Outlandish

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything and there is a very simple reason for that: I have lived in such lack of money that there has not been much opportunity to visit any places or see new things that would be worth mentioning in the blog. Winter can be very hard and expensive in Estonia because living costs, especially the heating bill, are incredibly high here. Thankfully this winter has been quite “warm”, but the couple cold weeks ensured that the heating has been on full blast for months now. Considering that the wages in this country do not meet the daily living costs at all, I do not want to think how difficult it must be for a family of four to make ends meet if I, as a single woman with a rather high salary, can’t cope. But Spring is here! And while the weather is getting warmer and the heating is turned down in our building (because obviously we can’t influence the heating in our flats ourselves at all) I am left with more money and it’s about time too! The...

It's December so I am "allowed" to spread open my suitcase and start filling it with shoes and clothes for the Christmas holidays in Finland. Three weeks is a relatively long time for having only one suitcase but this time the biggest challenge is that I should fill it with things that I can leave home when I fly back after Christmas. There's no point to drag, for example, summer clothes and shoes from here to Tallinn when I won't be needing them for at least six months. 1st of December is also the holy day when everyone gets to finally open the first doors on their Advent calendars. I remember how difficult it was as a child to wait for December to dawn on when we knew in which closet the calendars were standing and waiting. I also remember one time when the first of December came and it turned out that my brother had already emptied the entire calendar of all chocolates. Why he had then closed the doors again and left the empty calendar in the close...

How many times do you have to fail to learn? Everybody knows that Googleing is the best way to lie to yourself. So of course I Googled altitude effects on human body to prepare for this week's trip to High Tatras. Last time  I had an issue with the lack of oxygen and Google encouraged me with these words: - swollen brain - thickening of blood - lungs collapsing - balance problems etc. Not what I would call good preparation this Google, but if I can make the climb even a little bit easier for me, or Orsi, I would love to do that! Despite the fact that breathing up there is an unbearable challenge I am SO full of anticipation and excitement! We're going to higher and more challenging places this time and even though there is the risk that you actually fall down a hill I want to go already! I guess I'm some sort of an adrenaline addict, what with my history of skydiving, choosing the most challenging and dangerous slope when downhill skiing, and moving abroa...

Midsummer is the time when Nordic people withdraw away from the cities into hiding in their summer houses in the countryside. No matter what the weather is you sit outside and have a barbecue for four days. Last year I moved to Bratislava just before Midsummer so I didn't have much time to spend in our summer house. Neither this year. I am traveling to Prague for an alternative Midsummer with one of my best friends in Finland.  I feel like I'm a professional when it comes to packing. I've been moving around Europe so many times that most things come automatically for me when it comes to packing... not passport, though. No, that's way too obvious. I've been very happy to carry enormous bags on my travels instead of getting one with wheels. But now, going to Prague for five days, I thought that the bag would have to be so big that I probably couldn't carry it. So I had to go searching for a small, pull suitcase. There were these regular ones, nicely c...

When reading Finnish newspapers I couldn't be happier that I do not live there. Not only because they've dug themselves into a ditch from which they will not get up for many years, but also because for the past week all headlines have been about the weather getting rather wintry. Whereas here in Bratislava it couldn't be much more summer-like! On Saturday I thought I'd go to Ikea to get some things for my new home, but instead I got stuck on a terrace by the river with lunch and cocktails.  But anyway, last Wednesday I finally moved to a place that I can actually call home! Thanks to my wonderful colleagues the move went super smoothly. Moving isn't one of my favourite things in life, especially when in only 4 months I've managed to gather so much stuff that even 4 suitcases could not take it all. Packing everything was easy enough, but the unpacking... well, it sort of took me 4 days. It was a busy week so Saturday was the first day that ...

Six days until it's time to be on my way again. The last two weeks I've planned and prepared my flat to be packed up and all the time I've tried to adjust to the idea of leaving. But it hasn't felt like reality so much yet. Last night, though, I dreamed I was sitting in my room at my parents' place after it had been emptied. There was a desk with nothing on it or in the drawers. The wardrobe doors were open but there was nothing in them. And in the morning I remembered again the feeling that follows after you have done everything else, and the only thing left to be done is leaving. That feeling sucks. But it's something you have to get over and just go. The odds are something great is waiting behind the corner, which you will miss if you let the not-so-great feelings take over.  The picture above gives an accurate picture of my packing method: going through the closets one can find clothes that have been overlooked for a while and come up with new o...

Packing... the ultimate nightmare. But unfortunately it is also a necessary evil that has to be faced when moving abroad. Although the process is very familiar to me, it always succeeds to overwhelm me: how on earth am I supposed to fit all these clothes, all these bags and shoes, all my books, bed linen, shoes, tea mugs, shoes, etc. into a single suitcase and one hand package-sized bag??   The picture above shows not even a third of all my shoes. All important to me, all beautiful (except maybe the sneakers) and all of them shoes that I want to wear still in future. But, unfortunately, some of them have to be left behind. Good thing some of my friends have the same shoe size, it would be difficult to give my darlings to strangers. Because tossing them is not an option!  The summer weather here is also proving to be very distracting. Instead of swimming in shoes and clothes I'd much rather go out to sit by the river Aura with a nice cup of coffee from Café Art...