TURKEY 27/11/06 - 11/12/06

After six months of silence and depression during my staying in Athens, travelling strikes again but this time to Turkey. It was a great chance to discover my roots and see where my grandmothers grew up. The plan was to travel for 2 weeks by train from Athens-Istanbul-Ankara-Izmir-Istanbul. The duration of the trip from Athens to Istanbul lasted almost 18 hours. I had to change train at Thessaloniki. The trip was not at all tiring cause we left from Thessaloniki in the afternoon and we arrived next morning. I had booked bed for the night and believe me that's the best option.. Besides, it's not much more money than booking a sit. The only trouble is at the borders when you arrive around 3-4 in the morning and the guards are coming to the room and check how many things you have and make you questions, especially if you are greek:)

Anyway I arrived at Istanbul early in the morning.. I made the mistake and took a cab for the hostel. Please don't do that mistake.. Taxi drivers are thieves, not only there but also at Greece and Bulgaria.. After arriving at METROPOLITAN HOSTEL I realised that the distance was pretty closed.. Murat and his younger brother were waiting for me.. They are so warm people. When I entered the hostel after 5 minutes a young man appeared with a big smile and full of energy. It was Yusuf, Mourat's cousin. I was talking with them around half an hour. I recommend you this hostel when you go to Istanbul. The stuff is friendly, the prices are normal and the hostel is in Sultanahmet. I left my backback at the room and I left immediately for discovering Istanbul. The day I arrived there, Pap of Rome was also there so the centre was full of police and i couldn't do my own moves.. Anyway, I was walking behind the Blue Mosque and I saw an underground kebab fastfood which was at the basement. I looked carefully before I enter in and the only person who was inside, was a young boy who smiled at me. I realised that the people there are smiling and I have missed that a lot. So I entered there direct after the smile. I ate a nice cheap lunch but it was too spicy.. Later I begun to talk with the young boy. His name was Hammit and he was kurdish. He told me that he is in my age but I wasn't sure about him.. Then he suggested to me to show me around but not in the center.. We went to a supurb which was 1 hour from the center. i don't remember the exact name. It was awful. The streets were destroyed and it was full of poor houses and some of them were half-destroyed.. From the other side, I liked that i saw this part of Istanbul cause it's good when you travel to discover both sides of a country. We went to his father's place. It was sth like a children's play area and there was also cafe-nargile place. I was amazed from the huge nargile. They told me that they were originally from Saudi Arabia. I did one with Hammit's father but i got dizzy after 2 hours.. Then Hammit gave me his email and he had put his day of his birth.Afterwads, we got a cab and we went at Sultanahmet. We sat out of Blue Mosque and it was the time of pray. I saw the sea birds flying around of the Blue Mosque and the imam's voice during the pray was incredible.. I had a flash-back then and i remembered the movie "A touch of spice".

Next day I went to Spice Bazaar.. The smelling is wonderful.. The shopkeepers there, full of smile as always, are trying to convice you to buy sth from them by standing you elma chai (apple tea). Most of them are good negociators so you should be careful in what u buying.. There is a shop there that sells cheap spices in compare with the others. There is a guy there from Marroco. His name is Ibo. He is very kind and helpful and he makes the best prices!! So don't hesitate to buy anything from there. I found also syrian tea that you cannot find in another shop, at least at Spice Bazaar. Later I came in contact with my friend, Cenay. I met Cenay through MSN by accident, few years ago and at last i met her from close. I went to Sabanci University and I met her there. I cannot describe my feelings when I saw her.. I just couldn't believe that i met her after so long.. She introduced me to some friends and then we watched Vega's live at the university.. I have to say that this university is one of the bests i have ever seen.. Later we slept at her place. I met her parents and her lovely sister.. They already knew about me so it was also for them big surprise to see me at their place.. At 5:00 o'clock i woke up from imam's voice. It was the first time in my life that I didn't mind to be waken up from someone unfamiliar.. 3 hrs later we went at Cenay's university and from there I left for Sultanahmet.

Next day I took the boat and i went to the old train station to leave for Ankara. I met Tugba over there and we traveled together. The train was much better than those in Greece and cheaper. Eyup was waiting for me. We drank elma tea at the station. It reminded me of that old traditional cafes in Greece of 1930's. Later we went at the student houses where we stayed for a night. The room was full of red carpets and so well decorated. I admit that turkish students have very nice taste in decoration cause the room looked so warm and you need it from the moment the weather is awful. Next day we visited some sight-seeing after visiting first Eyup's family.

HEMSBY 36 05/05/06-07/05/06

It was Hemsby 36.. Another adventure I had at Stansted airport was when I forgot my bag there and I realised it when I entered the train and I was checking if I had taken everything with me.. It was nightmare cause I had to carry all my stuff back to check in.. For good luck, I found it.. It was my most important bag cause I had my passport, my tickets, etc.. So I went again to that Backpackers hostel for a night and next morning I went to the Embankment Station to catch the bus for Hemsby. I met a great lady there.. Her name is Violaine and she is from France. We became the best friends not only there but we are still in contact and i hope to see her soon again.. Anyway, i will continue about the festival. I was suprised to see many families there with the kids and i loved it.. I wish one day to find my man and go with our children there. It would be one of my dreams.. When we arrived there I felt that I was in a dream. All the vehicles were totally '50s. Most of the men there had the hairstyle of Elvis, women look like Merylin and the whole phase was INCREDIBLE!! Like the movie "Back to the future No1". When we arrived we went straight away to our rooms to leave our staff.. The rooms were also 50's and the second day I didn't have lights.. Only the oil lamp was missing but then it would be like Amish. I met a lot of people there.. I met Mike from USA (who was one of the best guys I have ever met). His father was playing there, mr Bobby Brown. Really good musician and nice voice. I met also Juan and Martin from Austria (Violaine's friends). The festival had already began from the previous day but the concerts started the day we arrived. I met a great rock'n'roll star, named Carl Mann. It was unbelievable to meet him in person. It would be more great if I had the chance to meet Elvis or Johny Cash but anyway I should stop dreaming and continue.. What I miss these days apart from those lives of course is the hunting of women. Men have stopped this and women have taken this role. But there, everything remains the same as in '50s. The classical romantic decade. Oh yes!! That was a real dream. SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK'N'ROLL!! The first night i met Santos.. He could be Elvis's son without doupt. The way he sings and dances... He is really talented. He is Colombian but he lives in California. I suggest you to listen to the album "TEASE". I met also a great DJ named Alejandro from Spain.. There were so many other bands like "The Hi-Strung Ramblers", Junior Marvel and his High Flyers and many many others... During the concerts many people ended up totally drunk and that was the best part. many people were going there and were taking pictures with them:))I had the honour to be proposed by a musician from Holland. I didn't know if he meant it or not but it would be funny to give up everything and go with him in Holland:) My parents would ran after me for sure.. The staff was very helpful so if you need anything don't hesitate to ask them.. Unfortunately i didn't go outside to see how is the village but i will make sure next time to visit it.. The last morning everyone had headache because of the drink.. At the bus noone was talking. Some people were sleeping and some others were dreaming about the lovely moments they had at the festival.. I did the same and i wish I will go there sometime again..

ERASMUS 2006

13.01.06 - 15.01.06

LONDON

My trip started exactly one year before. It was Friday night of 13th of January. My first destination was London. I was very surprised when i realised that the weather there that night was better than in Athens!!! I arrived there around 00:00 when I got lost at Victoria's station. I had no idea how could I get to my hostel. London is such a chaotic city... After an hour I met some spanish travellers who were looking also for the same hostel. I was so lucky. After 2 hours of walking we arrived to the hostel so exhausted.


I stayed at Piccadilly Backpackers Hostel. I was staying in the same room with 5 spanish girls from Madrid. They were very nice and helpful..

Next morning I went to visit Big Ben. To tell you the truth I didn't recognise it with the first sight. It's not that big as they say..

Anyway later I went to Camden Lock. I love that place cause you can see any type of people. The market also is a little cheap and you can find wonderful clothes. Of course it depends on your style also..


The buses were always on time apart from the night buses. So I suggest you not to travel by night because you will be under stress and you won't have any idea when the next bus comes. Apart from that, this place is pretty dangerous for being alone at 4:00 a.m

Ah.. and one advice for the public transportation. Don't get a taxi.. They are so expensive!!

What I loved in London most is that you could see and meet people from all over the world. I was amazed when i went to the supermarket and I saw indians and egyptians. As far as now i have seen english staff only in one market. They live there..they work there.. I'd love to work in a multi-cultural city..

Next destination... CORK

15.01.06 - 18.01.06

My dream was to visit Ireland.. I love the rain, these green mountains, the castles, the forests and of course the elves:)
I had a greek friend there, so it was a great chance to visit Cork. I love that city!!

You were walking near the river and you could see swans to walk beside you. I cannot describe my feelings..

Blarney Castle..

The castle wasn't that impressive but the location was FANTASTIC! This castle is located in a huge forest. The lake was wonderful

After a while I got lost in a forest..

Suddenly I saw a ranch with three horses. When they saw me they run to me... This communication with the animals is sth unique..

After 4 days in this paradise I returned to England. I liked England despite the fact that i

stayed 24 hrs at the airport of Stansted just because of a mistake of the staff!! I was so frustrated with them so I drunk the whole bottle of ouzo and I met a transexual. Her name is Francesca and she is doctor. She was also waiting for her flight which was next morning so I stayed with her all these hours and we had nice conversation. I was feeling sooooooooo sad that I had to leave this country.. But from the other hand i was thinking the new country which was waiting for me... It was the country where I first lived alone and where I discovered many things... It was the country who made me think what i want

to do in the near future.. That country is FINLAND!!

22.01.06-02.05.06

Before I get out from the airplane, 2 finnish students

warned me that it was -30 degrees outside!! I couldn't realise how cold it was until i got outside.. For one moment I just stayed with the mouth open. When the other people saw my reaction, they started to laugh at me. I was lucky because at the airport my finnish friend Ronja and her lovely mother. The same night we hung
out with some Ronja's friends. We went to 3 bars and we had to had wait almost for 15 minutes outside of the bar because it was crossed!! I was tired from the trip and I was also freezing. I begged the security guard to let us in but nothing... So unsensitive!! I got frustrated and I said some bad words in greek..

Anyway, next day was much better. Ronja's mum cooked a nice finnish breakfast. I was moved because she reminded me my grandmother. After breakfast we went to the town. Everything was soooo white. I haven't seen such a snow since i was 5!! We started to play with the snow like small kids. I guess that finnish children has used to it:) On 24th of January we went to Helsinki at Kannelmaki!! At last!! It was the town where I spent my best student months. The first few days I stayed at Ronja's place. For good luck, the university told me that my place is also at Kannelmaki. My place was also 3 minutes walking from Ronja's place. I was soooooo

excited! A new life was waiting for me. The first person I met there was Ali from Slovenia. He helped me carry my stuff. I saw him after a long time although we were staying at the same building.

My room was quite big for me..

The view of my room was fantastic!! It was a kind of factory there but i didn't know what exactly.

Anyway my roomate was from Lithuania. Her name is Oleisa. Very cool girl!! The perfect roomate..

We got along together for these months without any conflicts.

First day at Stadia Polytechnic. I was late for an hour. Maybe the finnish teacher would wonder that I am the classical greek who always late at the school/work. I was lucky because the professors were very patient (not like the greek ones) and the students were THE BEST!! The first student I met there was Jenni. She is so sweet and she looks like an elf..

Later, i discovered that the most of the students there are soooooooooooooo good. Generally, the people there are pure and not at all tricky. Some of my good friends that I met in school are: Sipe, Norra, Renata, Heini, Lumi, Antti and Johana. Here are some pictures of my dearest classmates!! One we went to a student bar which is called Barfly. I met many international students there.. When I was returning by bus the most students were drunk, it was so funny! I was thinking that "Yeah, this is student life". One of them that later became very good friend is Jean David from France who invited me to an after party but I was really tired to continue. Then I met his flatmate, Daniel from Italy. He was also at that bar but he wasn't drunk. Just exhausted. We went together at home. He was living at the up floor. I became really close friend with Daniel or at least I felt like that but I have no clue what happened later. I don´t like to involve one person in my life and then leave suddenly and without reason. Although i know the person who helped in this but I won´t mention her name..

Anyway, one night I hang out with Olesia to a bar which is called Mendocino. I knew from the first moment that i would come there quite often. First I met Katri or Cat Lee.. So great person. She is remaining one of my best friends over there.. Her husband's name is Stefanos. No no he is not greek but he could be cause he knows more than me. And their son Max... is the BEST. It is 4 years old and can play guitar.

Beside Mendocino bar, they invited me also to their house and I was really surprised from Stefano's music collection and library. After so many hours of discussion i discovered that there are not many people like them. They are very special.

After a few days I started my practikal training at Niemikoti Foundation. Arja and Niina were the nurses and the responsibles for this workshop. The clients consisted mostly of middle aged people who suffer from schizofrenia. I will never forget my first day there. I felt soooo warmly welcomed there. They were all smiling at me and they were making questions about Greece. The following months I was trying to communicate with them with many ways like painting for those who couldn´t speak english. I have to admit that my favourite clients there were Valentina and Esta. I was trying not to show my feelings cause I know that this is unfair for the others but for me it was impossible. At least, I did my best not being soo obvious to the others. My job there was to occupy the clients and help them in work. It was really interesting and I feel sad that in Greece there are not those kinds of organisations.. Anyway apart from my main job I was going for shopping with them and then cooking with them. I became one with my clients. The most important thing I learned there was how to work my relationship with my clients. We went also for ice-skating and of course I was the only one who couldn´t do that. They started to laugh but I think that the time they laughed soo much was when we went for bowling. I felt sooo rediculous. But the other student from Africa, Kate was really good. We went also for bowling, riding with Arja..

With Kate I had and I still have very good relation. We had nice chemistry and i think we did good job there. At least the clients were really satisfied and this is the best satisfaction for me. One day I visited Kate´s house at Almi. This is a sea area with wonderful houses. We went to pick up her daughter from the kindergarden. She was adorable and also she was crying easily. Later, we went for a walk and we were walking up to the sea....I can´t describe in words how i felt.

In March we decided with Daniel, Piera, Ana and her cousins that we should take a day trip to Estonia before Daniel leave for Venice. Well.. we caught the boat the last moment. Tallin was really great and cheap.. During the trip I really liked to sit outside and see how the boat brakes the ice of the sea..

We had really nice time there. We went to a beer bar and we got drunk since the beer was that cheap. Then we went to a cafe and we drunk a nice warm chocolate..
We stayed there for three hours. It was enough to see that Talling has really great places and it was picturesque. When we were about to leave we stopped to a store with fake hairs. Ana and me tried some. Daniel and Piera started to laugh cause we were like Amodovar's actresses.. Ana cousin's stopped to buy sth else and they caught the boat. We really worried this time cause the stuff told us to board.. I forgot to mention that when we were going to the port, Ana's cousins didn't have tickets for the metro and someone caught them and they had to pay the bill. So for not paying the bill we went out of the metro and we started to run for the port. That was really adventurous day, especially for Ana's cousins..:)

The days passed and Daniel was the first erasmus student that had to go back to Venice. Although we spent only a 2 months together I felt that I know him much more than that. I hope that i will see him soon somewhere.. Two days before went to 6th line. It is a club in Helsinki just for our last ride and the last day we had a goodbye party at Ana's house.. It was really difficult for us to adjust to the new conditions but we had no other choice..



During the April when my mother and my aunt came to visit me we had a greek party at my room. Many people came including my classmates.. When we discovered that we hadn´t that thing that we open the wine I started ringing the bells of the next rooms and I met Lucia from Spain. She was helpul so I invited her to the party. We became the best friends there and also with her flatmate who was Ismael from Portugal. They were studying both music. I decided with my mum and my aunt to do a daytrip to Porvoo.. You had the feeling that you are in the decade of 1930's when there were still cowboys and saloons. It was soooo picturesque that i could stay there for all my life..



After a few days I went with Lucia, Ismael an to Lapland for 3 days. It was AMAZING. We were staying in a place in the middle of nowhere and full of snow. The next day we went to Rovaniemi to see the Santa Claus´s village. It was like in fairy story. You must be really happy if you work there cause the smile of a kid is the best thing! The same evening we went to the forest to see the nothern lights but we were unlucky cause there were many clouds. From the other hand we were lucky that we didn´t get lost!! The next day we went to a farm where we rode seld with wolves. I was thinking to get married with the owner of the farm and live there forever..ehehehehe.. I am just kidding of course;) Afterwards, we fed the wolves nad then the owner offered us a hot tea and a cake in a wooden small place. It was like in these advertisements in Iceland where the people there want to warm up after a ride with the seld and they go to a wooden place and they light fire. That was exactly the same;) Anyway the thing is that noone of us wanted to leave from there. As soon as we came back to Helsinki we felt sad back to the civilisation.

After a day I left with Lucia for St. Petersburg. We met some other students at the bus but only one of them was at Helsinki. His name is Miguel and he is from Mexico. Really good guy. We met also some other students from Germany but we mostly spent time with Miguel. Our guides were very good and funny. When we arrived at the borders I had a problem with my passport. Apparently the guards there didn't like my face so they took me to an office. I felt great and ready to face anyone there cause I was feeling that I was sth like mafia or spy and I was thinking many movies those minutes. Also I started to react a little mysterious and I was trying not to look at them at the eyes so to be more suspicious with me.. It was really funny but after 30 minutes it wasn't that funny so I became more serious and answered to their questions. They let me after they called the greek gonverment and they confirmed my details..

The only memories I have from San Peterburg is Hermitage museam cause in our great surprise we saw a wedding ceremony and I started taking pics of them. Then the bride took me beside her and we took foto together. It was one of the funniest moments in my life.. Of course I have memories from the clubs there but to be honest I didn't like it that much.. One thing that I remember is that we drunk a lot of votka and here are the results..

The were also many policemen, sailormen, soldiers.. generally too many people with special uniforms. Here is me with two cute soldiers..



My next trip was to Sweden. Anu and Valterie were waiting for me. They were the first finnish people I met in Athens. The last time I saw them was at my Polytechnic. I thought that only in my dreams I would see them to another country. Anyway.. Stockholm is more expensive than Helsinki and I have to say that there are no student prices for buses,trains, etc.. I realised that the most people there are musicians and also quite cute:)) The only strange thing I saw there was the way that the mothers hold their children..

Although Stockholm is really great and organised country for some reason I don't think that I could stay there permantly.. Last day Anu dropped me to the port to get the boat to Helsinki. That was my second option from the moment i had run out of money.. When I was waiting to check-in I met a swedish guy. His name is Abraham. The moment that we just boarded a photographer took the classic pic of us although we were not ready. Abraham made it and he took the pic without noticing him. Then we went to a shop and i saw some nice postcards. Suddenly a finnish guy grabbed Abraham from the hand. I was really afraid cause I thought it was security guard who saw him before when he got the pic.. But at the end we realised that he was just a stupid guy who was asking us if we had some weed. I forgot to mention that it was one day before Vappu. Vappu is a celebration in which finnish people welcome the summer by drinking alcohol all night long and wear that kind of white hats that they used to wear in their high school graduation.. So the amount of the people there were totally drunk!! Especially that stupid guy. We saw him at the deck. As we realised that he was totally hang over we suggested him to go inside and relax. He said OK and he jumped from the deck to the down one. For a few seconds he was unconcious. Abraham jumped there to see if he was OK and suddenly that guy woke up and began to scream and say bad words to us.. Abraham tried to relax him and when we went all inside that guy jumped from the stairs. That moment we decided to leave him alone cause it was meaningless. Then we met some crazy and funny finnish people. They were celebrating all night!!
After a few hours we went to the cabin and we were suprised by the roomates. The one was too old and a bit weird finnish man and the other one was bulgarian and mafia. He looked like George Clooney. Look yourselves also if you don't believe me:) Finally we managed to sleep for a while. Actually I hadn't booked any cabin but Abraham offered to me to sleep there cause it would be a little dangerous to sleep out there with those drunk people. I was soo lucky to meet Abraham..
When we arrived at the port I went at home to leave my stuff and I went with Ana and some other people for picnic. The whole Helsinki was in that park wearing those white hats. The weather was sunny and everybody were happy. For me it was a kind of sad cause I realised that the next day I would have gone..

Anyway, the same evening I did my last goodbye party. We had a lot of fun and it was really nice to see them altogether for last time.. I was thinking if I will ever live that kind of experience again. I will miss so much those faces as my trips.. Here are my last pictures from Finland with Norra, Jenni, Heini, Sipe, Miguel, Dasa, Abraham, Jean David, Lucia, Ismael, Ronja, Irfan, Hannes and Ali..

I promise to myself that next year exactly I will be there and celebrate Vappu with my finnish friends. That's the only sure..

My next destination is England for one more time for.. ROCK'N'ROLL!! It was Hemsby 36.. Another adventure I had at Stansted airport was when I forgot my bag there and I realised it when I entered the train and I was checking if I had taken everything with me.. It was nightmare cause I had to carry all my stuff back to check in.. For good luck, I found it.. It was my most important bag cause I had my passport, my tickets, etc.. So I went again to that Backpackers hostel for a night and next morning I went to the Embankment Station to catch the bus for Hemsby. I met a great ladythere.. Her name is Violaine and she is from France. We became the best friends not only there but we are still in contact and i hope to see her soon again..