Midsummer in Sweden

So for those who don't know, Midsummer is the festival for that time of the year when the day is the longest and night the shortest of the year. It usually takes place around the 20th June. Since we've seen so many Midsummers in Finland, me and four other friends wanted to see something different this time, so we traveled to Luleå in Swedish Lapland to experience Swedish Midsummer. :) We went there by car, since it's not that far from our home, and stayed in a tent for two nights on a camping site called First Camp. Actually the only problem with sleeping in a tent were the nights; no matter what, it was goddamn cold when we went to sleep and unbearably hot when we woke up, so we only slept a couple of hours every night. When we returned home, I slept 12 hours straight when I finally got to sleep on my own bed. :D

Well, at first I have to say that Luleå is a really beautiful place and Swedish people are very friendly, but we faced pretty many problems during less than three days. We got counterfeit money even in a place like Sweden, were sold bus tickets to a bus that wasn't even coming that day and couldn't return them, one friend broke her toe and what else. Mostly the problems were related to First Camp. Maybe they had too much personnel working and changing all the time, but it seemed that someone always said one thing and someone else another thing and some things weren't even informed of or checked properly, so it was a bit messy. The personnel were friendly, ready to serve and spoke great English though, but still we got the feeling that practical things weren't handled that well. At some point, it felt like so many things went wrong that it was almost funny. Well, at least the camping site was nice. :D

Luckily we also had good times. :) On our first day we went to the church town of Gammelstad to a traditional midsummer celebration. It was organized in an open air museum called Hägnan, which consisted of traditional old buildings, some cafés, domestic animals and stuff like that. To be honest it was a bit too crowded but nevertheless really nice. :) There were pretty many activities for children like pony riding, making wreaths of flowers, jumping to haypiles and some small rooms to play, but the whole thing was enjoyable for young people like us as well. Everybody could join decorating the maypole, which was later raised and people danced around it. There was some instrumental music and self-made food, and the personnel were wearing traditional clothes, so the atmosphere was really great. :) The town of Gammelstad with all the narrow streets and old buildings and the church are also worth visiting.

The old church of Gammelstad.

Gammelstad's streets.

In the Midsummer celebrations of Hägnan.

 Some personnel with traditional clothing.

The maypole :)

Actually we never really visited the center of Luleå since all the shops were closed during Midsummer. We only visited one small beach (after one nice girl from First Camp dropped us there with her car, since they sold us the wrong bus tickets), because someone from the reception of First Camp told us that usually young people gather there and have a bonfire and stuff. Well, turned out that almost the whole beach was empty and there was no bonfire, but luckily we met some nice Swedish guys and could spend the evening with them. At least there was a fireplace, since at some point the night got pretty cold, but it was still fun. :D

 Another quite nice thing was the Norrbottens railway museum and old industrial area just close to the First Camp. Actually we only visited there really fast, but there were some old trains and engines, some halls and an old station building, and also the ruins of an iron factory close by. We didn't find any info building or ticket sale, so I suppose it was just something to visit by yourself to see everything from the outside. It works well that way too, since it was not that much to see but still nice to walk around since it's on the same area with the camping site. :)

Some of the ruins of the iron factory.

 

 Around the railway museum.

 The station building.

After all it's a bit hard to say if the trip was good or not. Many many things could have been better, but we also had fun moments. At least we got to experience something different and have a small holiday from the ordinary life. After all every trip is an adventure if nothing else, and at least we have a lot to tell about it now. :D Better next time then!

★ Maani

Some interesting "hotels"

Not so long ago at school, we had a task to find some unique accommodation possibilities around theworld. I was actually quite surprised when we started searching, since so many weird and funny things came out. It's amazing what kinds of things you can do with just a little imagination. So here's a bit of something that we found. :)





Sewage pipe hotel in Austria. Each pipe is equipped with a bed, lamp and one window / air hole. They can be moved from place to place and the visitors can pay whatever amount they feel appropriate after the stay.

Moving hotel in South America. It transports travelers up the mountainsides and accross deserts, and even though it looks small, inside you can find 30 beds, hot showers and small breakfast.

Capsule hotel in Den Haag, The Netherlands. These two survival pods from an oil rig can accommodate max. 3 persons and there's even a small toilet inside. If you want, you can choose a James Bond themed survival package for the night, and you get a mirror ball and DVD player with all the James Bond movies.

Silvermine suite in Sala, Sweden. It's a single suite 155 meters below the ground, and it's a part of the inn above in the surface. The price includes a tour around the mines and some food. It's cold though, since it's only +2 degrees celcius all year round.

Crane hotel in Harlingen, The Netherlands. It only accommodates two, but you can rotate the crane however you want to. There's a luxury bedroom, showers and a picnic place on top. Luckily you don't need to use ladder to go up but there's a lift instead.

Jumbo hotel in Stockholm/Arlanda airport in Sweden. There are 27 different rooms from luxury suites to 3-bed combo rooms and even a lounge. Lunch and afternoon tea are available for additional charge.

Salt hotel in Uyuni, Bolivia. The building itself and most of the furniture are entirely made of salt. There is even a spa and a salt golf course. It's located about 3.6 kilometers above the sea level.

Floating and underwater hotel in Västerås, Sweden. It consists of the floating house on the lake and a small room 3 meters below the surface. The guests are taken to the floating house and provided with a small boat, and then left alone.




Of course there's even more amazing things out there in the world. You can see some more hotels for example here and here, but this is it for me. Let's see if there will be anything to update about during summer. :)

★ Maani

Rainy St. Petersburg

As I mentioned earlier, I had a study trip to St. Petersburg in Russia with my school last week. So we were a group of international students with two teachers, and as it was a study trip, we didn't have that much free time for our own exploring of the city. Nevertheless we were able to experience a lot and even meet some new friends. :) I just wish I could have practiced my Russian more.

The first day was spent mostly in traveling, since from Finland the easiest way to reach St. Petersburg is by train. It was raining when we arrived, so the stopovers for photo sessions during the city tour by bus were quite short. However we managed to see some of the most famous sights: the former residence of Peter the Great, the war ship Aurora, countless palaces and churches and some historical streets. Actually the whole center of the city is full of the historical buildings and no modern block buildings at all - you can find the more modern buildings further away from the center. It really feels like you're in an old city. Also in the evening, I went for a walk with the girls to see the city during night time. It was so beautifully lit, and we even ended up at the Palace Square where the famous Winter Palace is standing - if you have seen the cartoon Anastasia, you know what place I'm talking about. :D Our hotel was close to the main street called Nevski Prospekt, so it was a short distance pretty much everywhere.

Nevski Prospekt at night.

Bronze horseman, the symbol of the city.The millionaire's street - the name is because only rich people could afford living close to the Winter Palace.The Winter Palace at night.

On our second day we went to a Russian university to have a lecture about Russian culture and a tour around the mining museum, which was in connection with the university. Mostly it was just different kinds of rocks, mining equipment and some fossils. Since we are tourism students, our schedule also included a visit to a 5-star hotel Astoria, where even some famous people like George Bush and Madonna had stayed. Eventually we could also see the presidential suite, which really was quite huge with two bedrooms, a living room and a working room. After the hotel visit we had some free time, so I visited the St. Isaac's cathedral museum and the viewing platform at the edge of the cathedral dome. I must admit that I'm afraid of heights, so despite all the nice views around I had to stay as far away of the railing as possible. On the same evening I also visited another cathedral called Kazaan with my Russian friend Liza. The atmosphere was quite nice and peaceful, since there was a service going on at that moment. We didn't stay for long though, since we didn't take part in the service.

The presidential suite in Astoria.

St. Isaac's cathedral.The city from the viewing platform of St. Isaac's.
Kazaan cathedral.

The next day was pretty much the same, with a lecture at a different university and another 5-star hotel visit. At some point of the hotel visit, half of the group went missing because they had gone to the wrong floor with a lift and the guide used like 20 minutes before finally finding them. So I had to rush to get to the metro and meet Liza again at St. Paul's and Peter's Fortress. At first I was quite surprised when I went to the metro and it felt like the escalator went down and down with no end, but later I heard that the metro in St. Petersburg is 100 meters below the ground - no wonder it took so long before the escalator finally reached the bottom. Well, unfortunate for us, inside the fortress the church where the tombs of former tsars were located was closed. :( So we ended up just walking around the fortress and chatting on the way. In the evening we met some Russian students and went to eat some traditional pancakes with them, and I swear I have never eaten so good pancakes in my life. After that we even ended up to some random bars, but since I was so tired of all the walking already, I returned to the hotel quite early. And actually I didn't really like the habit of people smoking inside the bars. Also, this was the only sunny day during the whole trip - most of the time it was either just cloudy or raining.

The church where the tsars' tombs are. It's nice on the outside too, but I hope one day I can go back to the city and visit inside this one.

The riverside with old buildings.If you were able to drop a coin on the stone, you could make a wish. :) I didn't manage to do it, but one of our students succeeded on the first try!

On our fourth day, we finally visited the Hermitage art museum which is in connection with the Winter Palace. As you can imagine, the palace was totally amazing with all the decorations and huge ball rooms. The other three buildings and the second floor of the palace were mostly dedicated for paintings from different centuries and countries, and even some museum-like rooms with items from places like Japan or Egypt. In a way the whole place reminded me of Louvre in Paris.

The whole Hermitage with all the four buildings. Winter Palace is the big green one on the right.

Inside the Hermitage.

At the entrance to the Winter Palace.

Endless rooms... And a bit too many paintings for me.

Throne of Peter the Great.

After the Hermitage we had a visit to a tour company, and after that some free time. Me and my Spanish friend went to visit the Resurrection church, which is also called the Blood church because it was built in memorial of one tsar who died on the same spot where the church was constructed. It was the third time we tried to get inside: the first time we came ten minutes after the ticket sale had closed, and the second time it was closed for the whole day. But we were lucky to get inside, because the place was totally amazing. The walls and the floor were totally covered with pictures made of mosaics, so it was like a rainbow inside. In the middle of the roof there was a picture of Jesus, which was quite impressive because everywhere you went, he was watching you. :D Later in the evening we had a farewell dinner with our group in an elegant restaurant with even some live band playing jazz. Luckily the school payed for the meal.

The Resurrection Church.

Inside the church - mosaics from floor to roof, and the Jesus in the middle.

Finally on the last day of our trip, we took a bus to Tsarskoe Selo ('Tsars' village') and Catherine's palace, where the tsars and their families had spent their summers. The village felt comfortably calm and silent after the central St. Petersburg, and it was nice to listen to the guide tell about the history of Russia and the life of the tsars. The palace was also beautiful, although only a few items were original since most of it had been destroyed in wars. The most impressive thing in the palace was the Amber room - of course not original either, but a whole room made totally out of amber is surely worth seeing. Unfortunately, taking pictures was forbidden in the room. :( On our way back to the city we visited one more church before arriving to the train station, buying something to eat for the journey home and stepping on the train. After St. Petersburg, Finland felt so empty. :D

Catherine's palace.

The ball room inside the palace.

The last church where we stopped to take some photos. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of this place anymore.

One thing I was disappointed in was the food. We ate a traditional, full course meal every day - salad, soup, main dish, bread and dessert - but somehow all the food was somewhat tasteless. Some soups were nice, and also the buckwheat and beef thing on one restaurant, but mostly I was expecting for more. Well, at least the pancakes were awesome, both salty and sweet ones. Also I was a little surprised for how expensive the city actually was, but it might have been also because we stayed in the center close to all the tourists attractions and because the last place I visited before Russia was the extremely cheap China. So well. :D

The buckwheat meal.

Pancakes!

Anyway, even though the weather was rather bad, it was a nice trip overall. The city is beautiful and full of stories from history, and I'm sure it's even more beautiful during summer. There's a lot to see and experience. But of course, knowing at least how to read Russian would be really useful, because sometimes there were no English translations for example for the street signs. Still St. Petersburg was surely worth visiting, and especially for me it was nice to see the home town of some of my friends and finally visit the neighboring country of my own home country. :) Who knows if I'll go back some summer.

★ Maani