Outlandish

My first ever proper summer vacation and I can't imagine any better way of spending it than the way I did!  Just before flying to Finland the cultural differences and the leaving of important people from Slovakia was getting to be too much for me to handle. So a month in the same country with the most important people and all the familiar, if still boring, things couldn't have come sooner. Weather was horrid all month (minus the first weekend) but I had so much dog therapy and a perfect balance between activities and doing nothing that I couldn't care about such things as rain. The Best <3 Just after landing in Finland I started my vacation with a blast in  Ruisrock festival . Sunshine, best friends and awesome artists, what else do you need to throw off all the stress and gloomy feelings of the last couple of weeks! After the festival I was exhausted beyond any measure. So much so that before driving to our summer house I moved my wallet including my dr...

My colleagues in Slovakia were very surprised when I told them that I was going to spend a month vacationing in Finland... In Finland! Not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about summer vacation destinations. Truth is that July and August are usually very warm and sunny in Finland. Except this year. It's been raining every. Single. Day! But as much as my mental well-being is dependent on the weather, the cloudy, rainy days haven't really bothered me.  I wished that if I could choose just one weekend this July that would be sunny and warm it would be the first weekend, the festival weekend. And it was sunny and warm! And because I got my wish I can't be upset about the fact that after that weekend the temperature hasn't been over 20 degrees. Can't have it all. I've spent a lot of time at our summer house doing nothing. This week I worked, but that's been ok because I've had the evenings free, which have been quite en...

It is a scientifically proven fact that just 10 minutes in a forest away from all the city noises and smells your stress levels will plummet and unconsciously you relax. Green colour has a calming effect. That’s what our summer house is for me; a place for complete relaxation. You can just sit on the terrace with a glass of wine and a book. You don’t have to talk to anyone (yes, I need a break from talking once a year) and you can just forget, for a while, that there are some sort of duties and schedules somewhere else. Sea is also a surprising necessity for people who have grown up by it. I didn't quite realize it's importance to my mental wellness until I moved to London, far from any sea. Until then I had lived in cities on the coast (Turku, Brighton, Aberdeen) where, even if not seen every day or even every week, the presence of sea was obvious. Sea air is the healthiest there is and I don't know many things more beautiful than waves, wh...

Ruisrock is a legendary music festival in the Ruissalo National Park by the Turku archipelago. It is actually one of the oldest music festivals in Europe and it still sells out. This year they made a new turnout record: 95 000 people! For us it’s a place for a proper weekend out with the girls and this year having artists like Pharrel Williams and Ellie Goulding performing I had to book my summer vacation so that I can make it to the festival. Instead of buying tickets for the whole three days we thought two might be just fine. And oh lord it was. On Friday we were all scattered around the city and I joined the girls who were the earliest off work. As one might already know, alcohol is a must in Finland whatever you do. So they’ve banned people from bringing their own drinks into the festival area, of course. But that’s ok, we always cope when it comes to King Alcohol! As long as the bottles and juice cartons in your bag look like they haven’t been opened, you can b...

The Petrin Hill on the Mala Strana side of Prague is a 300-meter-high hill next to the castle towering over the city. On Sunday we decided to go inspect the hill and maybe try and find the Royal Gardens, which we couldn't find from the castle itself. Before the climb we needed to get some snacks, of course. Proper energy bombs like crisps, chocolate and cider. Some strawberries as well to keep things healthy...   The climb itself wasn't that bad but I wouldn't recommend it to the elderly or people with heart problems. At some stages the path was so steep that your pulse rises to surprising levels. Instead of climbing you can take the Funicular up the hill. On the hill you will find lovely parks and an Eiffel tower-inspired viewing tower. You can climb all the way to the top of the tower but we weren't interested in queueing. Walking down the hill we wandered off the main road and came to a little square with a huge palace on the right and ...