*snort* Finland won. Already speculated about their win with my 2 other flatmates. And we figured they'd have a pretty good chance to win. At least better than NL. They are already out before they are even in actually...nothing new there...

Finland has been away for years and now they win the Eurovision *snigger*

Haven't seen it btw, but there's a group of Finns in the neighbourhood watching. Their shouting got louder and louder and 10 mins ago I figured I should have a look if they were shouting so incredibly loud because they had won.

They had.

Hilarious!

Now don't make too much noise happy Finns. Drink another Vodka and then be too drunk to shout. I want to sleep now :D

Ehm...can anyone tell me who got 2nd and 3rd or do I have to check it myself tomorrow? ;)

EDIT: Pics online as well. Usual stuff: http://www.rp-originals.cjb.net

At first I wasn't really looking forward to spend 2x 17 hours on a boat, but it was pretty good.
Anyway, left the house at 2.30PM to go to the Sportsacademy to watch the start of the F1. Seen the first couple of laps and then rushed to the boat. We had to wait 9 mins for the tram to arrive, so we decided to walk and ended up to be at the terminal before the tram (wise choice). Recieved our ticket and walked onto the boat. We were on deck 5, right above the cardeck. Only shame was that we were somewhere in the middle, so we didn't have a window Left our stuff there to look for a TV. *yay* found one in the far end of the boat and watched the last 26 laps. Quite boring, stupid winner, so I am pretty glad I missed half of it as it wasn't too interesting I think. Just dunno what happend with Ralf and Juan :S
At 5 the boat left Helsinki and we stood outside to have a look at the town and whatever was coming on our way. We passed Suomenlinna as well and it was magnificent to see it from this angle, as it's so beautiful from the boat. We had to go to a very narrow waterway, the boat just fitted through it. During the time we spend outside it rained pretty much all the time, but from the 3 of us, I was the only one with an umbrella, so Rodrigue, Orsy and me hid underneath a VERY pink umbrella :D But in general the view was great. As it was also getting quite windy and me + umbrella were nearly blown of the deck, we went inside and sat down at a cosy place at the window to chat and laugh. We saw the sunset. And unlike when we got back from Tallinn the pics are a little better now. God...wonder why ;)
In the evening we went to a bar where it was nice. There were people dancing and there was a band playing. Music was not too loud and the music they played was pretty good. So yeah, I did amuse myself there :)
Went to bed at about 1, after passing totally wasted people. Yes, wherever you go by boat, the people drink like the earth will explode tomorrow...
Slept pretty well. Woke up a couple of times. First at 4.15 as it was pretty noisy in the boat. According to Mirka (or whatever her name is) it was storming outside. Well I was pretty sleepy, but a) we were in the middle of the ship b) the ship wasn't moving at all, like it would do in a storm and c) I couldn't really be arsed to tell her, as you expected that kind of stuff from a blonde, not a brunette! Went back to sleep and then woke up again because Mirka's phone went. Great...turn the bloody thing off when you go to bed!
Stood up sometime after and when to deck 12 again, to see if there was something to see. Oh hell yeah! We were sailing on sea, with land on both sides. It was truly magnificent. All green and biiiiiig houses there!
At the terminal there was no passportcontrol at all. Kinda strange, as there were also many russians on board. But perhaps they've have been checked in Russia and such. Dunno but anyway, we had to walk about 500m to go to the metro, which would bring us tot the citycentre. We first went to Slussen (or so) and then took the lift up to watch a few churches and enjoy the view on Stockholm. After that we went to Gamla Stan (Old town) and wandered around there for a bit. We were looking for the place where the change of guards would be and we couldn't find it, so I ended up asking a guard who told me it was about 50m away from where we were *sigh* Managed to stand on some kind of whatever so I stood above the people. Was pretty uncomfy, but a good spot for pics. It was just that the change lasted for over 40 mins and we got bored, so we left and I didn't feel my right knee anymore, because of sort of standing on there... Then did some souvenirshopping. Still needed a new tea mug as my dad broke my lovely Jos Verstappen tea mug. But now I've found a brilliant one! Just hope I'll get it back home in one piece... :S
We walked through the shopping street and ended up for a quick lunch at the Mac. We were in the street where the Subway was supposed to be, but that one was nowhere to be found... Then went to another church and then back to gamla stan. Went to another island to take a few pics of the view and then we had to rush back to the boat, as that one would leave at 5.
Back on the boat we first sat outside for a while, but as it was getting cold, we went inside and most of the others were asleep, but I couldn't be arsed to so I just read in the cabin and at about 8 we went to one of the window seats to watch the islands go by and the sun setting in the sea. Later that evening we again went to the dancebar and there was an absolutely wasted woman in there. She spend more time lying on the floor or falling of the stairs than dancing...And the saddest part was that her kids had to babysit her. Bad bad bad mother! But yeah, music wasn't very different as yesterday. To be precise, it was exactly the same, though the midnight show was different. The group performing was ehm...well...a little over the top from time to time and not that good, but it was nice amusement...After that we went to sleep.
Once again Mirka's phone went off *sigh*. Woke up the next morning and after I was finished packing I went again to deck 12 to notice we were already in Helsinki! The boat was coming closer to suomenlinna and I stood in the front of the boat, to see the buildings getting bigger and such. Went back in to get my stuff and to wait until we could go off the boat.

Stockholm is a very very pretty town. But just 6.5 hours there was too short, you need at least a full day. We've also been very fortunate with the weather as it was very sunny, with clouds appearing late in the afternoon. People always told me Stockholm was the nicer town than Helsinki, which I never really understood. I do understand now ;)

I took 285 pics (shock) of which a selection will be online...some day... :S

Well, it's been 2 weeks since by birthday and I am pretty disappointed in some people. Won't mention any names, as the people who were involved know who I mean...

No card, no sms, no call, no email, no nothing!

Friends, but even family. Out of sight, out of heart?
Have I been naive that I figured I'd recieve some kind message from those people, people I call friends?
People that perhaps weren't the friends I thought they were?

Same story, same old shit.

And with that I will leave you for a couple of days as I am off to stockholm. Or so to say Tukholma!

This time on Sander.
His friends are here.
I doubt I'll get some sleep tonight. Got to be up at 7.15, but at the mo the music is so loud and they are screaming even harder that it's no use for me to listen to my own music...

Will go to bed in a bit, ask them to be quiet as they aren't the only souls in the house and if they don't, well I might call the police as I want to sleep!

PS my earplugs won't help now...

*sigh*
Can't wait for the day they bugger off...

I've finally uploaded the pics of t he week my parents were here.

http://www.rp-originals.cjb.net

Hope you'll like them ;)

As said, I've been to Helsinki today.
First I want to draw your attention to the following:

Feb 4th


May 6th


Quite a difference eh?

Also, I've been to the place where the fire was last night and well, it was right next to the trainstation, so I could have gone there yesterday. Apparantly people started to have a party while watching the fire, as there was soooo many junk in the area around the building...

Anyway, 2 piccies:

With the amusementpark in the background


With the ehm...huge building in the background ;)

As mentioned yesterday, seeing a whole lot of smoke from my window, it was probably this:

http://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/artikkeli/Poliisi+ep%C3%A4ilee+makasiinien+paloa+tuhopoltoksi/1135219777792

So yeah, I go out when there's 4 firefighter trucks infront of my window and I can't find anything. I see a whole lot of smoke (I should have taken a pic of that) and I stay in, because the smoke can come from anywhere in Helsinki.

Well, I saw Helsinki Keskusta (or so) in the article, meaning it's in the city center. I could have found that (all I had to do was follow the curious peops ;))

I'll see what I can do today. Had planned to go to Helsinki anyway and then return to watch quali.

btw, thanks mom for the link ;)
I'll see if I can find something in English

First of all, don't you think my weather girl is wearing a fancy yellow dress? The weather here has been wonderful today! Sun...sun...sun and more sun! And the same goes for tomorrow. Think I'll go into Helsinki and then head back home to watch F1 quali.

Second, I think Helsinki is on fire at the mo as, when I look out of my window I see a whole lot of smoke. Tempted to go out and have a look, but it might well be a fire in the city centre, so I am not going...seems to be getting less, so it must be over soon.

3rd, the last couple of days with the parents.
We had rented a car for Tuesday and Wednesday and we got a fancy blue Ford Fiesta.
On Tueaday we headed to Tampere and had a stop in Hämeenlinna where we went to visit the castle. It had just opened that day and it was really quiet. Was a nice castle, but compared to Suomenlinna I thought this one didn't really look like a castle. More like a huge house.
After that we continued to Tampere where we went to visit the Sarkaniemi amusementpark first. There was a dolphinshow and I wanted to visit that. We got there fashionably late, but we still got to see quite a large part of the show. Strange to see how good those dolphins listen to their teachers. There's parents in the world having more trouble in raising kids ;)
At the end we went to the pool and the dolphins were still swimming in and out and one of the teachers joined us and whistled on her whistle and immediately one of the dolphins came and started to pose for us. He really seemed to enjoy it (and so did we ;))
Because it was still early in May, the attractions were closed, instead we went on to the tower, which is 132m high and from there you were supposed to have a magnificent view over the Tampere area. Well, it was even worse as in summer 2004 when we had baaaaaaaaad weather...still it was nice, because it was so quiet. That also resulted into us practically being able to park the car in front of the entrance, unlike in 2004 when we had to take a bus which brought us to the park.
After that we visited Tampere. We did some shopping there and I got the coolest sweater from my dad. It really rocks :D Also went looking for a bag as mine isn't the best anymore but I can't find a bag I like. Ehm, what did we do else there? The water thingy, dunno what it's called in English and ehm...guess that was it :S Oh, we ate a delicious ice cream! Mint with chocolate, delicious (just like Jens ;))

Oh on one of the mornings there was a squirrel outside and he was so not scared!! We could take pics and film him and he even started to show off. First he looked to my mom's camera and then to my dad's. That was cool :D

Wednesday we went to Porvoo. Last time I had been there it was -25 and snowy, now it was 30 degrees warmer and sunny. Big contrast eh?
Anyway, also here it was very quiet. And with very quiet I meand very quiet. You hardly could hear a soul. Just us and a few other people. Which was good as normally there are many tourists there. That's the advantage of going outside the season. Disavantage is that the town isn't as pretty then, because in summer there's the flowers and the trees, but now there was nothing :S Still it was a nice stay. Aslo bought the coolest top there. Already seen it in Helsinki, but it was 30 euros and I thought that was quite expensive. Tried it on in Porvoo and decided to buy it as it's really cool and I haven't done that much shopping here anyway... ;)
After that I got the brilliant idea of going to the beach. I had read in our book of Finland that there was one nearby. Well, we drove for hours and hours and hours, but never found a beach. There were supposed to be loooong sandy beaches. Well, you tell me where. I checked google for images and such and there were NONE! I think that place doesn't exist or so :S
Had to return the car to the rental company and then headed to Subway to eat a sandwich. Went into the Kamppi shopping centre, but we didn't buy anything there.

Thursday morning was reserved for packing. All of my winter stuff is home now and some other things I don't need anymore. About 8 kilos of stuff I've returned with my parents to NL, so I think I'll be able to fit everything that's still left here into my suitcase and take that home with me.

Oh, and I'll also be going to Stockholm next weekend. I'll spend more time on the boat than in sweden itself, but as it was only 30 euros I knew I'd regret it if I didn't go.

Yesterday it was pre-vappu-party or something. As we've got Queensday in NL, Finland has Vappu and in general it's a student party where people get completely wasted.

Well anyone, we went to Helsinki with one of the crowded commuter trains and it was sooooo crowded in Helsinki. Sat down at the Esplanadi on a terrace enjoying the sun for a couple of hours (I got sunburned *yay*) Watched the cars go by and I've got to say, I've seen some fine vehicles ;)
Of course also done some people watching and they were dressed up as idiots, but perhaps that's normal. Don't really know the complete details of these 2 days as I wasn't really listening during Finnish class, but it's mainly a student party (and 'students' who've graduated 20 years ago :S) and the aim is to get as wasted as possible. They were also selling balloons and young AND old were walking with a balloon. That's something you don't see in NL at all!! It's for the kids...
After having enjoyed the sun we went down for a walk to the market square and also there it was crowded, then headed to the white church where it was crowded as well. We saw a bus with Japanese tourists and they'd already been taking pics practically before they had left the bus. Then they took some more pics and stood in strange positions to take the pics. Really, those people are quite hilarious :D
Walked to the Russian church and saw the Japanese again. Again all taking pics and such.
After that we went to the market square again as Vappu was officially opened by putting a white graduation hat on the head of the female statue. There were soooooo many people.
Had dinner after that at the Chinese restaurant (quite an Asian day today ;)) and it was pretty good food for an even better price!
After that we went home as it was said that Helsinki doesn't get any better in the evening when the people get totally wasted.
Went to bed and we were woken up in the middle of the night by my flatmates and a few friends who came back home from partying. It was Miriam's birthday so they started to sing happy birthday, which is fine, but after that in 2456 different languages and then the music was turned on (volume: discotheque) and then I told them people were trying to sleep here, so the volume went down, but they were still very very loud. I could understand Miriam wanted to do something with her birthday, which is fine. She wanted to have a dinner on May 1st, which is fine, but she cancelled that as she'd probs be too drunk to cook and so, but I do not appreciate the fact that they march in at 4AM after partying and then continue here. I was not informed about that and I didn't like it at all. I have guests as well, so they could have been a little more considerate (If that was possible in their state). Anyway, in the end Miriam had to go to hospital as she and Roel had a little accident or so and she has 2 stitches (sp?) now. Yup, that happens when you are drunk. For the record, the plates and such are still ok, this time it were people getting hurt ;)
But after that accident the party was over pretty quickly and we could get back to sleep at 5AM earliest...

Today we went to Suomenlinna, a fortress on an island 15 mins away by boat from Helsinki. The weather was nice, but it was very windy and that made it very cold. That wasn't too cool, but it was nice to walk around there and see canons and such. There were also buildings btw that looked like the hobbittown in LOTR. Pretty cool.
Uhm, oh yeah, there was a picknick in the park this morning (Vappu picknick or so) but we didn't go there as we figured it would be crowded.
Hmmz, well yeah, not too much to say about Suomenlinna. It was nice. And everywhere in Helsinki you saw these people with their graduation hats. Young and old were wearing them. Really strange to see that.

Tomorrow we can pick up our rental car, probs a Ford Fiesta and we have planned to go to Tampere and perhaps Hämeenlinna and on Wednesday we have planned to go to Porvoo.

So, went with the faster ferry to Tallinn, only 1.5h instead of 3.5, which is much better. Sea was quite rough, was reading a mag and got a little sick. Didn't feel too well, so I figured I'd better stop reading and you stare into nothing.

Moored in a different place this time, but also quite near the city, which was okay. We could go onto a church, but we had to climb a winding stairs. Well, that is something I HATE! I absolutely despise that, as I'm afraid I fall down or something. Climbing up is sort of okay, but down is hell. Especially if the stairs aren't the same and such...brrr, but at the same time I wanted to enjoy the magnificent few, so yeah, had to put my fear aside. Considering the fact I am typing this story means that I have made it back safely ;)
View was indeed brill, we could see so much (pics will follow after Thursday).

Walked a bit around in Tallinn. Well, seen some of the places twice, as I'd obviously been there before, but I didn't mind, the weather was nice, a little windy, but sunny and not too cold (unless you were stood in the wind...) Wanted to go to the viewing place again and sort of new where to go. We had found 2 other viewing spots, before we found the right one.

This time it was very busy in Tallinn btw, probs because the weather was nice and such, but many, many visitors and guided tours. *follow the leader leader leader...*

We opted to walk around by ourselves, it's not that you'll get lost in Tallinn or so...

Not done so much shopping as we sat down outside a cafe to enjoy the sun and a Malibu Coke. After that we had dinner in some kind of american/mexican restaurant which was okay, but a little quick as we had to get the 8PM boat back.

Finnish people often buy some alcoholic beverages and most often they carry it in suitcases, trolley's and we've also seen people with that kind of suitcase carriage you can find at the airport...Kinda pathetic to bring so much with you.

The woman next to my dad was sick (either too much alc or the rough sea, or a combination) but she had to vomit. Fortunately (I was sitting behind) she did it in a plastic bag, so I didn't have to 'enjoy' the smell...

Ehm...think that was it. It was a nice day, the weather was a little better than last time and NOW IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

I have turned 22, 23 mins ago. Just so you know ;)

Thanks opa and oma for your birthday card and little gift! Always very welcome ;)