a weekend off with the BFF

Last weekend was awesome! After working for 2 busy months, I was desperately in need of some time off. So, I booked a room from a hotel I've always wanted to stay in, and invited my best friend Silje to join me for a real Girls' Spa Weekend ❤ Actually, we had quite a lot to celebrate:

• my Anti-Graduation party
• Silje's recent engagement, and most of all
• our friendship!

 You might wonder what I mean by anti-graduation. Well, simply this: I've been studying in university for 5 years, and next fall I'm going to resign, because I just... hate all of it (I'm not going to repeat all I've written about the subject earlier, no worries). So, I'm quitting, but not graduating. BUT in my opinion, after surviving 5 years in university, I deserved a party, whether I graduated or not -- Losers need parties too! So yeah, I wanted to give myself a closure to this whole university thing, and what would have been a better way than celebrating my decision with my best friend - she's the one with whom I started my academic studies in the first place, back in A.D. 2006.

Our hotel was the castle hotel Grand Hôtel Cascade (in Finnish: Valtionhotelli) in Imatra. I've been kind of obsessed about the place for ages, and this was the very first time I actually stayed there for a night. It was brilliant! The hotel was built in 1903, and its history is more than just a little interesting -- including everything from tragic suicides to Russian aristocrates, and from miserable artists to forbidden love. It even served as a military hospital during the first World War. Well, yes, I do find all the unpleasant deaths interesting. With all the amazing ghost stories I've heard ever since I was a kid, of course we had our own little ghost hunt, but sadly (or maybe "luckily"!) we didn't encounter anything supernatural, not even the famous Grey Lady (although we're pretty sure she tried to call our hotel room in the morning - our hotel room phone kept on ringing and when I answered, someone just said "heeellooo" on the other end and nothing more... hmph).

Anyway, even without ghosts, our weekend was a success - enjoying the spa, having a few drinks in the garden, and most of all - just enjoying each others company, gossiping and making new plans. Once again, I was reminded why Silje truly is my best friend - it's just so easy, nice, funny, and relaxing to hang out with her <3  lovely, lovely, lovely. Here's some photos...

artsy photo of our hotel

you can see our balcony - it's on the 2nd floor, right next to the tower!

Vuoksi Rapid; right next to our hotel (a popular suicide place in early 1900s..)

enjoying the evening by the rapid

good times... good times.

"who you gonna call..." GHOSTBUSTERS! :DD (in the middle of our hunt)

...it was pretty creepy

seriously - I had to try and sit in every cool chair in the hotel! xD

Ghostbusters, part II

And in the end... you know how people have their own photos framed in the livingroom or something, like "this was taken when I graduated from there-and-there..."? Well, I got this brilliant idea to make my anti-graduation celebrations perfect, and asked Silje to take my anti-graduation photos. Next I'm seriously going to get one of these photos framed, and then I'm going to tell everyone "This was taken when I did NOT graduate from university!" Maybe it's just my weird sense of humour, but it sounds AWESOME to me! ;-)

Yeah, my short vacation in Imatra was great, and hanging out with Silje was so nice<3 Hopefully we'll meet soon again (ohh, maybe another spa weekend during the winter or something?)

Take care & enjoy the summer,
yours truly-

ps. so, from now on the university is officially a CLOSED CASE! Yippee!!

my USA roadtrip

Authors Notes: 

1. in the end I created a backup blog for myself, so this official blog of mine won't be completely taken over by my american dreams. Don't bother following the backup blog, if/when I use it, it will all go through this blog anyway (I'm planning to use it with my upcoming travels as well). Nonetheless, you're more than welcome to leave comments to the backup blog as well ;-)
2. Since the backup blog is brand new, please let me know if something there isn't working right so I can fix it!
3. Photos are mostly taken by yours truly or Caroline (thank you so much for borrowing your memory card!)
4.  I hope you enjoy reading my ramblings as much as I enjoyed writing them - in the end this whole USA Blog operation took around 16 hours of my not-so-precious time... and right now I'm too tired to read it all through - forgive me all the spelling mistakes and other weird stuff - I'll fix it all later!
5. Everything written in italics is uncencored and straight from my travel journal. 

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First I would like to introduce you my lovely group:

from left: blond Louise, Fiona, Becca, Caroline, me, dark Louise. The tall guy is Flo, and the one kneeling is our leader Art.

Louises were danish, Fiona & Becca british, Caroline from Switzerland, and Flo from Germany. There was also an Austrilian guy, Will, but unfortunately he had to leave us in Santa Fe )-: I started my USA adventure in Boston, and you can read about it HERE. Then I took a bus to New York City, and from NYC a train to New Jersey, where our trek officially begun. Click the links, my ramblings will pop up in new windows.

this is my ADVENTURE IN AMERICA!


Washington D.C.


Wytheville, Virginia


Nashville, Tennessee


Memphis, Tennessee


New Orleans, Louisiana


Houston, San Antonio, Austin - Texas


Roswell & Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico


Santa Fe, New Mexico


Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona


Grand Canyon, Arizona


Las Vegas, Nevada - Part 1


Las Vegas, Nevada - Part 2


San Diego, California - Part 1


San Diego, California - Part 2


Los Angeles, California


Reyakjavik, Iceland

YES, it was the best trip I've had so far, and my heart is still aching to get back to America. Oh, one more cliché - I feel I'm not the same I was before I went to America for the first time! I... I really loved it. USA is amazing, and I cannot wait to get back.


yours truly-

xxo

the curious case of Lubbock, TX

Because the state of Texas is so huge, and driving through it takes so long, we ended up staying one night in a random city called Lubbock, in northwestern Texas. And after one night, I can honestly say it is the scariest place I've ever visited!

Main street, early afternoon on Monday.

THERE WAS NO PEOPLE IN LUBBOCK.

We arrived in Lubbock some time in the afternoon, and soon headed out to the city to find some dinner. It soon became clear that there was something seriously wrong with Lubbock.

IN STERILIZED BOTTLES! ;-D

We walked through the whole downtown area, but didn't see anybody. All the shops, bars, and restaurants were closed, even it was a weekday and early afternoon. All the cars you can see in the photos, were parked. Wikipedia told us there should have been around 270,000 people living in Lubbock, but we didn't see any of them. There's no better way to tell you how it felt - it was EERIE.

While we were walking, we started speculating why was it that there was no people...

• it was a Transvestite Monday, and all the people of Lubbock were underground celebrating it (we saw at least 3 wig shops in the city, and "Transvestite Monday" was pretty catchy expression)
• some terrible virus had killed/mutilated everyone
• there was an insane sniper (or some other killer) loose in the city
• there was something supernatural going on, and next we would see a black Chevy Impala parked somewhere
• there was a human sacrificing cult in Lubbock, and if you went out after 4PM, you got tortured/sacrificed
• there was only ONE bar open somewhere, and everyone would be there

No need to worry about getting ran over by a car!

Our motel - just as creepy as everything else in Lubbock.

Fully expected running into Sam or Dean at the vending machines...

...well, I obviously survived to tell a story of my scary night, and in the end we actually did solve the Curious Case of Lubbock, TX. I'm not going to tell you what was wrong with this weird city (go there and see yourself, I dare you!) but... not going back there, never-ever again! :-S


yours truly-

souvenir from new orleans!

We had a day off in New Orleans today, and I went to a tattoo studio with Caroline, YAY! Tattoos are the best souvenirs -- in 10 or 20 years I'll be my own scrapbook! ;-) And about the picture... I've wanted this one for a long time, and I love it.

Yours truly-

PS: I'm actually happy we're leaving for Texas tomorrow -- it's the spring break, so New Orleans is FULL of drunken students, ugh (and yes, the spring break actually is exactly how it looks in TV and movies... L0L crazy americans)

a little traveling music, please

I was actually planning to do this post before leaving, but the lazy ass as I am... well, better now than never, right? Here's the thing: for me, music is always a big part of the whole traveling experience. Every time I'm preparing to take off, I use a lot of time downloading/organizing "a perfect soundtrack" -- and the US was no exception. I'm not sure if anyone else is interested in what's going on in my MP3 player, but I want to make a habit of writing down my traveling soundtracks -- those are the songs that will always remind me about that one trip (in Barcelona it was all about Enrique Iglesias, in São Paulo it was Panic! At The Disco etc). After this introduction... here's what's currently going on in my headphones:

Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marching Anymore
Rodney Atkins - Watching You
Lucinda Williams - Right in Time
The Extra Glenns - Baltimore
Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild
Judas Priest - Heading out to the Highway
Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden
Melissa Ferrick - Still Right Here
Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
The Beatles - Drive My Car
30 Seconds to Mars - Night of the Hunter (Flood Remix)
The Highwaymen - Highwayman
The Secret Sisters - Tennessee Me
Rodney Atkins - These Are My People
Willie Nelson - Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me)
Paul Simon - Graceland
Melissa Ferrick - Headphones On
Lady Gaga - Poker Face
The Highwaymen - Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)
Chuck Berry - Route 66
30 Seconds to Mars - Vox Populi
The Highwaymen - Desperados Waiting for a Train
The Highwaymen - Against the Wind
Mark Knopfler - Wanderlust
Steppenwolf - It's Never Too Late
Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
Lyle Lovett - Texas Trilogy: Daybreak
Lyle Lovett - Texas Trilogy: Bosque County Romance
Lyle Lovett - Texas Trilogy: Train Ride
30 Seconds to Mars - Closer to the Edge
Bad Religion - Los Angeles Is Burning
Rodney Atkins - About the South
Luke Bryan - Doin' My Thing
Steve Earle - The Devil's Right Hand
Dave Dudley - I've Been Every Where
Reckless Kelly - Save Me from Myself
Reckless Kelly - Hit the Ground Runnin'
Hurts - Wonderful Life
Whiskeytown - Don't Wanna Know Why
Mark Knopfler - Sailing to Philadelphia
Nickelback - Photograph
Reckless Kelly - New Moon over Nashville
Reckless Kelly - Give It a Try
Willie Nelson - Mendocino County Line
The Cornell Hurd Band - Home to Texas
Josh Ritter - Lilian, Egypt
Whiskeytown - Jacksonville Skyline
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
The Secret Sisters - Somethin' Stupid
Judas Priest - Freewheel Burning
Luke Bryan - Chuggin' Along
Ryan Adams - Goodnight Hollywood Blvd
Rodney Atkins - In the Middle
Emmylou Harris - Leaving Louisiana
Melissa Etheridge - You Can Sleep While I Drive
Lyle Lovett - Highway Kind
The Cornell Hurd Band - Just Call Me "Steven" (I'm Leaving)
The Cornell Hurd Band - A Little Travellin' Music, Please
Meat Loaf - Paradise by the Dashboardlight
Guns 'N Roses - Paradise City
The Sleepy Jackson - Miles Away
Tullycraft - Polaroids from Mars
Mary Gauthier - Different Kind of Gone
Old Crow Medicine Show - Motel in Memphis
Willie Nelson - Beer for my Horses
Willie Nelson - Lost Highway
Steppenwolf - Ride with Me
Lucinda Williams - I Lost It
Sheryl Crow - Everyday Is a Winding Road
John Denver - Back Home Again
Phil Ochs - Hills of West Virginia
Ryan Adams - New York, New York
The Secret Sisters - Waste the Day
Emmylou Harris - Green Rolling Hills
P!nk - So What
Randy Newman - Rednecks
Lyle Lovett - West Texas Highway
Rodney Atkins - If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)
America - Sister Golden Hair
John Denver - Thank God I'm a Country Boy
Whiskeytown - Crazy about You
Randy Newman - Louisiana 1927
Electric Light Orchestra - Mr Blue Sky
Willie Nelson - Bubbles in my Beer
Phil Ochs - Here's to the State of Mississippi
P!nk - F**kin' Perfect
Willie Nelson - On the Road Again
Alabama - Louisiana Moon
Alabama - Forty Hour Week (for a Living)
Randy Newman - I Love L.A.
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
Led Zeppelin - Ramble On
The Beach Boys - California Girls
R.E.M. - Leaving New York
Phantom Planet - California
Boney M - One Way Ticket
Bowling for Soup - Ohio (Come Back to Texas)
Simon & Garfunkel - America
AC/DC - Back in Black
The Beach Boys - I Get Around
U2 - Beautiful Day
Sammy Hagar - I Can't Drive 55
Petula Clark - Downtown
Christopher Cross - Ride Like the Wind
Laura Cantrell - Churches off the Interstate
Willie Nelson - City of New Orleans
John Denver - Country Roads
Doobie Brothers - Rockin' Down the Highway
The Eagles - Already Gone
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
Rascal Flatts - Fast Cars and Freedom
The Eagles - Life in the Fast Lane
Gladys Knight and the Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia
The Eagles - Hotel California
Kylie Minogue - I Should Be So Lucky
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird
Bon Jovi - It's My Life
Keith Urban - Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me
Roger Miller - King of the Road
Kenny Chesney - Living in Fast Forward
Wilson Pickett - Mustang Sally
Paul McCartney - Wanderlust
Percy Mayfield - Hit the Road Jack
Rancid - Memphis
REO Speedwagon - Time for me to Fly
Rodney Atkins - It's America
REO Speedwagon - Back on the Road Again
Jackson Browne - Running on Empty
Satellite Stories - Helsinki Art Scene
Eddie Money - Shakin'
Sniff and the Tears - Driver's Seat
Money Mark - Stuck at the Airport
Blossom Dearie - Rhode Island Is Famous for You
Rodney Atkins - Take a Back Road
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
The Animals - Memphis Tennessee
The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
Rodney Atkins - Tell A Country Boy
Melissa Etheridge - Nowhere to Go
Tom Petty - Running Down a Dream
Jonathan Richman - Twilight in Boston
The Stanley Brothers - It's Raining Here This Morning
Rodney Atkins - Got It Good
The Wallflowers - One Headlight
Grateful Dead - Truckin'
Melissa Etheridge - Indiana
Allman Brothers - Ramblin' Man
White Snake - Here I Go Again
Kenny chesney - Wild Ride
Melissa Etheridge - California
Bee Gees - Massachusetts
The Stanley Brothers - Blue Moon of Kentucky
Joni Mitchell - Chelsea Morning
Mary Chapin Carpenter - 10,000 Miles
David Mead - Last Train Home
Johnny Cash - New Mexico
Solomon Burke - Fast Train
Woody Guthrie - Hard Travelin'
Joe Purdy - The City
Tragically Hip - New Orleans Is Sinking
Solomon Burke - None of Us Are Free
Steve Earle - Lonely Are the Free
Townes Van Zandt - To Live is to Fly
Hallelujah the Hills - Wave Backwards to Massachusetts
The Coasters - Down in Mexico

...I've been listening to these songs for a week now, and I can say I did good with this soundtrack, I love it! :-) Now I'm off to get some ZZzzzZZZ, we're leaving for New Orleans early tomorrow morning!

yours truly-

ps. here's some photos from the road so far:

Washington D.C.

middle of nowhere in Virginia

Lynchburg, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

nonsense...

...just because I'm trying to avoid packing just a little longer... so, two things.

ONE: Messy women make good lovers, says Patrick Jane. I must be one hell of a lover, just look at my hotel room! xD

TWO: I love American food!! I don't know how long it's going to last, but right now I feel I could live simply with bacon-cheddar-egg sandwiches and Arizona ice tea! xD

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Okay, now I really need to start packing. Tomorrow it's time to say goodbye to Boston and head to NYC. See you later! xxo

yours truly-

Helsinki - Reyakjavik - Boston

Hello from sunny Boston!

I had a wonderful weekend in Helsinki with my best friend, Silje. I had a hotel room from Saturday to Monday, and Silje was hanging out with me from Saturday to Sunday. We got ourselves takeaway from the best chinese restaurant in Helsinki, which is cleverly enough named CHINA (but you have to forgive the guys - it was the first chinese restaurant in town, established in 1973). Anyway, we got ourselves more chinese food than we could eat, rent Thelma & Louise and Rango, and had a little movie night. LMAO have you seen that Rango movie? It was probably one of the craziest movies I've ever seen xD Definitely not for little children, even if it is an animation...

Well, Silje was kind enough to stick with me on Sunday which was my official "OMG, I need to buy this and this and that for the roadtrip!" -day. So, we spent hours running around the city and eventually I found everything I needed. Afterwards we stopped for a coffee at Wayne's...

Wayne's large coffee IS large - even by my coffeeholic standards!

Soon after Silje had left, I got an upsetting phonecall from home - my grandpa had passed away. It wasn't unexpected or anything - he had been very sick for a long time - but still it messed up my feelings pretty well. Just imaging it - you're about to leave for the adventure of your life, and right before you leave, you hear you've lost a family member. To tell you the truth, I was never really close with my grandpa, more likely I felt bad for my dad who has now lost his father. I'm also going to miss grandpa's funeral, because I'm in the States. Well, I'll go and pay my respects once I'm back in Finland. So, summa summarum: yes, it was upsetting to hear I've lost my grandfather, but there's no way I'd ruin my USA adventure by thinking about it too much. It may sound heartless, but think about it - it wouldn't change anything if I let myself to dwell in this thing. I will keep going and hope everyone in Finland is doing the same. Of course it is hard to lose a familymember, but somehow... just somehow maybe this was the best. Grandpa had a long and good life, but now he was very sick and not getting better. RIP pappa.

Aaaaand back to my adventures. I pretty much spent the whole Monday by travelling - first from Helsinki to Reyakjavik, and then from Reyakjavik to Boston. This trip was so much easier than the one to Brazil! It was only 3,5 hours from Helsinki to Reyakjavik, and then 5 hours from Reyakjavik to Boston. Just enough time to watch a few movies (Drive, I Am Sam, and some funny Icelandic children's movie). Weather was amazingly clear, so even we were flying in 12,000KM, I was able to see Greenland and Canada :-)

I admit I got a little emotional when we landed in Boston and I saw all the American flags... I mean, I've been dreaming about the States for a decade, and then I suddenly was there, like for real. Security check was pretty exciting, and I got a little nervous in the interview eventhough I knew there was no reason not to let me through. Well, actually the officer was nice, he was just asking about our roadtrip and how I'm planning to travel from Boston to NYC and stuff like that. In the end he took my photo and fingerprints, and said those magical words: Welcome to America!

I left the airport around 7PM but my innerclock said it was 3AM, so I was lazy/sleepy/tired enough to take a taxi from the airport instead of looking for a bus. Luckily Logan Airport in Boston is really close to the actual city of Boston, so the taxi ride wasn't so expensive. By the time I had checked in to my hostel (40 Berkeley), I was more than ready to go to sleep. So I just paid a quick visit to 7-Eleven across the street and took a shower (OMG there was no hot water left!) before hitting the hay.

...and once again, thanks to the time difference, this morning I woke up around 6AM after lovely 9 hours of sleep. After enjoying an awesome breakfast at the hostel restaurant (bacon, eggs, diet Coke and coffee, LOL) I headed out. First I bought a disposable phone, because obviously my phone / SIM card doesn't work here. I was surprised by how cheap those disposable phones are, mine cost only 15 bucks! So, now I have an American phone number and I'm good to go. I think I'll keep my own phone shut down as long as I'm here, it makes no sense to keep carrying it since it doesn't have service anyway... So, my dear Finnish friends, don't bother trying to contact me with my DNA phone number, I won't be using it for a while now.

Today I ended up walking along the famous Freedom Trail. Haha, it's great because the path is actually painted to the streets on red, so you cannot get lost, or if you do, you can always follow the red brickroad back home ;-) Here's some photos...

Public Gardens

Cranary Burial Ground (the victims of the Boston Massacre 1770)

harbour

Actually took this photo to find my way back home, LOL.

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Okay, that's all. I'm planning to write one HUGE blog post about the actual road trip once I'm back in Finland, but if I feel like, I might came back telling you more about Boston later. We'll see. At least I will be tweeting everytime I have a chance, I promise. The bottom line is: here I am, and I LOVE IT! The city is amazingly beautiful, people are nice, food is great and I feel good about this whole thing :-)

yours truly-