As in Sweden (posts 1, 2, 3 and 4), I took the chance to visit the north of Finland during the winter break. I absolutely love snowy weather and, up until the end of December, there was no snow in Helsinki, so that pushed me to seek white-covered landscapes outside the city.
The trip had the usual mix of good planning and ‘let’s-see-what-happens’ that I like to have when travelling. The rough idea was to first stop by Oulu, head to Rovaniemi (right on the Arctic Circle imaginary line) and then somehow keep going north into the Lapland (hey, also the name of this series!).
So, only certain of my bus ticket and my Couchsurfing host, I headed to Oulu!
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trip
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A long bus ride brought us to Greece and more precisely to Thessaloniki.
This city is one of those places that I often read about in history books at school when studying Ancient Greece. It always gives me a great feeling to finally be able to connect a historically important location to some actual images.
I can’t help but imagine how it could have been back then to live here, obviously failing to do so and falling back into idealized scenes, probably from a movie.
White Tower of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki is not too big but there are quite a few places to visit and things to do.
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In Serbia, as well as Bulgaria, the Cyrillic alphabet is used in their language; not knowing this, it was an interesting experience being surrounded by a totally unexpected and a somewhat new set of characters, right off the bus.
The Cyrillic letters (commonly and mistakenly referred to as just the Russian alphabet) have mostly a 1-to-1 relation to the Latin ones, making it a fun game to guess what it’s written on street signs given the context (once every character is translated, it’s not too complicated to guess the meaning of a word). The first sign I started translating was an obvious ‘тоалет’, right next to the toilet stalls, giving me a good base for guessing more words around the town.
Even with just a bit longer than a day in Belgrade, our Coushsurfing hosts (a very nice and active couple who traveled all around the world) managed to give us a glimpse of the local life: making us taste their homemade liquor, bringing us to a party (the guy played in a band) and showing us Belgrade from the Sava river on their boat.
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Arriving in Mostar, I was rather surprised as I had not looked up much about the town. The part of the town around the old city is quite different, with many buildings in a state of abandonment and disrepair. Their empty shells showed me the consequences of war and made me understand how perhaps other less popular places in Bosnia ed Herzegovina look. In some parts of town, the contrast between tourist spots and war-torn buildings was very evident.
Gimnazija “Aleksa Šantić” in Mostar
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Hey there,
after a long and nice weekend at Bugala island (the biggest island of the Ssese islands, in the Lake Victoria, Uganda), today I feel very slow; so, I am going to publish a short post.
Sunset in Kampala.
Sign stating the ‘official’ source of the river Nile, the longest river in the world.
/Nesh
Hey there!
Finally, I managed to get back to the Interwebz, so that I can update the blog a bit.
I find myself in Uganda, and specifically in Kampala. Amazing city, really.
Totally different from anything I experience in my life. I felt like in one of those ‘on the road’ documentaries, where they show the very active and busy streets, even at late night.
I haven’t had the chance to take any interesting picture, mainly because I feel I should get acquainted with the surroundings before pulling out my camera. Yeah, I admit it, I am still quite afraid to take any picture in public, especially in some areas, such as the market or the slums, although they are surely the places where to capture the most interesting shots.
I am trying to get to know as many people as possible around the place I currently live, so that I won’t seem too much of a stranger to them, in the long run.
I found already that I really love passion fruits!
First Impressions:
Kampala is a very active and busy town, which you realize only when you find yourself on a boda-boda trying to sneak around the several trucks and cars on the road (yeah, very dangerous!).
People here are commonly very friendly and polite, although some of them often try to overcharge foreign people.
Also the kids are very friendly and say hi/bye to the passing strangers, usually adding mzungu (word use for denoting a ‘white’ person).
So, don’t feel uncomfortable if some young child says ‘Bye mzungu’, because it will happen quite often, especially if walking by slums.
I usually take the time to say hi to the kids and introduce myself, as well as asking their name (and trying to remember it); in that way, I hope, they won’t remember me as one of the many mzungus who crossed their life.
I actually happened to meet a kid I met the day before and, this time, he greeted me by name (that really made my day!).
The movie:
We managed to shoot all the scenes we needed in 4 days and now the post-production phase began.
By the end of the month, I hope, we will get some footage that I can actually show!
I will try to start taking some pictures as soon as possible and do something similar to what I did in Croatia (Image of the day).
Take care for now.
/N.
This post comes a bit late, but I think later is better than never.
So, here we go!
Before my departure to Uganda, I decided to give myself a well-deserved short holiday. Poland has been in my mind for quite a while, especially knowing how easy (read cheap) it is to get there.
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Right now, I’m on the train that will bring me to Boden first and then Umeå.
My return has begun; this has been an amazing trip.
Met so many friendly people and seen landscapes that are likely to be the most beautiful places I’ve had the chance to see in real life.
Tromsø is a quite small town; I believe the best of it can be experienced while being on one of several hills/mountains in a clear night.
With no artificial lights, the sky is breathtaking, especially if the Aurora pops up during the stay.
I’ll soon post some of the few pictures I have taken (I’ve seen most of the best landscapes from the moving train), just to actually share a part of the Arctic experience with you (yes, you).
Take care.
N.
Here I am,
on a train that will eventually bring me to Luleå (Sweden).
I have left Göteborg on a very cold Friday and stayed a few days in Gävle.
This is finally my trip for trying to catch a glance of the amazing and colourful Norrsken. The forecast is against me and my plans, but I keep hoping.
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After having postponed this trip for quite some time, I finally went to visit the Island of Lokrum. This island sits right in front of the Old Port of Dubrovnik and has a very strong impact on the landscape.
To get to the island, you need to get a ticket for a boat that leaves every 30 min from the Old Port and the trip is around 15 min.
As the island has plenty of areas and places to visit, I will split this trip into several posts, coming the next days.
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