Outlandish

Stara Trznica is a beautiful building used only for special occasions. Like Beer or Food Festivals. Last weekend was dedicated for International Foods. I wanted to go there already on Saturday but because the weather was still a nightmare I saved it for Sunday when I would also have company there.  They had countries from all over the world but not all of them served food, which was a little disappointing. For example Portugal and Germany were only serving wine tasters (which we tasted of course, Vinho Verde was a new and very pleasant acquaintance) and India's table consisted only of books and leaflets. I love Indian food and, as far as I know, there is only one Indian restaurant in the whole Bratislava and it's very expensive and not worth the money, so that was a shame. From Nordic countries only Norway was represented. Their stall was our favourite, they had gotten the correct idea: instead of huge portions they had small tasters of bread with sa...

I hate rain. I hate it a lot! It messes up my hair and my clothes and especially my expensive, beautiful, fragile shoes! It also makes a walk home from work unbearably challenging when accompanied by an outrageous wind.  Sometimes, though, rain is a great thing because it gives you an excuse for not leaving your apartment all day. For me this weekend with the shittiest weather in history was perfectly scheduled; I needed a day to clean up the whole apartment and to read the magazine I order from Finland, which has been untouched for two weeks.   I'm not a big fan of cleaning and I also find that living among a controlled chaos suits me much better than pristine tabletops and such. I tend to not find things in - what some might call - a clean environment. But every now and then even I reach a limit with the layer of dust on the table and the dust poodles rolling on the floor. And when I clean I clean everything at once with vigor. Starting from emptying of all surfa...

Brno; a city I've wanted to visit since I moved here. A colleague used to study there and we've tried multiple times to make plans to go there without much success. But now she's about to get married and she wanted to have a Bachelorette weekend in her former home town so it was set. An early train  (late of course)  on Saturday morning took us to Brno by noon. We dropped off our bags at Kristi's friend's place and went to look for a place for lunch. The place that we wanted to go to - a burger place - turned out to be closed, though, and they would be opening at 5pm. So, on we walked. Me, Brigi and Orsi becoming continuously slower because of the hunger... ok, gossip! The next place we tried had a lunch menu but when we started ordering each of our orders was shot down with "we don't have that today". Turned out there was a food festival and all the food from the restaurant had been taken there. Raises a question what was the point of keeping the...

Such a coincidence! All former customer care employees supporting Finland from last year somehow managed to book the exact same week to come and see their friends in Bratislava. None of them knew about the others planning to come here. Maybe there was a super-offer on flights to Vienna this week or something but it's just so funny but brilliant. We had our old crew here all together once again!  Anni arrived already on Tuesday to stay for a week. So obviously that week I had to work overtime. Every day. Thankfully she had a lot of catch-upping to do with everybody so she had company while I booked my ass off (...no, not like that). On Tuesday I didn't even have time for lunch so when Anni suggested that we go from the office straight to one of her favourite restaurants here I was totally in. Food has never tasted so good.  It was sooo nice to have Anni here! It's so different to accommodate someone who has already lived here, you don't have to stress about ...

UK: We call it Autumn from the French word 'autompne' and later the Latin word 'autumnus'. USA: We call it fall because leaf fall down! Stumbled across that in Facebook and actually took it as a fact :D Knowing that Americans have "simplified" words from the UK English before (pavement - sidewalk, bin - waste paper basket... bwahahaha!) I didn't find it too far-fetched.  Nonetheless, for me it's Autumn because teacher told me so.     So it's September finally, start of my second-most-hated-season. In Finland people have already dug out their woolly jumpers and ankle boots and scarves, whereas here you wouldn't realize which month it is. The summer goes on. This year I really realized how short the summer in Finland really is. ONE MONTH! Whereas here it starts in April and goes on aaaall the way until October.  Even though I prefer this 6-month-long summer to the one month in Finland I have to admit that I miss the Finnis...

My jealousy has no boundaries... When the sun is shining and it's 30 degrees outside it feels like a crime to sit inside (unless you're working). So, I often go for a walk on Saturdays around Bratislava. As a capital it's quite a small city, but somehow I manage to find new places and things here every time. Like this time I found the artsy park behind the presidential palace. It's a garden surrounded with high stone walls and which is kept in a meticulous form. The grass there is cut in a very English way: smooth and precise. Flower arrangements are everywhere and there are fountains and statues varying in style everywhere.  The garden is absolutely perfect for picnics or for a little break on a tourist tour. The Grassalkovich Palace, which these days is used as the President's office, rather than accommodation, was built originally in 1760 for a Hungarian aristocrat who was a close friend of the Empress Maria Theresa. The Empress herself visit...