The Uneducated Tourist or the Educated Naíve?

There are those who are fortunate enough to be able to support their children through good schooling and university whilst enriching this very same education through travel. Those who work their asses off to support their children through public education and whatever endeavour the child wishes to pursue next. And those who are faced with a really difficult first world problem. To educate through institution or global experiences?

Lachlan and I expressing our disappointment with Copenhagen’s “Little Mermaid” (2006)

Of course both have their advantages and when it comes to factors that influence University entrance (at least in Australia anyway), the months of missed school to travel are considered of little assistance. Yet, this all depends on circumstance. After taking 8 weeks off school in 2004 to travel, whilst also starting his first year of high school my brother decided never again. He missed the 2005 Family Euro Trip (shame, it was a good one). Yet he was quick to state his eagerness to rejoin in 2006. Would my brother have performed better academically without the travel? I’m going to lean on absolutely. I, on the other hand definitely benefitted from this experience. The last trip that involved taking a large amount of time away from school was in 2006. I was still in primary school and had a primary school teacher for a Mum. Learning became creating mock travel shows, writing diary entries and currency conversion. I missed very little. When I started high school I had a massive advantage. Studying Tiberius Gracchus, Sparta, volcanoes in Hawaii and the chemistry of Classical Greek pottery is undoubtedly more enriching when you have been there and seen it for yourself.

The effect of travel on outright academic performance largely rests on situation. I missed a lot of school at an age where it didn’t really matter anyway. I had a parent who was capable of covering the curriculum and 50% of the subjects that I chose to pursue in my HSC (school leaving exams) were humanities based. My brother on the other hand missed high school, a lot of it. He attended an academically selective school where the standards were much higher and the ability to maintain them with large absences difficult.  He then chose to pursue mostly maths and sciences in his HSC. The travel was of little help to his physics degree. As he prepares to undertake an Honors year in Philosophy, however, I have a feeling the travel will now come in handy.

Whether or not travel will boost your child academically is a judgement that only you can make, based on what you know of your child and where your child is at.

Then comes worldliness, all-roundedness and other mumbo jumbo terms for – “they sound knowledgable”. Travel opens up a whole new world of opportunities that good schooling simply cannot buy. The opportunity to make friends from all over the world whilst still retaining a solid friendship base and sense of belonging back home. The opportunity to dictate your own child’s learning. To take them to the Smithsonian, the British Museum and the Chu Chi tunnels. Pompeii appeals to the science and history minded, walking in the alps to the sporty. One of my favourite cultural experiences was a boat ride in Bangkok. We were simply getting from Point A (Hotel) to Point B (Wat Pho) and it involved travelling through the back “streets”, seeing naked old men take their daily bath in the brown Thai river and door to door salesmen that travelled by boat.

I received a Studies of Religion lesson from a Buddhist Monk in Bangkok (2005)

You can argue that your child can accomplish this at any age. They can take a gap year and experience the same thing. This is not true. There is nothing like travelling as a child who is interested. Buddhist monk’s will help you light a candle, volunteers at Bletchley Park will quietly inform you of which building’s window you need to look through to see the Collossus Computer that is no longer on display. My personal favourite was the the Souvlaki man in Athens who every time we ate at his restaurant would make sure I didn’t leave without his homemade yoghurt and honey. I would go back to Athens just to go to that restaurant. People don’t bend over backwards for backpacking teenagers the way they do for children. It’s kind of like reaching the point where the Butcher no longer gives you a Frankfurter every visit.

I treasure the opportunities that I had to travel as a child. I believe they are years that you can never get back, when playing tourist is the most enriching it can possibly be. I would not, however, sacrifice those years of travel for a below parr education. If travel made Sydney University and my beloved Women’s College community a non option, then I would give it all up for sure. I would not, however, sacrifice the many months of family bonding that came from the “educational travel experience”. Time spent with family turned out to be far more valuable than anything education can buy.

Sorry about the break

How to maintain a blog Rule One: Don’t leave it sitting idle for 4 months

 

This isn’t a travel related post, more just an update. No the blog hasn’t died, it just got busy studying for GAMSAT and then got sick (thankfully after GAMSAT). I will be back. Hopefully within the next week and possibly high on anaesthesia.

Cheers 🙂

Finnished

I love Finland but I hate Helsinki. These two phrases should fit quite logically in the same sentence except, the only place I have been to in Finland is Helsinki.

Nobody says they want to go to Helsinki. Nobody dreams of wandering through Senate Square or taking a ferry to Suomenlinna in the way that they dream of dawdling down the Champs Elysees or eating gelato in front of the Spanish Steps. Yet people will say that they want to go to Finland; they would love to sweat in a sauna, sleep in an ice hotel, witness the polar night, northern lights or midnight sun. Finland is jam packed full of culture and whilst you can experience some of this culture in Helsinki, it is rather limited.

Senate Square in Summer

I’ve been following a trend of having one nice meal in every city I go to and then being reasonably frugal the rest of the time when it comes to food. I don’t see any problem with purchasing my lunch in a supermarket. My treat restaurant in Helsinki was Saaga. I’m not stupid and I did my research. I knew that Saaga was largely a tourist trap, how many Fins feel the desire to eat Lappish in the middle of Helsinki? I didn’t mind paying the extra money to eat there though, if the food was okay, because I knew that it would be a unique experience. This was certainly an experience I will never forget. What you might have already seen coming, is that I will never forget it for all the wrong reasons.

Upon entrance I thought the place was pretty quaint. It was candle lit with a gas fire burning and decked head to toe in reindeer skins and Sami crafts. Having been to Tromsø and knowing how much each of these items cost I was a little concerned as I started to question how much of the cost of my meal was actually going into the decorations and ambience rather than the food. Now, if there is one thing you should never do with a solo diner, it is put them in the corner of the restaurant where they can see nothing. Dining solo already gets boring at times, take away the people watching and you may as well be in school detention.

I didn’t need a great deal of time to look at the menu. I had already decided what I was going to have before I got there. I was extremely eager to try the bear and thought the arctic char would also be interesting. The only thing I needed to decide was alcohol. I’m a big fan of wine but decided to go with an aperitif. The Lappish Glimmer was a combination of cloudberry liqueur and Finnish Brandy. It was expectedly sweet with a slightly sour kick thanks to the berries. It was slightly disappointing, however, to only receive about 50 ml given the price.

Then came the bear. Disappointed was an understatement. The lonely piece of bear was the size of half my thumb and I have outrageously small hands. Keeping the positive attitude, I committed to savouring every moment. This resolution left the moment I bit into the frozen piece of bear. Then suddenly it was gone. The bear also came with a murky, but according to the menu clear, consume. It tasted like somebody had added water to a 20 cent stock cube and then charged me 15 euros for it. I ate it out of obligation.

I really wondered about the waitress. If you are a waitress, working at a reasonably expensive restaurant that serves shit food then you should never ask somebody if they “enjoyed their meal”. How was I supposed to respond? It would be better if it wasn’t frozen? It would be better if it actually had bear in it? Instead I stated very firmly that “it was okay”. Subtle hint that maybe it wasn’t so good.

Okay. They had a bad dish. I’m sure the Arctic Char will be fine. Wrong. It looked good when it came out. The dish had four elements. A sauce, beetroots, potatoes and the fish. Not a single one was hot. In fact they weren’t even warm. Pieces of the fish and the beetroot were fridge cold. This time when the waitress asked me if I enjoyed my meal I was honest.

Me: “It would have been better if it wasn’t cold”

Waitress: “I’m sorry. What?”

Me: “The dish was cold. The bear was also cold. Actually the bear was frozen”

Waitress: “Oh, I’m so sorry. Can I interest you in a dessert menu”

Me: “No, thank you, just the bill”

Waitress: “Oh, are you too full?”

Me: “No, I just don’t wish to eat any more of your food. Sorry”

Waitress: Blank Face

I think the dessert decline was the confirmation that there was something wrong with the meal. I was actually sad to have to decline dessert because I was looking forward to lappish cheeses, but I knew that they would just be a waste of money. Full credit goes to Saaga. When she brought out the bill she explained that they had given me the drink for free and taken another 50% off. She also brought some apologetic chocolate. Ironically enough the four things I had that night that I didn’t pay for: drink, smoked reindeer amuse bouche,  bread and chocolate were the four things that I actually really enjoyed. In the end my terrible meal turned out to cost 20 Euros instead of the 70 Euros that I was anticipating spending. It was not all lost, but it did mean that I missed out on the opportunity to eat something nice elsewhere and I left feeling disappointed but no longer ripped off. It also left me some spare cash to purchase a Ginger Cider in Stockmann on the way home.

This experience served as a learning point for me. I am often criticised for my brutal honesty, but sometimes the only way to get what you deserve is to speak up and tell the truth. Even after the efforts to make amends I would still not recommend Restaurant Saaga to anybody.

Karelian Pasty

My second cultural experience in Helsinki was breakfast at the Scandic Grand Marina the next morning. Although it is a buffet breakfast, it doesn’t quite work the way I am used to. So I worked out pretty quickly that I needed to get in the line and grab a plate. That’s fairly standard stuff. Then everyone started putting weird things on their plate like cheese, meats, lettuce and cucumber. I decided to be a sheep and follow. This continued for quite a while down the chain until you got to the breads. Then it hit me. I had been grabbing the ingredients to make an open sandwich. Achievement Unlocked: Breakfast Mastery. I also got to eat something that I had never had before but definitely want to make when I get home. It is called a Karelian Pasty and is rye bread folded over a rice mixture, sometimes with paprika added. You then mix it with an egg butter and it tastes amazing.

The first stop for the day ahead was Finland’s most popular tourist attraction; Suomenlinna. Just a 15 minute ferry ride from Helsinki harbour,  it’s popularity was evident as even on a freezing cold and horrible day in winter, the place was teeming with people. I understand why, lauded as the most beautiful place in Finland I guess everyone just had to go. So popular is Suomenlinna than when a house comes up for lease there are hundreds of applicants, no houses come up for sale because they typically remain in the family. It is supposed to be a haven in both summer and winter, naturally I was expecting something pretty spectacular. The expectations did not meet the reality.

Beautiful…

If this is Helsinki’s most glorious neighbourhood, I hate to imagine what the dodgy neighbourhoods look like. Regardless, this provided me with the opportunity to immerse myself in the history. Except that pretty much everything was closed for winter with the exception of the Church and the main museum. It is one of those places where you pay 5 euros to get there, and then once you are there, you then pay on top as entrance to each individual museum costs anywhere between 6-10 Euros per person, I imagine this would be a rather expensive day out as a family. So I settled with a tour.

Very Icy

Suomenlinna originated as a fortress comprised of six islands. It took the Swedes forty years to build (with a little help from the French) and was ready just in time to battle against Russia in the Crimean War. It continued to serve as a Fortress until Finnish independence in 1918 when it was changed into a prison camp for communists following the Finnish civil war (Yes, Finland had a civil war. Who Knew?). In the 70’s it was finally converted into a residential area before becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991. Whilst the tour of the island was interesting, a lot of what was mentioned was stuff you would already know if you bothered to read the leaflet they give you on the ferry. It was also very hard to conduct and participate in a walking tour when much of the Island was coated in ice. This lead to many locations being missed. The moral of the story is that even though Suomenlinna is supposed to be spectacular in winter, it is not and don’t bother. It may, however, be a viable way to spend and afternoon or morning in summer.

After returning from Suomenlinna at 4pm, lunchless and starving I bypassed the markets. During summer the markets are packed with stalls selling souvenirs and tonnes of fresh berries (be warned though that you pay extra for the privilege of not speaking Finnish). During winter the stalls can be best described as: “Anyone for some root vegetables?”. So I resorted to my standard supermarket lunch. The thing with the Finnish is their trust and honesty (it is the same in most of Scandinavia). I had read numerous reports that said the ferry ride to Suomenlinna was free. It was not, it was 5 Euros but nobody checks for tickets. Similarly the supermarkets are self serve, you put what you want into a paper bag, place it on the scales and put the price in. Nobody actually checks that what you paid for is the same as what is in the bag. At museums you buy a ticket at a counter, cloak your stuff and then wander back and walk in. Nobody ever checks that you bought a ticket. If you really wanted to you could probably do a lot of Scandinavia without paying, but please, don’t do this. It is a beautiful system that only functions because people oblige. If people come in and start to wrought the system it will be forced to change and this change would not be for the better.

The culture of Finland is beautiful. The trust. The confidence. The contentment. Finland is just a happy place to be. Summer or winter, however, Helsinki is dirty and uninteresting. If you were to find yourself in Helsinki, there are two things I would recommend doing: The rock church and  Yrjönkatu swimming hall (which unfortunately isn’t open during summer). The rest of the place you could miss.

Unless I happen to find myself in Helsinki for some reason beyond my control. I doubt I will be back. I would, however, jump at the opportunity to return to Finland.

Getting Naked in Helsinki

This blog post includes absolutely no pictures and you should be grateful because nobody wants to see fifty young, Finnish women completely nude.

But seriously. Some cultures just have a thing with being naked; whether it’s a hamam, an onsen or a sauna it is just something they do. The Yrjönkatu Swimming hall in Helsinki, however, takes the naked experience to a whole other level.

I have been desperate for a swim, pretty much since I arrived in Norway. I didn’t bring my swimming costume though so it wasn’t going to happen. Then I heard about Yrjönkatu. I knew it was a leisure centre in the centre of Helsinki where you didn’t just sauna naked, but also swam naked. I decided I was going to do it. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect of this experience. I imagined a fairly empty swimming pool with a few naked old women. I was wrong.

After arriving at my hotel in Helsinki at 3:30pm I was a little concerned about whether I would have time to fit this in before dinner at 7pm. Wouldn’t it just make sense to go on Saturday. No it would not, because Saturday was mens day. It was only a fifteen minute walk away but I did have some trouble locating it. It was inconspicuously located down a little ally way behind a wooden door that looked a bit more like it should be either offices or a restaurant. So after a short search I wandered in and it was pretty packed. I had forgotten to bring my towel which meant I had to pay 5 euros to borrow one (bummer), so my total entrance was nine euros. I definitely thought there would be more tourists here than there was. It was just me.

You leave your shoes at the front door and walk in with socks on. Oddly enough the ground isn’t wet at all. When I arrived I started to freak out. Lots of people swimming were wearing costumes and the only people who weren’t were old ladies. Thank God I was wearing a matching bra and knickers, I thought. Then about twenty young women walked out completely starkers and I felt a lot more comfortable. I discovered that the people wearing costumes were “serious” swimmers. Now I really question serious because if you tried to swim like that in Australia you’d probably be placed in learn-to-swim.

Anyway. You put your locker key around your ankle and head to the showers where you store your towel in a little metal cylinder, kind of like the newspaper hole in the letterbox. Goodness knows how they remember which towel is theirs. Then it is time to hit the swimming pool. There is only one stroke, breaststroke. Now I understand this, it is nice and leisurely whilst still constituting exercise, but of all the strokes to do whilst nude. Seriously? Everything got a nice airing – or I should I say watering – out. It took about 30 min to swim 500m breaststroke in the queue that went up and down. I stuck to the fast lane, because the normal lane was more for socialising and well, I didn’t have anyone to socialise with. Lots of women had to wear floating belts, which were included in the entrance fee, presumably because they couldn’t swim.

Then it was time to hit the sauna. Oh my goodness. In Australia you get in a sauna, in your cozzie and it’s 40°. You then go ‘Oh my God. it’s so hot in here, this is unpleasant, lets leave’. In Finland it’s at 80°c. At first you think you are going to suffocate. The air is so hot and humid it feels unbreathable. After a few yoga breaths, I settled in to the whole hot thing. I’m a bit of a fainter so I was genuinely concerned about this, especially as I was by myself. Nobody wants to faint in a room full of random naked people that don’t speak their language. For the most part I was surprisingly fine though. Every time it got to about 70°c and a slightly more comfortable temperature, the person in control of the bucket and ladle  would add more water to the coals and the heat would go shooting back up again. It was surprisingly pleasant. It didn’t feel like you were sweating but rather like your head was raining. I was absolutely drenched. Yet it also wasn’t uncomfortable. The sweat isn’t salty and it doesn’t burn your skin or your eyes, you are not exerting yourself so it isn’t unpleasant at all. I was enjoying my sauna experience until a new person got control of the ladle and bucket. She just didn’t stop adding water and it was getting hotter and hotter and hotter. I started to feel dizzy and that was it, I was out of there. Upon leaving I noted that the temperature had reached 100ºc. I couldn’t believe that I was effectively sitting in boiling water. It felt nothing like that all.

A quick rinse and it was time to leave.

The swimming hall itself is incredible. It was built in 1928 and has an art nouveau style but it is done with blue mosaics for a slight twist. One of the most unusual aspects to it is the cafe. For an extra 12 euros you can pay for access to the second level of the pool and the cafe. This is essentially a terrace with some massage rooms, bath robes and slippers etc. Women sit naked, at tables overlooking the pool whilst sipping on champagne and dining on goats cheese souffles. A gastro experience like no other. In some ways I wish I hadn’t made a dinner reservation because I think this would have been a lot more fun.

Upon leaving I couldn’t believe how amazing I felt. Even though I didn’t use any soap in the shower I felt so clean. It was like getting into bed with fresh sheets and brand new pyjamas. For those who have done real yoga, it was a bit like that post yoga high that you get. I wonder how much of it comes from deoxygenation in the brain. They do say dying from an oxygen shortage is by far the greatest way to go.

 

A Few Facts About Getting Naked in Finland

• If you have a Brazilian you are probably going to feel very awkward, unless you are heavily pregnant
• I know that sometimes onsens in Japan can be a little odd for me because I am rather fair. I have a feeling this might go the opposite way in Finland, i.e if you are dark
• Nobody really gives a shit about your actual body. Trust me when I say that you will see it all and they have probably seen it all too and couldn’t give a rats ass
• Yrjönkatu has a male life guard. That shouldn’t make you feel uncomfortable though. Don’t forget that he probably sees thousands of naked women a week and has also seen it all. And trust me, when you see how the Finnish women swim you definitely don’t want one of them responsible for rescuing you

Are you 6 ft and in need of Accommodation? Maybe you should go to Tallinn

Well, as I said in my last post. You can’t always make travel go to plan. Whether it is completely out of control like the weather, or you do something really stupid and miss a connection (hint, hint) the beauty of travel is the unexpected.

It was a harsh start to my Wednesday morning when my alarm started going feral at 4:15am. I was planning on catching the 5:20 bus to the airport. After I check the prices of taxis though I decided against it. The earliest bus got me to the airport 10 minutes before baggage drop closed and I knew that catching the bus would also mean that I arrived at the airport in a throng and could possibly wait longer than that to collect my baggage tags. Given a taxi was less than 200 NOK ($40) I decided to go with the safe option.

Taxis in Sydney take forever to arrive, so you can imagine my shock when outside my window, a taxi was waiting just 5 minutes after I ordered it. It then took only 10 minutes in the taxi to the airport compared to 20 minutes in the bus. I arrived at the airport at 5am for 6:10 boarding. Oh that extra 30 minutes sleep I could have had.

I had a shocking airport security experience (it seems to be a trend) only this time it wasn’t security but my hands. Due to the whole throw my moisturiser out debacle at the last airport I was started to develop chilblains. As I went to unclip my pack in order to get my laptop out my skin decided that this would be the perfect time to crack completely and suddenly I was trying to deal with security whilst blood gushed out of my hands. And I had to get through security before I could get to a bathroom and grab some tissues. It was an unfortunate day for Mum’s blue cashmere scarf (sorry Mum).

Then things started to go really well again. I booked a flight on Wideroe but ended up on a SAS plane which gave me some extra leg room and general space. The flight was delayed 30 min for deicing which meant I missed any possibility of the Northern Lights because it was too bright. And then I landed in Oslo. As expected. Nothing exciting.

When I woke up at 4am I didn’t eat any breakfast. I was supposed to arrive in Oslo at 8:30am and knew that I could get breakfast in the business lounge. Normally with decent frequent flyer status they will let you drop your bags well before the flight or at least store them for you. What I didn’t anticipate was Finnair not having a permanent check-in desk which meant that I had to wait till two hours before my next flight to check-in. I was a bit annoyed, more because I was so tired than anything else and I had to wait in the departures hall. What was actually frustrating though was that there is no where to buy food on the pre-security side of Oslo airport. So after waking at 4am and not having breakfast I had to wait till 11:30am to be able to eat.

I tried to pass the time as quickly as possible by talking to Mum on Facebook. Also to distract myself from hunger but it still went pretty slowly. The airport unattended luggage laws also made for a fun toilet trip.

Finally it was 11:15 and I could check-in. So I walk straight down the business queue to the check-in desk and all is good. Then this woman (who appears in the story again later) comes up to the counter and starts asking why people in the economy queue can’t use the business check in – the economy check-in hadn’t opened yet. The way she did this though was more of an insult towards me, ending with “You mean to say she’s travelling business class”. Obviously I wasn’t but frequent flyer status, you know. It was totally obvious that she and apparently the rest of the economy queue thought that I had jumped the queue by checking in in the business class line. I bet if I was male and was wearing a suit she would never have made that assumption.

Now you can imagine the sort of shit that went down when I, who hadn’t eaten in 16 hours, was faced with the business lounge buffet. Four plates worth of food, two smoothies, two glasses of champagne and a lemonade were sufficient to satisfy me. I then went down to boarding. The extra bonus of my status is that I pretty much always get an exit row at the minimum 🙂

This is where horrible check-in lady comes back in. At the end of the flight I stood up to get my pack down from the overhead compartment when she sees me. She then makes eye contact and says in a voice so bitchy she may as well have been in Year 9: “I thought you were supposed to be in Business Class”. I just mumbled “Frequent Flyer Status” and got on with my day. Seriously I don’t really care, but I just thought the nerve of her made a good story.

Like almost everywhere else I have been to so far, I got lost in Helsinki. This wasn’t because I didn’t know where my hotel was, but because I couldn’t locate the tram stop. In the end I walked the 2km to the hotel with my bags because I figured it would actually be easiest. I did come across the correct tram stops later on but had already committed myself to walking. I have to admit I was a tad sweaty by the time I arrived at the Scandic Grand Marina. But everything from there went smoothly and I even got a 6 euro voucher to be used anywhere in the hotel (Hotel Bar come at me).

After taking a breather I was off to Stockman to get me some dinner. Not without a stop in Marrimekko first though. Marrimekko is one of my favourite brands. So it took me a little while to work out the Fazer cafeteria at Stockman. The self-service section was obviously easy to navigate but the side with cooking stations was a bit more complicated. After a big lunch I wasn’t all that hungry anyway so I just went with a smoothie and a smoked salmon and poached egg open sandwich. It was actually really good. The smoothie had mango and peach in it and it was like summer in a cup.

I then continued to entertain myself by window shopping in stockman. I was tempted to buy Minky a cat playground, but decided that the spoilt kitten really didn’t need it. Then it was time for a cider in the hotel bar whilst a clarinetist played kitsch elevator music.

The next morning I was set for another early wake up, this time it was 5am (4am Norway time though). After only 5 hours sleep the night before I thought I would sleep like a baby. Instead I spent the entire night vomiting. Travel is a gem.

So Thursday morning I was ultra-organised and ready to go by 5:30. I was catching the 7:30 ferry, the terminal was only a twenty minute walk away but I didn’t want to be late. I had planned on buying my ticket at the terminal but after perusing Tallinks website discovered that the only placed you could buy them was online or at an office in the city centre. So I bought my ticket online. It was 26 Euros. Not cheap but not expensive either. Then I stored my suitcases in the Scandic and armed with just a back pack made my way to the ferry terminal. When I got there at 6:20 the place was deserted. It said it didn’t open until 8:30. I was super confused so I walked a bit further, found nothing and did a bit more research. Thank God Helsinki has free town wifi because there was certainly no one around to ask. That was when I discovered something a little odd on my ticket. The ferry terminal on the website was different to the one on my ticket. Not only was it a different terminal, it was on the complete opposite side of Helsinki. So I power walked to the central station. Hopped on tram 9 without paying and made it to the terminal at 7:12am. Relief that I had made it with time to spare set in.

I was wrong. Even though there is no information about what time you actually need to get on the ferry on the internet, it is twenty minutes prior to departure. I was two minutes late and wasn’t allowed through. Even more annoying was that there actually were ticket machines at the terminal. Had I known this I would never have bought it online, in case an event like that happened. 26 Euros wasted. It was three hours till the next ferry and I felt so defeated I just wanted to cry. I was exhausted from running halfway across Helsinki with a back pack, I was frustrated with Tallink for their lack of information, I was going to miss 3 hours in Tallinn as well as the guided walking tour. So I did what I shouldn’t have done and I rang my mother. It was she who had the brilliant idea of seeing what time the other ferry company left. They left at 8:30am and arrived at 11am. So that was it. 24 Euros later and I was on board, sitting in a bar that was reminiscent of Deepwater Motor Boat Club in the 90’s whilst Finnish live music played and couples actually ballroom danced. I knew that people caught the ferries for the duty free alcohol but I couldn’t believe that people were actually drinking beer at 7:30 in the morning.

It was a rough ride but I made it to Tallinn alive. Found the hostel super quickly and with the help of the hostel owner made it to the free walking tour for tips with 5 minutes to spare 🙂

If you want to really experience a town, in a short period of time, with an exceptional guide then walking tours for tips are definitely the way to go. In Tallinn and Riga I used the Yellow Free Tours and they were both great. The guide in Tallinn was so good I didn’t even take any photos. The thing with tours for tips is that you pay both a mix of what you think they are worth and what you can afford. So the better they are, the more money they make and at the same time, you will never be out of pocket. Some companies have a suggested rate but Yellow don’t. They always leave from a designated location at 12pm. In Tallinn this is the tourist information office in the town square. The guides are significantly easier to locate in summer as they wear a yellow shirt. In winter they will just be in casual clothes.

The tour lasted two hours during which we walked around most of the old town and a little bit other stuff as well. I came away with a lot of knowledge about Estonian culture and the countries heritage as well as a few useful tidbits. Tallinn’s biggest souvenirs are amber, matroushka dolls and knitted stuff. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that matroushka (or baboushka for the Aussie’s) are Russian, not Estonian. Then there’s the amber. The amber that they sell in Tallinn doesn’t even come from Estonia. That was an interesting thing to know. For other interesting facts about Tallinn you should visit it for yourself.

At the end of the tour at 2pm, I departed for lunch. Both the hostel manager and the tour guide had recommended Rataskaevu 16 so I figured it was a pretty safe option. Was it ever! I enjoyed whisky cider, which was a dry apple cider fermented in old whisky barrels. Smooth with a hint of honey. This accompanied my braised elk. Initially I wasn’t going to get the elk because it was the most expensive thing on the menu and I knew you can get elk soup for 2 Euro in a medieval restaurant in the town square that is supposed to be quite good. Then I realised that the difference in price between the elk and what I would have had otherwise was 2.30 Euros, so difference made up. Boy was I grateful. That elk was close to one of the best dishes I have ever eaten. It was sweet and salty with a hint of pine and the elk had this beautiful velvety texture, it was like venison on flavour steroids. To die for. It was so good I ended up getting dessert. The bread pudding was seriously good, but a bit of a let down after my phenomenal elk.  To top it off the bill comes with drawings and a little note from your waitress. It was a nice touch.

The incredible elk

 

Scorched hedgehog for sale in the pharmacy. They also sold powdered unicorn horn (narwhal)

I continued my wanderings for a little bit in an old pharmacy and around the bottom of town and then returned to the hostel just after 4pm. I had intentions of going back out to a revitalised, hipster factory area. Actually I planned to go there before returning to the hostel but I was too exhausted to walk any more so I thought a break would do me good. I started to calculate the sheer amount of walking I have done in the last two days, most of which was with luggage, including my run this morning and I realised that there was probably a pretty decent reason why I was exhausted.

 

 

 

I was definitely very excited to get some sleep especially after the terrible last two nights. I was still going to have to get back out of bed at 5am again (4am Norway time) which was a real bummer. It felt like I was bringing myself back to Australian time a week early.

Change of plans and I decided to catch a later ferry back to Helsinki. This meant I could sleep in a little later. I breakfasted in the hostel which was quite yummy. Just some bread and homemade jam and then headed out into the new town for a few hours. I went to Balti Jaam Markets and they were pretty pathetic. I’m not sure if I was just in the wrong spot, if they were mostly closed for winter or if they are just generally pretty pathetic. I’m sure they would have been more exciting if I hadn’t been to the central market in Riga. I was told that you could still buy souvenirs from the 1980 Moscow Olympics at these markets (Tallinn held the sailing to which only 23 nations turned up) but alas I could not find any. There were lots of things I was told I could find there that I could not.

So I continued walking down an old factory complex. In the late 90’s this was home to the Estonian mafia so naturally property prices began to drop. And like all things that are once cheap, hipsters moved in and the area became revitalised and a little bit expensive. Unfortunately I was too early for the craft beer shop, but otherwise it was essentially a much smaller Newtown with a few cafes and bars. I took a turn down an ally way (I know, I know stereotypically bad idea) and found the actual living areas with incredible street art and vibrant colours everywhere.

I then wrapped up my trip in to Tallinn buying the two most important souvenirs. Alcohol and chocolate. The supermarket was tiny even though it was the biggest in the area. I was hoping to buy something for lunch there but that wasn’t going to happen. The only portable and non-cookable food were pastries which I’m not keen on for lunch. I knew I had to try Kalev white chocolate with blueberries and it didn’t disappoint. I also bought some Vana Tallinn to take home, along with my Riga Black Balsam. It will be interesting to compare the two.

The return ferry trip was good. I ended up only wasting 17 Euros on my missed ferry ticket because I saved 9 Euros by travelling Eckero Line instead of Tallink. Eckero was supposed to be super dodgy but I have found it quite enjoyable. There are plenty of comfortable seating options, live music and plenty of food options as well as onboard shopping if that is your thing. The only difference is that the trip takes 30 minutes longer which isn’t a particularly big deal. Due to by second ferry being at midday I decided to check out the alcohol options, because so many people seem to buy alcohol onboard because it is duty free and cheap. I can assure you it is not cheap. I paid 4 Euros for craft beer in Tallinn. Tap beer onboard is 5 Euros. It just operates under the illusion that it is cheap. It is the same as people buying duty free products in airports. They are often more expensive or only marginally cheaper. I did suffer from the typical solo traveller problem of; If I leave to go and get food or even see the ship I have to take all my stuff with me and that’s a nuisance and also carries the risk of me being unable to return to my seat.

When life gives you onions, make lemonade

Just as in life, sometimes travel doesn’t quite work to plan. It doesn’t matter how far ahead you book or how meticulously you organise you cannot control the weather or other people.

As soon as I found out, rather unexpectedly, that I would be going to Norway, I knew that I had to go and see the Northern Lights. I also knew that I desperately wanted to go dog sledding. Meticulous research lead me to Active Tromsø, supposedly one of the best dog sledding companies in the world. In my eagerness I emailed them way back in November to organise the trip.

I put a count down on my computer. I researched how to mush a sled. I got information off friends who had already been.

On the morning of my trip I awoke at 7am, dressed and breakfasted quickly so that I could get all my camera gear ready and leave early to make sure there was no way that I could possibly be late.

Then my phone rang. In my two months away my phone has rung only once. I started to worry. The caller ID showed it to be a Norwegian number. Even worse. “Hi Imogen, I just wanted to let you know that due to the strong winds we are going to have cancel todays trip. So you can go back to bed”.

#%@!

I was bitterly disappointed.

The thing is though, there are so many different ways one can react to such a situation. I decided to take it as a message that I clearly need to come back to the North (probably Lapland) later in life in order to go dog sledding, see the Northern Lights and maybe even stay in an ice hotel. Then I got on with my day.

Yesterday I really wanted to go to Perspektivet but it was closed. Alas it is open on Tuesdays. I love photography and really enjoyed the gallery. Like all good art museums it wasn’t just pictures on a wall. There were interactive exhibits, unusual layouts and music. One particular exhibit on religion required you to kneel on a pew in order to be able to see it. Another involved faces projected onto grey water with a vortex in the middle. The atmosphere was serene yet dystopian and had that chill in the air that you so often find in modern art galleries. Perspekivet is definitely something that I would recommend, especially if you enjoy photography or art.

I also decided that to compensate for todays lack of activity that I would buy a decent lunch. It took a while for me to find somewhere. Most of the places on the main street and the harbour are very typically overpriced. Instead I found myself in a little cafe called Jordbær. It was in a shopping centre but that doesn’t mean it is bad. It was very different to what I am used to. You ordered at a counter but then collected various items from a shelf to put with your meal after ordering. They basically had a whole kitchen pantry and you could use as little or as much as you liked. This idea was really interesting and I imagine useful if you have fussy children. As I am not a big fan of tomato sauce, I was able to enjoy my burger with aioli instead. Even the potatoes came out unseasoned and you had poetic license as to what you wished to do with them.

After a walk around the shops I finished up with some pistachio, watermelon and caramel froyo. Thanks to a student discount it was actually cheaper than Australia and it definitely boosted my mood. The freshness of the watermelon and the crispness of the froyo is something that I haven’t experienced in a while and it really brought the tastebuds back.

As I sit here now I can see patches of blue sky. Hopefully the laid back nature of today will help to provide me with the stamina to stay out tonight and look for the lights. I think I will walk to the Tromso University Museum late this afternoon, then simply stay there as it is a little bit out of town.

Unfortunately on the one day that there is patches of sky the forecast is very weak but there is always a chance. Tromsø is on the coast of Norway, just to the west of junction where Sweden, Finland and Norway meet. I only need the strength to pick up a little bit in order to be in with a show of the lights.

 

Today life has given me onions. I will try and turn those onions into lemonade.

What do people actually want from a travel blog?

In effort to learn more about what makes travel blogs tick I have done some intensive investigating. I read through some of the most popular travel blogs on the internet and they seriously made me question what people want. There were so many commonalities among these blogs and the bloggers themselves. They tap into an unrealistic desire. People who quit their jobs, sold their houses and became travel blogging nomads.

That isn’t how most people travel. That is a luxury that many cannot afford. These blogs may be interesting to read but do they actually provide valuable information for the standard tourist? Most were how to travel cheaply. They told you all about cities they went to without spending much money. The reality is that travel is expensive, yes you can experience places cheaply but surely if that is all you do, everywhere you go, then you are missing out.

These blogs are also demeaning to people who don’t follow their way of life. They imply that people who don’t get the cheapest ticket or the cheapest accommodation, or who pay a fraction more for something are ignorant idiots who need their help. Travel Nomad Blogs promote the fad diets of travelling. Except instead of how to eat more and weigh less, it is how to spend less and get more and like fad diets, it is mostly unattainable.

I get that blogging is pretty young and therefore most of the people who are into it are usually in their twenties and early thirties and haven’t settled down. I too am in my twenties. I would love to travel professionally and would do so as a blogger but with the bigger intention of one day writing real pieces, as a legit travel journalist. I want to own a house, and a have a family who get to travel but don’t necessarily live on the road. I am at University studying for an extremely stable and viable occupation in the STEM field. I don’t NEED to be a travel blogger. I can do extremely well for myself and travel without it. On the other hand I genuinely enjoy sharing my experiences with others and I also genuinely enjoy travel.

I have only been doing this for a few months and if I do write as an authority about a place or an idea then it is because I have pretty good idea of what I am talking about. This blog, however, is the world through my lens.  I spent 3 nights in Riga. I can tell you about it, I can recommend things but my word is not everything. On the other hand I have lived in Sydney my entire life. When it comes to Sydney, I know my stuff. Still, I haven’t eaten at every restaurant, I haven’t been to every beach or sat in every park. I don’t necessarily like the same foods as you do. I love dining experiences such as Geranium in Copenhagen, others prefer a simple steak and New York cheese cake (although I love this too). My cousins love Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruises, I love Seabourn and Silversea. Everyone has their own tastes and I know that Nomadic Travel isn’t mine.

I hope that I can present to my readers a more achievable travel experience. I want you to know that what I write is my own opinion and if you don’t agree that doesn’t mean that you or I are wrong.

I have travelled Wizz Air and Wideroe and Air Berlin.  I have also flown in Qantas First Class as well as Emirates, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Lufthansa etc. Business Class. I have stayed in Youth Hostels and boutique hotels. I have stayed in Holiday Inns and Marriots and Park Hyatts and at Saffire Freycinet (The World’s Best Boutique Hotel 2014). My experiences are wide and varied. I have enjoyed some of the cheap and affordable things and hated others. Similarly, I can rave about the Four Seasons Prague and tell you that the Grand Bretagne in Athens is a heap of shit.

I have two goals for this blog. The first is that writing it continues to be enjoyable for me. The second is that the information that I produce is of use to somebody.

I would really appreciate though if people could give me feedback. I know I am only averaging about 20 visits a day, but if I got some feedback I would be able to adapt to make this blog more enjoyable reading. TIA

Tromsø Sami Festival

Saturday 7th Feb

Saturday was pretty good. I set my alarm nice and early failing to consider that nothing opens till 10am. So I had a solid chat with Mum in the morning then I headed out. I thought I wouldn’t need my camera because it had been snowy but ended up going back to get it after walking 100m. Tromso is like somebody has stuck a township in the middle of Antarctica. It’s a bit odd and very windy although I wasn’t cold. I basically just walked around the town all morning

A town in the middle of what could be Antarctica

Are they the Himalayas?

The 2014 Norwegian Lassoing Champion

On my way down the main street I wandered past people warming up for the lassoing, by the time I had returned the Norwegian Lassoing Championships were just beginning and I got to see the first heat (and many more afterwards). There were supposedly market stalls selling food and knick knacks which there were but not quite as advertised. The stalls selling hand made Sami items were lovely and there were some boots that I really wanted to buy. On the other hand the food was nothing but waffles and they said that there would be stalls selling reindeer.

Sami Crafts

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6Tga7cUgm4

So after I’d entertained myself with the Sami stuff I decided to head to the Polar Museum. The museum was really, really good. The polar night exhibition was a room was in complete darkness and you got a little torch before you went in to help read the information. It was about the difficulties of researching in the polar night and what they had found so far. There were a whole bunch of headless birds (their heads had been removed so that research could be conducted on their eyes) as well as plankton and a few movies. I enjoyed that aspect.

The rest of the museum was also great with stuffed polar bears, birds and seals. Plenty of artifacts the only problem is there was probably too much stuff and too much information for a museum that wasn’t very big. The entrance fee was $5 (very cheap for Norway) so I went in at 11:45am assuming it would take 30min. After 1.5 hours I decided to bail and just walk through the rest. The information book that you got on entrance was 25 pages long! Some of the stuff was really interesting, but unfortunately because the signs for everything were in Norwegian you had to read the book to find it. It was also really hard to work out what signs went with what because there was just so much stuff in a small space. Definitely not complaining though, I would prefer too much to not enough.

By the time I left the museum at 1:15pm I was starving. It wasn’t that I hadn’t had a proper breakfast (2 wasa crackers and yoghurt) it was more that I had been standing/walking for nearly 4 hours and had worked up an appetite. Walking past the Sami waffles nearly killed me they smelled so good. I then had to resist the urge for an instant sugar high in Spar. Instead I bought a cheese roll and a packet of fruit buns. It was seriously hard to resist buying lollies, but thankfully I knew they were something that I didn’t want it was just my low blood sugar talking.

It’s funny, I definitely don’t live off lollies but I reckon I would eat roughly a pack of snakes over a week, and maybe a block of chocolate a fortnight during semester. I would definitely eat a lot less than that during Uni holidays. But since I left for Norway 6 weeks ago I have had one 100g packet of Haribo gummy bears in Riga and about 8 blocks of chocolate. That is a lot of chocolate especially given I don’t really like the stuff that much.

So then my evening was pretty chill, just uploading photos and stuff. I was meant to meet with Mum’s friends for dinner at 7pm but then at 4pm a blizzard started. It was slowly easing off but I also knew that I am a lot more sheltered from it because I face away from the harbor and into the street. So it was decided to re-evaluate the situation at 8pm and then going from there. I didn’t think it was likely that dinner would happen.

My afternoon was also spent planning Helsinki and Tallinn. There isn’t much to plan about Tallinn but Helsinki there definitely is. I know that I am going to go to Suomenlinna and I would also really like to go to the naked swimming pool. It seems ridiculous, I can’t believe I am actually going to a naked swimming pool but I am sure it will be fun. It also means naked SAUNA!!!!! Thankfully I did the whole onsen thing in Japan and don’t get too fussed about the naked idea. I actually find it interesting because there is no room to be self-conscious and nobody actually gives a damn about what you look like. Everyone is far too interested in themselves. It makes me wonder whether countries with these sorts of environments have high levels of self-esteem

I have been researching restaurants and all the ones that are recommended seem average in price. I wouldn’t mind trying bear consume at Saaba though. Thing is I remember Helsinki being expensive but considerably cheaper than Norway. So surely there has to be a more affordable food option. I’m wondering whether Stockman would be an option. I also really want to go to Marrimekko despite knowing that I probably can’t afford anything. But Marrimekko is super awesome and I have worn the jumpsuit I bought there in 2013 too many times to count.

Just got a text from Mum’s friend. Turns out that dinner is going ahead. I am very excited to meet her and spend the evening at her house and of course extremely grateful for her generosity in allowing me to do so.

 

Sunday 8th Feb

Tromso is such a peculiar place. The weather is terrible, it is extremely cold and grey. Yet the buildings are astoundingly pretty and the people happy and thriving.

Last night was one of the best experiences I have had in Norway. I don’t wish to say too much about it out of respect for the people whom I visited, but it was truly lovely.

Then it was time for the Sami festival. The lassoing was interesting and enjoyable although in some aspects not quite as I expected but Sunday definitely lived up to the hype. I entered the town square to the Sami markets and people warming up along the street. Today a few more stalls had arrived including one selling reindeer stew, burgers and pita bread style sandwiches. This stall also included a Lavvu, inside they were selling hot drinks and cakes and other sweet things. It felt a little bit like a school fundraiser complete with 5 children working the counter.

At 11:30 security came through and cleared the place out and to get back in you had to buy a ticket. Naturally this was something I wanted to do and I was more than happy to spend the $30 required. The only issue was that my foreign card didn’t work and as such I needed to get cash out. This was nuisance as it costs $4 (something I wouldn’t worry about too much at home) but $4 for me to get $80 out of the bank is cost inefficient. The second issue was finding a working ATM. Eventually I found one (everybody in Norway uses card so ATMs aren’t all that vital). The final challenge was then finding somebody selling tickets who took cash. It took a while but eventually I was in.

By this stage it was quarter past twelve and time to get some lunch before the races started at 1pm. I had decided a few days ago what I wanted to eat and I wasn’t disappointed with my bidos (reindeer stew) and laibi (sami bread). It was tempting to go for the sandwich as it was the same price with a much higher concentration of reindeer but as I wasn’t sure if I would like reindeer or not I thought it would be best to stick to the more traditional and slightly safer option. It was amazing. The reindeer is gamey but flavoursome – a bit like venison – and the stew was very yummy. The bread was interesting, it was slightly dryer and airier than normal bread so it soaked up the stew in a slightly unusual manner that made for excellent eating.

I ate my reindeer stew in a Lavvu

 

The children performing a folk song

I also had a fun time taking photos. I asked a group of children playing if they would mind if I took their picture. Next minute there are 10 other tourists doing the same. Had a laugh to myself about that one. Those very same children then performed a folk song to appease the sudden crowds and the competition manager overheard and suddenly they were performing at the opening of the races. It must have been a very unusual day for the poor souls.

The racing was interesting and fun to watch although it felt like it was going a bit slowly in the worsening and very cold weather. The reindeer hit speeds of 60kmh and there are typically two people on the 201m course in a match racing style event. The Russians were not particularly good and two of them crashed but the Finnish were definitely the best. It was made all the more exciting when the gold medal final was to be contested by a Fin and a Norwegian. Perhaps the only greater rival would have been a Swede. Unfortunately for the spectators the Fin won. The actual competition was not the whole event. The Lord Mayor of Tromso even participated in a demonstration race.

Lord Mayor of Tromso

 

Initially I was concerned by the ethics of reindeer racing. Seeing the huge smiles on the face of the reindeer and sheer amount of people it took to stop them from racing each other by choice proved otherwise. In one race both the competitors crashed and the reindeer just kept going. You could tell that they absolutely loved it.

The happy reindeer

 

It was bloody freezing in downtown Tromso and snowing very heavily. Once the races were over I had to practically run back to my hotel in order to stop myself from getting hypothermia and I actually did get a bit of frostbite on my hand. It took a solid hour under warm water to get my body back to a decent temperature; I was definitely chilled to the bone. It was also cold because although I was only out for four hours, two of those hours were standing rather than walking. I was one of few people who stayed to the end of the racing. The majority of tourists and people who didn’t have a vested interest left after an hour.

Still no Northern Lights, it is unusual to get three bad nights in a row but hopefully the weather will have cleared by Tuesday. If not my other hope is my flight on Wednesday. It leaves at 6am and goes above the clouds so I may be able to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights from the plane. Definitely want to get a window seat.

It is funny how I am not disappointed about not seeing the Northern Lights. Tromso is such a beautiful city and I am having such an amazing time that it all feels as though it was well worth it. I am only young and there is plenty more time for the Northern Lights to be an option. Tromso during Sami Week however, is not as easy to come back to.

 

Monday 9th Feb

Monday was pretty crappy. I was worn out from the weekend and so didn’t end up sightseeing till 11:30am. Initially I walked to the photography museum but it turns out it is only open Tuesday-Saturday, so I walked back in the complete opposite direction in terrible weather to go to the University Museum. I couldn’t find the museum (turns out it is much further out of Tromso than I thought). I ended up going to Polaria instead which is the Polar Science Museum. It was pretty cool and would have been great for children. The aquarium was interesting as well as some of the interactive things like navigating an icebreaker. They also had an Imax style theatre where I watched the Northern Lights. This probably the most realistic experience of the Lights that I am ever going to get.

Then at 2pm I headed back to the hotel to eat my lunch and haven’t left since. I really needed a bit of a low key day especially as I have a long day dog sledding tomorrow.ø

Leaving Bergen and Arriving in Tromso

In my urge to write about leaving Bergen I left out a few details.

 

For one: The Grandiosa

The traditional Grandiosa pizza was invented in the 1980’s and since then over 420 million of them have been sold in Norway. Norway has a population of 5 million, just to put that into perspective. Frozen pizza itself is a staple food and most people will eat frozen pizza on Christmas Eve. In a quest to have a very Norwegian meal I forked out the $7.50 for a 500g Grandiosa. Cooked it to perfection. It was pretty bad. It wasn’t unbearable by any means and was a hearty dinner given I was absolutely starving but it was also extremely sweet, soggy and floury. I really don’t understand why people would eat something that insanely unhealthy, when it doesn’t even taste good, by choice.

The pizza itself is tomato paste, bacon, capsicum and jarlsborg cheese. It could feed two people but can also be eaten solo. As far as frozen meals go, it is also extremely cheap.

 

Last Day in Bergen:

On my last day in Bergen I was supposed to climb Mt Ulriken but that didn’t eventuate. In the end I stayed in my room in my pajamas all day and packed. Weather was overcast and snowing a little bit so it probably wasn’t the greatest day for a hike. My diet consisted of eating leftovers – mostly rice or pasta cooked in chicken stock with carrots. In the evening I decided to cook soufflés for my kitchen mates. In hind sight this was a really stupid idea. I didn’t really consider the short time frame that a soufflé had to go from cooked to flopped. It was okay in the end with only one person eating a floppy one but they definitely didn’t taste the greatest. My kitchen mates also gave me a card which was really cute and hand drawn with my face on top of a plane. Then everyone else went out and I stayed in to get some sleep before waking up at 7am the next morning.

 

Getting to Tromso:

Getting to Tromso was a bit of a shemozzle. After waking up at 7am in order to have a shower, pack etc. I was ready and raring to go (almost) at 8am. I packed some food to help me survive for the next five days in the very expensive Tromso. Five packets of cous cous, hot chocolate sachets, tea bags, Wasa crackers, carrot sticks, two fruit buns and some muesli. This was all very good and I had three full bags. It was little harder to fit things into the bags than it was coming over because I wasn’t able to take my handbag as carry on and so had to put both the handbag and the stuff that I brought in it into another bag.

The trip to the airport itself was really simple. It’s one of those things where you really freak out about it and worry that things won’t go to plan but everything worked. I am short for cash with only $103 to get me through to Tuesday and it is Friday but I am going to manage. Most of that money will be spent on entrance fees for museums and stuff like that. It made me very grateful to be able to bring my own food. So I get to the airport, simple. Print my baggage tags, simple. Then I go to send my bags away. Bergen airport uses an electronic system, which I didn’t know about before hand. So I had one 26kg bag and one 12kg bag. I had paid for two 23kg bags and assumed it would all be okay. But when I placed the bag on the conveyor belt it was a big problem. The system wouldn’t let me send a bag that weighed more than 23kg. So I transferred my pretty coat, my gloves, medications and as many toiletries as possible to the smaller bag. Then my bag weighed 24kg. I had to throw out my cleanser, all my moisturisers (hand, face and body ahhhh) and my nice leather boots. To be honest they were really exhausted and I was going to throw them out in Oslo anyway but now I am deprived of a nice pair of shoes. It’s not ideal. In the end I had one 13kg bag and one bag that weighed 22.9kg. It was such a pain to pay for 10kg of luggage that I could not use. Especially when the cost was so great.

So I could have saved my boots, my cleanser and the small moisturisers by putting them in my hand luggage. Except to do that would involve sacrificing my food. I decided that food was more important than luxuries. Going through security was fine. I had no liquids, I separated my laptop and all was good. Until I walked through and they had pulled my bag to the side. They then went searching through, couldn’t find any issues so they decided to put my camera and the lenses through separately. Still couldn’t find anything. So they took my entire hand luggage aside, pulled every little piece apart and put them on the conveyer belt all individually. At the end of this there was still nothing to be found. Twenty minutes later and after this whole dilemma they decided to confiscate all my food. And I mean ALL of it. Which was a bummer given everyone else could take food through. I was really pissed because if you are going to take twenty minutes of my time, then take it, apologise and move on. But don’t then take my possessions as well to make it seem better. So now instead of being in Tromso with $100 spending money and enough food for breakfast and dinner most days. I am in Tromso with $100 and absolutely no food whatsoever. It’s worse when I know that if I had thrown my food out before checking my bags then I wouldn’t have had to throw away my luxury items.

I can imagine spending about $30 a day on food so Houston, we have a problem. Even when I do get paid on Tuesday that is $270 to last me two weeks, or $19 a day. When you factor in the costs of sightseeing, transport etc. this is also a problem. I mean I have now paid for accommodation everywhere so no matter what I will have a roof over my head. It’s just food. Something tells me that I am going to lose a lot of weight over the next two weeks.

I am now really regretting spending $210 on UIB jackets for Mum and Lachlan. I am regretting paying $545 for GAMSAT and there is this part of me that rationally knows that I shouldn’t have gone to Riga. There is also this other part of me that is like “I would rather run out of money and have gone to Riga than not gone at all”. I feel like everything that I have spent money on was worth it and a part of the experience (except for the jackets and GAMSAT), but then at the same time the jackets are also a part of the experience and it wasn’t my fault that GAMSAT happened to be a cost at that particular time.

 

Norway is proving to be extremely expensive. I spent a lot of money on clothing, the dentist, insurance etc. prior to the trip. The trip itself is expensive and then there were so many additional costs that I didn’t really budget on. Actually I think somebody bought some notes off me from Nexus Notes so maybe I have an extra $17 that I can claim. $17 isn’t much but it should hopefully get me through another day. I really need some sort of income source. It would be nice to be on youth allowance because then I would know that I am getting $1000 in March that I could give to Mum to pay her back but I am not. I should have booked a hostel in Helsinki and then stayed at the Comfort Hotel Xpress again in Oslo. Comfort hotel would have cost $280, Mum paid $600 for the GrandBecause then she wouldn’t have spent $600 on me and I wouldn’t feel so bad asking her to bail me out (I know this was a combined birthday/Christmas present but still). I would have saved about $100 by staying in a hostel in Riga. I could have saved $40 by not buying alcohol at the airport in Riga. I could have eaten even more cheaply in Riga. Staying in a hostel in Helsinki for three nights would be $80 less for me to owe. So far I owe Mum about $900. Had I not had to pay for GAMSAT and assuming that she buys her own UIB jumper given she asked for it then that would be $280. I also already owed Mum $800 from a loan for my laptop. So now I owe my mother $1700. This is shit. This is really, really, really shit. I don’t think I am going to be going to Edinburgh on exchange next year after all.

 

 

Tromso:

Arriving in Tromso was probably the first time that arriving in a new city has gone to plan AKA I didn’t get lost!!!! It was literally a matter of catching the flybussen airport transit bus to the city centre and then walking about 100m. On top of this the hotel had a really big sign that made it nice and easy to see.

I am a little disappointed with the hotel/hostel style thing. It is nice and comfortable and definitely better than the one in Oslo. Due to the free and fast wifi it seems to be the main hang out for Tromso Uni students. The only thing is it said it had free tea and coffee and a kettle for boiling water. It does not have either of these things. This is a little bit frustrating as it means that I can’t even buy cup noodles to survive off. With no fridge and no kettle I am pretty stuck. I have a feeling I will be eating yoghurt for breakfast, and then whatever I can get my hands on for lunch and dinner. Thankfully on Saturday I am having dinner at Mum’s friend’s house, which means I will hopefully get to eat a proper meal. I am extremely excited to eat a home cooked meal, especially in Norway and incredibly grateful to be able to eat real food at all.

On the plus side, they let me check in early free of charge which meant I could be out exploring earlier than anticipated. I went for a walk for about an hour. So really not that long. Just along the harbor front and into the Northern Norwegian Art Museum. The art was beautiful. There wasn’t a lot of it but given the museum is free you can’t complain. It was well worth my time.

Domkirke

 

I continued to wander and found myself at the Tromso Domkirke (Church for those who can’t speak German). The wooden church is very quaint and has a homely feel. Entirely illuminated by candles it was interesting to be inside as the blizzard raged on.

After my walk I decided to do a bit of research to see if there was anything that could make up for the fact that I am 95% sure I will not see the Northern Lights. My researched aligned with this weird flag that I saw outside the Church. Turns out Friday 6^th Feb is Sami National Day and this week that I am in Tromso is the Sami festival. Tomorrow there will be Sami markets and on Sunday I will hopefully be able to watch the World Reindeer Racing Championships. Monday I can have a day to explore again, then Tuesday I am going dog sledding. Thank goodness I am not stuck in Tromso for five days with nothing to do. Things could definitely be far worse than they are.

 

I know I have been posting far more than usual but there is too much to write about for me to only post once a week. On top of that I am by myself for the most part of the next two weeks and could really do with something to pass the time.

things i am desperate to consume when i get home

• Steak
• Sausage sandwich with onions and BBQ sauce
• Bacon and egg roll
• Custard
• Ice-Cream
• Fruit of any description especially plums
• Raspberries
• Lolly Snakes
• Elderflower and Lime Cider
• Steak
• Homemade burger with beetroot
• Vietnamese anything
• Lots and lots of chilli
• Cucumber
• Yoghurt
• Iced Tea
• Sangria
• Mint Slice
• Raspberry Splice
• Decent brie and crackers and quince and pear
• Wiener Schnitzel
• My grandma’s spag bol with baguette and butter
• Steak
• Mashed potato and gravy
• Lamb backstrap with mushy peas and sun dried tomato
• Olives
• A slushy
• Jelly
• Guava Juice
• Steak
• Prawns
• Avocado
• Drunken and Bruised
• Sushi
• Butter
• Muesli bars

 

Things i never want to see again (or at least until after a cooling off period)

• Pasta
• Tasty/Cheddar/Jarlsberg Cheese
• Pizza
• Miso soup
• Cous cous
• Dinner rolls
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Hot Chocolate
• A dish in which egg is the main protein
• Anything that combines both salmon and cheese
• Cheese on toast
• Mushrooms