city, but it's very manageable and the downtown area is easily walkable. And the people! Everyone we met there was extremely friendly and kind. Even the bus and cab drivers will go out of their way to help you.<br /><br />In between our few days in Dublin, I went on a day-tour across Ireland to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast. It was a pretty spectacular sight when we arrived, but the drive itself was almost as breathtaking. The countryside there is just unspeakably beautiful and green. We also had a hilarious Irish tour guide from Tipperary who randomly burst into songs in his thick Irish accent. It was an enjoyable day, to say the least.<br /><br />There's not too much else to say other than the fact that I had a really good time and I definitely want to return to Ireland in the future. I will let the photos do the rest of the talking. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGoq1WumMEoIL4jQMFcHwpuq2ZBBNt0cwKrziiuYdFZHOHwmlABZItFYdKvXK9wMwVr-50tHdxlVjkgZYhEdybHej2ZJrmHu9WITT9xXrjwZntZO8QrzqFVVjkgKvrhFjOh_fw1XNNRV7/s1600-h/IMG_5612.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGoq1WumMEoIL4jQMFcHwpuq2ZBBNt0cwKrziiuYdFZHOHwmlABZItFYdKvXK9wMwVr-50tHdxlVjkgZYhEdybHej2ZJrmHu9WITT9xXrjwZntZO8QrzqFVVjkgKvrhFjOh_fw1XNNRV7/s400/IMG_5612.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281803710167796834" border="0" /></a>Dublin at night. Bustling.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt3g1baj0z1MKFzbKVMt0c5NWIGTPqayfaktcKYsSkHmRudGgoOKryRuxmi6vykJlHl-l-UiTiyG8NxJE3JNKMMHCYzrYQxbbyhNWs-P8QN4prWTwi11h-8nDnqxHFDHPNipj5TdstgCcV/s1600-h/IMG_5610.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt3g1baj0z1MKFzbKVMt0c5NWIGTPqayfaktcKYsSkHmRudGgoOKryRuxmi6vykJlHl-l-UiTiyG8NxJE3JNKMMHCYzrYQxbbyhNWs-P8QN4prWTwi11h-8nDnqxHFDHPNipj5TdstgCcV/s400/IMG_5610.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281803710380217826" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPe_GdiR34WiQ3ajLvJ0P56Uk2En0a4SrFJw581Mbh_zKvZozC0YK00v_mxZMssmCKBhxAeH9HBeipt_NcvblufrGyGQxa8b8c-VTEo6pCZX4gbyQ_1gplghO4VneT6piDToTjR3DGGS91/s1600-h/IMG_5666.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPe_GdiR34WiQ3ajLvJ0P56Uk2En0a4SrFJw581Mbh_zKvZozC0YK00v_mxZMssmCKBhxAeH9HBeipt_NcvblufrGyGQxa8b8c-VTEo6pCZX4gbyQ_1gplghO4VneT6piDToTjR3DGGS91/s400/IMG_5666.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281803714459884546" border="0" /></a>In the Kilmainham Gaol, a very famous Irish jail.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIRWz5eiOKeIxNBg72NFFLAq6HQqpDavDIIuD3umWDXbWdxojieHtm4PaAWbHY4nFEpPEavn8V9AkYG6qG9WVEaYkR6zoDxLTGZD_VCnaQtYvxl2c3YvStC2ydOyBRGHPSxFg0fZZ97Ppv/s1600-h/IMG_5699.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIRWz5eiOKeIxNBg72NFFLAq6HQqpDavDIIuD3umWDXbWdxojieHtm4PaAWbHY4nFEpPEavn8V9AkYG6qG9WVEaYkR6zoDxLTGZD_VCnaQtYvxl2c3YvStC2ydOyBRGHPSxFg0fZZ97Ppv/s400/IMG_5699.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281803712386594754" border="0" /></a>On our way to the Guinness Storehouse!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGbKZbeNOZkz6xJdzFGUInCYhpqW0AQ_JaStbfHSzjU7-vxTF1GgxiEdN0R0iyJ3b6Y2CEdOjwMFJhN0hrsxTSkN254_SDEL8xSWNhSdeYaF2TgJ0PIHb9R5ElNnJxKCcVxjebnHZCBzC/s1600-h/IMG_5713.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGbKZbeNOZkz6xJdzFGUInCYhpqW0AQ_JaStbfHSzjU7-vxTF1GgxiEdN0R0iyJ3b6Y2CEdOjwMFJhN0hrsxTSkN254_SDEL8xSWNhSdeYaF2TgJ0PIHb9R5ElNnJxKCcVxjebnHZCBzC/s400/IMG_5713.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281803719813838802" border="0" /></a>We tasted the roasted barley and learned all about making beer!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaOdkvsA3ALsl6YlpkAJ3lnaEbVNO9KyyInZpyMznyjFgmeMsDkghglhR2uWOvtMv4mSellhzklSsCTPjgC5j-lI0CEMyt6NpgwUaTfH21ziOWwQKfC0XZML-bGHU-wAOPViyBHEBRK69F/s1600-h/IMG_5748.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaOdkvsA3ALsl6YlpkAJ3lnaEbVNO9KyyInZpyMznyjFgmeMsDkghglhR2uWOvtMv4mSellhzklSsCTPjgC5j-lI0CEMyt6NpgwUaTfH21ziOWwQKfC0XZML-bGHU-wAOPViyBHEBRK69F/s400/IMG_5748.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281804434590467730" border="0" /></a>Eventually we made it to the "Gravity Bar" that looks over Dublin.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1SbioovZJS789ivmDHgBA8ONEhNfdG8cR6D03AyHSl7wASADuRC78YodGsOhsaUX79R7QBBHWF9QcBwK40KfB_TBm6VNZNrbyXE3eN_FL3ofoEa81h9_kIyoEzt03i5St8iCH46praoJ/s1600-h/IMG_5733.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1SbioovZJS789ivmDHgBA8ONEhNfdG8cR6D03AyHSl7wASADuRC78YodGsOhsaUX79R7QBBHWF9QcBwK40KfB_TBm6VNZNrbyXE3eN_FL3ofoEa81h9_kIyoEzt03i5St8iCH46praoJ/s400/IMG_5733.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281804437180168306" border="0" /></a>Waiting for our Guinness.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0TPkbH54Clm7VM4IlXJQ_JKBxm-k_xPquYtLmx9lPhxBITEc5_623DGTrUJmFE9zzVU5qGQfN93ql0uW50jqLUfdgSX7QWuDcg7jJkhDF7c5kdg5NzUfyrNchMySe3ZScKb9g7qJ05HPK/s1600-h/IMG_5740.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0TPkbH54Clm7VM4IlXJQ_JKBxm-k_xPquYtLmx9lPhxBITEc5_623DGTrUJmFE9zzVU5qGQfN93ql0uW50jqLUfdgSX7QWuDcg7jJkhDF7c5kdg5NzUfyrNchMySe3ZScKb9g7qJ05HPK/s400/IMG_5740.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281804434716894434" border="0" /></a>Enjoying my free pint. :)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghO9CWXjGtL_udlFnuLN479v28p9kwRCMGGFhYh6uBEcy2hbrZTMCFs-6v-rK7nyCDmL8mGb3s23Iut-Y-bWbBoD5IK8PbON-SnU5EIiHGGC1cQF4FJ6FTAUFEXICjdCBwGJoXIK1FgTNy/s1600-h/IMG_5787.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghO9CWXjGtL_udlFnuLN479v28p9kwRCMGGFhYh6uBEcy2hbrZTMCFs-6v-rK7nyCDmL8mGb3s23Iut-Y-bWbBoD5IK8PbON-SnU5EIiHGGC1cQF4FJ6FTAUFEXICjdCBwGJoXIK1FgTNy/s400/IMG_5787.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281804440080434802" border="0" /></a>At the National Gallery of Ireland.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1nX7llkvWyG-iD2cFibmFohlUSqgwmT7C1cbFnaINR5YPxcoBcArqkBYXFV-1UQDWdq1kAE9pZEK7jJldWAK2r21sB4iulhPVtB7I23-Eu86Tf8Dp0KU1qH4jYBVkdqOj6ywKWVIM5K0N/s1600-h/IMG_5790.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1nX7llkvWyG-iD2cFibmFohlUSqgwmT7C1cbFnaINR5YPxcoBcArqkBYXFV-1UQDWdq1kAE9pZEK7jJldWAK2r21sB4iulhPVtB7I23-Eu86Tf8Dp0KU1qH4jYBVkdqOj6ywKWVIM5K0N/s400/IMG_5790.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281804446424432418" border="0" /></a>Crazy lights on one of the busy holiday shopping streets.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xA6IUZ3lQ65TJgV49L5VcyDhfB1LAo2rGJvOhyphenhypheneZo0D1zcrumn76vKfFGsQ-bojsQBgOYop-_ydAJ8nrCd2JjFBIedCNPyTEV9ejOhUxR8javTjHPte80deRVplYvyshb8KaWmWnryE-/s1600-h/IMG_5789.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xA6IUZ3lQ65TJgV49L5VcyDhfB1LAo2rGJvOhyphenhypheneZo0D1zcrumn76vKfFGsQ-bojsQBgOYop-_ydAJ8nrCd2JjFBIedCNPyTEV9ejOhUxR8javTjHPte80deRVplYvyshb8KaWmWnryE-/s400/IMG_5789.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281805176368518514" border="0" /></a>So festive!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK8iuWsTG0R0RQbJ2bfxmhVxXA22lwQHET0qjA2bdgB2lLa4C8euWnNkRhjxTC_Eom3hFzmyAzkMwlsL6O-ZXD2WQfJOvWgPV5gtMYp-cZwSKBmPJMHCHCYfbECpNltYg0-W_zYd4s7MaW/s1600-h/IMG_5800.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK8iuWsTG0R0RQbJ2bfxmhVxXA22lwQHET0qjA2bdgB2lLa4C8euWnNkRhjxTC_Eom3hFzmyAzkMwlsL6O-ZXD2WQfJOvWgPV5gtMYp-cZwSKBmPJMHCHCYfbECpNltYg0-W_zYd4s7MaW/s400/IMG_5800.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281805176494795810" border="0" /></a>Behind a convenience store at sunrise on our journey across Ireland.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwHHnCn35Wv2xN0SxYeH-1MV45r0cGz2XJtKcuSmkc1X4ce7vgWpLXqp57ZogDz4IIgAOd9rw9s3Hm-eXAQa-8hmh0SS3qUP-l90DcRN3wro-0AJeAmM_vWtLQzPGoMJx9759lAJTzglg/s1600-h/IMG_5810.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwHHnCn35Wv2xN0SxYeH-1MV45r0cGz2XJtKcuSmkc1X4ce7vgWpLXqp57ZogDz4IIgAOd9rw9s3Hm-eXAQa-8hmh0SS3qUP-l90DcRN3wro-0AJeAmM_vWtLQzPGoMJx9759lAJTzglg/s400/IMG_5810.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281805180520300994" border="0" /></a>Limerick and the river shannon.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk0tk4lNVhiMV4KPUmeYrYNfh1ZabSmgtsASYJfFmNw7jb0ykiMCxmzppOudLPXNytAHnCRPJ20QBcbjMzAuuhFAEQr4ya1aBa8Q9D4EQpePLb5gOuK8ISiKpE8jKGy-MuIIDKF07VowXq/s1600-h/IMG_5822.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk0tk4lNVhiMV4KPUmeYrYNfh1ZabSmgtsASYJfFmNw7jb0ykiMCxmzppOudLPXNytAHnCRPJ20QBcbjMzAuuhFAEQr4ya1aBa8Q9D4EQpePLb5gOuK8ISiKpE8jKGy-MuIIDKF07VowXq/s400/IMG_5822.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281805177455883506" border="0" /></a>The Cliffs of Moher!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0usQ0knGN2SAcZnydckQRlyRuDWOE3g9u4rcXvCYn6aTbAE6GIbFLhvxyfotU2HUWhIM_gtPAuptYmgp88IH8xpWm_5ZtQoDU47jc9VSA8NmnHJ_nV6dCq7NnZ9AWpWyunKSiLM3hQFX/s1600-h/IMG_5821.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0usQ0knGN2SAcZnydckQRlyRuDWOE3g9u4rcXvCYn6aTbAE6GIbFLhvxyfotU2HUWhIM_gtPAuptYmgp88IH8xpWm_5ZtQoDU47jc9VSA8NmnHJ_nV6dCq7NnZ9AWpWyunKSiLM3hQFX/s400/IMG_5821.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281805181215714594" border="0" /></a>At the windy, windy cliffs.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIYwFzIFcjwXJxl7MLXEjf7pvvA1I20tMN1kQmZBcI4RCITdpWLdKH4tE92XDEshv5wrso70sSxnn50teI1PlJiEgUMbflYtCZTpmEupMEea9yCC1zwOD847MG9yRk_IAFaGHBtIVNWRE/s1600-h/IMG_5857.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIYwFzIFcjwXJxl7MLXEjf7pvvA1I20tMN1kQmZBcI4RCITdpWLdKH4tE92XDEshv5wrso70sSxnn50teI1PlJiEgUMbflYtCZTpmEupMEea9yCC1zwOD847MG9yRk_IAFaGHBtIVNWRE/s400/IMG_5857.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281805878108083298" border="0" /></a>Other view from the Cliffs. So pretty.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsQ54f-wtmvz9uI-A7Uk9z5F0VXtBLFcnP38h-nfKLnBs-xwFWhvlPIw8mZCCri7-MCddXxgehQ4G4DRCR9i5iTy2oewSOItd_mpH0enFlOzHO8Cb0ZzWth5ZAu2-jPjZZCJ3kdHre4LY/s1600-h/IMG_5893.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsQ54f-wtmvz9uI-A7Uk9z5F0VXtBLFcnP38h-nfKLnBs-xwFWhvlPIw8mZCCri7-MCddXxgehQ4G4DRCR9i5iTy2oewSOItd_mpH0enFlOzHO8Cb0ZzWth5ZAu2-jPjZZCJ3kdHre4LY/s400/IMG_5893.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281805932114007698" border="0" /></a>In Doolin, where we stopped for a lovely lunch of seafood chowder.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGKlBD4yn6v9JAVAVsS_M38KOz3YGArskqLmATjEHroE6kyrScaay8pO7vlj8zibzcxCf8T3_I6UbQ1cgY2PSmqv2p71-w5Yz01CwHx8FKtpN71EKIXTUyfyuz6d8EgtFRduPoLmw2mAr/s1600-h/DSCN3675.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGKlBD4yn6v9JAVAVsS_M38KOz3YGArskqLmATjEHroE6kyrScaay8pO7vlj8zibzcxCf8T3_I6UbQ1cgY2PSmqv2p71-w5Yz01CwHx8FKtpN71EKIXTUyfyuz6d8EgtFRduPoLmw2mAr/s400/DSCN3675.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281806223956235954" border="0" /></a>Wandering around Doolin.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixULjRh6v7Mher8YTCxu8NsMGAQ8obkIhEE7nNjc1ZxAAGj4ucWP_f-ZSl0CFom5U4gjHYoXb5CB-_S8fjge9wBKiFKXNVmOOWJ9LCopHKoUTEJP7i6fNQf-RxdSoUYLLnPyvyTOX6BHS5/s1600-h/IMG_5912.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixULjRh6v7Mher8YTCxu8NsMGAQ8obkIhEE7nNjc1ZxAAGj4ucWP_f-ZSl0CFom5U4gjHYoXb5CB-_S8fjge9wBKiFKXNVmOOWJ9LCopHKoUTEJP7i6fNQf-RxdSoUYLLnPyvyTOX6BHS5/s400/IMG_5912.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281805935914418610" border="0" /></a>The Burren. Some crazy rock deposit. A natural phenomenon I guess.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjma3pYWmWz4hdGOfOiCyOSlCSF3ZEg5OElW0TGgr3NAMEvcyAYoARLQ7xhMWEc9kpLX5XHPkKCpx0bFGsAsyOInos0d91VeyASicepvom2GvOWELCbjPDveZqjhSFAgJyUCpkCJF9eFyA7/s1600-h/IMG_5923.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjma3pYWmWz4hdGOfOiCyOSlCSF3ZEg5OElW0TGgr3NAMEvcyAYoARLQ7xhMWEc9kpLX5XHPkKCpx0bFGsAsyOInos0d91VeyASicepvom2GvOWELCbjPDveZqjhSFAgJyUCpkCJF9eFyA7/s400/IMG_5923.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281805941540591042" border="0" /></a>The Burren.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4E_sEKLQsQpEGc_7PRf4ovxlzdwup5RXv7OGGdmX6tQk2M6LkfP7fUn0BkHXoIhENDlNOW8cIa1Q83hbqRdz9i4uTzeAskKcVdHbxPhHJEK2tYb-Iyg3ivzED45fIhLqkxV3mhdkXljLk/s1600-h/DSCN3678.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4E_sEKLQsQpEGc_7PRf4ovxlzdwup5RXv7OGGdmX6tQk2M6LkfP7fUn0BkHXoIhENDlNOW8cIa1Q83hbqRdz9i4uTzeAskKcVdHbxPhHJEK2tYb-Iyg3ivzED45fIhLqkxV3mhdkXljLk/s400/DSCN3678.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281806227353516402" border="0" /></a>It was windy there, too. Eek!<br /><br />That's all folks! So long for now.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-69789049395383416032008-12-18T13:32:00.000-08:002008-12-18T13:35:03.942-08:00Last Days in EuropeIt's been a while, I know. Things have been busy and classes are finally over. Since my last post I have finished up school here in Finland and been on trips to both Dublin and Paris. Both were lovely and soon enough I will post some photos, but that might not happen for a few days. I just got back from Paris and I now have two days to pack up my entire life and head back to Portland. I am just ITCHING to be back home. It's going to be a marathon to get back there, but in three days I will have done it, somehow.<br /><br />Anyway, I promise a post or two soon, but it might have to wait until after my recovery. :)Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-39517871085169619112008-11-29T09:31:00.000-08:002008-11-29T11:00:10.099-08:00Beyond the Arctic Circle...Last weekend we went to Lapland! It was definitely the most unique trip I have been on here and it was definitely the highlight of actually being here in Finland. It was so beautiful, it was kind of like Planet Earth in real life.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 1</span><br /><br />We took an overnight train from Tampere to Rovaniemi and arrived there early in the morning. We (meaning about 45 students from our school) hopped on a coach bus that took us to a grocery store where we could buy some food for the next four days. And of course, it was freezing! And white everywhere. We got back on the bus and drove for about an hour until we officially crossed the Arctic Circle and ended up at Santa Claus Village! If you picture a 'winter wonderland,' that's pretty much what it looked like. There were lots of little adorable shops selling traditional Lapland crafts, and cute little cafes. We made a stop at the Santa Claus Main Post Office, haha, to mail some postcards officially from beyond the arctic. They get a special stamp, you know. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNX5L9FiBXDsQVRM1VY16voD8zrPIM4wvf6cF1Pa20glTkU1J5_Kkb7quRukSQRnZzaV6EIUpxxSTQj04WT1uEt1g0Jepkw4uDIMKO_wuUhGXgCrXzMWD-xufWObpZH9SHLxB2WWe_vObx/s1600-h/DSCN3507.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNX5L9FiBXDsQVRM1VY16voD8zrPIM4wvf6cF1Pa20glTkU1J5_Kkb7quRukSQRnZzaV6EIUpxxSTQj04WT1uEt1g0Jepkw4uDIMKO_wuUhGXgCrXzMWD-xufWObpZH9SHLxB2WWe_vObx/s400/DSCN3507.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274148495843822898" border="0" /></a>Santa Claus Post Office.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83ajocj8d9zoz16CTX2qPDtZ2dgfMGfhJ95zA6xQA7D0wav8a7uC_Nosh5xQ8caRjrixqxGuUK4v3TR8VQu752X_X7wKTrtWkwhfvnLcdVf8dB9cx2t8xFeWPHiaAQA99vclrsyPQOH-J/s1600-h/IMG_4764.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83ajocj8d9zoz16CTX2qPDtZ2dgfMGfhJ95zA6xQA7D0wav8a7uC_Nosh5xQ8caRjrixqxGuUK4v3TR8VQu752X_X7wKTrtWkwhfvnLcdVf8dB9cx2t8xFeWPHiaAQA99vclrsyPQOH-J/s400/IMG_4764.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274148502635592818" border="0" /></a>At Santa Claus Village! Winter wonderland!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YyqkvQP1Kcp-sCxSq5zAGHfpb8uzFhobHv0x3OhFyTLBw75gKqpFPeY6_GxN5a_BswxqPGo4OAedgt6SqmfEHecCj3rS9akSjcWplUvPuKhtkNhpLHjkP3snes1yr5bSh8CTHL0wag5G/s1600-h/IMG_4762.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YyqkvQP1Kcp-sCxSq5zAGHfpb8uzFhobHv0x3OhFyTLBw75gKqpFPeY6_GxN5a_BswxqPGo4OAedgt6SqmfEHecCj3rS9akSjcWplUvPuKhtkNhpLHjkP3snes1yr5bSh8CTHL0wag5G/s400/IMG_4762.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274148508586520194" border="0" /></a>It's official. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Y4DmVK7VgTgd-iJ0muwuy_7slV4azjTrN3HkEZcr8gPqxj5Q2StzfZPGCbHLUxXaqk366nLboyPs0WS4-1pBr0Wf5NL9FGmY2tRjPhe08WT8Is5Qd-M2pYqQiS6UhHjStuQ4XGmxiJhY/s1600-h/IMG_4807.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Y4DmVK7VgTgd-iJ0muwuy_7slV4azjTrN3HkEZcr8gPqxj5Q2StzfZPGCbHLUxXaqk366nLboyPs0WS4-1pBr0Wf5NL9FGmY2tRjPhe08WT8Is5Qd-M2pYqQiS6UhHjStuQ4XGmxiJhY/s400/IMG_4807.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274148509409798466" border="0" /></a><br />We spent a couple hours there and I wandered about taking photos and such, then we got back on the bus to head to our final destination, Korvala. Now, Korvala is not actually a town, but really just a settlement by one family that includes their personal home, a main building, and about ten little cottages looking over a beautiful frozen lake. The same family has run the place since 1889 and the main building is over 100 years old. When we arrived, Jaana (the wife) and one of her children helped give us the lay of the land and reminded us to wear warm hats because in the arctic your brain can freeze without you knowing. :)<br /><br />I think we were all in awe of how nice Korvala was. It would be an amazing place to have a family vacation. The family who runs it was adorable and friendly and they all spoke excellent english, even the children. I shared a small cottage with Sebastian, Meg, Birte, and Nelly. Veronika signed up for the trip a little late, but she was just next door so she came to visit often. We got settled in our cottages and then went out to brave the cold and meet some husky dogs! The owners have at least 20 of their own huskies, but most of them are still puppies, so they don't "work." Jaana and Seppo (the husband) brought in some working huskies who could take us on some sleigh rides around the snowy forest. Unfortunately the sleigh kind of broke before it was my turn, but it was fun to watch anyway. We also met Hopsu, who is the family's dog. She is a young Lap Hound, and possibly the most adorable thing on earth. I wanted to take her home.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2Obxaa1HerMgx4drztIw7jRrTTXFDlflFqQg_fuYDw6nZfiENEJwQ-HITBYh8X5KgkpwFhl69yJVMYeIpulJEI_ItQCozn2IDO4-DiRsPwkeQ8bkOXvODlxDJuWAnGr52VCgopNQDx6J/s1600-h/IMG_4838.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2Obxaa1HerMgx4drztIw7jRrTTXFDlflFqQg_fuYDw6nZfiENEJwQ-HITBYh8X5KgkpwFhl69yJVMYeIpulJEI_ItQCozn2IDO4-DiRsPwkeQ8bkOXvODlxDJuWAnGr52VCgopNQDx6J/s400/IMG_4838.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274149830938646466" border="0" /></a>Hopsu! My favorite!!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBy48eq5Ttajqo8lxqDHx1ICcL4LgCAluvtjFdkWqV5PUuxlZ77SfLTEi8EujStcPP6x_wpJ3yV3jI80Ey2Wo6jznuX1c-7AhpigNcMLNSlMxs_MxT5uZ5-kjhVyoiLaJiYMd2Qm0OE-0/s1600-h/IMG_4851.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBy48eq5Ttajqo8lxqDHx1ICcL4LgCAluvtjFdkWqV5PUuxlZ77SfLTEi8EujStcPP6x_wpJ3yV3jI80Ey2Wo6jznuX1c-7AhpigNcMLNSlMxs_MxT5uZ5-kjhVyoiLaJiYMd2Qm0OE-0/s400/IMG_4851.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274149833600363250" border="0" /></a>Our adorable little red cottage.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyT4T7Yyox-lwaDIDR4tyuRGgK6Z1lqMf2FOaJcpX6KwfsWxFiIHTfdIwI9DF49km7Lhpg7GVcwZjHjGZJ3pozz2JwOGFYxNnxbom7ETx5GGFzDN2Gnce2QqwnH9KfzuaB9ZRNP1mCX0M/s1600-h/IMG_4879.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyT4T7Yyox-lwaDIDR4tyuRGgK6Z1lqMf2FOaJcpX6KwfsWxFiIHTfdIwI9DF49km7Lhpg7GVcwZjHjGZJ3pozz2JwOGFYxNnxbom7ETx5GGFzDN2Gnce2QqwnH9KfzuaB9ZRNP1mCX0M/s400/IMG_4879.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274149835381652530" border="0" /></a>The huskies!<br /><br />We were all even more in awe when we made it to dinner that evening. We had dinner in the main building, which is a gorgeous old house with handmade wooden tables and benches, candle light and the whole bit. Alfred, the oldest son (he might be 9), had the job of lighting all the candles before dinner. Seppo made us delicious homemade meatballs with mashed potatoes, gravy and vegetables along with a delicious salad. Best food I have had in months! For dessert we had warm lingonberry soup made with lingonberries that they picked in the forest surrounding the lake. Pretty cool. Also, delicious.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju6eiDkOXFkkNqb-Z5xQXvQYLpVLVMR9u8u1mdzO3BLm-UYWGjSxLYYGqG2nca8vFtDznF6TDBWBXrW12eOSOEh1Gqvwd4TU5as3uCOwwCXOfeO7ZAL9K1ER6fmhFiB9LyAiw7-nQVNlCf/s1600-h/DSCN3550.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju6eiDkOXFkkNqb-Z5xQXvQYLpVLVMR9u8u1mdzO3BLm-UYWGjSxLYYGqG2nca8vFtDznF6TDBWBXrW12eOSOEh1Gqvwd4TU5as3uCOwwCXOfeO7ZAL9K1ER6fmhFiB9LyAiw7-nQVNlCf/s400/DSCN3550.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274148498002266946" border="0" /></a>Lingonberry soup, yum.<br /><br />After dinner we returned to the cabin for a few games of "Sorry" and some drinks before bed. I bought hot chocolate mix to the cottages and Meg bought some "Minttu" alchohol at the grocery store. Just add a little mint to the hot chocolate and it warms you right up! Yummm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTpW0go-GNSRDrELBp8fNxIlI3kWgFF3gJ4bOPuIiMLWtCYvSeXXdJNDNmB3qWrxHtk4maAULRTk-Kfi4CjEkjmP1NUmUI-IvcSiDZ6Xzycz7YnB7Kk7irN9DyG-ZcIvohigr-CWcCtLw/s1600-h/DSCN3564.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTpW0go-GNSRDrELBp8fNxIlI3kWgFF3gJ4bOPuIiMLWtCYvSeXXdJNDNmB3qWrxHtk4maAULRTk-Kfi4CjEkjmP1NUmUI-IvcSiDZ6Xzycz7YnB7Kk7irN9DyG-ZcIvohigr-CWcCtLw/s400/DSCN3564.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274151855613945138" border="0" /></a>"Sorry!"- Game time<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 2</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAJFs3iO1mbFJCagT3PV4zsJLNs-En502pJHfEVZXUzVWdYRWVsKtUkXiMHyqVxzAOpI5vhSIupPWY2KHsOmN7p6VxJuF8FxkQjZV6f4U3-kbuczX6tZM_7GX6ucup5GQvymt5RSEDzC7/s1600-h/IMG_4900.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAJFs3iO1mbFJCagT3PV4zsJLNs-En502pJHfEVZXUzVWdYRWVsKtUkXiMHyqVxzAOpI5vhSIupPWY2KHsOmN7p6VxJuF8FxkQjZV6f4U3-kbuczX6tZM_7GX6ucup5GQvymt5RSEDzC7/s400/IMG_4900.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274149842310489474" border="0" /></a>Dawn over the lake at...9 am. Really!<br /><br />We woke up in time to get some breakfast in the main building, also impressive and delicious, before heading out into the forest on a hike/skiing adventure. I couldn't ski because my travel insurance evidently doesn't cover skiing (thanks, mom!), so I wore snowshoes instead. This worked out better for me because 1) I can take photos while walking on snowshoes, and 2) The trails were pretty rough on the skiiers anyway. There are pathways in the forest behind the cottages so we made our way along the paths for about two and a half hours before returning to the lake at Korvala. I took so many photos on the hike, it's probably embarrassing, but everything was just so beautiful. You could be walking through the snowy forest and all of a sudden you would just happen upon this massive frozen lake covered in snow, or a stretch of little mini christmas trees as far as the eye can see.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4d6ApNkmzeOOmHrWumZnTViOgnPlyt0jZ5FC9rFe_RM9wvV4utWelzQv7HgILYAWDQTHsFWVlUOYyfwQHJvXAzDrvxblU7zdOs8LBc9SH_OuUINKNZk9lv6mAH2ySPe5PAI0m6ToPv9u/s1600-h/IMG_4956.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4d6ApNkmzeOOmHrWumZnTViOgnPlyt0jZ5FC9rFe_RM9wvV4utWelzQv7HgILYAWDQTHsFWVlUOYyfwQHJvXAzDrvxblU7zdOs8LBc9SH_OuUINKNZk9lv6mAH2ySPe5PAI0m6ToPv9u/s400/IMG_4956.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274149847338377474" border="0" /></a>Heading into the forest! Pretty!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGS8fhwzcauzMkg3v5nFltrZqQAFkAC3Hjc12gSurJWpOSvPrWQQFKMMERcRJXG8fqZ1Kqmo7mzKJFBGIv12WaaLCXspEptrrNjly5Kv-h-AlSYld94Z2bRVn7aItfGw0hoHHXSMzEtICx/s1600-h/IMG_4967.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGS8fhwzcauzMkg3v5nFltrZqQAFkAC3Hjc12gSurJWpOSvPrWQQFKMMERcRJXG8fqZ1Kqmo7mzKJFBGIv12WaaLCXspEptrrNjly5Kv-h-AlSYld94Z2bRVn7aItfGw0hoHHXSMzEtICx/s400/IMG_4967.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274150842907409922" border="0" /></a>In my snowshoes and ready to go!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHaxVrDhHbSsM1XWB2E69HBaf9UH_dnx7gkDqTby1qvu4KAO-A9VlWYCP1NayZxBKciXWIPawfhx9faJwXHYgp7SsZEXvZl6X2Kw7G8syw7Qr41A9lSXjI0p9G0D6n2LCltQH1shgsTwr/s1600-h/IMG_5095.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHaxVrDhHbSsM1XWB2E69HBaf9UH_dnx7gkDqTby1qvu4KAO-A9VlWYCP1NayZxBKciXWIPawfhx9faJwXHYgp7SsZEXvZl6X2Kw7G8syw7Qr41A9lSXjI0p9G0D6n2LCltQH1shgsTwr/s400/IMG_5095.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274150848620872130" border="0" /></a>Across the lake we go.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3fogYCcQ_bE-eRMOedPKTOrDDSq9zrNhdrQEDGRNADvKtTnncfCDqPzbGTN2jJSb5UrgDRStCbM77yzcI5b4rSfUze6ivzFpCw3fuy21IkUVdIqbElr1Pu4n15ciQ6qBG1FRyq7voWuX/s1600-h/IMG_5006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3fogYCcQ_bE-eRMOedPKTOrDDSq9zrNhdrQEDGRNADvKtTnncfCDqPzbGTN2jJSb5UrgDRStCbM77yzcI5b4rSfUze6ivzFpCw3fuy21IkUVdIqbElr1Pu4n15ciQ6qBG1FRyq7voWuX/s400/IMG_5006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274150841539998226" border="0" /></a>The girls.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX3iGtYWUZPFXEWmKfU4SXKmqc_ejWlzlHGpDi8u9Lmian6JkDyf5QoZ3I0huIGKBsaxTmeSOxboVWO5DeO94sx-MHtoOmOotuH9wxjWr5c8LXTWmOnXgkLNv-MYFuGEFGydCh2qqi7fE7/s1600-h/IMG_5123.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX3iGtYWUZPFXEWmKfU4SXKmqc_ejWlzlHGpDi8u9Lmian6JkDyf5QoZ3I0huIGKBsaxTmeSOxboVWO5DeO94sx-MHtoOmOotuH9wxjWr5c8LXTWmOnXgkLNv-MYFuGEFGydCh2qqi7fE7/s400/IMG_5123.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274150848734085154" border="0" /></a>Back at Korvala.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP_CQ0UKAtSZ3vC-wz6tGrG2CG2HNsg5XnjB8Uz9LOMPsNSz-xgI1aMulMSLFDUojk6W89N5kZskXMLAQMx2jgS5dxXh0AwcEtyCwdhATOzUtXnkAfQPHV1GHtAwzg5-YP_P9JE2fHFiOM/s1600-h/IMG_5149.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP_CQ0UKAtSZ3vC-wz6tGrG2CG2HNsg5XnjB8Uz9LOMPsNSz-xgI1aMulMSLFDUojk6W89N5kZskXMLAQMx2jgS5dxXh0AwcEtyCwdhATOzUtXnkAfQPHV1GHtAwzg5-YP_P9JE2fHFiOM/s400/IMG_5149.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274150851699605970" border="0" /></a><br />We were supposed to go on a long husky sleigh ride, but unfortunately the people cancelled because there wasn't enough snow on the paths. It's hard to believe because I think there was at least two feet of snow, but I guess it's too hard to control the dogs unless the snow is really deep. I was dissapointed about that, but what can you do? We ended up heading over to the dog pen in the afternoon to help Jaana take a few of the dogs for a walk. It was fun to see the dogs get all rigged up on the harnesses, but two of them were really nervous and whiny because it was their first time out. Veronika had a harness around her waist with two female dogs. Of course, she didn't really walk them, more like they pulled her as everyone ran.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLvPN-HbW24-6Ngwe__1xJ0o5KOOWvGdaJzQU0uqDlvx1HdZXiEhWUxI8FJt2qM91c4fc_gAGwRtLGF7hUOLQIX8LG3SqzM4I_JLsIyZWpaf0Sp5aTb3yfWgiS77HVvBa7pO_zyoQLwHku/s1600-h/IMG_5207.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLvPN-HbW24-6Ngwe__1xJ0o5KOOWvGdaJzQU0uqDlvx1HdZXiEhWUxI8FJt2qM91c4fc_gAGwRtLGF7hUOLQIX8LG3SqzM4I_JLsIyZWpaf0Sp5aTb3yfWgiS77HVvBa7pO_zyoQLwHku/s400/IMG_5207.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274151840056979634" border="0" /></a>Taking the doggies for a 'walk.'<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUu9G0Az2o2S0S6F98CBf_p5VGfaaIyCuOL6ovnnL2StE-tPKPxa8a1OyGzLidl9kC0q_OQo7r-jhwu2SBn_wBdwsblVtsNHoMwgCR0KWCEuBDvrKcSTGYqQHH83WSC1X3SBN0BqlY56-Q/s1600-h/IMG_5197.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUu9G0Az2o2S0S6F98CBf_p5VGfaaIyCuOL6ovnnL2StE-tPKPxa8a1OyGzLidl9kC0q_OQo7r-jhwu2SBn_wBdwsblVtsNHoMwgCR0KWCEuBDvrKcSTGYqQHH83WSC1X3SBN0BqlY56-Q/s400/IMG_5197.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274151832066927778" border="0" /></a>Somewhere in there we attempted to ice-fish. It was rather boring and no one caught anything, but we did drill a hole in the ice.<br /><br />After a few more games of "Sorry" we had another delicious dinner at the main building. It was Meg's birthday so we celebrated back at the cottage with a few drinks. Unfortunately for me, it turned into more than a few drinks after I went to bed at midnight (my bed was in the very small main room) and I was stuck awake until 3 am trying to drowned out the noise with my ipod. I hate not being able to go to sleep when you are so exhausted.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 3</span><br /><br />We took the bus after breakfast to the Pyha ski resort about an hour away. A bunch of us didn't want to ski (very expensive and only one run), but we figured there would be other things to do there. Not really. We did see some wild Reindeer when we got off the bus, so that was pretty cool. Nelly and I stayed after the group moved on and took some photos. I think we probably got within ten feet of some of them. They are much smaller than I would have thought, but really exquisite creatures. I am really glad we saw some of them in the wild.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XoLIkKXwi9n-7YJMCKl3Q8AmSnHTpU0x90CR7mb_gERMk4Zq2XmntAfp6BFYzUxQNuohuDMdytMxmHU7m4fQus_f7kOn8E2VJbpO9EQCdPfm2l-M0px7mm-V5ySkonz2Wejnw52yJsJl/s1600-h/IMG_5224.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XoLIkKXwi9n-7YJMCKl3Q8AmSnHTpU0x90CR7mb_gERMk4Zq2XmntAfp6BFYzUxQNuohuDMdytMxmHU7m4fQus_f7kOn8E2VJbpO9EQCdPfm2l-M0px7mm-V5ySkonz2Wejnw52yJsJl/s400/IMG_5224.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274151843735986002" border="0" /></a>The beautiful wild Reindeer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnGLCx6E4G0cXAGCNxW_Rm0fD2GpGqMhCEoyf7Xpu5tgFXSDLlDrnK0poAkQ6ACEqV6aNIJ9zXYnYsCS7x77cW4pRh9VrFZDJ7VVT1Vo5rxL1XqzORxsCB_a20lSczVvnFWOZw7hsjqlQ/s1600-h/IMG_5229.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnGLCx6E4G0cXAGCNxW_Rm0fD2GpGqMhCEoyf7Xpu5tgFXSDLlDrnK0poAkQ6ACEqV6aNIJ9zXYnYsCS7x77cW4pRh9VrFZDJ7VVT1Vo5rxL1XqzORxsCB_a20lSczVvnFWOZw7hsjqlQ/s400/IMG_5229.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274151853084975234" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjegYv7qGlM9FVz7A1oIB3qQtdjJDz3nIV53ZSvDHWOm-W3DwE8jimnyuoTe2bHOFfpu-IuOO0oPX3Iglg_TeGKm6DpzATTAOyEQkxcMxKQJhr_-k8BoCpIPufaba7GyvJKvuHBO3F-9h6O/s1600-h/IMG_5257.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjegYv7qGlM9FVz7A1oIB3qQtdjJDz3nIV53ZSvDHWOm-W3DwE8jimnyuoTe2bHOFfpu-IuOO0oPX3Iglg_TeGKm6DpzATTAOyEQkxcMxKQJhr_-k8BoCpIPufaba7GyvJKvuHBO3F-9h6O/s400/IMG_5257.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274152887095298690" border="0" /></a>At the ski resort.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWXkSM-pDRnVlQAPzJYUMjrCgtlOC_VGdC5_ZNMiUdIBGKR6gNnHIQIX4RdxoFQO5ZxgKFG5pI5Wy_MjYSNih9UKvatPOZG4E46SRG5Q9Infey3JtCf3aPOtIhSKq5Ausxok9lFVaHi-t/s1600-h/IMG_5278.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWXkSM-pDRnVlQAPzJYUMjrCgtlOC_VGdC5_ZNMiUdIBGKR6gNnHIQIX4RdxoFQO5ZxgKFG5pI5Wy_MjYSNih9UKvatPOZG4E46SRG5Q9Infey3JtCf3aPOtIhSKq5Ausxok9lFVaHi-t/s400/IMG_5278.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274152892723933106" border="0" /></a>And...we finally make it up to the bar. Phew.<br /><br />So because we didn't ski, our only option was to hike up the hill for about an hour to get to the bar in the middle of the run. We had a few more mint hot chocolates and just hung out. Eventually we got hungry so we headed over to the Ski Bistro for some Reindeer Burgers. Yum.<br />We didn't get back to Korvala until about dinner time, and we were surprised to find that our last dinner at Korvala would be....Reindeer! Haha. Reindeer Reindeer everywhere. Anyway, it was delicious as usual. We were all sad to know that we wouldn't be getting any more of Seppo's delicious meals.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 4</span><br /><br />Last day in Korvala and I think all of us wanted to stay just a little bit longer. After breakfast we went over to the lake to see some more Reindeer! A Reindeer herder had brought about six Reindeer to give us sleigh rides. He was very nice and told us about each of the Reindeer and their personalities and such. We got to pet them and feed them and I got to take lots of photos. They really are beautiful. I didn't want to leave.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPfAHjlzKsSzrWeoD_Greol6FXiHxJrl21ly4S4tt39HJuIqfdUTwQjfvoGkO_dki-arS6aJnWedD_8EyYogJAHg6W7yv_HhxPOiZMZ8QEU6Ch1gAjkw5jvYcvQxxeEegptH8X5wp4Q3F/s1600-h/IMG_5326.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPfAHjlzKsSzrWeoD_Greol6FXiHxJrl21ly4S4tt39HJuIqfdUTwQjfvoGkO_dki-arS6aJnWedD_8EyYogJAHg6W7yv_HhxPOiZMZ8QEU6Ch1gAjkw5jvYcvQxxeEegptH8X5wp4Q3F/s400/IMG_5326.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274152893712862978" border="0" /></a>This is the King of the herd.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP83mySMvSXI89TaYrcUIAG7t878xs3MYfUjqzdyqougGdQZc3gTuQ1qXW-xTGtOHQkS2H1ZHf2o97xyozi4-vuELtL5Kw7aFf2m_GUJUWWjlwoCROqlDKyvBPG4D5rh2WpHye6xD6G91z/s1600-h/IMG_5334.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP83mySMvSXI89TaYrcUIAG7t878xs3MYfUjqzdyqougGdQZc3gTuQ1qXW-xTGtOHQkS2H1ZHf2o97xyozi4-vuELtL5Kw7aFf2m_GUJUWWjlwoCROqlDKyvBPG4D5rh2WpHye6xD6G91z/s400/IMG_5334.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274152894866039442" border="0" /></a>They are very gentle with humans.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk5yAwkXQd-x6TMCmjfhx5ElfjhblFRx246OypRmJMTfaghXBj-m__2J2EL3bJuvxtvEIcd7MHjgJxnm64ZV4DMwM6Ur73BJLuE-LI1zelQhCRKi_Npyd6Uf2K7e1oiB_Z1h2yZlUk3uUQ/s1600-h/IMG_5425.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk5yAwkXQd-x6TMCmjfhx5ElfjhblFRx246OypRmJMTfaghXBj-m__2J2EL3bJuvxtvEIcd7MHjgJxnm64ZV4DMwM6Ur73BJLuE-LI1zelQhCRKi_Npyd6Uf2K7e1oiB_Z1h2yZlUk3uUQ/s400/IMG_5425.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274152896936531986" border="0" /></a>This was a really shy teenaged Reindeer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirY216b1CHGvHXt-PRuWMjlJX27smvqcqt78nJ6ZJ3DcHxvclixSWIin6pbheZzgIJhRHMm79Low1WcMYRWJNJKqNyByolBrfSKFshxVPQlZZ5R_rEbYwxnflhZYNE9UZCqm2VYofC81P8/s1600-h/IMG_5439.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirY216b1CHGvHXt-PRuWMjlJX27smvqcqt78nJ6ZJ3DcHxvclixSWIin6pbheZzgIJhRHMm79Low1WcMYRWJNJKqNyByolBrfSKFshxVPQlZZ5R_rEbYwxnflhZYNE9UZCqm2VYofC81P8/s400/IMG_5439.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274154188506807938" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXg55wLVGzu487Jg6onECQbc5vLYqD2Ra5xeZM0S8PvH78G5QYNdKOhYKoj-QflO1Y7DbVPNzHBfnJZi6fZcHZwFQHG_t_MovdQhZyvvYzoyUsEbZ1LYRkFS9ugxI1kDTZXU8g6uv5sWG/s1600-h/IMG_5442.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXg55wLVGzu487Jg6onECQbc5vLYqD2Ra5xeZM0S8PvH78G5QYNdKOhYKoj-QflO1Y7DbVPNzHBfnJZi6fZcHZwFQHG_t_MovdQhZyvvYzoyUsEbZ1LYRkFS9ugxI1kDTZXU8g6uv5sWG/s400/IMG_5442.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274154193270872130" border="0" /></a>I think he was sneezing??<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQ0jMDagOWmi5dNHgrAaWUVPc6Z_x4-nmONc7-OvfwhyxyimuqHy59R9M_n9hpSuSuPbYw7IrCQ804qotr15wi1GBqpey4ayhHIRXGyc8tzks_US8BiudC-wuzIU9qjbYrVQKEmohq793/s1600-h/IMG_5469.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQ0jMDagOWmi5dNHgrAaWUVPc6Z_x4-nmONc7-OvfwhyxyimuqHy59R9M_n9hpSuSuPbYw7IrCQ804qotr15wi1GBqpey4ayhHIRXGyc8tzks_US8BiudC-wuzIU9qjbYrVQKEmohq793/s400/IMG_5469.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274154201305665026" border="0" /></a><br />We decided to go say goodbye to all the dogs before we left on the bus at 2 pm. I was sad to leave them, it was fun to have them around to go see. I had to say goodbye to Hopsu, my favorite doggie, and that was very sad. She was just too cute! Eventually we packed up, said goodbye to the family, and hopped back on the bus to head back to Rovaniemi for a few hours before our train back to Tampere.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXLC1ihID_FDt26funw0Xw2e385WA-hk-NHntmtB8Zxe1SHxVMkV_5mScbwxiY6d2hM886tVZ5FAr2tODW47Ivv1HqChCGwTFuS8SJXYNlPVRW7marI9ZsUviRYBI6Pkn-CoCIkXaKYNf/s1600-h/IMG_5510.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXLC1ihID_FDt26funw0Xw2e385WA-hk-NHntmtB8Zxe1SHxVMkV_5mScbwxiY6d2hM886tVZ5FAr2tODW47Ivv1HqChCGwTFuS8SJXYNlPVRW7marI9ZsUviRYBI6Pkn-CoCIkXaKYNf/s400/IMG_5510.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274154207652448306" border="0" /></a>Saying goodbye to Hopsu. :(<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheAJm1pVCzfFawO_297aB6QlVfHH1CuOci1PUjL94ZdEDNfLnUn8GHh6yWwLQyeQqKLUCP0DXpvZaQDkG3x8w8oVrRSNVwoSltCd0axO-thm3AnDtzX6hrRaPCIagHV9ROb8Majh6I8mJ3/s1600-h/IMG_5526.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheAJm1pVCzfFawO_297aB6QlVfHH1CuOci1PUjL94ZdEDNfLnUn8GHh6yWwLQyeQqKLUCP0DXpvZaQDkG3x8w8oVrRSNVwoSltCd0axO-thm3AnDtzX6hrRaPCIagHV9ROb8Majh6I8mJ3/s400/IMG_5526.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274154208892207234" border="0" /></a>Bye doggies!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHbyoE7kPzF5AqfKL9ZKNcAuthcjsyXZqwD2OqXgbCIwsIf6uMDOZxI__l4oLJ8RrrnMb_hvV0Zn4abKYt5qobbstKR7GN4uICIYq282RZRP5HhbkkjBxzbX4nUSWBW1voyhjxib8i41Y/s1600-h/IMG_5529.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHbyoE7kPzF5AqfKL9ZKNcAuthcjsyXZqwD2OqXgbCIwsIf6uMDOZxI__l4oLJ8RrrnMb_hvV0Zn4abKYt5qobbstKR7GN4uICIYq282RZRP5HhbkkjBxzbX4nUSWBW1voyhjxib8i41Y/s400/IMG_5529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274154713329296178" border="0" /></a>I will miss them!<br /><br /> Unfortunately locking up our luggage was quite a hassle, but eventually we made it into the Rovaniemi city center to visit...wait for it...the northernmost McDonald's in the world! YES. haha. The inside was even decorated with all kinds of Lapland kitsch. Anyway, we all got some food in us and then wandered around the mall for a while before catching the train. Four a.m. came quickly and then we were back in Tampere.<br />The trip was so much fun. I wish I could go again. The family was so nice and the wilderness was so beautiful. If you ever go to Finland, you have to go there.<br /><br />Santa says hello and be good. ;)Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-41953491661313873132008-11-29T03:37:00.000-08:002008-11-29T04:21:56.377-08:00Weekend in Helsinki and Tallin.This is a bit late, but better late than never, right?<br />A couple weeks ago I decided to go on a little weekend trip on my own so I could see more of Helsinki and visit Tallinn, in Estonia. Tallinn is just a quick ferry ride from Helsinki, so it's a pretty easy trip to make.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 1</span><br /><br />I left on a train for Helsinki early in the morning and arrived by about 10 am. I walked around for a bit and visited their Stockmann, a huge and very nice department store. Helsinki definitely feels like a big European city, though definitely more modern and industrial feeling. Tampere doesn't have that so much.<br />I went to the mall to snag an umbrella and got some food at the food court (very exciting, I know) to save my budget, and decided to go see the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, which was nearby. FIrst of all, the building itself is a really cool, modern design. Inside was similarly cool and modern. It's hard to really explain what it's like, but I think it is probably one of my favorite museums I have ever been to. They had tons of really cool contemporary pieces and lots of multimedia and interactive pieces, which is always fun. I think the photos do it more justice than words.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAzDGPsLRlgcv0T71Ig8w7bRyOVjkVCFnGqAOxskPMsgQAH02R7WWmrHybwAxeBCE2754mFYeAzT7og5j6af7fxBk8M7k_ky3ctcTqyUo6YdRGcfcVHOJJMAotZdL-o-SmZvN48RchyNd/s1600-h/DSCN3359.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAzDGPsLRlgcv0T71Ig8w7bRyOVjkVCFnGqAOxskPMsgQAH02R7WWmrHybwAxeBCE2754mFYeAzT7og5j6af7fxBk8M7k_ky3ctcTqyUo6YdRGcfcVHOJJMAotZdL-o-SmZvN48RchyNd/s400/DSCN3359.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274050093254982562" border="0" /></a>The Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZ0IBpEErDknXUhjHVN6SpiQFAnZ5eMdEfG-hXxJqoKJ2EUScq8agSHLEouZ2fdByMSty_hsMXLiix_r3Kc6PFW9_KB4hWQNVM42m9xYdmqJ3QR7fnGqqwff5FCrq6KzycWp6eVuKfQMJ/s1600-h/DSCN3361.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZ0IBpEErDknXUhjHVN6SpiQFAnZ5eMdEfG-hXxJqoKJ2EUScq8agSHLEouZ2fdByMSty_hsMXLiix_r3Kc6PFW9_KB4hWQNVM42m9xYdmqJ3QR7fnGqqwff5FCrq6KzycWp6eVuKfQMJ/s400/DSCN3361.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274050090209683634" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSfkpWdjrpABQleVJKx_QXer0bgwsQVQ8nQ8WUOxwgKqqTmmIcXB3Vfed3bvqxXdXeBfJuMEqkbOKPKFZUJ28sXrqHwrpMIQSM7rivzWA0RC5adkCbcdDyf_nEH2Ynk-dmVMQPuUsmef-p/s1600-h/DSCN3386.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSfkpWdjrpABQleVJKx_QXer0bgwsQVQ8nQ8WUOxwgKqqTmmIcXB3Vfed3bvqxXdXeBfJuMEqkbOKPKFZUJ28sXrqHwrpMIQSM7rivzWA0RC5adkCbcdDyf_nEH2Ynk-dmVMQPuUsmef-p/s400/DSCN3386.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274050094958003234" border="0" /></a>Inside the museum.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMY_lFxHrVxUy9WH_O05Ih4pvKJBBfvZIx-KdyP4KTiTfoQ5FEYOKRFH6ZrNLH3HX8OyMFKm3VnPLjgiN5kSGqnkoCSNbPhv4L0UF4tHE8CalLUPyKKqpP7iSjSdzP7TSt0F4sY5zptYk1/s1600-h/DSCN3391.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMY_lFxHrVxUy9WH_O05Ih4pvKJBBfvZIx-KdyP4KTiTfoQ5FEYOKRFH6ZrNLH3HX8OyMFKm3VnPLjgiN5kSGqnkoCSNbPhv4L0UF4tHE8CalLUPyKKqpP7iSjSdzP7TSt0F4sY5zptYk1/s400/DSCN3391.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274050097279732594" border="0" /></a>In one of the light installations. The yellow light makes everything in the room look either black or yellow. Cool!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwHC1lfMiEYGjpQp9DLEinj7dGzfUWIjQ5dc6x_GSlAe0al53a5VT83EZB1FkGttF0YlBxmhVHPgKarWMh-rmFZdMeYkgKhldAJ4-Rvpcjflshnw4BdvsN2KKm5_YkpQ2tdwQ88smDiRr/s1600-h/DSCN3394.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwHC1lfMiEYGjpQp9DLEinj7dGzfUWIjQ5dc6x_GSlAe0al53a5VT83EZB1FkGttF0YlBxmhVHPgKarWMh-rmFZdMeYkgKhldAJ4-Rvpcjflshnw4BdvsN2KKm5_YkpQ2tdwQ88smDiRr/s400/DSCN3394.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274051662751045698" border="0" /></a>There was an entire room of written and mailed postcards, on tables and all over the walls. Really cool.<br /><br />After that, I made my way over to the Design Museum, which was neat, but not as cool as I had expected. I think that was because the current exhibition was about plates and tea. Haha.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQqvoyISU__84XAE9vXM8uChuRGUS7WQD2PnsgwbDVVSvmZV8fqnL_Co1fWGjSIu3ogziDbpL3gW02VW6toFbDuTcBMz0Zq3rFNGFVoabht0_9xSbulYNVx9ic2YuoP6sxRHjzbQqSqxu/s1600-h/DSCN3410.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQqvoyISU__84XAE9vXM8uChuRGUS7WQD2PnsgwbDVVSvmZV8fqnL_Co1fWGjSIu3ogziDbpL3gW02VW6toFbDuTcBMz0Zq3rFNGFVoabht0_9xSbulYNVx9ic2YuoP6sxRHjzbQqSqxu/s400/DSCN3410.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274050099557109538" border="0" /></a>The Design Museum.<br /><br /><br />I wandered in the general direction of the port where my ferry would be leaving from and happened upon a really cool indoor market near the water. If I lived in Helsinki I would definitely shop there. Lots of fish and meat and special candy and little tiny restaurants and cafes. One stall was selling Reindeer <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> Bear meat! I had a cup of tea at one of the cafes to wait for my ferry.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6v3HelwhplYBwW8fP7ZE3wK5bgwLfuuapzJd1rZZpa6kEvne8SOs4DELtyKitCKJOkeZiZHMwVJa-HEqW-2JA_gZrkIjeSc2LdqCli8wb9ShxV3jwPIaUg82HUMhi3_OKTkLb1vOWVwu/s1600-h/DSCN3426.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6v3HelwhplYBwW8fP7ZE3wK5bgwLfuuapzJd1rZZpa6kEvne8SOs4DELtyKitCKJOkeZiZHMwVJa-HEqW-2JA_gZrkIjeSc2LdqCli8wb9ShxV3jwPIaUg82HUMhi3_OKTkLb1vOWVwu/s400/DSCN3426.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274051663439677522" border="0" /></a>Helsinki market near the water.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rboV1E2oyl4hbfMkGx0aZHC_S0ZiSq1LUy7UdDLTsKBRcS-hVbmmSUyUXk_6qMUESNZhHirQRFlw7QonPYu55i223_uO655ZSUR5-Y5e6haKlG72okfs9lewyxohJgHf7Vqy7mB3K4vS/s1600-h/DSCN3427.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rboV1E2oyl4hbfMkGx0aZHC_S0ZiSq1LUy7UdDLTsKBRcS-hVbmmSUyUXk_6qMUESNZhHirQRFlw7QonPYu55i223_uO655ZSUR5-Y5e6haKlG72okfs9lewyxohJgHf7Vqy7mB3K4vS/s400/DSCN3427.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274051667114795522" border="0" /></a>Reindeer and Bear salami! Yummm. The Reindeer meat was 63 euros/kilo!!<br /><br /><br />Eventually I made it onto the ferry, which was actually a small catamaran. It was pretty rocky so I was glad when we finally arrived in Tallinn. Unfortunately it was dark, pouring rain, and quite a walk to get to the city center. I had a map, but sadly it did not help me find my hostel. I finally asked for a taxi once I was soaked through and could barely read the map anymore. So, of course, even the taxi driver had trouble finding the hostel. I finally made it there after paying about as much for the taxi as for the hostel. Luckily that was only about 10 dollars. The hostel was definitely a student place and kind of felt like just a big open college house. But it was clean, cheap, and everyone seemed friendly.<br />It was already 9 pm and I was starving so I asked for directions to a cheap place to eat. After a bit of trouble finding it in the rain, I arrived at a tiny little cafe filled with local teenagers. I got a nice big bowl of dumplings with garlic sauce and a Fanta for I think about 4 dollars. I sat in the back room and read for a bit before heading back to the hostel.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 2</span><br /><br />I got an early start compared to the rest of the hostel, and headed to the nearby square in Old Town for some breakfast. I ended up in a cute little cafe on the square and had some delicious porridge with berries and a chai for about 3 dollars. In Finland that would probably cost 11 dollars. No joke.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0E79BqtZzKX8Uf4LAMaNOtQJG0E4bAS21YdozNm8kwf0s0HCaJRE3oKEyhy8OqMKUkiZKHFY7kfS7gp1lIJNOt5L_lzEPFKQvWDrvqqOzIImClZprVYIUjFxA-VON1H7Py5dU5nFGS7-r/s1600-h/DSCN3452.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0E79BqtZzKX8Uf4LAMaNOtQJG0E4bAS21YdozNm8kwf0s0HCaJRE3oKEyhy8OqMKUkiZKHFY7kfS7gp1lIJNOt5L_lzEPFKQvWDrvqqOzIImClZprVYIUjFxA-VON1H7Py5dU5nFGS7-r/s400/DSCN3452.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274051672514206162" border="0" /></a>Yummy breakfast in Tallinn's Old Town.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4UnVf3VsW3XfoJbSlATq-jWVDg4jyZUsLaLnBhYrmdZhYKUDaGkgIIDxMv5DEkJxqlFRoeTPcDosml8Qbprd2mqHKtzDaE957fAG5RcGqhrXx5XbKX1-8iFldtQWftgb7gS6zZ18CPyM/s1600-h/DSCN3456.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4UnVf3VsW3XfoJbSlATq-jWVDg4jyZUsLaLnBhYrmdZhYKUDaGkgIIDxMv5DEkJxqlFRoeTPcDosml8Qbprd2mqHKtzDaE957fAG5RcGqhrXx5XbKX1-8iFldtQWftgb7gS6zZ18CPyM/s400/DSCN3456.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274051674515555794" border="0" /></a>Tallinn.<br /><br />It was drizzling and a little bit hazy, but not nearly as bad as the downpour the night before. I wandered around the old town and spent the day popping into the little tourist shops and taking photos. I made my way up to Toompea hill for a nice view of the city. After a bit more shopping, I ended up at a hidden away Italian bar/restaurant for some lunch. I order my favorite, spaghetti carbonara, and a local light beer and hung out there for a while to get out of the rain for a bit.<br />I passed by a little alley filled with stalls of women selling wool mittens, sweaters, socks and scarves. I bought some really thick wool socks form a nice lady who measure my sock size by wrapping the socks around my curled up fist. Sadly, by then it was time to head back over to the port to catch my returning ferry. I was running a little late so I scurried back to the port in the rain only to find out that my catamaran had been cancelled and I would have to go to the other port (which I had just passed on the way, trying to find the catamaran port) to catch one of the larger ferries. Thankfully I made it on that ferry safely and on time, but it meant that I would miss my train from Helsinki back to Tampere. Of course. Eventually I made it back home at about 1 am, tired and exhausted, but happy that I made the trip.<br />I'm glad I got to travel on my own for a bit, even if it was just a couple days. It was nice to be able to just wander and take photos and not worry about a schedule. Helsinki and Tallinn are very different cities, but I really enjoyed both of them for different reasons. I would love to go back someday!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3kKVRNqLnbmEYOSum73_LDoiCk7lhdcM7BKW20y7wfNh4FEtokMKKShVFx9FpgIMYVW81mmAbakY6FYyMro8CF2aQZ-i-uMuh7waAySL3_59qRRGQFQLJUj6hJTopKKX-OFT0pN_g_sL/s1600-h/IMG_4726.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3kKVRNqLnbmEYOSum73_LDoiCk7lhdcM7BKW20y7wfNh4FEtokMKKShVFx9FpgIMYVW81mmAbakY6FYyMro8CF2aQZ-i-uMuh7waAySL3_59qRRGQFQLJUj6hJTopKKX-OFT0pN_g_sL/s400/IMG_4726.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274053078892219474" border="0" /></a>Alley near the Italian restaurant.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZIqyIxh9oPdkPTA4vx7cp9QUcO3Zzk2uyBjqDTrEeN46i5X7f8rNuKJ53_oTMBecSmCRCDk4Do2QwKesMrLolfooAWsdCHiKz3t3-hyjoHeQx4F36JMMimKw0JRcImOQiTTVxt6bWYoD/s1600-h/IMG_4723.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZIqyIxh9oPdkPTA4vx7cp9QUcO3Zzk2uyBjqDTrEeN46i5X7f8rNuKJ53_oTMBecSmCRCDk4Do2QwKesMrLolfooAWsdCHiKz3t3-hyjoHeQx4F36JMMimKw0JRcImOQiTTVxt6bWYoD/s400/IMG_4723.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274053075042177250" border="0" /></a>Where I bought my wool socks! :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizScIMhWvhZMakNBRLpyew2Z9VNPfe5d6c4EwzK_RrT67V6RBc25T0T78e13G8KhZdd6mQYufYm6gCa4biZVrOqyt3ItyUe24DB5Og7OHHK-sZgk0naai9fZBG9sWjg6sq419B48pnnyhx/s1600-h/IMG_4720.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizScIMhWvhZMakNBRLpyew2Z9VNPfe5d6c4EwzK_RrT67V6RBc25T0T78e13G8KhZdd6mQYufYm6gCa4biZVrOqyt3ItyUe24DB5Og7OHHK-sZgk0naai9fZBG9sWjg6sq419B48pnnyhx/s400/IMG_4720.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274053072530373794" border="0" /></a>The square in Old Town.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRuYQuYZNgftsWa8gri967HLqsbKvfpGSzGU4YspMtWOIiYyEvcXyv614oZwLpiY5PhIEVy9sgB_K0rjFpM4R5wN3V0Cf_PPEoCaeKcEUPL9TCb1ktkUbOh-kkBC8KjGJNy9N6If76H3r/s1600-h/IMG_4705.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRuYQuYZNgftsWa8gri967HLqsbKvfpGSzGU4YspMtWOIiYyEvcXyv614oZwLpiY5PhIEVy9sgB_K0rjFpM4R5wN3V0Cf_PPEoCaeKcEUPL9TCb1ktkUbOh-kkBC8KjGJNy9N6If76H3r/s400/IMG_4705.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274053067343373106" border="0" /></a>Up the hill to Toompea.<br /><br /><br />Ciao for now!Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-75495866091093664372008-10-27T10:08:00.000-07:002008-10-27T16:40:44.099-07:00Italian Vacation. To Roma e Firenze we go!Just got back the other day from our week-long trip to Italy and it was, well...fabulous. It is too hard to talk about all at once, so I will take it day by day. It's a bit of a blur so hopefully I won't mix up the days!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 1</span><br /><br />It was a long day to get there because we flew out of Helsinki so we had to make the journey on the train from Tampere and then catch our flight. Our flight was a bit late so we didn't get into Roma until 11:30, when of course we were supposed to meet Craig at 10:30. So, with our bags in tow we took the metro to Craig's stop and eventually found his apartment and knocked down his door. :) We dropped off our things and he took us on a wonderful midnight tour of pretty much all the big sights north of ancient Rome. Everything was lit up beautifully and it was fun to have Craig give us his tidbits of history as we walked. We ended up at Giolliti's Gelato and made it in just before they closed at 1 am. Craig says it's the best and it was quite delicious. Just the beginning of our process of becoming gelato officianados. We finally made it back to our hostel at 3 am and boy was I tired.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivU1v4YlK1xoVUsC2-A5wke9AnNyrE0zOAPinDwWIl0AgHlGrmjVzAHtpoUws9ZudZgEbFVZ6xRjH5ZE03Hpxb1VGI_0Vc1NL-t7NKVRy_osOa9a8xpbTmYDC8Eju1p80-zuxilSphQDUO/s1600-h/DSCN2967.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivU1v4YlK1xoVUsC2-A5wke9AnNyrE0zOAPinDwWIl0AgHlGrmjVzAHtpoUws9ZudZgEbFVZ6xRjH5ZE03Hpxb1VGI_0Vc1NL-t7NKVRy_osOa9a8xpbTmYDC8Eju1p80-zuxilSphQDUO/s400/DSCN2967.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261972894906394882" border="0" /></a> Midnight tour: St. Peter's Basilica<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 2</span><br /><br />We made our way back over to Craig's side of town to hit the Vatican Museum, but sadly it turned out to be mysteriously closed. So after some delicious gelato served by an old man in an adorably classic red vest and matching ice cream hat, we went to St. Peter's Basilica and I have to say it's probably the most beautiful church I have ever been inside. Every inch is decorated or sculpted or gilded in some elaborate fashion. The square outside is also quite a sight. The columns that surround it are massive in scale and it is a beautiful place to just sit and relax and people watch.<br /><br />After giving our feet a moment to rest we headed over to this building, the name of which I cannot recall. Anyway, it is near the stagnant river and Craig had told us that it had some of the most beautiful views if you climbed to the top. So we did, just at dusk, and it was lovely.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCcB8KQtjHSobRh3o_Rj_VECrxasIdHBC8nRIb4DgEmvPFOksB4IobPg4_H4A0mQ-1_aURjL6Cnw24Bm2LmHtFB-yBMm6gMq4xM_GDXWLPe20-VhE2-dErPuNIyQ2zRiP5jixsWP4bkCS/s1600-h/DSCN3021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCcB8KQtjHSobRh3o_Rj_VECrxasIdHBC8nRIb4DgEmvPFOksB4IobPg4_H4A0mQ-1_aURjL6Cnw24Bm2LmHtFB-yBMm6gMq4xM_GDXWLPe20-VhE2-dErPuNIyQ2zRiP5jixsWP4bkCS/s400/DSCN3021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261973679581381218" border="0" /></a> View from the top of the building overlooking the river.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCOWs7Wd2RI5-T_E3syOO4F2w0km-TR0-oWK_0hFz-t23Gdi1vIWq-OTsSplrLnr9ubm4mx504Cv-sTkbVGEWIhtD3Z0dANg39x9HjSDHPeS7ETuIBBKnL5wwqMPmq1O3_FzUqNQWJBUF/s1600-h/IMG_4328.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCOWs7Wd2RI5-T_E3syOO4F2w0km-TR0-oWK_0hFz-t23Gdi1vIWq-OTsSplrLnr9ubm4mx504Cv-sTkbVGEWIhtD3Z0dANg39x9HjSDHPeS7ETuIBBKnL5wwqMPmq1O3_FzUqNQWJBUF/s400/IMG_4328.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261973676019878882" border="0" /></a> Inside St. Peter's Basilica<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhsE5kg7btXSUjcz5JYdnVQaRJesm_vvhuAQREgJzWrRpomieyOTQULTz-3PK4w3WAoTeSwDSE3Gnj-MRg6Yaj2FPfexq_k0xC5-X-xzd9ZKNPKaunoXFoHVT48KR7SyDotn5tnhpAY_QA/s1600-h/IMG_4313.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhsE5kg7btXSUjcz5JYdnVQaRJesm_vvhuAQREgJzWrRpomieyOTQULTz-3PK4w3WAoTeSwDSE3Gnj-MRg6Yaj2FPfexq_k0xC5-X-xzd9ZKNPKaunoXFoHVT48KR7SyDotn5tnhpAY_QA/s400/IMG_4313.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261973663938777346" border="0" /></a> The square at St. Peter's Basilica<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2mqBJPpsGyAkEQWtBOIxMDPn8LyJzMj7oZMlh7RVMkEj9TZk5EOIkA1xGZJ5mUqg_br8S_Ctk7rDLnuAU9Fzehlz36n137Ky66MiSzyyHZHwRslYh-a6Dfwo74bdigjosI5v1psZyenO/s1600-h/DSCN2976.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2mqBJPpsGyAkEQWtBOIxMDPn8LyJzMj7oZMlh7RVMkEj9TZk5EOIkA1xGZJ5mUqg_br8S_Ctk7rDLnuAU9Fzehlz36n137Ky66MiSzyyHZHwRslYh-a6Dfwo74bdigjosI5v1psZyenO/s400/DSCN2976.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261973658663856818" border="0" /></a> First stop on our gelato tour. :)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 3</span><br /><br />Our hostel, The Yellow, had some brochures for walking tours of the city with mother-tongue english speakers, as they were called. So we decided to do one of those. Beforehand, of course, we had to get some gelato at Termini before hopping on the metro. We met the tour near Circo Massimo and we had a great guide, Chris from Idaho, who was an expert on all the history of ancient Rome. Luckily he was also humorous and didn't take himself too seriously so it was a fun tour. We saw Circo Massimo, the Mouth of Truth (really just an old sewer cover, woo hoo!), the Jewish Ghetto, where Julius Caesar was killed (it is now an official cat sanctuary, and yes, the cats have papers), the Pantheon, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum from afar.<br /><br />We stopped in the middle to have lunch at an adorable local hole in the wall near the Pantheon. I had a delicious pizza and we sat and chatted for a bit as a group. There was also an adorable Italian woman who runs the place who kept saying "Mange! Mange!" when Meg couldn't finish her pizza. I wanted to take her home.<br /><br />That night we ate at Mama Angela's Trattoria across the street from our hostel. I had spaghetti carbonara, my favorite, and it was delicious. We also sat next to a really cute older couple from Vienna who were nice to chat with. I felt like such a grown up, sitting there drinking wine at a nice restaurant and chatting with a random old couple. Haha.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3T6BZdfJUQZLaZ29LLlUZqYX8-fk0xExSfCbHyhjXTUcXS3EmJ8KGzJZettSqerCsT4jv-5rHbJT_gCpggRA9OujGzYAlVnSnWF8Rp8gY6KeAZsHe41KYIMgAIQIE6K1EO02Yt8u_35K/s1600-h/DSCN3032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3T6BZdfJUQZLaZ29LLlUZqYX8-fk0xExSfCbHyhjXTUcXS3EmJ8KGzJZettSqerCsT4jv-5rHbJT_gCpggRA9OujGzYAlVnSnWF8Rp8gY6KeAZsHe41KYIMgAIQIE6K1EO02Yt8u_35K/s400/DSCN3032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261974365029808898" border="0" /></a>Gelato at Termini before our little walking tour. Delish!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWnU3g0z94j2RAoIgls2q-jrgyaN2YqBRkTvJxp1V3SGCEuqcTinLiUF9q0deL7w2Vo70TInTRZ4mvjWCEqBlw2o5__czlvdNNfFrMaVOCkLQGX5JKc3JhYMByelxPg-hJH26LBdCQGDtL/s1600-h/DSCN3057.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWnU3g0z94j2RAoIgls2q-jrgyaN2YqBRkTvJxp1V3SGCEuqcTinLiUF9q0deL7w2Vo70TInTRZ4mvjWCEqBlw2o5__czlvdNNfFrMaVOCkLQGX5JKc3JhYMByelxPg-hJH26LBdCQGDtL/s400/DSCN3057.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261974371516249394" border="0" /></a>At the Pantheon!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8UCCfpnXM1xZ7LUYDIMjIVSUWrAaOKAaGo1jiAvn__LYs1KGl9_SrKdZ7qALmIFBatRXGFObx2K48RX3wOBdMSJmGXv7YzJy6xPRKP_WwOqgqq_6wN5CGG9zFZ095sCzDog8KrWgjo0F/s1600-h/IMG_4370.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8UCCfpnXM1xZ7LUYDIMjIVSUWrAaOKAaGo1jiAvn__LYs1KGl9_SrKdZ7qALmIFBatRXGFObx2K48RX3wOBdMSJmGXv7YzJy6xPRKP_WwOqgqq_6wN5CGG9zFZ095sCzDog8KrWgjo0F/s400/IMG_4370.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261974370383665122" border="0" /></a>Palatine Hill and Circo Massimo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwgoNSZUc7MUcK24P6tY5L7gSzCB5piDtNC4_UizL0LimmEMLX9MsQOQuI6D0NA1g7C-wAEjEDr1B2_nQROY1hyEv1GxBcAfs1F_2Q3RKgE7tgPI9FXGU2UW7ic38aLAeI5IRK4NNAelfA/s1600-h/IMG_4402.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwgoNSZUc7MUcK24P6tY5L7gSzCB5piDtNC4_UizL0LimmEMLX9MsQOQuI6D0NA1g7C-wAEjEDr1B2_nQROY1hyEv1GxBcAfs1F_2Q3RKgE7tgPI9FXGU2UW7ic38aLAeI5IRK4NNAelfA/s400/IMG_4402.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261974377691906514" border="0" /></a>The Colosseum from afar.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 4</span><br /><br />We decided to head back to the Roman Forum and the Colisseum to actually buy tickets and do the whole deal. We bought tickets at the Roman Forum and did that first so we wouldn't have to wait in line at the Colosseum (thank you, Rick Steeves) and both were amazing! The Roman Forums were really neat to just walk around in and imagine what it must have been like back then. We eventually made it to the Colisseum and it's really just hard to explain how cool it is to be there in person. We learned from our tour guide that back in the Gladiator days, the government would put on shows in the Colisseum for basically 2/3 of the year, for free. It's pretty crazy to think that battles and shows would be taking place there almost daily. Also, it's HUGE. Hard to explain unless you are there, I think.<br /><br />We made a quick stop at the Trevi Fountain, which was sadly riddled with construction people and yellow construction hats. We had some lunch near there and for the second half of the day we went back to the Vatican Museum and actually made it in this time. Probably overall my favorite museum that we saw in Italy. They have rooms and rooms of gorgeous white marble sculptures. The Bernini ones were especially beautiful. They had rooms and rooms with busts lining the walls an inch apart from each other. It was pretty amazing to see them all together and examine each and every one. The draping and the realism is incredible in person. Let's just say I thoroughly enjoyed our little walk through.<br /><br />When we were done we met up with Craig and did a little grocery shopping with him, which was really fun. They have tiny little grocery stores that are really fun to look around in. We helped him buy some ingredients and some wine to have for dinner. Now that I think of it, this was probably before we went to the Vatican. Oh well. Nonetheless, we ended up at Craig's place for a delicious dinner of spaghetti with cream and prosciutto, and of course, a nice helping of Parmiggiano Reggiano. Yum. Sadly the Soccer game was not on TV so we hung out with his roommates and spent the evening chatting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFoKIDfV_mjo5S-n5GQLKlT0bbuZHFfxNIWwKdUSNJumm0NhI7lOMgQuKTNu1OcJRz25mgikLlg8m_3bYeOgishOeOhN7LnjrV9aoqBoaTheCsJoB9g0h_wXOyPYLT7zTsxIlNOPnLQX69/s1600-h/DSCN3073.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFoKIDfV_mjo5S-n5GQLKlT0bbuZHFfxNIWwKdUSNJumm0NhI7lOMgQuKTNu1OcJRz25mgikLlg8m_3bYeOgishOeOhN7LnjrV9aoqBoaTheCsJoB9g0h_wXOyPYLT7zTsxIlNOPnLQX69/s400/DSCN3073.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975144544263218" border="0" /></a>At the Roman Forum, among the ruins!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIT7aS4IImRQMf5bhGWoQ8WzNoYX_9GOnfQkEDR8Ka-FmONFJ-I77KYE0ID3_ADqhpMWmSrXE6iN6P3npwBAe0WNPsK028h_zjFe-NvRLQzSwCRT-VVhzHbxQowJ-Br7QETeGfzn4kIlQe/s1600-h/DSCN3098.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIT7aS4IImRQMf5bhGWoQ8WzNoYX_9GOnfQkEDR8Ka-FmONFJ-I77KYE0ID3_ADqhpMWmSrXE6iN6P3npwBAe0WNPsK028h_zjFe-NvRLQzSwCRT-VVhzHbxQowJ-Br7QETeGfzn4kIlQe/s400/DSCN3098.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975152734249682" border="0" /></a>The Colosseum. Whoa<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr_aoG_aMUnESxv-FLHv4lkn24_jQf5LNKwvhuxvvthgr1dLEn564mcqQwh_0IzFRI8aFUiwibMwf7seAeMEv2v7nzs5q9wt2-bPuK3-zP5h-sZt_646vhxbbkJ3Ge3Q_88Fsj4Kr5d3wf/s1600-h/IMG_4445.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr_aoG_aMUnESxv-FLHv4lkn24_jQf5LNKwvhuxvvthgr1dLEn564mcqQwh_0IzFRI8aFUiwibMwf7seAeMEv2v7nzs5q9wt2-bPuK3-zP5h-sZt_646vhxbbkJ3Ge3Q_88Fsj4Kr5d3wf/s400/IMG_4445.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975157947744146" border="0" /></a>It's huge. HUGE.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYC77ofB2_QIsZca8PXzFzTQEZkn0nnP7P9g0ZOlYUlA_cBYySGZv_IGONzzvtc4bw5V-_iaqlZcuepsvZeqmQaj1k44KsCBMFwqqg8XZfOSjffI7ypiYlBEeWrfQbf37OMBHIwyQppKS/s1600-h/IMG_4468.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYC77ofB2_QIsZca8PXzFzTQEZkn0nnP7P9g0ZOlYUlA_cBYySGZv_IGONzzvtc4bw5V-_iaqlZcuepsvZeqmQaj1k44KsCBMFwqqg8XZfOSjffI7ypiYlBEeWrfQbf37OMBHIwyQppKS/s400/IMG_4468.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975154303295618" border="0" /></a>In the Vatican Museum. Sculptures galore.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd8B45W4jFZ5pVuqvcdY3VLGhf06G1krEOYoxngyvnPAmeDP9UGmc5YIjkIft3xig6UTelhJd21JEN1vcxABuV3bPraqKym-6mukCLLplDfaVPwCaHzxoKC0OWrm6E8bO11txVv_Vlju7F/s1600-h/IMG_4483.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd8B45W4jFZ5pVuqvcdY3VLGhf06G1krEOYoxngyvnPAmeDP9UGmc5YIjkIft3xig6UTelhJd21JEN1vcxABuV3bPraqKym-6mukCLLplDfaVPwCaHzxoKC0OWrm6E8bO11txVv_Vlju7F/s400/IMG_4483.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975168694400450" border="0" /></a>My Favorite one.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNX1ra92qcyfGCvaPj3AA1QtKXjhMLOfhsnNN5vlesViY6mrJ0XTx4XA5msz5uJyd-s8mfujk_KXrQiqwSPF86pq83D8C3MoZJLK_CXKfO-pNVcWD3SB2OWQtNu_5HGbmzdYLhWGNHHKPN/s1600-h/DSCN3030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNX1ra92qcyfGCvaPj3AA1QtKXjhMLOfhsnNN5vlesViY6mrJ0XTx4XA5msz5uJyd-s8mfujk_KXrQiqwSPF86pq83D8C3MoZJLK_CXKfO-pNVcWD3SB2OWQtNu_5HGbmzdYLhWGNHHKPN/s400/DSCN3030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975349766807986" border="0" /></a>Craig making us delicious dinner on his pull out ironing board. :)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 5</span><br /><br />Our final day in Rome. We went to the Villa Borghese and it was majestically beautiful. It is this massive park that would probably take at least 2 hours to fully walk through. It has big gorgeous trees and ponds with ducks and fish and sculptures and pathways and it's really beautiful. It's also fun because it's not so touristy. It's a little bit more out of the way and there are locals running or taking their children to the pond or walking their dogs. It's fun to know that the real italian people come up there to enjoy it just as much as tourists do.<br /><br />We went to the Galleria de Borghese also, but I don't really remember anything too special about it. Lots of renaissance paintings, etc. We saw a lot of those.<br /><br />After a quick run to a local pizza shop (the real kind where they chop up your pizza and weight it) to get some delicious pizza and soda, we went over to Via Corso (one of the main shopping drags) and looked around and eventually found Zara! Yay. After doing a little damage there we eventually made it back to Termini to catch our train to Florence. We made it to florence in the evening and made the long (well, not that long, but it seemed long) trek to the hostel with our backpacks and other bags. The hostel turned out to be really really nice and we ended up just having dinner in their little restaurant and hitting the sheets.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilh39fDRiw_oYhseAEg7ZEkXs41R1Z3yYai7k2lZtIXw1XOFabBC7X5mGq973TZzeIiGISdsDO-XOdJ717EEQqPdY6KxC9WZ_f6IVyDw-CK7JN0FAp9qSrZ8qFJz-IsbxdPVzVjjC1jouc/s1600-h/DSCN3167.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilh39fDRiw_oYhseAEg7ZEkXs41R1Z3yYai7k2lZtIXw1XOFabBC7X5mGq973TZzeIiGISdsDO-XOdJ717EEQqPdY6KxC9WZ_f6IVyDw-CK7JN0FAp9qSrZ8qFJz-IsbxdPVzVjjC1jouc/s400/DSCN3167.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975884770202642" border="0" /></a>At the Villa Borghese gardens!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiqJHUugmeN3jwgPSlzRbBKDyJd8I0wb3W0Wsd9bk72pn7SPZOA0iDg7qxHbetQIFH6cwT6zO01TFEk-sd-6eSDZXjK1-TDFmRq-CYFEwkoLeNHBBc4ERHH7nA1f0yC_vSqRmioM7i7Si/s1600-h/IMG_4509.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiqJHUugmeN3jwgPSlzRbBKDyJd8I0wb3W0Wsd9bk72pn7SPZOA0iDg7qxHbetQIFH6cwT6zO01TFEk-sd-6eSDZXjK1-TDFmRq-CYFEwkoLeNHBBc4ERHH7nA1f0yC_vSqRmioM7i7Si/s400/IMG_4509.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975897321448242" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTHc1_u2ywPWlWfqW9YtMgY0RQWf6i9V9MHOg6XcDYhxt4A9UAZzOoZK0tySKWdDrPRrczTI7UYfxe2bebqwavaTnjRrRURrhXkLKvA19kJRAcedQG1oVCT3eOv0LGsWjcJzm10w9ZsD5/s1600-h/IMG_4515.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTHc1_u2ywPWlWfqW9YtMgY0RQWf6i9V9MHOg6XcDYhxt4A9UAZzOoZK0tySKWdDrPRrczTI7UYfxe2bebqwavaTnjRrRURrhXkLKvA19kJRAcedQG1oVCT3eOv0LGsWjcJzm10w9ZsD5/s400/IMG_4515.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975908915241042" border="0" /></a>Pretty.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkt2xcP2bTV9OiMxvav0FQ2rPHL7XPggUAOWAjjzGYsAbZetp0jEQgE2m_KJBrVwWWKKTsI7jqjB_M99bdqA1Fb4wQymaKNerFYi9yIiQ22VIrkpSZlrr_J9hmpLQA0NVIfCBPe-YxdkZ2/s1600-h/DSCN3147.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkt2xcP2bTV9OiMxvav0FQ2rPHL7XPggUAOWAjjzGYsAbZetp0jEQgE2m_KJBrVwWWKKTsI7jqjB_M99bdqA1Fb4wQymaKNerFYi9yIiQ22VIrkpSZlrr_J9hmpLQA0NVIfCBPe-YxdkZ2/s400/DSCN3147.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975910068399474" border="0" /></a>The Galleria de Borghese.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkikWsK7I_GbTJuzYzwNEJ5-7m7WWPlzYMHhkaOrlPKLp2JdExmPCvleO84fEAdJ5DWnYtL9amgkYjRv2guv2Lnem26H5LjESu_53w471YrW8pRZPW4XhyPv8JSXPSl9hEOivZd9KDZNLM/s1600-h/DSCN3172.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkikWsK7I_GbTJuzYzwNEJ5-7m7WWPlzYMHhkaOrlPKLp2JdExmPCvleO84fEAdJ5DWnYtL9amgkYjRv2guv2Lnem26H5LjESu_53w471YrW8pRZPW4XhyPv8JSXPSl9hEOivZd9KDZNLM/s400/DSCN3172.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261975914045070546" border="0" /></a>Mmmm pizza.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 6</span><br /><br />First day in Firenze! We were trying to make our way over to the Ponte Vecchio and the Uffizi Museum near the river, but first we got distracted by the bustling and winding market that filled the streets. They have cashmere scarves (4 euros!!!!) and leather bags and keychains, adorable embroidered aprons, and all the typical tourist gear, too. We bought a couple scarves and eventually made our way to the river and walked along it until we hit the Ponte Vecchio bridge. The walk was lovely, even though it was a bit cloudy out. Florence has a completely different energy than Rome does, and I noticed it right away. Florence is mellow and artsy and feels like the people there are not in a rush like in Rome. There are fewer modern distractions there and it seems very self sufficient and content to stay a little behind the times.<br /><br />The Ponte Vecchio was bustling with activity and is lined with high-end jewelry shops that were fun to look at. We went to the Uffizi and made a reservation for later so we could skip the line. In the meantime we had some lunch in the nearby square. Then we went to the Santa Croce church nearby. It's a beautiful old church and you can definitely see the medieval influences in the architecture and design. We managed to also swing by the local flea market, even though it was siesta so not all the shops were open. There was some fun stuff there and if I lived there I definitely would have bought many things!<br /><br />We made it back to the Uffizi just in time and made our way through. I was somewhat dissappointed, considering the 14 euro price tag, but the two famous Boticellis mostly made up for it. We saw both "The Birth of Venus" and "Spring," which is one of my favorites. They were incredibly beautiful to see in person and much bigger than I imagined. We were so exhausted after the Museum that we just went back to the hostel to hang out. Passed by the market on the way back. Bought more scarves. I think by then all of our walking around Rome was catching up with my feet. I literally felt like I might fall over most of the time because my feet might just decide they had had enough. Luckily the hostel had good food and wine that would put me to sleep for a good night of rest.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvqiOWd5i831TOMzW2y4if7EbJ6DCWW8S54-BVsg9RnYBzGxtvWP7b2_DmfE96V1JCLbTpaJQ_mxRZmaOl4XsZE96dHrpdbnsauit9Lwyl5-JeUwUSr6OUIYrDXDwM0aWkWBgo8H0236Zs/s1600-h/IMG_4613.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvqiOWd5i831TOMzW2y4if7EbJ6DCWW8S54-BVsg9RnYBzGxtvWP7b2_DmfE96V1JCLbTpaJQ_mxRZmaOl4XsZE96dHrpdbnsauit9Lwyl5-JeUwUSr6OUIYrDXDwM0aWkWBgo8H0236Zs/s400/IMG_4613.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261976939473233378" border="0" /></a>The church of Santa Croce.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbiPI0JKY7-OlKbQVJ0Wl1gynMVR474xnmF6ViF3n4aUeVKtW2rK7rIj6f007S6A0LKc-tD1UUAgDrGFRN8G8Zbgnz6bzOjtlcWLaUT_JnvwaDbjORud7bQ24uRwS89aqZakkSCmtyxxH/s1600-h/IMG_4595.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbiPI0JKY7-OlKbQVJ0Wl1gynMVR474xnmF6ViF3n4aUeVKtW2rK7rIj6f007S6A0LKc-tD1UUAgDrGFRN8G8Zbgnz6bzOjtlcWLaUT_JnvwaDbjORud7bQ24uRwS89aqZakkSCmtyxxH/s400/IMG_4595.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261976929211832434" border="0" /></a>In the Piazza by the Uffizi Gallery.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmehwmdE-_6xiUkbvn_n6y39PLqShseGWV6i0N01d0Ef7cGhoCvVau3D6quQ7HPVyvT8Y219jlxmNmAIsAwJaBYGNYeHquDpfW_6U5PVIDc3-ElRaOnuB4ryBD8Lp2mdaRba8LDjWEOA3/s1600-h/IMG_4587.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmehwmdE-_6xiUkbvn_n6y39PLqShseGWV6i0N01d0Ef7cGhoCvVau3D6quQ7HPVyvT8Y219jlxmNmAIsAwJaBYGNYeHquDpfW_6U5PVIDc3-ElRaOnuB4ryBD8Lp2mdaRba8LDjWEOA3/s400/IMG_4587.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261976920057919570" border="0" /></a>The Ponte Vecchio on the river.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY0RdT4b2oM_r0VTMJFz0CaDbZLdt0UgQPP9R_Bzd0x39mdXwaB47EbBdMWMt428XTK9SWgHlglhQj2LasNlbOWrnB8aVlVa3ZNGSENLEKdqNjQ-RiEgz7MbNQ18kPdK7oyTH7_cL8YjP/s1600-h/IMG_4570.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY0RdT4b2oM_r0VTMJFz0CaDbZLdt0UgQPP9R_Bzd0x39mdXwaB47EbBdMWMt428XTK9SWgHlglhQj2LasNlbOWrnB8aVlVa3ZNGSENLEKdqNjQ-RiEgz7MbNQ18kPdK7oyTH7_cL8YjP/s400/IMG_4570.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261976918299594866" border="0" /></a>Busy on the Ponte Vecchio.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGViBGAt8nKPWxXFRrIXOpsd9Oyf8OZLRfjQcfr82FZvrj3Bn2sz4oMOBdjG4jhmFZrLQUXsEMFnzD19ELQlAuSqBsllkNw-JeqZO86fNXJsa2LWJ3pm50zPChsDiEPdB-gsICJCb4za0U/s1600-h/IMG_4526.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGViBGAt8nKPWxXFRrIXOpsd9Oyf8OZLRfjQcfr82FZvrj3Bn2sz4oMOBdjG4jhmFZrLQUXsEMFnzD19ELQlAuSqBsllkNw-JeqZO86fNXJsa2LWJ3pm50zPChsDiEPdB-gsICJCb4za0U/s400/IMG_4526.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261976909479843378" border="0" /></a>Adorable. Piazza Independenza.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 7</span><br /><br />Last day in Firenze! We went to the Accedemia in the morning to see the David and what can I say? Wow. I had no idea it was so massive. This seems to be a theme for Italy. It was pretty spectacular when you turn the first corner of the museum and there he is, in all his glory. Everything else in the museum seemed pretty boring after that. No offense, renaissance paintings.<br /><br />I got some overpriced but delicious pasta at a cafeteria style place and then we headed off to the church of Santa Maria del Fiore! This is where the famous Duomo is. We go inside the church and it is quite pretty but sort of similar to the Santa Croce church. So i of course decide to make the trek up the 463 steps to the famous Duomo. Meg doesn't want to go because it costs 6 euros so she goes to sit and write a postcard while I go in. It's definitely an exhausting climb up and I am amused by the sign that says "This trip is not recommended for people with heart disease." By the time we get to the top, I fully understand. Before you hit the top you can get out right below the massive frescoed inside of the dome and walk around the perimeter. Up a few more steps and what is basically a stone ladder and you emerge to one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. A photo does not do it justice in the slightest. It was busy but you could tell that everone was really enjoying the moment of seeing the view. I sat on a bench and relaxed for a while to rest and take in the view.<br /><br />I eventually made it back down, although I have to say I got a bit dizzy from the endless winding staircase. We went back to the market and found a few more things to bring home. I got a couple really nice leather little purses that were made in Florence, so they will be a nice reminder. I was really sad to leave Firenze so soon. I kind of felt at home there. The mood there was so nice and I could definitely see myself living there and really enjoying it. Florence was kind of how I always imagined Italy to be, in the best way possible.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGF0hSNFw18gTJJ2CaaZ6XI-b2-m10V5ccMNZF8cH3o7jUSoX29HeF2zu4Z339Db_SBDyAL_u4WD73lVZIELyAwxd3J2wpKBUV4JYJLh3fuw2uRRs3-ONKrXJXUewVJE18UkqhoHehgf-K/s1600-h/IMG_4645.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGF0hSNFw18gTJJ2CaaZ6XI-b2-m10V5ccMNZF8cH3o7jUSoX29HeF2zu4Z339Db_SBDyAL_u4WD73lVZIELyAwxd3J2wpKBUV4JYJLh3fuw2uRRs3-ONKrXJXUewVJE18UkqhoHehgf-K/s400/IMG_4645.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261977506343495602" border="0" /></a>At the church of Santa Maria del Fiore!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-ngcQxfdrftE0LmC6FGq7OF6bCngikMKQdmM00C-vJlnKq2H8VxDvau1h4ScVd_-eDMzSGrjA5Em84WftzxjiDkeSEid57rayz4oKe4N0Hb4DYFd87Y0cxFV6rwK236lcecu3KdS8moa/s1600-h/IMG_4660.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-ngcQxfdrftE0LmC6FGq7OF6bCngikMKQdmM00C-vJlnKq2H8VxDvau1h4ScVd_-eDMzSGrjA5Em84WftzxjiDkeSEid57rayz4oKe4N0Hb4DYFd87Y0cxFV6rwK236lcecu3KdS8moa/s400/IMG_4660.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261977506084369970" border="0" /></a>Inside of the Duomo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoiLhElWxv-8bDz8InfyMO-y258n4R9YqVJ0f_3VlYX2Pn8xxGbENWknM1lUN4EGNeBRzB8toblbTSxcwCyvXJVkpr0DoTOffzP8Pm1Ysm_luepCK0cu9um0KSM_XAkKCDBqQRR7zPnZKK/s1600-h/IMG_4674.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoiLhElWxv-8bDz8InfyMO-y258n4R9YqVJ0f_3VlYX2Pn8xxGbENWknM1lUN4EGNeBRzB8toblbTSxcwCyvXJVkpr0DoTOffzP8Pm1Ysm_luepCK0cu9um0KSM_XAkKCDBqQRR7zPnZKK/s400/IMG_4674.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261977516546303842" border="0" /></a>View of the Piazza from the Duomo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJF5vpL6OrWfIHjHkwSqa6G93bs5kgR3V1tBeB-rLJM8dv2sJ0nYG5_zLAo1rMT3erLLEqDP1B6tQwJTehM2NUi1e0AkWb_xFLy9D8pf8RmNzxBhCwzdY9afj1qfUxPyF9xv-6_6-jVMJ/s1600-h/DSCN3256.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJF5vpL6OrWfIHjHkwSqa6G93bs5kgR3V1tBeB-rLJM8dv2sJ0nYG5_zLAo1rMT3erLLEqDP1B6tQwJTehM2NUi1e0AkWb_xFLy9D8pf8RmNzxBhCwzdY9afj1qfUxPyF9xv-6_6-jVMJ/s400/DSCN3256.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261977519796516482" border="0" /></a>The wonderful view!<br /><br />We made it back to Roma by evening and dropped our stuff off at the hostel before heading over to see Craig one last time. He made us another delicious dinner (this time of pasta with cheese and hot dogs! yum.) and we hung out for a while and decompressed a bit. We decided that a late-night donut run was in order and Craig new of a great place that had really cheap, delicious donuts. We made our way over there and it was a lovely little treat. We decided that since it was our last night in Italy, we should also get some gelato before heading back. So, we did. And my my was it delicious. I went all out and got a nice big cone. We sat outside for a while with Craig and his friend Phil and had a nice long conversation. I was definitely sad to leave Rome, too. But...real life awaits. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1D5qWP7zfEt3j9hbjqCRKaxgww6gdSecN2hcKn-JwL2QfY0PW1yrxISvHT9bqC8aN3Nbc_XNE_UPQm_NsI5CWEQbefgSN3BwLyytzhEn2QXTg30j8mRx9SZm6OedJtqd8q0Lt_sgbEDth/s1600-h/DSCN3266.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1D5qWP7zfEt3j9hbjqCRKaxgww6gdSecN2hcKn-JwL2QfY0PW1yrxISvHT9bqC8aN3Nbc_XNE_UPQm_NsI5CWEQbefgSN3BwLyytzhEn2QXTg30j8mRx9SZm6OedJtqd8q0Lt_sgbEDth/s400/DSCN3266.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261977944144161906" border="0" /></a>YUM.<br /><br />End of the story. We made it back to Finland in one piece after another long day of traveling. I loved seeing Italy and it was full of seeing even more amazing things. The people were extremely friendly and kind and it was a wonderful experience. I can't wait to go back someday. I will be looking forward to it.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKnakgt9s6uRY8jmAZNvM0Lr1PSWEvZBmFdXnHOVLRS66p4b_4oC1ynCx57-xgyR0iw4yWdRH4EDKIsoZOI3DPAdW14XAfp4dCowUkEpS9HEPOktPCdqWfdqAyjxZRKcto7iEtBnN2lKo/s1600-h/DSCN3233.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKnakgt9s6uRY8jmAZNvM0Lr1PSWEvZBmFdXnHOVLRS66p4b_4oC1ynCx57-xgyR0iw4yWdRH4EDKIsoZOI3DPAdW14XAfp4dCowUkEpS9HEPOktPCdqWfdqAyjxZRKcto7iEtBnN2lKo/s400/DSCN3233.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261977503181832274" border="0" /></a><br />So long for now.<br />Or as the italians would say...ciao!Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-31346535184419699452008-10-11T09:30:00.000-07:002008-10-11T09:38:46.931-07:00Time flies.It feels like we just got back from Morocco, but in exactly one week we will be heading off to Rome and Florence! I have never been to Italy so I am really excited, and Craig will be there to hopefully show us around so I am excited to catch up with him. I am betting that we will get a fun perspective from him. :)<div><br /></div><div>Nothing too exciting has been going on here. Going to class. Keeping up with good ole American politics, etc. I gave my powerpoint presentation on Friday in my Women's Studies class about the roles of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin in the current election. It was uh...interesting to compare the two. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have to say that though both parties in this election have stooped to misleading ads and hard punches, but the McCain campaign is getting dirtier by the day. Out of desperation and lack of any substance relating to the economy, they have definitely latched on to the 'kitchen sink' strategy. It is repulsive that people at McCain rallies in the last week have been caught yelling "terrorist!" and "kill him!" about Obama. What's worse, however, is the fact that McCain and Palin have both chosen to completely ignore these disgusting remarks made by there supporters. I understand that people will say what they want, but McCain and Palin need to use what decency they have left and say "You know what, no. That is not okay to call him that." Instead they are letting their crowds run rampant with the anger of an impending loss. I find it truly despicable. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anywho, enough on that. For now, that is. Two more classes and a few brief assignments this week and I will be done with half of the semester! This is a little scary because I don't really feel like I have done a whole lot of school work, but let's just hope it all works out in the end. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>Ciao for now!</div>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-46289695592434530032008-10-05T08:18:00.000-07:002008-10-05T10:11:38.727-07:00Morocco Marathon, etc.We are finally back from Morocco and it was definitely a crazy trip. I don't think we could have chosen a place that is any more different from Finland. It was really nice to get away and see something new, but the trip did have some stressful moments. The bustle of life in Marrakesh really is a thing to behold. A little recap, if you will.<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Day 1</span></div><div><br /></div><div>We arrived early in the morning Marrakesh time after spending a full 12 hours in the Frankfurt Hahn airport (NOT fun). Let's just say we were jealous of the people in sleeping bags on the hard floor because we had...nothing. We managed to make it to the hostel, which normally doesn't mean much, but let me tell you, this place is hidden. After winding through narrow streets overflowing with people, cars, donkey carts, horses, bikes and countless mopeds, we managed to find the quiet backstreet that led to the hostel. Luckily the hostel was very very nice and seemed to have friendly staff. </div><div><br /></div><div>Grant made it that evening and it was great to see him. We all went out to the square that night and had dinner at one of the crazy food stalls. You don't really have much of a chance to choose which one because the servers are relentless and will drag you right in off the street. Luckily, it seems all the food is mostly the same. For about 4 bucks a person we got delicious couscous with vegetables, bread with sauce, and delectable fresh-squeezed orange juice. Not a bad deal and a fun atmosphere to boot. </div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbYJ5zjvY4aju-K4WZ4XLp2Dc445qUbhyphenhyphenzzd2UqPqeOkOX4p5dDr6J3Svx7iFv5geggF3XXYvjBF4_04gup9a5Cxu1VDp_2BBos_WAUQR8LC9G4tl-exqyV42IcYI0LhYNA0ywbyBr_ZEU/s1600-h/DSCN2827.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbYJ5zjvY4aju-K4WZ4XLp2Dc445qUbhyphenhyphenzzd2UqPqeOkOX4p5dDr6J3Svx7iFv5geggF3XXYvjBF4_04gup9a5Cxu1VDp_2BBos_WAUQR8LC9G4tl-exqyV42IcYI0LhYNA0ywbyBr_ZEU/s400/DSCN2827.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253693162384612482" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Our lovely little hostel with its open-air courtyard in the middle. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRmTyD0kHM4qRqjBrR1m3ezx6vAq4zilEQ2fkkExV1STKy2oI26gWm8owO3a29Tol67QQs_Fsy8HlbPaVZ1EweQ_Gg_DAhm6ByZHlPEAtQBNXKCCK9QWk0rNbg3Q9EGBlhj1lGwdDwPqP7/s1600-h/DSCN2853.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRmTyD0kHM4qRqjBrR1m3ezx6vAq4zilEQ2fkkExV1STKy2oI26gWm8owO3a29Tol67QQs_Fsy8HlbPaVZ1EweQ_Gg_DAhm6ByZHlPEAtQBNXKCCK9QWk0rNbg3Q9EGBlhj1lGwdDwPqP7/s400/DSCN2853.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253693162528234050" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The Jamaa el Fna (square) at night, lit up by the food stalls. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhdBqLXUpuw49-3XuV4gm5eqioMRuUZea5xO3u3E530EOVA827StBRellO22-0UafddAmpSOP2ErSVY3GtJn-WYxLmCyESWFUKgEaVk8lvDDVzpc_vWTPF3-WRA7t9KySvhTlWZzrnB9a/s1600-h/DSCN2835.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhdBqLXUpuw49-3XuV4gm5eqioMRuUZea5xO3u3E530EOVA827StBRellO22-0UafddAmpSOP2ErSVY3GtJn-WYxLmCyESWFUKgEaVk8lvDDVzpc_vWTPF3-WRA7t9KySvhTlWZzrnB9a/s400/DSCN2835.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253693165313589330" /></a><div>The crowded walk back towards the hostel past vendors and various modes of transport. <br /><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Day 2</span></div><div><br /></div><div>We woke to a pleasant breakfast of bread, jam and more delicious orange juice. We might a nice guy, Rob, from Australia/the U.S. who was friendly and chatty. We decide that we have had enough hassling from the street vendors for a while and that we would like to get out and see some sights. The helpful front-desk guy gives us a map and tells us all the good sights to see. We walked to the Koutoubia mosque, but unfortunately non-muslims aren't allowed in any of the mosques in Morocco. </div><div><br /></div><div>We probably spent a good two hours walking around the city trying to make our way to the sights (with a map and everything). Problem is, there are so many little winding streets in the city that probably 95% of them are not on the map. This makes navigating a bit difficult. After deciding we are definitely not getting anywhere, we find an old man with a horse-drawn carriage and decide to have him take us to our first stop. After all, it had started to rain. </div><div><br /></div><div>We finally made it to the Palais de Badii, which was actually just a little square with some rug markets and shops and restaurants. Tired from our navigation troubles, we head to the upstairs restaurant with a terrace overlooking the square. Our meal was a bit pricey (relatively speaking, and due to our touristy pick), but delicious and rejuvenating. We attempted to find another sight after lunch, but ended up just making our way back to the square and eventually the hostel. </div><div><br /></div><div>For dinner we hit up the food stalls again and discovered some delicious ice cream (two scoops in a waffle cone for 2 bucks!) before shopping around a bit. We wander around the square and glance at the belly dancers and musicians, all hoping for your extra change if you stare a second too long. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXjg9IGTzliM_zIi7j-w3J1UP0CljTJm9V0F4w5zYwlw8orXEfWBqLV3bGElqkFP7kN_6XFMnmEqbu9yPsgnP894ajILjHp83NsIU_uyKZtbri815QHTT_nd69pgf2X-3OpHOd22_hEjLF/s1600-h/DSCN2785.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXjg9IGTzliM_zIi7j-w3J1UP0CljTJm9V0F4w5zYwlw8orXEfWBqLV3bGElqkFP7kN_6XFMnmEqbu9yPsgnP894ajILjHp83NsIU_uyKZtbri815QHTT_nd69pgf2X-3OpHOd22_hEjLF/s400/DSCN2785.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253697697215835810" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Near the Koutoubia mosque. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTAicOYUS9dcYoS9ppPk0u6QJi6QL2zzESv6rq7RALm_2WxvBgigPRA46fHSVndvtZzy8fbQcjsVJhweZwa-pEpFhW5Fmc9FYBM1P3Zwl_lOdZ1emdhggHoOxLXgCElTkC9CNYMm6F8nR/s1600-h/IMG_3961.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTAicOYUS9dcYoS9ppPk0u6QJi6QL2zzESv6rq7RALm_2WxvBgigPRA46fHSVndvtZzy8fbQcjsVJhweZwa-pEpFhW5Fmc9FYBM1P3Zwl_lOdZ1emdhggHoOxLXgCElTkC9CNYMm6F8nR/s400/IMG_3961.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253697698960495666" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Amazing pottery in the streets.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1wCYnTZHlF3j4_32SisJdN0XaMk0CgkETtuyqvd6Yfi84GPqD1ZHVPbdFs14spVMNSRZNLaNCpqMECadCJPJjVwMTRlaHIXreO02GHZ786yLnks5qyQN6liVc6rIzFcas44qBRyIIAoN/s1600-h/IMG_4041.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1wCYnTZHlF3j4_32SisJdN0XaMk0CgkETtuyqvd6Yfi84GPqD1ZHVPbdFs14spVMNSRZNLaNCpqMECadCJPJjVwMTRlaHIXreO02GHZ786yLnks5qyQN6liVc6rIzFcas44qBRyIIAoN/s400/IMG_4041.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253697703939350370" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Getting lost. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXIoPZhp_bIv9QD8vJ0tU394lR9crP4AeURqOb5o-2YCex3hx9n0L2HgfkX89kBRaTGc-94e-ZoMNiH108sE6FyZyIYiNXPjlni1p_mTmdD31kcLqHQTldIlBs_JLPOMV0S3BOhyphenhyphenm70SY/s1600-h/IMG_4112.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXIoPZhp_bIv9QD8vJ0tU394lR9crP4AeURqOb5o-2YCex3hx9n0L2HgfkX89kBRaTGc-94e-ZoMNiH108sE6FyZyIYiNXPjlni1p_mTmdD31kcLqHQTldIlBs_JLPOMV0S3BOhyphenhyphenm70SY/s400/IMG_4112.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253697707074095138" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Spices!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxa94tAGhbVbXNwvZHDUWl_UWjoJDYOtw_eNgKtSKZ332P2IwMvoLvNyfDR76zrfHzYUNw9MQUp6TzxmLDRYC69_PwiqPTzausVqgK34YgI_pDHuwO3swgmcfcPRe1FAXj-8V_KhrJf3hR/s1600-h/DSCN2765.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxa94tAGhbVbXNwvZHDUWl_UWjoJDYOtw_eNgKtSKZ332P2IwMvoLvNyfDR76zrfHzYUNw9MQUp6TzxmLDRYC69_PwiqPTzausVqgK34YgI_pDHuwO3swgmcfcPRe1FAXj-8V_KhrJf3hR/s400/DSCN2765.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253697704531869074" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Dinner in the square. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Day 3</span></div><div><br /></div><div>We thought taking taxis might be a good idea to get to the major sights we wanted to see, considering how cheap they are. This made for a much more satisfying day of sight-seeing. First stop, Palais de Bahia, which is actually an old palace. The whole thing is a work of art in itself. Every ceiling and floor is as ornately decorated as the walls and doors. The hand-laid mosaic tile is breathtaking and the colors of the entire palace are gorgeous. We see probably eight different cats lounging in the sunshine on the grounds. I want to take all of them home. </div><div><br /></div><div>We took another taxi up to Les Jardins Majorelles. There is a large garden and a bright cerulean blue house that was owned (and I presume designed) by the late Yves Saint Laurent. His memorial is there also (I believe he died in January) and I have to say that it would be a beautiful place to be remembered. There are exotic plants and various forms of cacti surrounding brightly colored pots and a lovely fountain and lily-pad covered pond. </div><div><br /></div><div>After wandering around for a bit, we eat a delicious (to be expected) and pricey (also to be expected) lunch at the attached cafe. I think we may have been the only non-French people in the gardens. I wonder if it is a big deal to them to visit the memorial. A lovely place and a highlight of the trip for me. </div><div><br /></div><div>We eat dinner at one of the more touristy terrace restaurants that overlooks the Jamaa el Fna. The view is stunning, but it is nice to be out of the action for a bit. The food is delicious and the waiter is friendly and dressed for a Sinatra movie. Unfortunately, Meg and I both got sick and things went a bit downhill from there. I won't go into detail, but we headed back early for a round of 20 questions and an early bedtime. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvua9oL-RKuFPUMA1YAi9yYmXSeiRytapk52S1tQQLwrMPLDumPaCwfsDak_fgmuUpOOn-7efwFaWQMLXfj77ldWBzF_n73rfiJbkfwit_gbXijct5C5bFQGtnE5IGvNOelCB2yrqBb6o_/s1600-h/DSCN2888.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvua9oL-RKuFPUMA1YAi9yYmXSeiRytapk52S1tQQLwrMPLDumPaCwfsDak_fgmuUpOOn-7efwFaWQMLXfj77ldWBzF_n73rfiJbkfwit_gbXijct5C5bFQGtnE5IGvNOelCB2yrqBb6o_/s400/DSCN2888.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253701561413727314" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>At the Palais de Bahia.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV33p5_m2hr1bNqi6VRAD0lM02OLJk45lebf7F23qOPhD8DgwMQl8I_YPIqLl0hS-EY2hE1WyyoRLxPuxg_hmswxQttJVt6FgMXz0ItD-8YKs-w770XH6eJS7wWTjt9OYwRiLa_SupZ7op/s1600-h/DSCN2884.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV33p5_m2hr1bNqi6VRAD0lM02OLJk45lebf7F23qOPhD8DgwMQl8I_YPIqLl0hS-EY2hE1WyyoRLxPuxg_hmswxQttJVt6FgMXz0ItD-8YKs-w770XH6eJS7wWTjt9OYwRiLa_SupZ7op/s400/DSCN2884.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253701568415851106" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Look at that tile!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCg9KwXIPLGnzELecFIvj77FChQVFG2cGC8CuvzjKFW-WduH3x03SQuHeEDOG0ppixPxTURrDqWEYREVjTYvim6Znmt0PkKvm6-BZvVmviVr5VNRZ2iS653B-q4BLsO3enrW0TtqaaE86X/s1600-h/IMG_4137.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCg9KwXIPLGnzELecFIvj77FChQVFG2cGC8CuvzjKFW-WduH3x03SQuHeEDOG0ppixPxTURrDqWEYREVjTYvim6Znmt0PkKvm6-BZvVmviVr5VNRZ2iS653B-q4BLsO3enrW0TtqaaE86X/s400/IMG_4137.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253701577697905778" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Les Jardins Majorelles.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFf65vuWvX0HbjcGPOEaH4Jhf9dNPofwCozl_tsWji_YpnsOkPzTmOxputuNILjZEeghlKZJbuoPfRx1E-N8HHJTkbazMPm23ck1SkxfKYglz7TD4Okd-CaVDwdsXW5Bnzwfd2jyoOVBC/s1600-h/IMG_4172.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFf65vuWvX0HbjcGPOEaH4Jhf9dNPofwCozl_tsWji_YpnsOkPzTmOxputuNILjZEeghlKZJbuoPfRx1E-N8HHJTkbazMPm23ck1SkxfKYglz7TD4Okd-CaVDwdsXW5Bnzwfd2jyoOVBC/s400/IMG_4172.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253701578673552242" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The colors!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNrEJbZOKRTXzmR37YSfoeXp_xc8JXgspoJ4HWm_OdolRTIHuE8mLsyYMDfEDYqYP1B5auBUwSfwtqrqRO7FczLBQxRN6MxkMSp0vgOsXuBEN9nmsaCBE17wMckj0LYEEG6sTyerl0DGe/s1600-h/IMG_4191.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNrEJbZOKRTXzmR37YSfoeXp_xc8JXgspoJ4HWm_OdolRTIHuE8mLsyYMDfEDYqYP1B5auBUwSfwtqrqRO7FczLBQxRN6MxkMSp0vgOsXuBEN9nmsaCBE17wMckj0LYEEG6sTyerl0DGe/s400/IMG_4191.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253701585978206722" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Our delicious meal of penne pasta, my croque monsieur, and our ginger/mint smoothies.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozop3H0ekmMHkX6mloYrDEDVMJoFGgWM0DWVr-Q99NXS9iAozoELeg_CF8M5K3dXfEIbXn21nQC_PYLPeZRC3W-k-8HXCbj_JYrDfU2b_tmQskcF0ZT65UmhUsZiYu32eeSINON4H2DPi/s1600-h/IMG_4195.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozop3H0ekmMHkX6mloYrDEDVMJoFGgWM0DWVr-Q99NXS9iAozoELeg_CF8M5K3dXfEIbXn21nQC_PYLPeZRC3W-k-8HXCbj_JYrDfU2b_tmQskcF0ZT65UmhUsZiYu32eeSINON4H2DPi/s400/IMG_4195.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253701889607436658" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>More colors. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GUWzaheJiQnVSOsSZ9fGmHYJioSY4s4-9w9UeJAKt-m4ec-jQqS5THTc-c12wdZhLs8xT0Md3qejBlgDp22FPM7ccDDX9ICGZWKG7lU_jnIsHl_X15oBjsu_t3UGSNNoPZDAscO-JA66/s1600-h/IMG_4212.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GUWzaheJiQnVSOsSZ9fGmHYJioSY4s4-9w9UeJAKt-m4ec-jQqS5THTc-c12wdZhLs8xT0Md3qejBlgDp22FPM7ccDDX9ICGZWKG7lU_jnIsHl_X15oBjsu_t3UGSNNoPZDAscO-JA66/s400/IMG_4212.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253701894776955538" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The food stalls and fruit stands in the square at night. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMEvGc24f0bBIAbTNCxKJ-QBTiodly95KFYzGVCQytUyTRd8htGFHJLnruyTvYhdhQNfuJeci_szshKcTv-nTCSIKohyHZx7jgmdt7Fa3mcXPZo2tOSvUMH636zeapQwGaC4hRZ-vm_KP/s1600-h/IMG_4215.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMEvGc24f0bBIAbTNCxKJ-QBTiodly95KFYzGVCQytUyTRd8htGFHJLnruyTvYhdhQNfuJeci_szshKcTv-nTCSIKohyHZx7jgmdt7Fa3mcXPZo2tOSvUMH636zeapQwGaC4hRZ-vm_KP/s400/IMG_4215.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253701893150565058" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Courtesy of the view from our touristy restaurant. <div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Day 4</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing exciting to report as we decided to take it easy so our stomachs could recover from the night before. Grant left and we were sad to see him go. Also jealous that he is now back in Portland for a few days, lucky!</div><div><br /></div><div>We stayed in the hostel most of the day and read all of the english (and some of the french) magazines that were lying around. We managed to venture out for an early dinner on one of the slightly quieter streets off of the square. We were early to bed and early to rise. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Days 5 and 6</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Bright and early we headed out for our two-day desert tour to the Zagora desert and over the high Atlas Mountains. We hop in our less than comfortable 4x4 with three German girls and our friendly driver Mohammed. Turns out we had about 7 hours of driving ahead of us. Driving along very high, very windy, very scary roads. Luckily, we discovered very quickly that Mohammed was an expert driver and we had nothing to worry about. We stopped at several cafes along the way, a nice restaurant for lunch (while Mohammed napped), a famous and very cool Kasbah, and many spots simply for taking photos (much to my delight). The views were simply incredible. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once we arrived in Zagora, we met up with a boy (maybe 14 or 15) who was in charge of our five camels. We rode the camels for about two hours into the desert to our traditional Berbere camp. The camel ride was fun, but rather uncomfortable. Once we got settled in our tent, we were served what our host called "whiskey berbere," but what was really just delicious and sweet mint tea. We had a supper of chicken tagine with potatoes and vegetables. Later, I headed out to the dunes outside our tent for a little music jam session with the Berbere guys who were hosting other foreigners. The music they played, with only drums and singing, was wonderful and you could literally see the milky way above us. I have never seen that many stars in my life. The moment was pretty spectacular. </div><div><br /></div><div>We woke to a breakfast that neither Meg or I could make ourselves eat (warning sign of our future troubles) and a bit of sand on our faces. We rode our camels a much shorter distance (thank goodness) to meet up with Mohammed for the drive back. Same deal that day, lots of driving and lots of different stops. By this time our stomachs weren't doing so well and we didn't eat lunch or dinner. </div><div><br /></div><div>By the time we got back to Marrakesh, all we wanted to do was shower and hit the sheets. We did so immediately.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirDsE_DapRH74yHgroivQcOJ6ufilnDfJ6BwckThatMLYaMMAELkk_FfXEcygRSVBUtzAWDkitYl7Y1H9z8kG1o0nrftzgUHIIGqehZHDEQIvmzLZzmxOJ1zni22WddNq0BsZqOr7QC8gK/s1600-h/DSCN2912.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirDsE_DapRH74yHgroivQcOJ6ufilnDfJ6BwckThatMLYaMMAELkk_FfXEcygRSVBUtzAWDkitYl7Y1H9z8kG1o0nrftzgUHIIGqehZHDEQIvmzLZzmxOJ1zni22WddNq0BsZqOr7QC8gK/s400/DSCN2912.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253706751921326370" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Driving over the Atlas Mountains. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mPcklZt80B629HgUAXEnnWbM0vorzYwTQia4-oxClh6aTz0Zr2ZoKyCGaucyKq5NF5JJ6nWppcZSVwwRXiDNFnCYA1CBnNS2uO08_7jooZk8EORqpyd2Qqt-kPwjp9It_AbYf_Eq6jO7/s1600-h/DSCN2925.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mPcklZt80B629HgUAXEnnWbM0vorzYwTQia4-oxClh6aTz0Zr2ZoKyCGaucyKq5NF5JJ6nWppcZSVwwRXiDNFnCYA1CBnNS2uO08_7jooZk8EORqpyd2Qqt-kPwjp9It_AbYf_Eq6jO7/s400/DSCN2925.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253706756441696402" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rock the Kasbah.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1eKLDGzeQN1KqQZnnpFHakXsiUgunH6VlEBW1bik9i-zl-XHhyrZAA84DJiw0Zr7JeCSzKlfRqibm7uU7Fhe04BTyYMWRDEucyuuMYst6dB0Vv0EdXR4E_mD6wKfKmHc0LP05kD-QX2i/s1600-h/DSCN2941.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1eKLDGzeQN1KqQZnnpFHakXsiUgunH6VlEBW1bik9i-zl-XHhyrZAA84DJiw0Zr7JeCSzKlfRqibm7uU7Fhe04BTyYMWRDEucyuuMYst6dB0Vv0EdXR4E_mD6wKfKmHc0LP05kD-QX2i/s400/DSCN2941.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253706763640692402" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We learned to tie our scarves like the berbere for our sunset camel ride. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ6JQM2bnMdD58a8T_UwMWaNM6mN_uPqDRJ3bEuGQozliAeng5uie-h4C3uesJHpUEqkNqxmE04ZvXcCp39ZNoc1djc4nhSy_t8eHD_Vi6PjRZjjavYC-xl7NQ5DWOaoCPd7zFrD5XY08N/s1600-h/IMG_4253.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ6JQM2bnMdD58a8T_UwMWaNM6mN_uPqDRJ3bEuGQozliAeng5uie-h4C3uesJHpUEqkNqxmE04ZvXcCp39ZNoc1djc4nhSy_t8eHD_Vi6PjRZjjavYC-xl7NQ5DWOaoCPd7zFrD5XY08N/s400/IMG_4253.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253706773075979554" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Crazy roads. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZkUq_VyFQPaM6VXbsJqqgMT8_ogons-q6P6iXIn5TRZs-1TDFtyf4MANBXyMdtgvIIJ4GaHK5bHDyIm6brTb1bsE92WO9h8raMAdioS4gqaVVseA1UEVTdT1rUJYtTb7Nc227IjoQnSy/s1600-h/IMG_4291.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZkUq_VyFQPaM6VXbsJqqgMT8_ogons-q6P6iXIn5TRZs-1TDFtyf4MANBXyMdtgvIIJ4GaHK5bHDyIm6brTb1bsE92WO9h8raMAdioS4gqaVVseA1UEVTdT1rUJYtTb7Nc227IjoQnSy/s400/IMG_4291.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253706778961202402" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Our lovely camels. Very strange animals. <br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW17yrcmaNBOCx9en0Pwfv1icFG60f_qiD9iJ-LoIg95Fyrx5OliPwqkfZg3RnW-FgU1EXwLioPnnLeP4ougSxMctQB4UwJU-debd-nhKQlw_ICv4eCykHnwAgxivCpGh0Ze5neJWgEKCT/s1600-h/DSCN2936.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW17yrcmaNBOCx9en0Pwfv1icFG60f_qiD9iJ-LoIg95Fyrx5OliPwqkfZg3RnW-FgU1EXwLioPnnLeP4ougSxMctQB4UwJU-debd-nhKQlw_ICv4eCykHnwAgxivCpGh0Ze5neJWgEKCT/s400/DSCN2936.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253707389551159458" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Windy.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHKbnVruuFu_qwUux066BBKpvlz1rjLyRl6pUDUw6tq2m_QSsKoSUV65gsLdjS-fDfY6rn8B6o2Z2Fsf66AzImoCPDKhtYmMCeq_nu4xa7NxYyNFi_Khw74fQGkUU4_CIFcfnU7F-nmMU/s1600-h/DSCN2947.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHKbnVruuFu_qwUux066BBKpvlz1rjLyRl6pUDUw6tq2m_QSsKoSUV65gsLdjS-fDfY6rn8B6o2Z2Fsf66AzImoCPDKhtYmMCeq_nu4xa7NxYyNFi_Khw74fQGkUU4_CIFcfnU7F-nmMU/s400/DSCN2947.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253707396893959986" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Sannnnd.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALGCPmrTkwou48FkRT_Hn0sXXmXCt4yvKUprJdpNR_M32PHUMyXQUYbi8ZQx5jUPuNtOrUNk6dh9Gx5U3_Sc9biSoGUQWqGLH8ZAMke5Vdjsu7bcctuTsLxdCOoou-7e2VyNDyXiGftWv/s1600-h/IMG_4296.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALGCPmrTkwou48FkRT_Hn0sXXmXCt4yvKUprJdpNR_M32PHUMyXQUYbi8ZQx5jUPuNtOrUNk6dh9Gx5U3_Sc9biSoGUQWqGLH8ZAMke5Vdjsu7bcctuTsLxdCOoou-7e2VyNDyXiGftWv/s400/IMG_4296.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253707401533387666" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Our berbere camp.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg18tuX28DQ_Egb4jDxgFxFtVRd_XaVeA6qApsT-_1TMdpm2KDDRvDjY5XXHiDgPoncLMXHCLZrkJMk9ddpjn0VVW2CIWZQgZ0ZlgdccFXm28f-lpyQ4K2qY_UGTCEYWy0mEJhnJBkRM2CN/s1600-h/IMG_4300.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg18tuX28DQ_Egb4jDxgFxFtVRd_XaVeA6qApsT-_1TMdpm2KDDRvDjY5XXHiDgPoncLMXHCLZrkJMk9ddpjn0VVW2CIWZQgZ0ZlgdccFXm28f-lpyQ4K2qY_UGTCEYWy0mEJhnJBkRM2CN/s400/IMG_4300.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253707400987773426" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The Dunes.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUTBArL3SkQ7TSEt9xuhUTJSVu7tJgXMmhZTS93X-6ApuvBVZcXgc2yC5-2x32zJGoR8O3obAoY_-bMa_uPsyUQfczh4YTVIXv0Glm7tlWMWNJazbYxYdQkXwDk3nubIK0sBPlRt5dmq3/s1600-h/IMG_4306.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUTBArL3SkQ7TSEt9xuhUTJSVu7tJgXMmhZTS93X-6ApuvBVZcXgc2yC5-2x32zJGoR8O3obAoY_-bMa_uPsyUQfczh4YTVIXv0Glm7tlWMWNJazbYxYdQkXwDk3nubIK0sBPlRt5dmq3/s400/IMG_4306.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253707403452535378" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The desert. <div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Day 7</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Stayed in hostel all day and only ate pringles and digestive cookies. Not good. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Day 8</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Left bright and early for our flight and felt like I was going to have a heart attack because I was so weak from lack of food. We were both cranky and did not have a very good day. Finally arrived in Germany that night and were supremely glad that we had made a hotel reservation near the airport. Went to the very cute little hotel and got settled in and watched a few hours of CNN and BBC, (first time actually watching television in over a month). Went down for a dinner of soup and caprese salad to get our stomachs back on track. We returned to the room for hours of switching between TV and our books. We both begrudgingly bought Chasing Harry Winston (author of devil wears prada) at the airport for 10 euros. Probably a worthwhile investment in the end. </div><div><br /></div><div>We were anxiously waiting for the VP debate (and hopefully for some entertaining gaffes to occur) at 1 am only to discover that the debate wasn't actually on until 3 am. Luckily neither of us were very tired so we napped for a couple hours and woke in time to catch the debate live. I'm really glad we got to see it live and was extremely impressed with Joe Biden's performance. </div><div><br /></div><div>General gist of my reaction:</div><div><br /></div><div>-Wow, Biden really knows his stuff and is on top of his game. Answers everything pretty directly and in great detail. </div><div>-Sarah Palin looks like a robot who is nervously spewing campaign lines that were fed to her and memorized.</div><div>-No entertaining gaffes and Sarah Palin did 'better than expected.' Doesn't say much considering people were just happy she could put sentences together, unlike last week with Katie Couric.</div><div>-Palin kept referring to Alaska and saying things like 'well up there in Alaska' in her horrifying accent. Not a good idea because it just kept reminding me that that is naturally where she belongs, not in an offensive way.</div><div>-Man, Joe Biden seems to have background and facts and a plan for everything. Amazing.</div><div>-Palin, worst closing statement ever. Something about being old and having to tell our kids that back in the day men and women were free? Whaaat?</div><div><br /></div><div>Basically, it seems that Joe Biden has a complete grasp of all of the complex issues and can give specifics about what the problem actually is and how we should fix it. Sarah Palin did a good job of not messing up, but she clearly does not have any grasp of the depth of complex issues. I think even a good Republican could see this. If I were a Republican I would feel seriously betrayed that McCain picked someone as unqualified as her purely for attention. No matter what party you are from, the prospect of her becoming VP or president is downright scary.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anywho, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Day 9 </span>we had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, hung out at the airport for a few more hours and eventually made in back to Tampere in one piece. Have spent the weekend recovering, reorganizing, cleaning and resting. I go back to class tomorrow so hopefully it won't be too much of a shock for my four hour (yes, four) women's studies seminar. </div><div><br /></div><div>Should be interesting to see what our US Elections professor has to say about the debate on Wednesday. </div><div><br /></div><div>If any of you got to the end of this post, you must certainly be my dear friend, so I miss you all! </div><div><br /></div><div>Next stop, Italia!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-56872929266104931222008-09-23T06:22:00.000-07:002008-09-23T06:39:13.165-07:00Marrakesh Express.So...we are leaving for our first big adventure tomorrow. Marrakech, Morocco here we come! I am really excited. I am pretty sure it will be nothing like anywhere I have ever been, which is great. It will also be in the 80s while we are there, which I have to say, will be a nice change. No doubt we will freeze when we come back to Tampere. <div><br /></div><div>Nothing too exciting to update on from here. We are definitely getting into the routine of things more now. My classes have been enjoyable and the reading for my book exams is manageable so far. Everyone in the building is becoming good friends now, so that's really fun. We have been having a lot of movie nights in the main building because no one ever has anything to do on weeknights. I am pushing for Good Will Hunting tonight. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today the weather was actually quite nice and sunny. We went to school and ate a boring lunch and then had to print out stuff for our trip and our 'request for absentee ballot' forms. Hopefully those will go through okay and we will get our ballots in plenty of time. Our friend Isaac from London watched Sarah Palin's interview on ABC and let's just say he was pretty shocked and baffled. That's all I will say. </div><div><br /></div><div>Next time I post will probably be from Marrakesh! (If I can use a computer)</div><div><br /></div><div>Just another reminder of how expensive things are here. Yes, that is the price. In Euros. For nail polish.</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzX0XKZPTHY_oh6MSO_syohV4n-zJTuVpZ8L4iqiEHuVP_TKgahaoef0tsDjtMhRMo9AEtwUZOtsVzE7JXnJ2ZaE1VqRB0_6gc_SLVOgtWTsiF53mAtPhw7M3j7B6E0oVBY5pjGx2fzL9F/s1600-h/DSCN2735.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzX0XKZPTHY_oh6MSO_syohV4n-zJTuVpZ8L4iqiEHuVP_TKgahaoef0tsDjtMhRMo9AEtwUZOtsVzE7JXnJ2ZaE1VqRB0_6gc_SLVOgtWTsiF53mAtPhw7M3j7B6E0oVBY5pjGx2fzL9F/s400/DSCN2735.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249210002255054258" /></a><div><br /></div><div>The colors are starting to change here and we happened upon these lovely trees on our walk to the bus stop this morning. (Okay, it was more like early afternoon.)</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKzpKOofe_QpbDtfSwTjt6it16Unqtb2Xr7lCpWHLM7bIdZHdv_eKv-Vv3Slma7Mz2xhOa5bqrI14GsBC49N12W7RHA1DcUbRmaZi7QoHkEDiExID2jLEsLJd_5eI9MrI_uIUTqp_Jv5t/s1600-h/DSCN2740.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKzpKOofe_QpbDtfSwTjt6it16Unqtb2Xr7lCpWHLM7bIdZHdv_eKv-Vv3Slma7Mz2xhOa5bqrI14GsBC49N12W7RHA1DcUbRmaZi7QoHkEDiExID2jLEsLJd_5eI9MrI_uIUTqp_Jv5t/s400/DSCN2740.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249210011377312626" /></a>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-23995360378395924082008-09-20T12:00:00.000-07:002008-09-20T12:49:37.477-07:00Not good.Just had a little chit-chat with Orbitz about changing my plane ticket home. See, originally my parents were going to come over to Paris or something for Christmas this year and then I was going to come back to Tampere and fly home on December 28th. Problem is...financial crisis hits and boom, my parents can no longer afford to come. I had come to terms with the fact that I would just fly home a week earlier and spend Christmas at home. No problem, I know that by then I will probably be exhausted and actually appreciate just being home.<div><br /></div><div>So today I called up orbitz to see if I could change my ticket. Well, because I have paper tickets ( I don't know why I do), they can't change it over the phone. I have to go to the Scandinavian Airlines desk at the Tampere airport (the most inefficient, understaffed airport I have ever been to) to get it changed. Now, I don't know how they calculate these things, but I just looked up a one-way ticket home on December 21st and it was 1,800 dollars. NOT GOOD. If they take my original ticket, cut the price in half and replace that fare with the one-way fare and then add on the ticket change fee, it could cost me 1,400 dollars EXTRA just to fly home. :(</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, if luck is on my side, that will not be how they calculate it. Because at that price, my parents could either decide that maybe it would be worth it to come instead of throw away 1,400 dollars. If not, it looks like I might have to stay here for Christmas, or go travel somewhere by myself or something. Does anyone know anyone else who is studying abroad and staying somewhere for Christmas? Eek. This is not good. It seems silly to throw away that much money. Hopefully it will not be that much money.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nonetheless, I am a bit exasperated right now.</div><div><br /></div><div>In other news, we leave for Marrakech on Wednesday, yay!</div>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-24646667175027227802008-09-14T10:23:00.001-07:002008-09-14T10:30:47.465-07:00Sunday outing.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZZT-aY80-CriJ1PGeZgY_dgKURZ_NaHGACBRng-Koh_NOxuem7KschS6xD8llkEANxVbHftCkG7A_4PYS6yWPk3wvYF7fkkyL8xWkaVw-X1qubEFSKCflWFa5up_v0NCwtUc2RlLZY1-/s1600-h/DSCN2727.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZZT-aY80-CriJ1PGeZgY_dgKURZ_NaHGACBRng-Koh_NOxuem7KschS6xD8llkEANxVbHftCkG7A_4PYS6yWPk3wvYF7fkkyL8xWkaVw-X1qubEFSKCflWFa5up_v0NCwtUc2RlLZY1-/s200/DSCN2727.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245929975142013330" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPiKyTthF1lgBQASkw0_IRhFx3Dp6dVkyw0BMGz_m495cYgtTO-ttvmxImcaSJFeQgggej_PjnIGST1uPQ-a-nXytV62_RplcQwuztj1ZBmiwkOrFt_lpxaYK0vkKilezhM7UjYLmKUri/s1600-h/DSCN2728.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPiKyTthF1lgBQASkw0_IRhFx3Dp6dVkyw0BMGz_m495cYgtTO-ttvmxImcaSJFeQgggej_PjnIGST1uPQ-a-nXytV62_RplcQwuztj1ZBmiwkOrFt_lpxaYK0vkKilezhM7UjYLmKUri/s200/DSCN2728.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245929978817894066" /></a><br /><div id="NBCUadTrackingDiv" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; display: none; "><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart-1"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart0"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart1"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart2"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart3"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart4"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart5"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart6"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart7"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart8"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivstart9"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid-1"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid0"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid1"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid2"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid3"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid4"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid5"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid6"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid7"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid8"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivmid9"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend-1"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend0"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend1"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend2"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend3"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend4"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend5"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend6"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend7"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend8"></div><div id="NBCUadTrackingDivend9"></div></div>I was going a little stir crazy yesterday from being cooped up in the house with my cold. Meg found this waffle place/coffee shop online that was supposedly really good, so we decided to go there this morning (well, almost afternoon) and get some waffles! The place was tiny and a little out of the way, but quite adorable. They have all kinds of waffles. They have your normal sweet waffles with berries and fruit, and they also have quite a selection of savory waffles (the taco waffle looked particularly intriguing), and even an ice cream waffle! They are also about 3-5 euros, which is a pretty good deal for any meal around here. I got an apple/nectarine waffle and Meg got one with jam and goat cheese. They were both delicious.<div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNVugo48N8Rwbvjphn462_kr_1mQTqC4c5-I1OQKhA54ZhbwY3asoz6O4szSUh5F19U1qgN3KgfYzbcUDoOX3Ppp8yS8OKw9LbB884ls5s88tNpOw55-QgEeZStwfW9jCFm2Exkgx-I_C1/s1600-h/DSCN2730.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNVugo48N8Rwbvjphn462_kr_1mQTqC4c5-I1OQKhA54ZhbwY3asoz6O4szSUh5F19U1qgN3KgfYzbcUDoOX3Ppp8yS8OKw9LbB884ls5s88tNpOw55-QgEeZStwfW9jCFm2Exkgx-I_C1/s320/DSCN2730.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245930305162329202" /></a><br /></div><div>After that, we decided we would go get coffee and try to get some studying done. We went to a coffee shop in the main square that was big, but still cozy. I delved into my environmental studies book called "Comfort, Cleanliness, Convenience." Haha. It's definitely a bit dense and wordy, but it's digestible and only about 200 pages so it shouldn't be too bad. I discovered that they <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">did</span> in fact have Chai Lattés, so I splurged and spent three euros on one to keep my reading going. Surprisingly, it was amazingly delicious! I hadn't really seen them anywhere else so I figured they weren't very popular, which sometimes equals not good. But to the contrary it was quite tasty. </div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRXc4GQXvgYpEdAlbkvT9TdHBlhF6Fr_r-UxcoF0bPNTa2q9buZqMB57C7rtlSmWdQOUB_7l9Swo2FbhwQ9Iv-ERp7jI8v4lnGbpcKaLcA3XxtTVoW_-bywHiE5B9QYJSuQB13vio0NA2/s1600-h/DSCN2731.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRXc4GQXvgYpEdAlbkvT9TdHBlhF6Fr_r-UxcoF0bPNTa2q9buZqMB57C7rtlSmWdQOUB_7l9Swo2FbhwQ9Iv-ERp7jI8v4lnGbpcKaLcA3XxtTVoW_-bywHiE5B9QYJSuQB13vio0NA2/s320/DSCN2731.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245930664239617778" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Now we are back home and I accidently took a little nap earlier. Whoops. I start my women's studies "Gender in Politics" seminar tomorrow. It is four hours long. Hopefully they will find a miraculous way to make that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">not</span> seem like an eternity. I think I will need to pack a sandwich. </div><div><br /></div><div>Also, I found out yesterday that I am going to be a Noisemaker for Asthmatic Kitty Records. They sent out a letter a few weeks ago asking for volunteers who might want to apply, so I did. I think it is basically an organized group of promotional volunteers for the record label. It should be fun! So, I will be a good volunteer and give them a plug on here. Go see their website! Sufjan Stevens is my favorite artist on their label and they also have a lot of music by their artists that you can download for free! </div><div><a href="http://www.asthmatickitty.com/">Asthmatic Kitty Records</a></div><div><br /></div><div>In closing, I hope that all of you saw this skit on SNL last night. Of course, I have no TV, so I only saw it on YouTube, but I think you should watch it. Tina Fey with that accent! Kills me.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48cd48a1b1b81592/4727a2501a2a0f59/8477a471/widget.js"></script>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-22772059969829725772008-09-13T07:04:00.000-07:002008-09-13T07:51:24.379-07:00Stuck inside with the stuffy nose blues.I haven't updated in a while. This is mostly due to the fact that I have not done anything very exciting in the last week because I sadly came down with a cold on Wednesday. So...because I don't have any class from Wednesday until Monday, I have mostly been camped out here on my bed drinking the chicken noodle soup that miraculously arrived from my mother in the nick of time and watching old episodes of 30Rock on the internet. If you have never seen that show (by miss Tina Fey), you should. It's funny. I plan to finish the first season this evening and perhaps start the second tomorrow if I am still cooped up. That picture up there is our school, by the way.<div><br /></div><div>The group has started to have spontaneous movie nights because it seems that, like us, many of them have excess free time to use up. Sunday we watched Evan Almighty (meh) and Hot Fuzz. I had heard really good things about Hot Fuzz, but I was sleepy and I didn't really get the humor so I left and went to bed. Tuesday, per my suggestion, we watched Breach. I have seen it three times now and I think it might have to go into my favorite movies now. Everyone else loved it, too. I'm surprised it never got nominated for anything. Wednesday we went to a residents meeting for Peltolammi, which was...interesting. However, there were free snacks. </div><div><br /></div><div>Other than that, I have been here in the apartment trying to amuse myself by watching whatever shows I can find online and keeping up with the political scene. I watched Sarah Palin avoid all kinds of questions in her interview with Charles Gibson. She was definitely well coached, but she never gave a direct answer and kept calling Charles "Charlie," as if calling him that would make her more well-liked, which it does not. Again, she tried to bolster her 'foreign policy credentials' by saying that in some parts of Alaska you can actually see Russia! OMG! Clearly that makes her an expert on foreign relations. I'm pretty sure the part she can see is an icy wasteland with a few deer moseying around. She has also never even met a head-of-state, not a good sign. Of course, Sarah Palin thought that probably most VP picks have had the same answer. Yeah, right. I don't know if this thing should even be called an interview. It was basically her spewing off whatever the McCain camp told her to say no matter what question she was actually asked. When Gibson asked her what she thought of the Bush Doctrine, she clearly had no idea what he was talking about. She must have such amazing foreign policy experience!</div><div><br /></div><div>McCain was also on The View yesterday and he was torn to shreds. Justifiably so. It was evident that everyone but Elisabeth Hasselbeck was annoyed with his inability to answer questions. He tried to pull the "change" crap that the GOP has adopted in the past week, saying that Sarah Palin was going to reform "all of Washington!" When Barbara Walters inquired as to how she might do that, he stuttered that by golly she was a reformer! It's the same crap as always and I can't believe half the country is falling for it. I don't know how the GOP thinks they can get away with spouting "CHANGE!" when they have absolutely nothing to say that they won't do exactly what Bush has done to our country. It's preposterous. I also stumbled upon a video of Joe Biden on Meet The Press, and what a difference. I didn't know much about him when he was announced as Obama's VP pick, but the more I see of him, the more I understand why he was chosen. He has enormous experience, which (contrary to what the GOP is saying) IS a good thing. He is an expert of foreign policy and he also, to put it quite simply, knows what he's talking about. I have seen him in quite a few live campaign stops as well, and when he is asked a question, no matter what it's about, he is right there, on point. He never hesitates and he has specific answers for every person's individual question. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, enough politics for now. I have been on a Bob Dylan binge lately. I think it's comforting over here, to have such americana playing in the speakers. :) I am also really enjoying Bon Iver. If you haven't heard of them, you should check them out. It's unfortunate that the only concerts that come to Finland are heavy metal. Boo.</div><div><br /></div><div>We went to the lake at daytime last weekend, so here are some photos for you!</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwe95Wj0tZ0qE4ac_eS9e4qESvncAYHs7liU2mvUH5wDYx26QaGslMe0v7pTgjnn_iPlxTkPfcxdJu6ydMIe5wKIBUNlz2a5XKKwQEL5oSie3ClwGaP6x9_xhOut6B9uJtbyPsWyyJODsh/s1600-h/IMG_3932.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwe95Wj0tZ0qE4ac_eS9e4qESvncAYHs7liU2mvUH5wDYx26QaGslMe0v7pTgjnn_iPlxTkPfcxdJu6ydMIe5wKIBUNlz2a5XKKwQEL5oSie3ClwGaP6x9_xhOut6B9uJtbyPsWyyJODsh/s400/IMG_3932.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245517138532779842" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD-fhX8BpO4wps_zOXOWLmd-dDwCFPfG_5ocJX-hejDrYPSH9vcKU1LxFwmsvuOVrYc3KvXmCR-TbHf4-7VeF9m6P7e5IWXNxnvvEKPLbIWTS20iq5ffQ8HkKaCSretaVbf7C5TiWZZAh0/s1600-h/IMG_3934.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD-fhX8BpO4wps_zOXOWLmd-dDwCFPfG_5ocJX-hejDrYPSH9vcKU1LxFwmsvuOVrYc3KvXmCR-TbHf4-7VeF9m6P7e5IWXNxnvvEKPLbIWTS20iq5ffQ8HkKaCSretaVbf7C5TiWZZAh0/s400/IMG_3934.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245517164011986594" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXiO_EOkQZ5Hxk1sJJfgxs5KsLyE7RKXbi_Gbiiw-VmseVRpWxsaT_mGWrdkQRio2uU35dFNIx1Fq-J_e4aB5lV3scZCRzUYeomAQc6xra7xjES1i5CFXuNCmYxFDGXXTOHiRkW6pgLjN/s1600-h/IMG_3936.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXiO_EOkQZ5Hxk1sJJfgxs5KsLyE7RKXbi_Gbiiw-VmseVRpWxsaT_mGWrdkQRio2uU35dFNIx1Fq-J_e4aB5lV3scZCRzUYeomAQc6xra7xjES1i5CFXuNCmYxFDGXXTOHiRkW6pgLjN/s400/IMG_3936.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245517175817022450" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2m7tgcYtfi-armA8Shltg3Lcnx-u8glvO-eSePRMsf2ptuIBl293CbFyy5yLZ5HZdWBYqJyMHutzOPRxinQg2KfCDKEW6XJFnIw3KVOLmok4umhyHhgR9t146zRJ3n2DIkahSatvg1Tt/s1600-h/DSCN2721-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2m7tgcYtfi-armA8Shltg3Lcnx-u8glvO-eSePRMsf2ptuIBl293CbFyy5yLZ5HZdWBYqJyMHutzOPRxinQg2KfCDKEW6XJFnIw3KVOLmok4umhyHhgR9t146zRJ3n2DIkahSatvg1Tt/s400/DSCN2721-1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245517191836140754" /></a>Pretty, huh?<br /></div><div><div><br /></div></div>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-37439566497216887242008-09-05T05:29:00.000-07:002008-09-05T06:14:42.410-07:00"The Peltolammin Eminem everybody!"<div>The last few days have been interesting, or entertaining at least. I finally got my new power adapter for my computer, and on the way back Meg suggested that we take the 71b bus because it must go the same route as the 71, which stops by our apartment. Much to our dismay, the bus was headed to what we could best describe as...the middle of nowhere. I asked Meg to show me her shame face for putting us there in the rain. <br /></div><div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG469X7oweLxwvSduum_FEv8Y_wTD4ihud0GvB0QCJ333Z7elkCBOtewIduYQ9U9qOGMzTWTUzgCp88l9gCv9ZNONRjWMPJ2C0bEfvZnhPongPDYtYNSIjgtY9lr-iEvte5fbGWZa2mwHK/s1600-h/DSCN2712.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG469X7oweLxwvSduum_FEv8Y_wTD4ihud0GvB0QCJ333Z7elkCBOtewIduYQ9U9qOGMzTWTUzgCp88l9gCv9ZNONRjWMPJ2C0bEfvZnhPongPDYtYNSIjgtY9lr-iEvte5fbGWZa2mwHK/s320/DSCN2712.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242524855331857954" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8jlOpTYMOS5vQDaTITqyQgjW9nEfXWjOCRTSx71lJLG4jkC-_GPsMrAlqlNK5bEUAjRo9dR2Hn6bIMeB7nMdrn7M2uILeHLAh0hKEo_qScP3I7S65JytD4s9lwYKzKOWpXRyolBtZBab/s1600-h/DSCN2714.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8jlOpTYMOS5vQDaTITqyQgjW9nEfXWjOCRTSx71lJLG4jkC-_GPsMrAlqlNK5bEUAjRo9dR2Hn6bIMeB7nMdrn7M2uILeHLAh0hKEo_qScP3I7S65JytD4s9lwYKzKOWpXRyolBtZBab/s320/DSCN2714.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242524863501515522" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>We did make it to a market in the middle of town that randomly appeared in the square. We saw a llama! We also bought seven licorice/candy rope things from a very nice vendor who kindly attempted to translate all of the flavors for us. </div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oBLQlaJSznoVEiKcJlK_U1MUQDvBztB7nea3RzLHhySyTlJjP7xE3jE4ZeyVqSSy2ICIMGwVJRgGzCFQhMMQumnspMwqCAkg1tBMqbgGZIxvxJeZvbWvUQ3YhtIi1i3veys7oTz8vuGE/s1600-h/DSCN2707.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oBLQlaJSznoVEiKcJlK_U1MUQDvBztB7nea3RzLHhySyTlJjP7xE3jE4ZeyVqSSy2ICIMGwVJRgGzCFQhMMQumnspMwqCAkg1tBMqbgGZIxvxJeZvbWvUQ3YhtIi1i3veys7oTz8vuGE/s320/DSCN2707.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242523326740240722" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0cEHR_kORW97fH9B85zReeQqd71QJI5pRt40WX9dY8jNzu3u5ycJs8rqQROYqjqIkJR3KicO__HRazVfOuhWfD0_GHOnGb4DXF-F1HyGSHUyKih5EpMPF8QKLSOoS5dR5mZd2f18lwhJ/s1600-h/DSCN2709.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0cEHR_kORW97fH9B85zReeQqd71QJI5pRt40WX9dY8jNzu3u5ycJs8rqQROYqjqIkJR3KicO__HRazVfOuhWfD0_GHOnGb4DXF-F1HyGSHUyKih5EpMPF8QKLSOoS5dR5mZd2f18lwhJ/s320/DSCN2709.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242523332267663938" /></a><br /></div><div>Wednesday night was Veronika's 24th birthday, so she had everyone over to her place and made like 6 homemade pizzas that were delicious. We got to meet a bunch of other germans who were really fun. We also dealt with questions from the well-meaning Chinese guy who thinks he knows a lot about America even though he has never been. I was wearing my navy blue nail polish and he asked if I was gothic, haha. He's an interesting one. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yesterday we hung around the house and eventually made it to the grocery store and bought some real food. Still no cheese though, far too expensive. We at least got some chicken and fish fingers and real pasta sauce. Ahhh the wonders of foreign cuisine. And we got a little basil plant! So exciting. We were planning on watching the Sex & the City movie and calling it a night, but the whole gang came to knock on our door and see if we wanted to come out. Well, of course! </div><div><br /></div><div>We walked over to the pub that is in Peltolammi (the lovely place with 7 apartment buildings, a vet?, a grocery store and two pubs) and had an interesting experience. Our plan was to just hang out and get a drink. But of course, it was Karaoke night! After hearing some delightfully terrible Finnish renditions of english songs, we decided someone from our group better step up. Elise and Veronika attempted to sing "Mambo No. 5," of which they could really only sing the chorus. Nonetheless, it certainly got the locals in the bar going. Joe, taking himself seriously, decided to do Eminem's "Lose Yourself," which was quite good although maybe not as entertaining. The locals were quite impressed with his rapping and he gained a few drunk Finnish fans. Around 11:30, Meg and I were getting ready to help out our new French friend Basil with "Hey Jude," but unfortunately they were closing and we were too late. </div><div><br /></div><div>We made our way down to the nearby lake that Meg and I had not yet discovered. It was a beautiful, although dark, walk and we stopped at a merry-go-round and swingset briefly before heading down to the dock. The lake is huge and really quite stunning, even in the dark. We all sat at the end of the dock and Veronika served everyone little glasses of wine as Elise pulled out and lit some tiny little votive candles (Oh, Elise). Not long after, Elise decided she might go swimming. Mind you, this is at about 12:30 am and I would bet that the water is about 45 degrees. Nonetheless, she, Nelly and Veronika stripped down to their skivvies and jumped in the lake! I was sitting there in a sweatshirt and a scarf and there they were, swimming in the lake like it was no big deal. Eventually Gurkan and Basil followed (Basil stripped all the way down because...he is french). </div><div><br /></div><div>On the way back, we got sucked in by the playground again and basically all took turns on the merry-go-round until most of us felt slightly nauseous. I haven't been on one of those things in at least ten years, but I have to say that it was pretty darn fun. I am so glad that we have so many fun people around to make things exciting even when our living area is not innately fun itself. Sadly, my camera died as I was attempting to document the Karaoke part of the evening, but Elise did take some pictures so credit goes to her on these. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0SgGeXLchHlts1F76IEtaolQpC2ZCOicG-EdyOAjv-B4AlDpztuUi50MuZN7r0Hw8kXFUSQYFP7N894c50xrbdLKwejExhrf8XUFlXMYXEtiUO5ZTLxS7iXPOU8L3s8q_f4hIiXFJu3v/s1600-h/n783969643_675620_6294.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0SgGeXLchHlts1F76IEtaolQpC2ZCOicG-EdyOAjv-B4AlDpztuUi50MuZN7r0Hw8kXFUSQYFP7N894c50xrbdLKwejExhrf8XUFlXMYXEtiUO5ZTLxS7iXPOU8L3s8q_f4hIiXFJu3v/s320/n783969643_675620_6294.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242524274332020434" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48Rd1OcyoYmjiUYJPGhKJj2p3ufi8c3AAohoB_pvuO5SPXTkxxokLwSOYeh1Ge69LkeZSQ2eS1D6n7z3xHT_JffbRbwY31XvgkqZj6WtYSPNCVlerrF_CIMkP93_QZLTtagpVcjJ1imdj/s1600-h/n783969643_675630_196.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48Rd1OcyoYmjiUYJPGhKJj2p3ufi8c3AAohoB_pvuO5SPXTkxxokLwSOYeh1Ge69LkeZSQ2eS1D6n7z3xHT_JffbRbwY31XvgkqZj6WtYSPNCVlerrF_CIMkP93_QZLTtagpVcjJ1imdj/s320/n783969643_675630_196.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242524276626069762" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglVgqrv13SJPg65fEqRntcAIT0ngLsJODjwJpsoV5G9XiyNSgMlni0nwW3R1fYUIrmnpzdMZL7ut1vh4x10eGLiCSn6Aan9PeZFJEXBv5WQlQw5hDmRZp-_ng8GYwPjBrhNDQuhCjny3cO/s1600-h/n783969643_675632_991.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglVgqrv13SJPg65fEqRntcAIT0ngLsJODjwJpsoV5G9XiyNSgMlni0nwW3R1fYUIrmnpzdMZL7ut1vh4x10eGLiCSn6Aan9PeZFJEXBv5WQlQw5hDmRZp-_ng8GYwPjBrhNDQuhCjny3cO/s320/n783969643_675632_991.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242524279745720066" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__PzUHI3icew/SMEwDnsFC6I/AAAAAAAAAFs/Iv_-NUaLJVw/s1600-h/n783969643_675635_2248.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__PzUHI3icew/SMEwDnsFC6I/AAAAAAAAAFs/Iv_-NUaLJVw/s320/n783969643_675635_2248.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242524279987571618" /></a><br /><br /></div>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-918114714375669082008-09-03T04:02:00.000-07:002008-09-05T05:23:43.586-07:00Let's learn about America!Today both Meg and I officially had our first class. We are taking a course called "U.S. Presidential Elections." This may seem a bit selfish to take this instead of the Survival Finnish course, but so be it. Our professor is actually from the U.S. although all of her family is from Finland. This helps us because we do not have to suffer through an indecipherable Finnish accent. She is also quite witty and I think she will keep the class light and entertaining. This is also good because we also found out today that the class, which goes the entire semester, is only worth a measly 2 UofO credits (not worth much).<br /><br /> The course will be an overview of the process of American elections and will look at past elections, but will also cover the current one. I am really excited to be a part of the discussion and see how other people from around the world look at the election. There are a lot of international students in the class so I think that will make for an interesting class. I think it will also be a good way to make sure that we are keeping up with all of the election news. She mentioned that there might be an evening "Pizza and Politics" discussion for people who want to come. This sounds fun and involves free pizza, which I have to say I have been craving ever since we arrived in Finland. She also said as an aside that they are working on a collaboration with Harvard in which our class would get to speak to the candidates on the day of the election???? So cool. Hopefully it will happen. I am certainly crossing my fingers.<br /><br /> Isaac from London, Elise from France, and Patrick from England/Denmark/Czech Republic are also taking the class, so it will be interesting to be able to have discussions with them about what's going on back in our home. Isaac said that people in England really aren't very interested in politics or elections, which surprised me a bit. Their system of government obviously works differently and maybe not so much responsibility rests on a single individual, but in America...oh boy. Even if people are 'not really into politics' or whatever, I feel like most people I talk to have pretty strong opinions and political ideals. I don't think it is this way everywhere, but I feel like the person who I support or even the party that I support says a lot about me as a person. Of course this is a complete generalization, but your party says a lot about how you see the world and who you are as a person.<br /><br /> I won't vent about everything I would like to, but I have to say that I find McCain's VP choice of Sarah Palin very strange and irresponsible. Even if I were a Republican, I wouldn't want her running the country if something happened. She adds nothing to McCain's many weaknesses and I just don't see it. The fact that this race is so close right now is rather disturbing to me. Where are the 79% of people who are displeased with the country right now. Are 29% of those people really going to vote for John McCain? Where is the logic in that? Let's just hope the country gets it right this time. If McCain wins I will most certainly cry.<br /><br /> If there is one year that I would really like to be able to sit down after class and watch two hours of CNN, this would be it. Sadly, that is not going to happen here. Looks like I will have to stick to the web. I don't know if I mentioned it last time, but my power adapter for my computer broke, so that has been a tad detrimental to my computer-related entertainment. Hence the lack of photos lately. Hopefully that will be fixed soon.<br /><br /> Nothing else too exciting here. We officially booked our trip to Morocco, so I am really excited for that. Meg's mother was terribly nervous and scared for us when we told her we had actually booked the trip, but I think she is doing better now. I'm glad my mom knows that there is nothing wrong with going to Morocco as long as you are careful, just like everywhere else. I give credit to Molly for paving the way on that one.<br /><br /> I am definitely missing the comforts of home a little bit. The food situation is pretty dire in our apartment because we are trying to save money so we can use it for traveling. I refuse to pay 9 dollars for a tiny block of Parmesan cheese or 6 dollars for some tortilla chips. So far it's still noodles, meatballs, and sandwiches. Yesterday we got some grapes, apples, carrots, and tea to spice things up a bit. I am also kind of sad that I will be missing out on the beginning of school festivities at UofO. Obviously I am having a great experience over here and everything, but at times I wish I could go back to Eugene and see all my friends there and pick up where we left off last June. Everything I miss now will definitely make me more appreciative when I come home!<br /><br /> Well, I have to look up some independent study classes and figure out what we are going to do now for our four-day weekend. I hope we come up with something. :)Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-73360329092699122672008-08-31T16:05:00.000-07:002008-09-05T05:28:59.783-07:00A delightfully unexpected feast, et cetera.This past week of orientation has been quite fun. Although I have to say that most of the actual "orientation" was rather dull, the week itself was full of new friends and small adventures. One evening after the orientation lectures, the school held a "get-together" party in the lobby with, no I am not kidding, The Ghost of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as the entertainment. I have to say that I did not expect to come to a Finnish University only to hear a Bruce Springsteen cover band sing American hits. Meg and I also decided that the singer curiously did look quite a lot like a younger Springsteen. The experience was strangely comforting and disorienting at once.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfU7_aYZ1s4pk6FsB6dMGBFOo1uP5KFboEEFCu3mdNaD6ZP34JqvSR44Omw-CVvCvyOUyaTA8l12qloyryMRxQl58QtsHpFJAtGEJ0ToueSKGgasbbtCTdFgDhRaK7nrUE6sCiUZHVk1-/s1600-h/DSCN2679.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfU7_aYZ1s4pk6FsB6dMGBFOo1uP5KFboEEFCu3mdNaD6ZP34JqvSR44Omw-CVvCvyOUyaTA8l12qloyryMRxQl58QtsHpFJAtGEJ0ToueSKGgasbbtCTdFgDhRaK7nrUE6sCiUZHVk1-/s320/DSCN2679.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242512351622957842" /></a> Later that evening, our tutor Niina picked us up and we walked over to, again not kidding, "Passion," a trendy and youthful little bar/hangout that was currently projecting soundless Spanish soap-operas onto a large screen. The orientation week included an entire 45-minute lecture on "culture shock," assuring us that it was a normal and even positive experience. We went on a bus tour of the city on Thursday afternoon and got to see some sights that probably would have been spectacular had it not been pouring down rain. Although the observation tower's view was a bit lacking in the fog of the rain, they did serve a mean donut in the cafe downstairs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJIOHWFdCHP2wErH-hLPRDGnf17r9eSTO4YdavveXMqJraEPlxbsUgixo7Lyw10RfW3Krp1GXjCffjK6c34xXAqfHdXD1Xif0FWsTbVeTBQkmLFuxERXizTs41ce7U2n9bQ0Gg3yuFKQJ8/s1600-h/DSCN2696.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJIOHWFdCHP2wErH-hLPRDGnf17r9eSTO4YdavveXMqJraEPlxbsUgixo7Lyw10RfW3Krp1GXjCffjK6c34xXAqfHdXD1Xif0FWsTbVeTBQkmLFuxERXizTs41ce7U2n9bQ0Gg3yuFKQJ8/s320/DSCN2696.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242512695064215842" /></a><br />Friday night we spontaneously joined a school-sponsored pub-crawl with Isaac, Joe, Patrick, and Sebastian. The "crawl" ended up consisting of three bars and a stop at McDonald's before the bus ride home at 1 am. One bar was particularly nice and looked like it could have been a quietly sophisticated coffee house by-day, but it unfortunately played the typical Finnish heavy metal music and had Ozzy Osbourne videos on the flatscreen. However, it did have an entertaining foosball table. We are starting to become good friends with some of our international neighbors and it has been really fun to have a group of people in our same situation. They all have personalities of caricatures and are endlessly entertaining. More on that later.<br /><br />Last night our French friend, Elise, surprised us all and delivered what could be called nothing short of a feast. She had mentioned cooking dinner for everyone on Saturday, but a single casserole or french roast had come to mind. Instead, she evidently spent all day Saturday in her kitchen cooking up three different kinds of spectacularly delicious quiche, potatoes au gratin, little sausage bites wrapped in puff pastry, little fried pork pastry bites, artfully zig-zag cut tomatoes and cucumber topped with a cheese sauce, and chocolate mousse, apple tart and ice cream for dessert. Oh, and like a good Frenchwoman, she brought Champagne as well. This was all served to about 14 of us in the cramped hallway of our apartment building, as our building is lacking an actual common room. Needless to say, we were all pretty stunned to be served this amazing feast with the utmost graciousness.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHuqCcXkrnWZAgg_FvVuG98oa4is-ZjvilFAazU8mBMTWmnwUfOhErkZb5aRJju7nGLX-GR36lIXtk8hCdaYzYysAv8AWfA5u3TAEVzTSiaECut9lBMicHeJH209tklwTKsYKm3D9XJAB/s1600-h/DSCN2706.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHuqCcXkrnWZAgg_FvVuG98oa4is-ZjvilFAazU8mBMTWmnwUfOhErkZb5aRJju7nGLX-GR36lIXtk8hCdaYzYysAv8AWfA5u3TAEVzTSiaECut9lBMicHeJH209tklwTKsYKm3D9XJAB/s320/DSCN2706.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242513081378251970" /></a><br /><br />I was almost embarrassed that she had gone to so much trouble, especially considering the price of food here. She must have spent a fortune on all of the ingredients. Naturally, we insisted on helping her clean her tornado ravaged kitchen, but she was reluctant to even let us do that. Eventually she tricked us by asking if we wanted tea in her adorable accent. We said 'that would be lovely' and she cleverly replied with "ohhhh ok, well you will have to come upstairs with me to sit and drink it, ok?" That little French trickster, trying to get us to stop cleaning! :)<br /><br />Meg went out with the rest of the gang last night to a bar on the river, but I was too tired and full from our meal to do anything except Skype the Apple Support line. Yes. My power adapter for my computer has melted and is no longer of any use. This is a problem because it is quite difficult to find anything Apple-related here in Tampere. Luckily I now have two addresses of stores that will hopefully be able to provide me with a new adapter.<br /><br />We spent today in our apartment researching trips that we would like to go on this fall. If all goes well, our itinerary will look something like this:<br /><br />Sept. 24-Oct. 2: Marrakesh, Morocco<br />Oct. 17-27: Milan, Florence, and Rome, Italy<br />Nov. 9-17: Barcelona, Spain<br />Nov. 21-26: Lapland, Finland (Snow Country! Complete with Reindeer and Husky sleigh rides!)<br />Dec. 3-7: Dublin, Ireland<br />Dec. 13-20: Paris, France<br /><br />As you can see, we may not really be in Tampere all that much. This is because we really don't have to take very many classes here to fulfill our UO credit requirements and some of the classes consist of only reading and a book exam. As long as money allows, we will be heading to all of these places in no time!<br /><br />Anyway, that's enough for now. I need to start doing these more often so they are not so impossibly long. I will post more pictures soon!<br /><br />Miss you all!Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-81587253512677456472008-08-24T08:07:00.000-07:002008-08-25T12:55:42.485-07:00A stroll through the city and first glimpse of University.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Yesterday was the first day of this trip that we have had nothing scheduled or planned out to do. So we headed into the city to explore a little bit on our own. It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day and we found some really pretty parts of the city that we hadn't seen yet. It was comforting to see this side of the city as opposed to the soviet industrialism of much of downtown. We found a beautiful restaurant that we think might be a good place to have a nice dinner one of these days, perhaps after we have starved for a bit. <div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We also discovered that in order to fulfill the normal credit load for UO, we do not have to take very many class hours here. So far, I think this will mean one class on monday and one on wednesday. There are exams one saturday out of each month, but this should still allow for ample travel time on the weekends, which opens up lots of opportunities! As long as money allows, of course. Eek. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Last night some of the other international students went around and knocked on everyone's doors to get every to get together and hang out in the upstairs hall, since there is no common room or anything (but there are two saunas. strange.) so it was really fun to meet everyone. There are people from London, Jordan, Slovenia, Germany, France, Greece, Mexico, Nepal, Czech Republic, China, Turkey, and Ecuador. It's a pretty crazy mix, but everyone speaks english so that is helpful. It was really nice to arrive at the orientation today and actually see familiar faces, even if we don't know their last names yet. We spent most of the day running around with Isaac from South London, Joe from Jordan (formerly NYC), and Sebastian from Germany. </div><div><br /></div><div>We got a lot of practical, boring stuff done like getting bus passes (yay!) and getting accounts at the University. We ate lunch in one of the student cafeterias and I was pleasantly surprised to see that you can get quite a nice buffet of lunch for only 2.30 euros, which is unheard of for any meal here. I think we will be eating there quite a lot. We also went on a University tour around the buildings, which are super modern and futuristic looking. All of the facilities seem very high-tech and clean, which is a change from the traditional college look at UO. </div><div><br /></div><div>Tomorrow we continue our orientation with a series of multiple welcome lectures all day long. Hopefully they will keep it interesting!</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some photos from our stroll around the city. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33ouxl0IUmrqONgHMms8nWfrf6jnaaK8_-yqfq2uHAplv8bHw_rJ4u_8KjTkVXYk1ASMhZgCFcFWs0Z72IOMy_lb39JoltSgwVGX_ZSnaHaJyKDtPOgW78RvUrsYhk5uhj_3rEl4mAJ_K/s1600-h/IMG_3890.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33ouxl0IUmrqONgHMms8nWfrf6jnaaK8_-yqfq2uHAplv8bHw_rJ4u_8KjTkVXYk1ASMhZgCFcFWs0Z72IOMy_lb39JoltSgwVGX_ZSnaHaJyKDtPOgW78RvUrsYhk5uhj_3rEl4mAJ_K/s320/IMG_3890.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238545533569893650" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDPDlT3YpyiS_HCNvOQyjoW1IT8IANNV63RwQ3YuMejhyphenhyphenXy_53fkQxA6bpIVdpHnJ38TKgYrYPDgFno-DzSVE78-Yr364ihZBZGli_RiRg99mbyGnTYg6qigmeJJGzivqR_LsXZ3BLshM/s1600-h/DSCN2649.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDPDlT3YpyiS_HCNvOQyjoW1IT8IANNV63RwQ3YuMejhyphenhyphenXy_53fkQxA6bpIVdpHnJ38TKgYrYPDgFno-DzSVE78-Yr364ihZBZGli_RiRg99mbyGnTYg6qigmeJJGzivqR_LsXZ3BLshM/s320/DSCN2649.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238545560704714114" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagalzVRbUx6NeFv1OTKO3EIfSa50KJ9ApjJktMeeSEFmoEK9AfbWoFzlDlZQBsPyRGxWEmtDHOv2crcr23unrgLXS8fLMW4bR-MLhrqRxcgTmC0hPaT_QXJ35VAWum1Af1YwCk05yobHq/s1600-h/DSCN2664.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagalzVRbUx6NeFv1OTKO3EIfSa50KJ9ApjJktMeeSEFmoEK9AfbWoFzlDlZQBsPyRGxWEmtDHOv2crcr23unrgLXS8fLMW4bR-MLhrqRxcgTmC0hPaT_QXJ35VAWum1Af1YwCk05yobHq/s320/DSCN2664.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238545569923873634" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtziGbg14OInrSyZ1xkg8cQmH94t2OZsdJZeyM_h_nBvQ8XsCslum3dR82RIkHBghhIMZ_5RAvkY1dcY48vEUW_IsdIFtZ-wSfD74eBU6zvugsUAVDMDxZhH8Td6bcDm1lVPAEnwemD8Va/s1600-h/DSCN2644.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtziGbg14OInrSyZ1xkg8cQmH94t2OZsdJZeyM_h_nBvQ8XsCslum3dR82RIkHBghhIMZ_5RAvkY1dcY48vEUW_IsdIFtZ-wSfD74eBU6zvugsUAVDMDxZhH8Td6bcDm1lVPAEnwemD8Va/s320/DSCN2644.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238545576256385938" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5A-UgqmlAUbh36bcaWFOLd1ssxORA1UByzxYe7nJT2JAEUWY5cTZsQCt8UBBexNC_BzAUlbeDRiNkBnaA_7i7wnyGKBQgURE9yRTJtLpaSsC3pINwc9fsdckhw1GDNaapU8BA9PeiBkBB/s1600-h/DSCN2634.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5A-UgqmlAUbh36bcaWFOLd1ssxORA1UByzxYe7nJT2JAEUWY5cTZsQCt8UBBexNC_BzAUlbeDRiNkBnaA_7i7wnyGKBQgURE9yRTJtLpaSsC3pINwc9fsdckhw1GDNaapU8BA9PeiBkBB/s320/DSCN2634.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238545590041562178" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3GD4OxnRVhxGGKcG-4nxllLv6GQQ7Pr4DXjfejZKoDpct6HlbGlGEDnINKdF57De793RTJ67tMb4hkFkA1WSD6NWEO9uwWTJyKx_alSqKnNCiE7WXq2rM8cUKaTKJUNo-A0pnYppWwRI/s1600-h/IMG_3851.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3GD4OxnRVhxGGKcG-4nxllLv6GQQ7Pr4DXjfejZKoDpct6HlbGlGEDnINKdF57De793RTJ67tMb4hkFkA1WSD6NWEO9uwWTJyKx_alSqKnNCiE7WXq2rM8cUKaTKJUNo-A0pnYppWwRI/s320/IMG_3851.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238544703080239266" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wDO8TxBwq6a0P1qJT6OMvDdgeeoU291HWFkwSZ_aoXmM147ddtcflnrnLrlhhuqtnElWB8gY8EjVnH95QJgX3qymY2zbAcHTTDqF6nA2oh-a6n7AtDqvdDLPQKEGqkZKB_zaLc75fmVw/s1600-h/IMG_3860.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wDO8TxBwq6a0P1qJT6OMvDdgeeoU291HWFkwSZ_aoXmM147ddtcflnrnLrlhhuqtnElWB8gY8EjVnH95QJgX3qymY2zbAcHTTDqF6nA2oh-a6n7AtDqvdDLPQKEGqkZKB_zaLc75fmVw/s320/IMG_3860.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238544709238260546" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6Umf85X-hBFI8oCMcTcjPox1u80d4d7Dz6vJ0wSoSEJaKy7TcNW1HK7cPsFcLgabsyUhAjp8wKX-pWOS6Sb3_qc7nqvbDqJ03dNIowWv25izNnanVnSmow80Gqcj5HbKuRfsj4eAm5GW/s1600-h/IMG_3874.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6Umf85X-hBFI8oCMcTcjPox1u80d4d7Dz6vJ0wSoSEJaKy7TcNW1HK7cPsFcLgabsyUhAjp8wKX-pWOS6Sb3_qc7nqvbDqJ03dNIowWv25izNnanVnSmow80Gqcj5HbKuRfsj4eAm5GW/s320/IMG_3874.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238544708320561074" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvMCXeI8ITYdELbKeW6amiPwLfRoci13aXvKjRkSnBozhcgYIgqNXdelSXf6U0GVFoQ4UXVjKeFzcoUvxNsQHepLL0cX1FnlT8CPriEvnlYkUFWZrVajmwHu4x8yTIqjUHpuYif6B1t9Is/s1600-h/IMG_3878.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvMCXeI8ITYdELbKeW6amiPwLfRoci13aXvKjRkSnBozhcgYIgqNXdelSXf6U0GVFoQ4UXVjKeFzcoUvxNsQHepLL0cX1FnlT8CPriEvnlYkUFWZrVajmwHu4x8yTIqjUHpuYif6B1t9Is/s320/IMG_3878.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238544712022029970" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv2-b-ZmJtk10sjEvWpZMmSrNis9i3ohdgMEZpvRYoETu9TTjvynNKsS-CgZmTkkuKHfgTacKywEfnTKev22Ty6uk1yd4PINKz4U-oDvlzeDvtbsC2uHgQtmWKj0wppOSmb7WbVHpJdj7n/s1600-h/IMG_3880.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv2-b-ZmJtk10sjEvWpZMmSrNis9i3ohdgMEZpvRYoETu9TTjvynNKsS-CgZmTkkuKHfgTacKywEfnTKev22Ty6uk1yd4PINKz4U-oDvlzeDvtbsC2uHgQtmWKj0wppOSmb7WbVHpJdj7n/s320/IMG_3880.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238544716787207186" /></a><div>If anyone has any pronunciation tips for the above sign, please let me know. :)</div>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1862080255707804625.post-5396755810412938862008-08-24T00:37:00.000-07:002008-08-24T06:40:43.119-07:00Sandwich...12 dollars, Using the restroom at McDonald's...1.50, Going to the airport three days in a row to retrieve lost baggage...PricelessIt took us a good 28 hours of travel time getting on and off planes, but we have finally made it to our final destination of Tampere, Finland. It has been a rough first few days, to say the least, but we are getting the hang of things and can see the light of actually settling in. <div><br /></div><div>As soon as we made our way to Tampere's main square via taxi, we met up with our "tutor" Niina. She was very friendly and spoke very good english, but insisted that we immediately go shopping for bed linens and food because if we didn't, we would probably have to sleep on the floor with no blankets and starve. This was stressful. In the first two hours of our arrival, we had suddenly spent 200 dollars and had ended up only with the worst bed linens imaginable and just enough food to make salami sandwiches and PB&Js. <br /><div><br /></div><div>We arrived with about 100 pounds of luggage each. This did not help when we had to take a bus and then walk half a mile to our apartment building. And that, was only really my luggage because the airline managed to lose Meg's two checked bags. We came to pick up her bags the next day, but alas, the three people who were working in the airport simply did not know where the bags might be. We returned the next day and finally left with said baggage, after waiting for three hours and spending 4 bucks on two candy bars for sustenance. </div><div><br /></div><div>After two lunches and two dinners of cold sandwiches, we had McDonald's downtown and it tasted so good. I don't even like McDonald's...at all. But it was the best thing we could find for under 10 bucks and it was well worth the splurge. The downtown here is rather large and reminds me a bit of Minsk. It has that cold, industrial, soviet look with a few architectural buildings scattered around. There is even and H&M. Despite the fact that we both knew we could not even think of buying anything in the store, it was comforting to be somewhere familiar. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrr5JOcAMi_uoJ7ZhlljPPBPrsY7HDHCUxn3iXZBz1kviSV6u4dIZCZ3ygyqsLYMVpwnCxTnySiq7mGV-KYyZYhupz4vUTu5h_fyIG6EcpC69OgsGfO1BUcaW7CNRts1pk9pkzI7TE7O3/s1600-h/DSCN2666.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrr5JOcAMi_uoJ7ZhlljPPBPrsY7HDHCUxn3iXZBz1kviSV6u4dIZCZ3ygyqsLYMVpwnCxTnySiq7mGV-KYyZYhupz4vUTu5h_fyIG6EcpC69OgsGfO1BUcaW7CNRts1pk9pkzI7TE7O3/s320/DSCN2666.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238078466117536722" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMsoZlSgJPnd4edLf7dNqnefQRS4cQfm4DYYMaOvT0I-8Ps5LFzMQ5jV08t-DH082Xs8tII0CiDnCNbhvnRtSnih5UAcEZQMJX8WcZpqiG2KwCxm3tBThDY5z5-HIhQkgeCrOuPpwupft/s1600-h/DSCN2667.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMsoZlSgJPnd4edLf7dNqnefQRS4cQfm4DYYMaOvT0I-8Ps5LFzMQ5jV08t-DH082Xs8tII0CiDnCNbhvnRtSnih5UAcEZQMJX8WcZpqiG2KwCxm3tBThDY5z5-HIhQkgeCrOuPpwupft/s320/DSCN2667.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238078468465329666" /></a><br /></div><div>Our apartment is a bus ride from town, which has caused some financial issues because a bus ticket costs 2 euros (3 bucks) and the ticket only lasts for one hour. I have probably spent at least 30 dollars just taking the bus to and from town to get all of our errands done. Luckily we will be able to buy a discounted bus pass on monday. Phew. Our apartment is spacious, but quite stark. There is not much furniture and our beds are terrible. Despite the fact that we are pushing it to stay up past 8 pm, we have both woken up with tired and sore bodies. </div><div><br /></div><div>We finally made it to the store yesterday to reluctantly buy a 20 dollar water pot so we could actually cook food. We discovered that spaghetti, meatballs, bread, potatoes and eggs were all relatively cheap, but that we would probably be having little to no cheese during these four months. I believe a bag of plain mozzarella was about 9 dollars. Looks like noodles and butter for us!</div><div><br /></div><div>We start our orientation at the University tomorrow and I think things will get better from there on out. We will hopefully meet some cool international students, although I am slightly worried about finding fun things to do around town that won't break our bank. </div><div><br /></div><div>I looked at what classes I might take and I think I found a couple good ones. I will hopefully be take a class on U.S. Presidential Elections and a seminar on Gender in Politics. This will amount to class once on mondays and once on wednesdays. As long as money allows, this should provide for some fun travels!</div><div><br /></div><div>So long for now. Miss you all. </div></div>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04241852882215885650noreply@blogger.com3