Monday 25 July 2011

The Road Goes Ever On

Naturally it has been ''some time'' since i have last updated my travel musings. A whole lotta shit happened in the last 48hrs ergo figured tis a good moment to spill the beans :)

I still have to fill the details in on Norway and Sweden, but for the moment lets fast forward to Finland! My heart touching the midnight sun again..okay okay no mush, I just left Suomi last Friday, its crazy to think i've been on the road for 6 months, 3 whole seasons and now the end of summer! I'm putting the world behind me and home ahead ...with a little celebrations along the way, well chasing festivals. W.O.A, B.O.A haha Who knew i would be going to hell in a handbasket!!
Helsinki..(ahem no pun intended there) a very hot day, nearly 30 degrees so I ambled around the markets, the parks, killing time before catching the evening ferry to Rostock, Germany. On my way back to the harbour - Low and Behold, theres my ship sailing out to sea! Bugger, i sit perplexed for a while waiting to see if another Tallink boat will dock..the clocks ticking. .. ticking. After dragging myself to the terminal to see whats going on, it turns out that im at the wrong fucking terminal! Apparently i should be at Vuosaari, which the lady said was at least 20 minutes away by car. No Kidding!! I booked it to the taxi rank in Senate Square, mind reeling at my unfortunate stupidity or just twisted fate of things. 6pm I'm in taxi, yelling inside 'FLOOR IT' ... made it to this island with 10 minute window.
Great, now to settle in for 26hr trip. It was a new experience getting my sleeping bag out on the ferry. ~There were these rooms of cinema type seats, of course they were bloody uncomfortable hence camping out on the floor like everyone else! Suprised i managed to sleep...until i was awoken by the most colossal snoring on either side of me..ridiculously loud ..so i got up then in a similar fashion.
My next task was to find a couch surf for Rostock, yes on the ferry, last minute nail biting here! To cut many hours short i finally had an answer from a couple of girls who were amazingly coming to pick up another CSer on the same ferry! On the down side I couldnt get through on the mobile no. they gave ...Oh fuck! Fretting waiting for the bus to get us off bloody ferry, this other CS person could be standing right next to me ..as luck would have it ..my ears pricked up to some english, then recognised them from profile picture. My face must have lit up like a lighthouse as i reached out and one of them said 'Lou?'
I couldnt help wondering what i would have done if i hadnt found them, because again the ferry was in the middle of nowhere and when we got to the city (despite it being a historic place) ..it looked pretty rough!

Sunday....i thought about staying one more night in Rostock since my hosts were happy and even reccomened i should...perhaps i should have, too late now! Back on the train at 8.30am ..sky looking rather blackened, felt as if i fell out of eternal sun blessed realms ..was it a sign? In Hamburg i nearly fucked up once more. Platform 13 a ....i found 13 and i found 'A' ...but in germany they have numbers on the platform for the carriages, i realised this at the last moment and ran down the platform to hurl myself on to the right goddamn train as the doors shut. literally, my backpack forced it open. Thats what you call a close shave !

The rest of the journey when smoothly. I texted my friend to let him know when i was arriving. It sent so i didnt know anything suspect. Rolled up in Aarhus Demark 4.30pm - Revelation - nobody there, phone the number, it doesnt bloody work ! No Way! NO WAY! Drawn to legenday Macdonals with free-wi fi all over the globe, but guess what ...my laptop rat bastard wont connect to it ERROR. Couldnt believe, what kind of fresh hell was this ? Shit happens, hah understatment of the year!
Well i had been here before, so tried to remember which bus we had taken to get to the flat, at first i thought 11...then was it 6, or 9 ...oh heck just jump on first bus that comes around the corner. Had a nice ride to some random part of the city ..and back again ...no. 9 supposedly my lucky number ..which i now greatly distrust, went even further, past cornfields and other godforsaken lands. Feeling, lost, isolated, PISSED OFF... then suddenly i didnt care anymore. All i wanted was a hot shower and a place to put my feet up! I think i fell into a kind of trance on the way back (we drove quite far out) since i'd mostly eaten chocolate, water and a few swigs of the koskenkorva (finnish hard liquor) to quell the rum cards i was being dealt.
I still cant get over how i can screw up travelling into one big gilded disaster! What was worse was that i recognised places and knew their flat was just round the corner somewhere, so close yet so far!! I'd made something simple into a giant mountain. The whole journey i felt i've been standing on the beach, and a huge wave has just bowled me over, i could have ducked behind a rock or packed my waterproofs but no, too busy making footprints in the sand...now i am soaking wet, bet heck IM STILL STANDING! ....(yeah yeah yeah )
Anyhow, once i was back in the city again, i made a direct line for the Scandic hotel, whipped out the old credit card and booked myself a cheap room. Here i am now, hot shower never felt so good, sorted out meeting tomorrow with mates ..and got breakfast too. :)

Hanging onto a runaway train ahahaha, Avantasia...its times like this when you wish you were travelling with someone, because then whatever happens doesnt seem bad as you're not alone and theres another soul to put their arm round you.

Now the bells are tolling midnight .. i had to get that out of my system :) before hitting the sack ..so without any further ado ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz