Travel Trivia on Tuesday

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ONNELLISTA UUTTA VUOTTA!

It's the new year and it's definitely time for a new post. I decided that as the past year has been a year of travel for me, that I would put up a post about my travels in the form of travel trivia, as well as questions that friends have asked me.

Let's start!

Number of countries I have visited outside of Australia: 20

Number of countries I have lived in: 4 - Australia, Finland, Greece, and Thailand

Number of countries I have spent Christmas in: 3 - Australia, Finland, and Thailand

Number of countries I have spent New Years in: 4 - Australia, Finland, Estonia, and Thailand.

Number of countries I have spent my birthday in: 3 - Australia, Finland, and Greece.

What do I always travel with: A book or some form of reading device. E-readers can come in handy.

A book on the beach at Christmas... can't get much better.

 Why did you start travelling?

For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of visiting places like Pompeii and Stonehenge, and of visiting museums like The Louvre and The British Museum. I have always wanted to see more of the world than just Australia. When I was in high school, I found out about youth exchange and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to start travelling, but I have always wanted to travel.

Why do you travel alone? What are the positives and negatives to travelling alone?

I have not always travelled alone. My first trip to Finland was really as part of a large group and most of the travel I did that year was part of a group.

Going back to Finland in 2012, I decided to travel alone, because I was going to be going to a country I already knew. Plus I was planning on going long term and none of my friends would have really wanted to come or been able to at the time. I have done much travel in the past 18 months by myself and I have had as much fun with that as when travelling with people.

Positives for travelling alone:

- You never have to worry about wanting to do something that other people you are travelling with don't want to do.
- You make friends with people you meet in places like hostels and walking tours around cities, as well as buses, trains and planes.
- You expand your comfort zone.
- You don't have any travelling companions, and so don't find yourself wanting to cause harm to anyone because you have been spending too much time with them.
- If something goes wrong and you miss a bus or something, you can be sure it was your fault, and not someone elses.

Negatives for travelling alone:

- You have noone to look after your bags when you really need to go to a public toilet and find yourself having to squeeze everything into a tiny cubicle and get the door shut as well.
- Sometimes you experience something really awesome, that you want to share, and you have nobody to share it with.
- You either find yourself taking way too many selfies as you try to take a picture with some sort of landmark, or you end up with lots of photos, but you are in none of them.

How has travelling changed your life?

I think travelling has made me more open minded and adventurous. I find myself outside of my comfort zone and not minding it. I have experienced things that some people never get a chance to experience and I have met many amazing people from all over the world. Travelling, and in particular travelling alone, has given me more self confidence to do things. I know that if I want something I can have it / do it.

What has been the strangest food you have tried on the road?

I wouldn't say that I have had any really strange foods that I have tried on the road, but I guess eating Reindeer is a pretty strange thing for most people to think about, even if it is delicious. 

I can't think of anything else that I would class as particularly strange in any way. I try to stay pretty safe with what I eat because I guess I am not particular adventurous. I don't ever see myself voluntarily eating insects for example.

Have you ever been scared while traveling?

I don't think sitting at the back of a bus on a road in the French Alps and looking straight down the mountain quite evokes the sense of scared that I think is implied by this question, so I would say no. I am definitely a little bit nervous before I move to a new country, but I wouldn't say scared.

Is there a country you always travel back to ?

Finland. Definitely Finland. But also Estonia. I love Estonia.

Do you have any packing rituals?

Not really. I pretty much just pile everything onto the bed/floor then fold it. I do tend to use space saving bags for my clothes so they take up less room but that is about it.

What is the most beautiful beach you have ever seen?

This is a hard one for me. I have not met a beach that could beat an Australian beach, and even with Australian beaches I couldn't say which one is my favourite that I have ever visited because there are so many.

In terms of other countries, I would say that one of the most beautiful beaches I have visited is Anthony Quinn Bay on the island of Rhodes, Greece. I also recently visited Promthep Cape, on the island of Phuket, here in Thailand. That was a very beautiful beach.

What was your first trip abroad?

My first trip abroad, was to Finland. I was an exchange student there in 2007 for the year.

What are the top 5 on your bucket list ?

I'm horrible! My bucket list basically is visit -insert historical site here- in -insert country here-.

That said let's see if I can do a top 5 of things for a bucket list.

1. See the Aurora Borealis in person.
2. Visit Pompeii, Italy
3. Visit Gallipoli, Turkey
4. Visit Stonehenge, England
5. Participate in an archaeological dig in some way.

If I hadn't already been to the Tower of London it would be on my bucket list.

Is there any place in the world you are not interested in traveling to?

I think there are countries in most parts of the world that I wouldn't be particularly interested in visiting, but I don't think it's right to rule out anything 100% because you never know what opportunities may arise. If someone told me a year ago that I would be living in Thailand, I would have called them insane because I had no particular desire to even visit here.

What is the one thing you miss at home when on the road?

My books. Definitely my books.

Do you think you will ever settle down and if so, where would you see yourself doing so? Australia? Europe?

I have no idea. I really love Europe, but of course I grew up in Australia, and that is where most of my family lives. I think it would really just depend on circumstances at any given time. If I find a job that I love and that suits me or some other good reason to settle down in a particular place, then I will settle.


What is your favorite airline and airport?

I can't say I have travelled through any airport frequently enough to really have a favourite, but Helsinki airport is pretty good, and I haven't experienced any crazy crowds there either... YAY FOR AIRPORTS IN SMALLER CITIES!

My favourite airline would have to be Thai Airways. I have flown one long haul international flight from Bangkok to Sydney and then one shorter domestic flight from Bangkok to Phuket and both times I really enjoyed it. The service was excellent and the planes were comfortable even in economy. 

How many time zones have you been through in one week?  

I'm going to take this as a how many time zones have I spent time in, in one week as opposed to time zones I crossed over in a plane.

I have spent time in 4 different time zones whilst travelling from Finland back to Australia as well as when travelling from Australia to Finland. 

In terms of actually spending more than 2-3 hours in an airport, in a time zone, then I guess the answer would be 3 time zones. Greece, Thailand and Singapore in a week at the beginning of November. 

What is your favourite place you've been to and why?

My favourite place that I have been to is, I think, Tallinn, Estonia. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, there is something incredibly enchanting about the Old Town of Tallinn. 

I don't think I could ever get bored visiting Tallinn. It seems every time I visit I get introduced to a new cafe, where there is amazing food. The people are friendly and the sights are beautiful. One of the other good things is that even though there are tourists, there aren't the huge numbers you find in some European cities like Prague or Paris which means that even in summer, at the height of the tourist season you can enjoy it. 

Tallinn by night is definitely something magical.

Thanks to my friends who asked me some great questions. This was defintely a fun post.

~~ Random Logic ~~

Beautiful Tallinn

I really meant to write this a few weeks ago! Better late than never!

Last month I went to London as mentioned in my previous post, but I also got the chance to head back over to Tallinn, Estonia for a trip the following weekend. It was the fifth time I had been there and definitely a different experience to previous trips there.

First off I went over with a friend and fellow au pair who was leaving the country the following week. Her original planned stay in Finland had been cut short and she had definitely been planning to visit Tallinn before that happened. As a result she decided to spend her last full weekend in Finland in Tallinn. As I love the ciy I volunteered to go along and show her around and stuff like that.

Now I have played tour guide to people in other cities including Turku, Finland and Sydney, Australia where I have spent significant amounts of time and lived but I have never lived in Tallinn so for me it was just as great to go and show her the things I love there as to visit places I hadn't been. It's also the first time I've been any kind of guide in a place where there is so much history.

We stayed with my cousins in Tallinn. They live about 10-15 minutes walk from Vana Linna or in English the Old Town. It is a medieval town centre and not much has changed in the buildings since that time.

By the time we got to Tallinn on the Friday, we had actually already been travelling for over 6 hours by bus and boat. We ended up spending most of the first day in the Old Town wandering around, looking at churches and trying not to get too confused in the sometimes maze-like streets.The best thing about getting lost though, is that you get to see the amazing architecture that has survived to this day and the many buildings that have been restored. There are also some amazing doors!

There are many churches in this part of Tallinn, including two Orthodox churches, and at least one Catholic church not to mention several Lutheran churches. One of the Lutheran churches (St Olav's/Oleviste Kirik) was actually the tallest building in the world for a time when it was constructed with a spire that stood at 159 metres. It burned several times however, after being struck by lightning, and the current spire stands at just 124 metres.

For lunch on this day we decided to stop in at the Reval Cafe in the old town centre. I have been to at least three different Reval Cafe's in the time I have spent in Tallinn and I have to say that every time the food has been fantastic, as well as the service. I also think that it is extremely reasonably priced.

We also spent some time in Tallinn City Museum (Tallinna Linnamuuseum). It is definitely a museum worth visiting. Whilst not so large as many museums it tells the story of the history of Tallinn quite well and in an easy to understand fashion. I definitely learned things I hadn't known about the Hanseatic period(Tallinn was a major city and trading port for the Hanseatic League and was known as Reval during this time).

Saturday we got up fairly early and decided we would walk into the Old Town. It is a nice walk and the way we went took us up and over part of the walls that still stand to the top of Toompea Hill which is the upper part of the old town. You end up with some fantastic views of the old town from there and it's great for taking photos.

First thing on the agenda for the day was to head up onto the city walls. One of the fantastic things about the Old Town and the fact that it has been so well preserved is that it actually means you can get up onto the town walls where they still stand at some points. It is interesting to see the town from this perspective and makes me glad that I'm not a guard for walls and living in the middle ages. The walkway is not actually very wide and there is never anything pleasant about looking straight down to the cobblestones below when all that stops you if you slip is a wooden railing.

After the wall we took the opportunity to do a sightseeing bus tour of a bit of the rest of Tallinn. My cousin had been amazing and bought us some 24 hour bus tickets for a sightseeing bus that goes around Tallinn on three different routes. We took the green line tour which took us to the Pirita beach district where there are the ruins of Pirita Monastery(dedicated to St Brigitta) and past the area which was built for the 1980 olympics when Tallinn hosted the yachting events for the olympics.

In the afternoon we decided we would try to see some more museums. First we headed off to Kiek in de Kök, which is situated in one of the towers along the wall. We also wanted to visit the Bastion Passages but hadn't realised that we had to pre-book so we ended up missing out on that part. It was the second time for me to visit the museum however and I loved it just as much as the first time. It has changed a fair amount in terms of the displays and I think the quality is even higher. It covers a lot of the history of Tallinn and in particular focuses on the military history and the fortifications of the city.

We also ended up visiting the Estonian National Maritime Museum (Eesti Meremuuseum) in another tower known as Fat Margaret (Paks Margareeta).

For dinner that night we went to a restaurant know as Olde Hansa. It is a medieval themed restaurant and it definitely has some great atmosphere. It isn't somewhere I would recommend anyone go to if you are a picky eater, nor if you are trying to save money. The most expensive single dish on the menu is Bear and it costs 55€. We both went for something a bit cheaper and split the dessert which was a sort of apple pie with almond milk. It was amazing. So was the Warm-Up drink which we had. It was some sort of spiced apple cider type drink. Om nom nom!

Sunday was our last day in Tallinn and we did our best to enjoy it. We took one more of the sightseeing bus tours, this time around some of the older suburbs of Tallinn. Afterwards there was some more wandering around the city for some last minute photos, souvenirs and postcards which resulted in me finding a Star Wars babushka doll, as well as a stop for lunch once more at the Reval and a hot chocolate at the Chocolaterie de Pierre Cafe in the Old Town. My cousin first introduced me to the Chocolaterie in 2007 when I visited. It is a cosy cafe that makes you want to do nothing more than sit down and relax with a nice warm drink and maybe a bit of dessert too.

All in all it was a fantastic, jam-packed weekend in Tallinn and it definitely made me realise how much I haven't seen and want to see when I next visit.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral with Tallinna Toomkirik in the background.
Taken from Kiek in de Kök tower.

View of the lower part of the Old Town from the viewing platform on Toompea Hill.

 

Where would you like to visit?

Entrance to the Old Town.

 

The old Town Hall.

Photo credits go to my friend Christina who took some great photos whilst we were there.

~~Random Logic~~

Pack, Pack, Packing....

So... first blog from Finland. I have been here two weeks now and have been having a pretty awesome time. Also this particular post will most likely be somewhat random and rambling.

It's currently heading towards 3am and I still haven't finished packing for my trip to Estonia. I have to be on a bus at 6am to Helsinki, and then catch the boat from there at 10am.... really should go pack. After this blog I will.

So two weeks in Finland and I was met at the airport by two of my friends. Between them they had one sign and multiple chocolate bars- to get me started. I love Fazer chocolate. We had lunch and then I continued my journey onwards.

When I finally got off the bus in Turku I was greeted by two more friends. One is the friend I am currently staying with and the other is a German friend who I met when she was doing exchange at the same time as me. They also greeted me with chocolate and a sign. I love my friends!

I attended Ruisrock music festival which was three days of amazing fun and I got to catch up with a few more friends at that and see plenty of awesome bands. Still not sure how Snoop Dog fits into a rock festival though.

Since Ruisrock I have caught up with more friends, eaten plenty of chocolate, done a bit of shopping, and generally been relaxing and having fun.

Now onto more packing and Estonia! I figure I don't need sleep tonight... I have plenty of time to sleep on the bus, boat and in the car today...

~~ Random Logic ~~