Mythen and Engelberg

Monday the weather turned back to rainy so spent most the day inside except for a quick walk by the lake to Lido and got drenched. On Tuesday it was time for a haircut by what must have been the only non-english speaking hairdresser in town, followed by lunch with my cousins. In the afternoon the weather was looking better so went for a walk from the hotel across the hill to the little town of Adligenswil, through the Meggwald forest to Meggen and then followed the lake back to Luzern. Still a bit of rain about so couldnt see much of the surrounding alps but was nice to get out nonetheless.
On Wednesday morning the weather was starting to look better so took the train over to Schwyz. The bus driver at the train station said there wasn`t a cablecar but I didn`t beleive him since it was clearly on the map and I`d been on it previously. Walked through town and stocked up with some rations and then on to Rickenbach only to find that they were busy tearing down the cablecar. Now my quick 10 ride to Rotenfluh turned into a 2.5 hour, 1000m ascent up the side of the mountain. Passed through all the farmers paddocks and through plenty of mud to finally make it up to the top of the ridge. Followed it along to Holzegg which was meant to be the start of the walk up the Grosse Mythen mountain. With only 3 hours until the last bus was leaving from Brunni I didn`t have time to make a dash to the top. Instead I followed the panoramic trail for a while and had lunch looking out to the snow capped mountains across the lake. They were properly covered in fresh snow after the heavy dump they had the day before. In the afternoon I caught the bus from Brunni down to Einsiedeln. Here there was a huge monastery hosting some conerts in the evening so checked that out and then got the train back to Luzern.
Today the weather was finally perfect with clear blue skies... an opportunity I wasn`t going to waste. I jumped on the next train straight up to Engelberg, the starting point for the tourist cablecar route up to Titlis. But I went up the Brunni cablecar (www.brunni.ch) on the opposite side of the valley. From here I trekked up around towards Rickenbach but just after the Älplerbeizli Rigidalalp restaurant, near Tüfelstein the snow got too deep and I had to take the trail up to the Brunnihütte (1860m). Here the views to the snow covered mountains of Titlis and the other peaks were amazing. Here there was another restaurant and the little lake of Härzlisee, setup with a foot massage walk where you went in the water and back out walking on different timbers and stones. Followed the trail around past Walenpfad where there were great views to the back of Pilatus and Stanserhorn, and then returned past Ristis and Flübmatt back to Engleberg. Checked out the walk over Jochpass that I also wanted to do but it was really snowed over, but hopefully will be able to do that in a few days once the snow has melted away a little.

Baden

On Friday the weather cleared up a little. Unsuccessfully searched for a hairdressers that didnt charge CHF50 then went for a walk further up Sonnenberg. Had some great views out to Pilatus and Stanserhorn. At the back of the mountain I came across the blackberry jackpot and settled down to eat for a while. Headed out to see the Luzern nightlife but it was very superficial and pretty boring.
In the morning I headed over to Baden for the annual party of the climbing club. I met Yvonne at the train station and then headed up to the forest behind the city. The party was set in a clearing in the forest by a big cave. We were certainly not roughing it with a fridge for all our beer, party lights, a full band to play a few tunes and plenty of party lights. We tried a new method of cooking chickens... stuffing them, then wrapping them in some cabbage leaves, then a layer of clay. The chickens were then backed in the fire for several hours and came out very tasty. Along will all the salads and swiss desserts none of us 40 partyers were going hungry that night. Late in the night we rolled out the sleeping bags under the stars.
On Sunday morning we enjoyed freshed baked zopf (swiss bread). I called past Wettingen for lunch at Yvonne`s. We then caught up with the others by the river in Baden. They were all mad climbers (with enough injuries to show for it) and did slack rope walking to improve their balance. We hung a rope across the river and 2 of us (not me) managed to walk across the river, while attracting plenty of audience.
In the afternoon I went to see the original Baden fort overlooking the town and then went to Zürich for a quick walk up Uetliberg before getting back to Luzern by 10:30.

Luzern

Flew into Zürich on Sunday evening, grabbed a nüsgipfel from the nearest bakery and then got the train down to Luzern. In the morning I got myself connected to the world again and then headed to Zürich to borrow some nicer clothes. In the afternoon I got to Optikon, and then back to Luzern after a wander down Bahnhofstrasse and along the lake a little. In the evening I went up to Utenberg just behind the hotel and along the northern side of Vierwaldstattersee. By now the rain had set in an looked like it was going to stay that way for a while.
Wednesday it was still raining constantly but eventually ventured outside and checked out the old town wall which was cool since you can climb up all the towers and get a good view of the town and also the mountains when the clouds parted briefly. continued on around the southern side of the lake and grabbed some bratwurst for dinner.
Today its still raining and so staying inside given its pointless to head up to the Alps with this weather.

Rovaniemi

Arrived to Rovaniemi in the evening and was glad to get off the train after 9 hours. I went down to the University of Lapland where Venkata let me into the student residences. With many of the students on summer holidays it was easy to find a spare space to sleep.
On Tuesday I went for a walk around the little lake near the uni and crossed over the river to have a picnic lunch looking back over to town. In the afternoon I went to the Arktikum, which contained the Museum of Lapland and the Arctic Centre. Saw plenty of traditional Lappi costumes, and information about climate change, the Lappland culture and the impact of the wars (the germans burnt every town to the ground here as they retreated).
On Wednesday I waited for the rain to clear and then met Anna-mari to stay at her place for a few days. We went for a walk up Ounasvaara hill, a popular place for the locals to go skiing, running and picking berries. We found a whole hillside full of blueberries just waiting to be eaten. This occupied us until it was almost getting dark (11pm) and time to begin the Rovaniemi pub crawl. First stop was a Finnish pub with the local football hooligans to see Finland beat Kazakstan. Then it was onto Irish Times (what town doesnt have an irish pub) and then finished the night off at Hemmingways.
Thursday it was time for me to visit the most famous attraction in Rovaniemi... a visit to the real Santa Claus. The village on the arctic circle was all decked out with plenty of cheesy souvenir shops and christmas carols being blasted out over the plaza. This is also the site of the Santa Main Post Office where they receive thousands of letters each day all addressed to Santa at The North Pole. The highlight of course being the opportunity to meet santa and find out what happened to my christmas orders from the last 23 years. Went for a walk to Santa`s forest to get stuck into some more blueberries.
On Friday I went back to Ounasvaara and treeked along the ridge past Isorakka and found a good clearing in the pine forrest to make a fire and cook up my lunch of Makarra (Finish sausage) with Sinappi (weird sauce). In the evening we headed to see a local band consisting of just a drummer and bass player (but not drum and bass music) who were bashing out some cool tunes.
On Saturday I stocked up on food for the trip back to helsinki and got the 1300 slow train to Oulu and then the Pendolino (super fast, over 205km/h for the last 2 hours of the trip when the driver found the accelerator) through Tampere to Helsinki. I dropped my bags at the EuroHostel and headed into see the nightlife at BarFly.
Sunday enjoyed a huge salmon for breakfast/lunch by the port and then got a plane down to Zürich, CH.

Jyväskylä

Arrived into Jyväskylä on Friday afternoon and met up with Jaarko. We went for a drive up to the town's ski jump which was up on a little hill but was enourmous. These people who jump must be crazy. From here we had a good view over the town, pine forests and lakes. We then enjoyed a beer in the pedestrian mall in town while the girls bought a huge salmon for dinner which was delicious.
On Saturday I did a lap of the lake which took a couple of hours. All the locals were out on their rollerblades and nordic walking poles making them look like spiderman. In the afternoon I went with Jaarko to see some of the suburbs and visit the water tower in the middle of town to get a better view of town. Enjoyed a great big fondue for dinner, good preparation for going to Switzerland next week.
Sunday was a day to relax. I went for a walk around the other side of the lake, through the centre of town and up the hill behind the house.
The next morning I caught the train to Rovaniemi up on the arctic circle. This was a long 9 hour trip through Pieksämaki, Kuopio, Kajaani, Oulu and Kemi.

Tampere

On Sunday afternoon I arrived on the train to Tampere. At the last moment I was able to find somewhere to stay with a Finnish bloke called Lari who had an apartment right in the middle of town. I went for a wonder around town. Tampere is between 2 big lakes, with a set of rapids flowing between them. These rapids were the source of energy for the mills, and the town quickly grew as an industrial centre. The city still has enormous brick chimmneys towering over the city centre, but the factories have mostly been converted into modern shopping areas, bars and theatres. I had a look around town then we watched a movie back at home.
In the morning I headed into town and saw the Finlayson old mill, Näsinpuisto park with a view over the lake and theme park, and then relaxed in the sun by the beach at Pyynikki. In the evening we had some drinks in the famous shipyard bar with Lari and a few of his mates.
On Tuesday I met up with Susanna in the afternoon who just returned from a trip to Ecuador. She was an avid salsa dancer so we headed down the the central park in town where everyone had gathered to dance salsa. Afterwards we headed to a little bar where there was a blues band playing with a very energetic singer / harmonica player who would often be laying on the stage blowing on his instrument.
Wednesday morning we went for a drive out to the village of Norda in the area of Vesilahti. This was a really nice spot with just a few houses and on the side of the lake. We went for a walk down to the lake and up some hill that had several russian trenches and bunkers from world war 1. In the afternoon I got my hands dirty painting the balcony fence, but they insisted with staying with the Finnish red rather than my suggestion of an Australian design of green and gold stripes with kangaroo motifs.
The next day we went for a drive to some sights in the local area. This included a big manor from an old guy that used to rule the area, and a nice peninsula where there were cliffs into the lake. We had some mushrooms for dinner then yheaded back to Tampere were we went to Henry's bar to see the live funk band perform.
On Friday morning we went to the local markets and enjoyed a big salmon hamburger for breakfast, and then I jumped on the train to Jyväskylä.

Tallinn

On Friday morning i headed down to the port and caught the LindaLine ferry over the Baltic sea to Tallinn, Estonia. I met Anna-Liisa (Vivian's cousin whom I met in Helsinki the other day) at the port and went back to her friend's place for some pancakes. They are all just about to head off on a trip to Australia for 12 months so were pretty interested in all sorts of things over there. We drove out to 'The Project' one of the many big clusters of identical soviet buildings that surround the city. here we stocked up on a few drinks and made our way to the beach. Despite everyone claiming the water to be really warm, I was surprised it wasnt frozen over. In the evening we went into the old city centre which had plenty of pretty old buildings on the hill, a huge city wall and plenty of tourists having a drink. We joined them for a few hours until the girls decided to start karaoke which we decided was a perfect time to call it a night.
In the morning I went with Kadyi and Anna-Liisa out into the coutryside where Kadyi was going to go skydiving. The coutryside was really nice with little farms all over the place. The airfield looked dilapedated and the plane looked like it wouldnt get off the ground, but Kadyi survived the jump. Next we called past Anna-Liisa's grandparent's place to fill our bellies with peas and raspberries and then went back to Tallinn. For the afternoon we went to the city beach and then went back home to have a few drinks before heading out. However after just a couple of drinks and a few different games we noticed it was already after 5am and decided to give the clubs a miss for the night. The next morning I caught the 10am ferry back to Helsinki and then got a train out to Tampere (at 160km/h it didnt take long to get there).

More Helsinki

On Wednesday I went for a walk around the Helsinki foreshores which was very nice. Everyone was out sunbaking to get the most of the summer sun, and there were little red finnish houses amongst the pine trees. I visisted the port where the ferries were heading off to Tallinn and Stockholm (the party boat to Stockholm is a tempting trip). I visited the big white church that towers over the city and must be the landmark of Helsinki. The red russian church was also visited but couldnt get inside there. Further around the shore were some big gardens with plenty of glasshouses and the central square where there were plenty of people out to enjoy a beer in the sun. At night we hit up Fever nightclub to see some drunk locals and get on the dancefloor.
On Thursday I called past the shops in the centre, and then caught up with Vivian for lunch at the local chinese restaurant. I also visisted the church that had been cut into a big rock which looked cool from the inside. Further out of town was some big statue and the city beaches. In the evening we headed in to Iguanas for some margaritas with a group of Germans, Iranians, Tanzanians and an Iraqi guy, before going back up Torni tower for a drink while enjoying the best city view in town.

Helsinki

On Monday morning I headed out to BCN airport. I got out there nice and early with 2.5 hours to spare so joined the enormous queue to checkin for Finnair. After an hour of waiting the queues were hardly waiting, only to be made worse by them trying to close one of the queues and forcing everyone to join into the next queue, where they were all accused of pushing in. Inevitably the fights started to break out and we had the queues double in length with security guards. After 2.5 hours later I finally got to check in and race on the plane for a nice flight over Germany and Sweden to arrive at Helsinki only 30 minutes late. With all the confusion the airport staff must have forgotten to pack any of the bags onto the plane, and so there was more waiting as plenty of people had to register contact details and bag descriptions.
Then got the bus into town and met up with Vivian and her cousin, and later on 2 mexican girls that were also crashing at her place. We enjoyed a drink in the evening at a local outside bar and then admired the Helsinki skyline from the rooftop bar on one of the towers.
On Tuesday we all took the ferry out to the island of Suomenlinna in the Helsinki harbour. This was an old fort with plenty of big cannons and bunkers to crawl around in. We enjoyed a picnic by the water and laughed as some locals were trying to brave the cold waters for a swim. Now I'm hoping my bags will turn up soon so I have some jeans to wear to the student party tonight.
I am now considering extending my stay in the North to allow a visit through Estonia (only a 1.5 hour boat ride across the harbour), Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and possibly Sweden.

Barcelona

On Monday I took the air-bridge over to Barcelona, with only an hour wait in the plane in Madrid when they broke the door trying to close it. Barcelona was a bit cooler at only 30 degrees, so I dropped my bags at HelloBCN and then went had a wonder around the city centre, along the harbour side to buy some new shoes and through the olympic village now turned into a shopping centre. Cooked up a big chicken korma only for the remaining half to be eaten from the fridge the next morning.

On Tuesday I headed out to what must be the most famous attraction in Spain, Gaudi's masterpeice the Sagrada Familiar. A big church that they have been building for the last 140 years and have only just made it past half way. It was full of over-the-top sculptures, columns, and bits and peices sticking out everywhere. Maybe when they finish the building in another 150 years it will look better, but now I think they would do better knocking the monstrocity down. Afterwards walked down past the Placa de Toros, the brightly coloured Torre Agbar and back the the hotel. In the evening I visited the castle overlooking the city at Montjuic, just behind the hotel.

Wednesday was spent on the closest beach with the million other people that had the same idea. In the night we headed down to the harbour front for a few drinks with the danish and swedish guys and the french girls.

On Thursday I checked out a few more of Gaudi's eyesores along with the gothic quarter which was full of ancient buildings and tiny roads only big enough for some tourists and a motorbike. The cathedral was also visited but was being renovated.

Friday was a day to lay on the beach and enjoy the sun with the Swedish cheerleaders, along with a couple of good local vinos in the beach side cafes. The evening was spent playing some weird card games with my previous pomy room-mates.

Saturday I decided to be active again and see some of the sights around town. I took the metro out to Park Guell which was a park designed by Gaudi. It had a big plaza with weird pilons but I thought as little of it as all the other works of Gaudi. Fortunately there were some good panoramas over the city. Next stop was Placa Espanya where the monstrosity of an art museum towered down. Behind here was the 1992 olympic site, with the old torch still standing over the stadium. After a good salami bacquet back at the hostel I headed to the Park Retiro where they had built a rather impressive fountain and everyone was paddling around the lake in their row boats. I returned back home through the gothic quarter down some winding little pathways.