Students' life again :) at the beginning and in the end...

No work, no duties anymore in Tampere. Except one - studying... Have to collect some materials to my MA's Thesis... After spending many hours in front of computer in the computer classroom at the university every day, after days filled with the articles about andropause, guys over 50, stereotypes and somekind of problems, I felt I can be an expert in that sometimes :)
But the evenings were mine. Mine and my friends. Time for a coffee or a beer, time to go for a walk or do some shopping together, time for a dinner and sauna. I felt a bit sad that I don't have enough time for all of them, time they deserve,time I would appreciate to share with them. But at the beginning I didn't feel I am here just with a visit, I felt like at home, and then that rush... Next time I will be back for a month! :)
I had really great time in Tampere, and in Helsinki as well. Girls' talks, friends' talks, boys' talks (almost ;)). Quiet evenings with dinners and loud parties. Or dinners that turned out to be parties. A bit of alcohol, liters of coffee, fun fun fun, dancing, singing, enjoying. Carpe Diem in full meaning :) Party in Sylwia's place, Gosia's place, Kasia's "Goodbye" Party. Onnela and Doris. :):):) Evenings that spontaniously turned out to be crazy and amazing. Sunday KauppiSauna with Kathi, Spanish dinner in Javi's and Jaanika's (hihihi) place and so much more!!! I had so much fun there, some stupid things I did, some very wise, falling asleep during the afterparty, it was just amazing :) To sum it up:
:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)
I owe you ALL my biggest hugs, and I am grateful to have met you there and talk to you and see you. Special "thank you" for my friends I was staying with. It is not the last time :) Promise :)
I am holding those memories deep in my heart. Forever. Although it is not my home anymore, I feel like at home, not only because of the place, but mostly because of people there. Few tears about saying "see you" but now I believe I will see you soon... I will. We will.

Back to My Lake :)

So here I am. Tampere.
I simply had to see the lake, my lake... I didn't realise that as much as I missed people here, I missed the lake. My Lake. Small place on Earth that gives my peace... It brings this amazing calmness to my heart. It reminds me that I need to stop from time to time. That whatever is going wrong, I can just sit on the shore and listen to the sound of waves. They are telling you the story of life and calm you down and... in a way they take your sorrows and fears away with them... I love that lake with all my heart!!!

Tampere homecoming....

After the wedding I spent one day with my friend Ruta. Great day, full of sun and this special smell of autumn in the air. Again talks that I think I can have only with You :)

And then whole day on the road. Bus to Riga, then plane to Tampere. I was afraid a bit of this coming back, and in the same time eager so much to do it, simply couldn't wait...
And here I am. Back. Back home, that is not my home anymore. A bit mixed feelings, but I am so happy to be back...
My Tampere Homecoming...

What a wedding it was...

Saturday, 10th of September.
It was a beautiful wedding. Vaida and Saras. Natural, happy, smiling all the time. I had the impression it was something important for you, but in the same time so natural, just another step you take. With the sun, flowers, joy.
It was something important for me to be a witness of this moment in your life. Although a bit afraid of getting drunk with champagne :) I had great time there. It was interesting to see Lithuanian traditions (some similar to Polish, some unknown to me :)) and meet all those people. I almost have the feeling I can speak Lithuanian at the end of the wedding. Thank you.

All the best for you!
I wish you lots of happiness and love in your life. Love that gives you support and this feeling that there is always Home with someone waiting, warm place you can come back when it is cold outside. Love that is growing every single day. Love that makes even tears having taste of happiness, because there is someone holding your hand in sad or difficult moments. Love that brings sun to your eyes. And makes small things magical...

Last day...Ufff... Almost impossible to get rid off :)

Last day. Last country we visited (actually a country in a country :) Catalonia :))
Last flight together from Girona to London, when we would separate with Jaanika for... the weekend :) Time to say goodbye...
Didn't I mention before that Spain (and Catalonia ;)) is full of surprises? This was one of them. I thought it was going to be the saddest day ever for me. And not because we finish the trip, the holidays...
We said "see you" to Hector in Barcelona, took bus to Girona, checked-in and.. got to know that the flight to London was 5 hours delayed! 5 HOURS!!! Shit... shit shit shit shit shit. I had to say it. I had connecting flight to Vilnius, and I HAD to go to Vilnius!!! Simply HAD to. For my friends' wedding! But with the delay - no chance I would catch the next flight!!! When I got to know about the delay, I started to be nervous. Luckily there was a hotel with internet cafe nearby. I checked the flights to London to get there earlier - nothing; to Vilnius a bit later - nothing; via other cites - NOTHING! No possibility to be in Vilnius that day or the next day before the wedding!!! Jaanika went to the airport to find some information there. I was the unhappiest girl that moment. For a while. And then this slight chance. Checking Vilnius airport web page, I noticed flight from Barcelona with LAL. I grabbed that hope and started to call. Took me a while, but... finally... YES! After waiting and worrying and all those emotions, I found connection that did not cost 1200 euros! And this was my big light that day...
The delay forced also Jaanika to change her plans, and I know that it was sad for her as well. Maybe destiny is something sometimes we cannot avoid, and is not always created by our decisions?
When the flight for me was booked, and Jaanika decided to stay in Barcelona one more day, we called Hector. You see, it is not that easy to get rid off us... One might think that is safe now, resting at home, finally without those two girls, and then that phone call "hi, we are back!" :) Scary, isn't it? ;)
We missed the bus to Barcelona, but for me it was not important so much. With the next one I knew I would manage to get to the airport anyway, having very little time, but hopefully enough.
With Hector's help (or making sure I am finally gone :P big thanks anyway, it was really great time!!!! :)) I arrived to the airport, bought my ticket, checked-in and ... went to Vilnius! I could not believe until I saw Sarunas waiting for me in the airport :)
I will put here a sentence from one of my favorite R.E.M's song:
"This could be the saddest dusk
I've ever seen
turn to a miracle
high alive
...
I'm half a world away"

Barcelona-city of "events" in every sense

It is difficult to start writing about Barcelona. So many things happened in there, unfortunately not only pleasant... But everything had such a nice beginning... And actually happy-ending. So let me start the story about the last city we visited on our European tour...
Arrival in the middle of the night, few hours of sleep, and time to see the city. Small walking tour with our private guide ;) Gaudi's buildings, narrow streets, people, the Plaça de Catalunya, people, people, old part of the city, harbour, market place. We discovered our own names for some streets... Do you know which one is called "Chicken Street"? You can see here not only many artists, mims, but also many many "bird sellers" (do you need a chicken? a pigeon? something else? ;)). Interesting street full of live and fun and people :)
Then a little bit of horror. My personal "The silence of the lambs" in the market place. Lambs' heads without skin, with eyes wide open, staring at you... Horrible!
And then sun again, those streets, just walikng and walking, and taking photos (of course). City that you can feel is breathing, living, filled with colours, songs, smell of coffee.
And the smell of rain. Of amazing thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Lightnings, thunders, rain.
The next day we went for the trip to Girona and Figueres. We did the following: touched lions ass in order to come back to Girona (eehhh...), saw catedral, Jewish quarter, slept in the bus, read some books, discovered Dali's art. And that last one was incredible. Trying to read all the symbols inside his paintings, hidden meanings... great time, lots of fun :)Thank you Hector for showing us some details. And teaching that Japanese eyes help to notice many things. Just new perspective :) I think I could spend there much more time.
Back to the city, nice time out, tapas, movie in the night...
And the day that was supposed to be filled with Gaudi, but turned into different, unexpected direction. After delicious hot chocolate for breakfast, we took a bus to Park Guell. But we never reached our destiny since Jaanika realised that her wallet was stolen. At the beginning we all hoped it was just lost , maybe in this small place we had the chocolate, so we went back there, but... no... so we had lovely time at the police station. Then coffee, internet cafe...I know Jaanika was feeling blue... Even Sagrada Familia (marvelous, just that for me could be left unfinished...) and beer were not enough to cheer her up... :(
A night out- bar in a flat, unique atmosphere and talks. Rain, completely wet shoes, dancing and umbrella :) Barcelona in the night. Barcelona in the rain :)
Hei, but the new day had started. The thief and rain are not going to destroy our trip :) So Park Guell anyway, something original and different then anything else, and again the narrow streets in the centre. Cathedral. Rivers on the streets. Dinner and laughing and talking. I will take with me the view from the balcony :)
Since France we were having one dream with Jaanika. To sit somewhere, preferebly the beach, with a bottle of wine and cheese... It was about to come true here, at the end of our trip... But we didn't manage... There is something we are leaving for the future. Something that has to be done. One small dream to dream...

Few words about travelling in Spain :)

Time to go back from paradise down to Earth :) or at least to the big city again :) After lunch we decided to go to Barcelona one day earlier, since there was someone who would give us a lift, so that we didn't have to spend the whole day in the bus. And we didn't have to spend a fortune for that as well :) So we packed in 10 minutes, because there was little time to get from La Manga to Valencia where we had a bus to Barcelona...
We packed. We got to the car. We started to drive. Fast. Really fast. Having the race with time. Every minut, every second is important... only 3 hours to catch the bus!
We were trying really hard...Thank you Vincente for that trip a lot! It was real pleasure to go there with you :) More friends like us and you can take part in Formula 1 :) We were in Valencia at the bus station only 6 minutes late. But come on, we are in Spain. Did anyone ever heard that something was on time in this country?
And we were proven that some things are only stereotypes!!! 6 minutes and the bus was already gone!!!So we waited for the next one...
And guess what happened... the next bus was... late! Of course... not only late to start from Valencia, but also much later then expected in Barcelona. Murphy's law.
Almost trying how comfortable were the benches at the bus station there ;) we finally reached the last city on our tour...

Holidays in paradise :)

Blue sky.
Blue water.
Sun.
Sun.
Sun.
A little bit of wind, just enough to make you feel great.
Sound of the waves, that are whispering the tender melody.
Sea that gives you a chance to find the most beautiful seashells.
The waves you can run through and laugh laugh laugh, feeling like a kid again.
A piece of land, very narrow, between La Mar Menor and Meditarrenian Sea.
Mar Menor that is warm and calm and shellow.
The Sea that is a bit crazy.
Salt in the air, on my skin, in my hair.
Drops of water on me.
Sand everywhere.
Blue colour in my eyes, sun in my smile.
Swimming pool with cool and lazur water like in an ads of five star hotels. Apartment with the view that takes our breath away.
One word - paradise.
And the second - our weekend!!! :)
We were lazy, we were relaxed, we were "wasting time", and simply feeling WONDERFUL. :) We tried windsurfing, and... we managed to keep the balance, stand on the desk, take the sail and windsurf a bit. I think Jaanika is a natural born tallent for that :) But all of us were good, and we had so much fun there!! And all of us at least once fell and drunk lots of salty water. There are no lessons without mistakes!! :) Thank you Pedro for everything, even being late ;) And thx for convincing me to try...
Ok, I am leaving you. Time to go to the beach and take some sun and swim and ...

Million star hotel :)

Let's move to La Manga :) To rest for a while, no more big cities, no more sightseeing, just beach, sun, sea, sound of waves, salt on my skin... at least for a while...
We wrote a message to Pedro that we are coming on 1st of September, almost at midnight. And so we did. Quarter to midnight we got out of the bus and in a second everything was humid and gluted to my body... We looked around and... there was no Pedro!!! Where is Pedro? We waited for 15 minutes... 20 minutes... half an hour... noone... Hmmm... Or Pedro made a mistake with the dates or we had written it wrongly. Or maybe he had some meeting, and forgot. Or maybe something happened and he is in a hospital (after an hour we started to think it would be the best option, because "he is going to get there anyway ;)"). Answering maschine in the phone, no contact... Somehow we were not angry, this seemed to be... funny. I told you - Spain was full of surprises! And I had the night I was always dreaming about... Dreams sometimes come true in a very unexpectable moments...
So we took our stuff from the "bus station" and went to the nearest hotel to ask about some cheap place to stay. Yeah. Cheap. 70 euros. We went out and decided immediately. We know the cheap place. The BEACH. Hotel with million stars above. Whisper of the waves and warm wind... we don't need anything more.
Maybe... a bit of.. privacy! Because in the middle of the night appeared... no no, not Pedro,but a guy on the tractor cleaning the beach! I know that we must have been a nice tourist attraction, but after driving next to us for more then 20 minutes he... called his friend!!! They took beers and lit the cigarrets... Nice, but we want to SLEEP... Finally, after half an hour, everything calmed down and there were only we two, our sleeping bags and stars and waves. At least until the morning :)
You can take a look at our hotel room with Jaanika in it in the morning. Would it be possible anywhere else to take a sunbathe without moving from your bed?

In the middle of the night and art

We arrived to Madrit... one hour EARLIER then expected!!! Hmm... Spain is full of surprises (now I have to say that it was not a good moment to say those words...) So we stayed at the station, reading books untill the dawn. Then tourist info and meeting with Taru and Edu. SHOWER! I was dreaming about it!!! When it got a bit colder (this word for sure does not fit here... When the temperature dropped down a bit so you could almost breathe, athough you were still wet few seconds after leaving home) we went for a walk in the city. It was amazing... And in the evening... Edu, Taru and their friends decided to show us the Spanish way of going out. You drink a beer in one bar and go to another, and eat something there and drink and change the bar and so on and so on and so on. I liked it a lot! A lot! We had very good time, but... in the morning we overslept and did not manage to say big THANK YOU to Edu and Taru! :)
On Thursday we decided to see Museo del Prado (students' discounts only under 25, but there are nice people to whom you have to smile if you are two months older :P), and it was just indescribable. All those paintings... Art starting with capital letter... I think it is not possible to talk about it. Everyone should see it. Whether you like art or not. Just to make sure that women on Titian's paintings always have red hair and... and there are more things to discover. This museum gives the time to think what was important for people. Worth seeing.
But (there are always some "buts")all the descripitions of the pictures were... in Spanish. A pity. Next time I am going there speaking fluent Spanish. Because the truth is that many people in Spanish offices do not speak English and... some of them are a bit rude when you try. But fortunately not all of them (can you see the picture... :)). So hopefully, with our friends' help, we will survive :)

Last day under the sun of Portugal

We left Marco's place on Monday morning. Time to see the big city again. Now I know what makes me sad a bit. This constant moving. Every second day and you have to pack and go back to the road. Hit the road... When you start feeling somewhere like at home, it is time to leave... I would not be able to be a snail. Not only because of the speed, but also because having your home with you does not change for me anything. It does not give you feeling of freedom, just takes away the feeling of belonging. It is nice to habe a place called home somewhere, even far away. To have the feeling you can always go back there and stay as long as you want. And then go on the road again, carrying the small world under your eyelashes.
But, let's stop this philosophical talk ;) Time to tell what happend on Monday...
So we got to Lisboa, found a hostel, where they apologised for... having two separate beds for us (!!!!!) and we went to... eat :) Of course :) The best in the world- Pasteis de Belem... RECOMMENED!!!! Or I would say-a MUST :) Then sightseeing, and saying sad "bye bye" to Marco. Not |goodbye| but SEE YOU!!! This trip convinced me that if only you want, you can always see your friends, wherever they are. Maybe not this year or next, but then will come the day...
Later we changed the room (not because we wanted one bed, but because of the noise :)), and we decided to see the capital during the night. It was nice. So many cozy places to go out, eat dinner, meet your friends... So we drunk a glass of wine in nice bar, and talked a lot. Actually we don't have so much time to talk only the two of us. It has some good point- we don't want to kill each other still, and there are evenings like that...But there could be more of them ;) Maybe not more serious Monday talks, just talks...
Next day... we went to see the castle and wander around the city. And time to go to Madrit... Whole night in the bus... Goodnight :)

World on fire

Ok, ok. Portugal was not only eating! There were many places we saw, many relfections that came to my mind that time...
After spending some time in Porto, we went to visit Marco in Freixianda. Small place in the middle of nowhere. One of the nicest places I have seen... Quiet, and in the same time very warm (not only because of the temperature). One big family (literally :), that we bacame a part of for a short time :). It was great time to relax, see the Templars' temple and "curing" water springs and castle and Fatima and... world in fire. Or rather world in smoke and world after fire. Both amazing experiences that I am not going to forget for a long time... For me scary, for local people something they face every year. A part of their reality. Completely different feelings about the smoke, fire. I would not be able to imagine my own house, surrounded by fire... I cannot imagine the feelings I would have then and my behaviour, reactions. That is why it was impressive for me. Kilometres of burned forest, land. Burned trees, that from far far away for me looked like in autumn. Brown and golden leaves, just the trunks totally black... Autumn... The fire just took away the life from them, but left the "body"...
Also in Coimbre the fire was inside the city. Could you imagine looking from the hill to the "city forest" with fire...
But there is no fire anymore. We were having great time, lots of fun, laugh, smiles and jokes. Lots of talks. We were sitting in the tarrass in the night watching the falling stars. So many of them decided to come down to earth. And every single one was bringing us a chance to make a wish. Whispering wishes in the dark stary night, hoping some of them to come true, this was our last night in Freixianda.
Hope your wishes will come true my friends.
Thank you Marco for that time there. Good luck for you and your girlfriend. It is big decision to live your dreams. Good luck from the bottom of my heart!

How it is to be a vacuum cleaner :):):)

Interesting title, isn't it? :) But this is what we became :)
Well, let me start from the very beginning :) I have to admit that wherever we went, we always tried the local food and drinks. Always. So I can sum it up that way - we were small alcoholics and we ate a lot. But nothing can be compared to our visit in Marco's place. Now we are having alcohol problem (we can drink a lot without getting drunk ;) and day without drink is lost day :P) and we weigh about 120 kg each ;) Explanation needed? So... we arrive to Marco's place and we... started to eat. Whatever was on the table, we had to try. Delicious tomato jam, marmolade, sausages, ham, cheeses... Altough we were not hungry, we just simply could not resist!!!
It was definitely bad bad choice for our diet to visit a friend whose mother is a cook!! :) Because the next day was mostly eating, eating, eating and in between - sightseeing. And also drinking, drinking, drinking. Good wine and something even better (sorry, don't remember the name... drink prepared by old lady)... And the next day the same... meals in Portugal are long and you have time to enjoy it... With friends or with family... Just take your time and enjoy the food. Enjoy the time with good food :) And that is what we were doing :)

Story about two girls in Porto, wandering around narrow streets, delighted with small shops, eating fresh fruits and dealing with HOT weather :)

Who removed colors?? I mean the green filter... replaced with blue and yellow. Blue sky and sun sun sun. Almost immediately I felt it is hot here. Really hot. o-oh... I love sun, but I love sun that gives you warmth when you are a bit cold still after winter, or in the morning first sun that fights with the night darkness. But hot weather is not for me so much... At midday I feel that I need to escape to the shadow and sleep sleep sleep. With that weather I would simply be able to adapt a night life style :) Or at least I need a bit of wind, to have the feeling I can breath :)
Portugal. Porto. A bit chaotic city, as if built spontaniously, without much planning. Just where you feel you want to live, there build your home. Or if you want to cross the river, build the bridge even in front of somebody's window :) But I liked it, with this lack of urban careful planning :) Children in the fountain as if in the swimming pool. Narrow streets where many times I had to close my eyes, afraid that two busses absolutely cannot fit :) I was proved I was wrong. Of course they can! :)
Porto. Small shops with many many nice things, clothes, jewellery, fruits, antiques. So we did so girly thing - we went shopping! ;) Our backpacks were still lacking few kilos to allowed 15, so why not?
And then, after shopping, satisfied with the fact we spent some money, but not much and we bought something nice, time to try something Porto is famous because of - port wine. One cellar, another. The wine is really good, worth recommendation, but... really strong :) Can you see the smile on my face? It was just after one small glass :)
In the evening Porto was filled with a bit cold and stormy wind. Some festival, which I liked because of the joy it was giving to people. But I was so absolutely tired...
Porto. Day two. Day that we decided to do what we were missing the most. Go to the beach and enjoy the sun there. After waiting for ages for the bus, we managed to get there and... I was astonished. Amazed. Enchanted. The waves, the ocean, the sun. Small rainbows created by the water drops rushing against the rocks...
I'm leaving Porto with the golden dust on my skin...