Together

It was cold and windy. It rained a lot. We did not know where we were going to sleep the next night and we could only afford sleeping in a tent. However, we were together and that made it an unforgettable trip.

Together

We were supposed to spend 12 days hitch-hiking around Norway, the country which I miss almost as much as Iceland. The only plan was to start in Oslo, go immediately to Trondheim and then choose our way back to Sandefjord, from where Wizz Air flies to Poland. We packed one big backpack with as much food as possible – in order to do so, we obviously had to sacrifice our desire of being fashionable hitchers. One tent, two sleeping bags, a map and  positive thinking – that was all we needed to begin with. There were moments of doubt, but the people we met deserve our eternal gratitude. Let me tell you about them…

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2010 – Sigur Rós and experiments

According to my chart on last.fm, 2010 was won by Sigur Rós. I’ve just done some research: it turns out that I discovered them in May ’09, just before going to Iceland. Being there I think I understood their music better than I had before. Since then I’ve listened to them every couple of days and every time I hear these sounds, I realize how I miss this beautiful yet deserted island. Jónsi and his friends share what’s in their souls, they don’t play to be listened to, they just do what they love and you can hear this. Recently I’ve seen a movie Heima about their unannounced concerts around Iceland that gathered lots of local people, from little children to grannies. I wish I could attend them – I’ve never seen such cheerful and joyful events. Besides, they played outstandingly! By the way, when I went to a pub in Reykjavik with my couchsurfing friends, we met Jón there. I was surprised how they treated him as one of them: no pictures or autographs, he was just standing there chatting like everyone. Icelanders, I admire your attitude!
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Symphonicities

Poland is one of the most Sting-friendly countries in the world and I feel I’m somehow contributing to this situation. I got his newest album, Symphonicities, right after the official release. It’s not revolutionary, there are no new songs. Many artists before him already recorded with an orchestra. Yet I can’t help listening to it every few days, can’t avoid dreaming with Every little thing she does is magic and symphatizing with Englishman in New York
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Irish New Year’s Eve

There’s an island born a long time ago famous of its green nature and unbelievably strong winds. What I will remember the most is probably its capital city. We met at Heuston station, as we arrived there in two ways: hitchhiking (and it’s another story) and bus riding. As it was in some distance from our host’s destination, we had a chance to see a bit of the city. As far as I can tell it’s big enough yet calm, noisy yet charming, crowdy yet welcoming…

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Cypriot traditional meze

It was getting late and we were already very hungry so everyone was happy to see sign post to Lofou (Λόφου) where I had planned dining in a “traditional taverna”. We got there quickly and without wandering around, as from the very beginning of the town there were signs pointing to it. It has to be – otherwise no one would find it in the labyrinth of narrow streets of Lofou. The owner asked whether we wanted menus or meze. Meze, of course, was our dream that day.

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Askja

There is a huge, majestic volcano in the very heart of Iceland. People call it Askja and this name somehow makes you respect it before you actually see it. For me Askja means real interior, a lonely and silent beauty in the middle of a desolate land. When I first met her (it’s feminin in Icelandic), I was welcomed by the severest weather I could imagine… nevertheless I fell nothing but awe when I think of that day.
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CERN

On my way to La Clusaz, while dining in a chinese restaurant in Genève, I got enlightened that CERN is so close that it would be a pity not to visit it. To physicists CERN is almost what Mecca is to Muslim people – a symbol of unification, friendly cooperation, several Nobel price winners home and a place where impossible means you just have to work a bit harder on it. It is where the Internet was born, many particles were discovered (making it even harder to understand the basic principles of our Universe) and where the famous Large Hadron Colider has been working for a couple of months.
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Finland ’08 – Jyväskylä

As we drove to Jyväskylä, the scenery changed: swamps appeared, there were more lakes and more birches. It looked quite similar to southern Norway.

In the city we met Ville and Kaisa, two couchsurfers who offered showing us around. Oh, be careful: self-service gas stations don’t accept foreign cards such as Visa or Maestro. Our Finns took us to a place with name that I’ve forgotten, though I remember the translation: “chicken mountain”. Continue reading

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