Cuzco

On Friday, 5th of June I finally started my journey to South America. I flew from Dublin to Madrid and from there to Lima. I was worried at first that I would spend the long transatlantic flight alone, but I was fortunate to get a seat next to an Austrian guy with whom I got along well. He seemed like good-humoured, talkative and out-going person who had been travelling quite a lot. He was traveling alone, but planned to join a group of other Austrian and German tourists in Lima and travel around in Peru with them for around 3 weeks.

When I arrive to Lima a girl from the hostel was waiting for me at the airport. I was glad to see her as I was so tired after the long flight and 8 hours of time difference that I wouldn't have been able to tell any taxi driver in which hostel I was staying. It was 10 pm local time, but 6 am in Finnish time and I wasn't able to sleep much at the plane, so at that point I was barely awake. It didn't really help that I had to wake up the following day at 3 am to cath a flight to Cuzco. I met some nice people from Netherlands and the US at the hostel so I spent an hour or so in the living room with them drinking beer and watching tv before going to bed.

It was easier than I thought to wake up the following morning, but I didn't realize how tired I really was until I managed to loose my passport at the airport and not even noticing it before it was time to board the plane! Luckily I didn't miss the plane - even thought it was question of some minutes that I would have. The flight took only an hour, but if I had gone to Cuzco by bus it would have taken almost 12 hours because of the mountain roads and slow busses. The weather in Cuzco was surprisingly cold at 7 am - just around + 5 degrees or so and the wind was freezing. The airport was pretty much surrounded by eager taxi drivers and I didn't know which one to choose so I eventually took a random one to my hostel. I paid 20 soles (5 euros, but being tired and hungry I was pissed off, because I thought I was being ripped off). Now that I think of that it was quite .. a foolish reaction considering that I'm from a country where the minimum payment for taxis at daytime is 5.5 euros and even short distances cost 8 euros. Anyway, when I got to the hostel there was a young peruvian guy waiting for me. He didn't speak a word English, but spoke Spanish slowly and very clearly so that I could understand what he was saying. He also offered me a cup of coca tea and adviced which places to visit in the city.

At first I was a little worried about walking around in the city centre alone, but when I noticed that there were also other solo travelers from Australia, Europe and the US I became more confident. I was amazed how beautiful the city was! It's said to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world and for a good reason. It's surrounded by six mountains and it's influenced by both inca culture (fine arts, handicrafts) and the colonial style (architecture, goldsmith's works and woodcarvings). Close to the city centre there are picturesque parks and beautiful inca ruins. There are also colourful marketplaces where one can buy fruits, colourful handicrafts, such as ponchos and hats made of alpaca wool as well as ceramics, jewelry and hand-made instruments.











Luckily I didn't have to walk around alone long as I met another solo traveler around noon. We were both sitting outside an israeli cafè and because neither of us had company I asked him if he would like some company and said yes. He was an Australian student from Sydney and had come to Cuzco, because an Australian friend of his was about to marry a Peruvian girl and the wedding was going to be held somewhere close to Cuzco. It's a pity that I didn't a picture of him .. he was very charming with his red curly hair (he has similar hair the British pop star Mika, but auburn red). All in all he looked like a guy I could imagine of meeting on bar by the beach drinking beer and listening to Jack Johnsson or simply red. I spent half a day with him and had a great time. He was easy to approach, laid-back and easy-going. By the time he went back to his hostel it was already 6 pm and time to meet the other people who going to Machu Picchu with me. It was a relatively small group (7 members)and for some peculiar reason most of them were also Australians!To be exact 4 Australian female students, a couple in their thirties from the US and me.
The Australians had recently graduated from university and took a couple of months off before getting a "real" job. For them Cuzco and Machu Picchu was the last place to visit and it was one of the highlights of the trip. My first impression of them was positive - they seemed out-going, talkative and enthustiastic about the hiking trip to Machu Picchu. Also the guide, a Peruvian student in his twenties seemed warm-hearted and friendly. The meeting was unfortunately quite short (only half an hour or so), because we were going to start our journey the following day already at 6 am and everyone in the group had loads of things to buy (hiking equipment, altitude pills etc).

Dublin

The first stop on my journey to South America is Dublin. I originally booked my Peru-Ecuador trip in an Irish travel agency USIT, which means that I had to stop in Dublin in order to catch my flight first to Madrid and from there to Lima, Peru. I came here for 5 days to meet a good friend of mine, Simon, who let me crash at his couch as well as to shop around for the hiking clothes and Spanish books.

The day when I arrived the weather was absolutely lovely - sunny and warm, we decided to go to an Italian restaurant to have lunch. The restaurant had a special lunch offer: one big plate of food that one could choose from a big selection of dishes. There were various kinds of pastas, meats, vegetarian foods, potato dishes and salads.. and it cost only 9 €. I hadn’t eaten anything since early in the morning, so I was starving and delighted that I could start my day in Dublin with such delicious food! After the lunch I went to Simon’s place to drop my stuff there and get ready for the evening’s concert in Whelans. Simon’s friend Peter had invited us to American singerRodriquez’concert, which started around 9 pm. I was first a bit suspicious as I had never heard of the singer before, but I was positively surprised. He has a soft, smoky and really charismatic voice. He sang mainly rock ballads about women, drugs and travelling without a destination. My favourite song of his is “the inner city blues” that goes: “going down a dirty inner city side road/ I plotted/ Madness passed me by, she smiled hi/I nodded /Looked up as the sky began to cry/ She shot it”. The concert place was small - there was barely any space to move around, but atmosphere was great. Everyone was dancing and singing along. After the concert we went to a couchsurfing party to the Blue goose. There seemed to be people from all over the world. I met a girl from Bulgaria, two guys from Ireland, two girls from Brazil and one guy from the US within 3 hours. It was really nice to chat with them. Other good things about the party was that there was free food (French fries, sausages, chicken wings etc) and cheap drinks. I bought a pint of Bulmers, but I couldn’t more than half of it as it tasted so bad. I did taste equally bad last time I drank it, but I had forgotten that I didn’t particularly like the it. Well.. Besides that we had craic and I’m looking forward to the next couchsurfing parties in Argentina.



These are Simon and Peter





Rodriquez


On Sunday Simon and I woke up late in the morning. It was around noon when we got out of bed and had breakfast. The weather was even warmer (26 degrees!) than the day before, so we went to have a picnic in the park close by. It was completely packed with people throwing Frisbee, sunbathing, playing with their kids and dogs etc. It was so pleasant just to lie on the grass and let the sun warm our faces. We at bread and grapes we bought from the store and chatted about Simon’s four month journey to South America. He travelled with a big group of people there and visited among others, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina. His stories were entertaining and I got plenty of good hints about places to visit and things to try. I’m looking forward especially going to Machu Picchu as Simon told so much about how beautiful the scenery is and how unforgettable the trip was for him.



This is me and Simon

Monday was a bank holiday, so it was a holiday also for Simon. We started our day by going to the Maritime festivalin the Docklands. It’s primarily a marketplace, where people sell food, clothes and art from all over the world. We saw among others sauces from Africa, clothes from South America and art from Asia. Even though the narrow streets was completely crowded with people it was nice to stop by to listen to music and taste samples of African and Australian cuisine. From there we continued our journey to Dun laoghaire (pronounced dunleary) to sunbath and take photos. The place is a small seaside town just 20 minutes away from Dublin. It’s a really picturesque place with its two massive piers, white houses by the sea and it hundreds of meters long beach. I could actually imagine of living in a town like this, where the sea is just a stone’s throw away, there are cosy and cheap restaurants to drink wine and have craic with friends and there are small live music venues, where both local up-and-coming bands and foreign bands come to perform every now and then.





This is the east pier



Tuesday and Wednesday went by quickly. I spent the days walking around in the city centre taking photos, buying stuff that I need for my trip (such as books about Argentina and Ecuador, a Spanish phrasebook and a dictionary as well as a wind-proof jacket for my hiking trip). I must have walked around 6-7 hours each day, so I was totally knackered by the time I came back to Simon’s place. Anyway, here are some photos I took in Dublin..



Temple bar



Modern art in Dublin



St. Stephen's green

First blog

Hey,

This is my first blog, so let me introduce myself. My name is Anna Iivarinen and I'm a 24-year-old girl (or a young woman, depending on how mature you find me after reading my blogs) from Finland. I study international marketing and linguistics at the university of Vaasa and I decided to start writing a blog, because I'm going to do my 6 months exchange Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I've been told that ever since I was a small child I always had an urge for going. At the age of three this could be seen from my constant escape attempts from the kindergarten to the parks nearby and a year later my when I ran away from my parents in the market place in Casablanca and central train station in Paris in order to have my own sightseeing tours. Both times I was found within a couple of hours by some friendly strangers who took me to the closest info point. Back then I couldn't understand why my family (2 adults and 3 siblings) were so distressed with worry as I had so much fun watching the people in colourful clothes around me and listening to the fascinating languages I couldn't understand let alone imitate. I now realize that my actions, which then in my tiny head seemed like a perfectly sensible thing to do, were not one of my wisest whims as I could have met adults with malicious ulterior motives. But there was one thing I had a slight idea already back then – I knew deep inside that I had traveling in my blood and that I wouldn't be happy if I had to spend the rest of my life in one place, no matter if it was in a big house in the countryside or a small flat in a metropolitan city. Besides, I still enjoy the same simple pleasures than I did as a child – listen to buskers' play their instruments, watch people stroll by and enjoy the sunny days, when I'm not in a hurry anywhere.

During the next years I was fortunate to spend part of my summers in the Finnish archipelago, Spain and Florida, where my parents rented a summer cottage every now and then. I got used to long flights and jet lags as I found the journey itself quite rewarding. I was very much afraid of heights, but loved the thrilling sensation when flying through the clouds and hitting an air pocket as it felt that we were falling. Also the long waitings at the airports weren't that boring as I could come up with stories where people were traveling to and why they wanted to go there.

In high-school I traveled for the first time without my family. At the age of 15 I participated a language course in Malta and went there with a group of other teenagers between 14-18. The language course itself wasn't very useful as we had only around 3-4 hours of lesson a day and having only Finnish friends there I didn't speak much English in my free time. The island was incredibly beautiful, the temperature ideal and we had loads of freetime activities, so the holiday was, nevertheless, very enjoyable. A couple of years later I spent a month working as volunteer in a kindergarten in Germany. It was a small town called Osterwieck, which was founded in 974 and all many of the houses were built in the 17^th century and later one renovated, so that the town wouldn't lose its historical charm. When I went there it felt as if I had gone back in history, because when it was early in the morning, the shops were closed, people were at home sleeping and there were no cars in the historical part of the town, I almost could have thought that I was in the 17^th century and played mindgames about what they looked like, what they ate in the morning, where they went to work etc. I'm grateful of having the opportunity to work there as as it was a complitely different place than all other towns and cities I had been. I loved the architechture, the parks and the atmosphere in the town, but I also liked very much working with small children and sharing a big house with 20 other people from 5 different countries.

Osterwieck

The Kindergarten

Me

During my university years I spent two summers in Wisconsin, United States, where on my first summer I worked in a science centre and the year after in one of the candy shop of the America's biggest waterpark. Wisconsin Dells, the town where I worked in was very small – there were only around 3 000 residents, but during the summer months over there were over 1 million tourists from all over the US and many of the youngsters working there were from many European countries and Colombia. The summer jobs were arranged by the Finnish-American organization, which took care of all the paperwork and all we had to do was to fly there. The jobs themselves were quite lame, but I enjoyed talking with customers and enterntaining children. Every now and then I could also go to work in the waterskiing show, which I enjoyed very much. As I lived close to the lake my favourite thing to do was to go for a walk around the lake early in the morning and watch the sun rise,go there for a picnic later on in the afternoon when me and my flatmates had a day off or go to a Mexican restaurant for a dinner with some colleagues of mine.

After the US, I went to Maribor, Slovenia as an erasmus student to study international management. I really enjoyed my time there thanks to my tutor and German, Slovenian and Portuguese friends. The cities were beautiful and the people very hospitable – in addition to which, as the distances were short I could travel easily to neighbouring countries, such as Croatia, Italy, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. I guess, what I miss the most about the city is snowboarding with my friends in the skiing centre in Maribor, skating in the city centre and drinking cooked wine or just spending an evening in the local jazz-club listening to live music and socializing with other erasmus students.

Ljubljana

Maribor in the wintertime

My favourite place in Slovenia, Lake Bled

Erasmus people

Right after Slovenia, I went to work to Dublin for half a year. I found a job in IBM and an apartment, which I shared with one Finnish, two French girls and an Italian guy. I also met my first love there, an Italian man name Lorenzo, whom I ended up dating for 3 years. The work was really bad as I had to go to work every morning at 5 am and the work itself was rather unsatisfying as well. Nevertheless, I was happy there, because I loved the city and I met very many sweet people there – not only from Ireland, but also from France, Italy and Poland. I lived for quite a few months with Argentinian and Uruguayan girls and an Uruguayan guy. The neighbourhood especially was very charming as there were many parks there and the city centre was only a stone's throw away. I especially liked to go for a day trip to the small fisherman's villages, big gardens and seaside towns outside Dublin, to pubs in the evening to listen to live concerts with my friends and occasionally to have a dinner in an Italian restaurant with my beloved, Lorenzo.

Dublin city centre

Dublin is a peculiar combination of old and new

My neighbourhood

Me and Lorenzo (he's the second on the left)

After Dublin I came back to Finland to finish my bachelor's degree. Thanks to my various trips in Europe and the USA I hadn't studied much and I pass twice as many courses as my fellow students. It was kinda hard year for me as I had barely any freetime and I didn't have much time to meet my friends or visit my family in Turku. When spring finally came I was truly excited about being accepted to a marketing internship program in Leipzig, Germany. My task in the company was to contact Finnish companies, send sales letters, translate material from English to Finnish and make powerpoint presentations. I liked my work quite a lot – and especially my colleagues who all were around 20-30 years old. We had a very good atmosphere. in at the workplace thanks to which it was really nice to go to work every morning. I was very fond of the city as well. Leipzig is a small city 1 hour away from Berlin. Despite it's small size it's a truly lovely place, the historical towncentre, architecture, parks, small shops and cafés make it unique. I spent my freetime with my friends from couchsurfing and my Norwegian colleagues. Also Lorenzo came to visit me a couple of times in Leipzig and with him I traveled in various cities in Germany and Poland, among others Berlin, Dresden and Wroslaw. It's difficult to say what I liked the most about my stay there, maybe going for a drink or two with my colleagues after work, daytrips to nearby cities with couchsurfers and taking photos on warm summer days in the park. Those were good days, but I eventually started to miss Lorenzo so much that I went back to Dublin to work there for another half a year.

Leipzig

In 10 days I'll go to South America to travel and to study in Buenos Aires, Argentina as an exchange student. This is my second and last exchange, so I'm going to enjoy it fully. First I'll travel to Peru, where I shall stay for 3 weeks and after that I'll continue to Ecuador, where I'll participate a 2 weeks language course. I'll join an organized trip with 19 other students and it will take me to various places, among others in the jungle, beaches and the mountains of Peru and Ecuador – in other words in the most beautiful places there are to see there. Finally, after my trip is over I'll fly to Buenos Aires and continue my international marketing studies in Spanish. I'm so excited about it already, but also so very nervous. I'll keep updating my blog and telling how my new life is in South America.

Me and some of my workmates