Still no name...

Got up and headed around Tallinn, one of the girls working at the hostel said she was heading to the russian market so i tagged along, unfortunately it was closed and the only stalls open were either selling brica brack or fruit and veg. She then told me about and abandoned prison that was close by that we could walk around. After walking through the gates and feeling like i was walking into the plot of the film hostel was so scary. I think we were the only two people walking around this ex soviet prison, it looked as if one day they'd just up and left, leaving all the furniture and equipment as it was. The hospital wing was still complete with beds and all th medical equipment! So we stepped into one room and the door closed behind us in a horror movie style. Something then was clearly blocking the door. After frantic attempts to open the door, i started to kick and kick eventually broke down the door :) yes i felt manly!!!
Came back to the hostel and grabbed dinner.

To be continued as i'm getting bored!

Tallinski...

So after being told there are no beds in Tallinn but thats no problem just stay here, we'll make room! I headed into Tallinn and took th obligatory walk around. Stopped of at a Munich styled beer hall and strangely met a German traveler! Shared a few stines and walked about the city, i headed back to the hostel at 11ish to see where i could bed down. Fat chance of that it was Saturday night and party time! Spent a long time in the lounge drinking and smoking the communal shisha pipe met 2 Norwegians another German and a very eccentric Spaniard! At about 2am we decided to head out for a beer! After visiting a few bars we randomly ended up in Tallinn's number one gay club! Strangely the German guy manged to leave the club with a girl! Stranger things have happened tho i guess!
Just as i was ready to doss down for the night someone suggests we go up stairs in the hostel, poked my head through a cubby hole in the ceiling and there was the view of Tallinn, we all sat there watching the sunrise and drinking cheap vodka! A beautiful night! I managed to doss down in one of the employees beds as it was vacant and got a good nights sleep!
Maybe today i'll actually see some sights! Actually maybe not my hangover is pretty bad!!

The blog with no name....

So here i am in Tallinn in a really cool hostel! Pretty much looks like someones house! Only problem is that theres no beds! The guy running the place is currently dashing about and calling people to find me a room somewhere!
Not really seen much of Tallinn yet and its already 4pm!
Hopefully i'll find a bed soon!
Ciao

Helsinki! Yeah Helsinki!............ I wanna go to Disneyland

So, here i am in Helsinki
Got the night train from Rovaniemi in somewhat luxury as the cheapest beds had gone. But still it hardly broke the budget at around £16 for a bed. Shared the room with a finnish guy who's wife and children were in the next cabin. They kindly invited me to share some pizza and wine with them :) much to the amusment of there 3 year old son, who took a shine to my charlie monkey (for those of you that know him!)
So got to Helsinki and headed to the hostel I decided to stay in, however upon stepping into the court yard it was clear that the place was closed for renevation! Slogged it back to the train station to ask tourist info to find me a bed. Checked in to a youth hostel, dropped off my bags and headed into town. Having losely got my barings a week before hand when my ferry docked i headed to the market square by the harbour.
Took in the sites and churches surrounding senate square and a really good museum dating the history of helsinki.
Headed noth of the city to a "special" church, special didn't descirbe this place. The church was carved inbetween these rocks in the middle of helsinki to form an ovalesq church. Inside you'd never belive the surrounding on the out. Sitting in the church pews for a bit and felling all spiritual, I hit the national musem - some good exhibitions tho most pre histiory is the same though finalnd is pretty odd as it was only really formed in 1917 - previously being either sweedish or russian teritory. Feeling tired headed back for a sleep
Today I'd decided to take a trip to the Maritime Fortrese off Helsinki, again this place had been built by the sweeds to be invaded by the russians and then attacked by then french and british in the crimean war - Loads of history!! Was strange then to see that the island was now used by the helsinki locals as a park and beach, with everyone swimming about etc juxatposed against the previous history. The coolest part for me was the church that also double up as light house! Why build a new tall building when there already is one :)
Headed back to the main land and just pottered about really heading back to the hostel for a few beers and dinner.
I'm off to Tallinn, Estonia tomrrow for a few days and hopefully cheap beer :) then back to Helsinki and home!

Btw whos reading this in Cardiff?? Had a few hits from there!
Catch ya all soon

Congrsats to Wiggy and Bex for the birth of their little girl

Rain, Rain and Raindeer!

So directly after my last post it started to rain! And I'm pretty sure its not stopped since!
Had a somewhat trechous night in my £10 tent,water pouring in from everywhere! So i took the leap and ran with my stuff to the campsites service center. Luckily they had a airing cupboard and drying facilities so i shoved my stuff in there and sat down to watch the highlights of the grand prix!
Eventully the rain ceased and i headed back to mop up th mess in my tent.
Morrinig came and i caught my train upto the artic circle and the home of eurovision gods Lordi! oh and some guy called santa claus??
Checked into the HI Hostel "rudolf" and walked about the town in the drizzle. Had an early night, which was strange due to the midnight sun and constant daylight!
Today i headed to the village of Napapiiri where according to Finish folk ledgend is the home of santa claus! I met the man him self and had a strange coversation about Shefki Kuqi and Aki Riihilahti, clearly Santa knows everything!!
Not really sure what to do now theres not alot to do when the weather like this and try as i might to pretend the rain is snow it just isn't the same!
Back Helsinki tomorrow night :)

Oulu

Just a quick post!
Today i rented a bike and rode all over Oulu, its a really nice city. Had an early breakfast sitting in the market overlooking a small harbour. Took a tour of the parks which are spread over several islands and islets joined by picturesque white bridges. Theres also a hydro electic dam but even that seemed to fit in to the scenery. The kind Fins had even managed to create a river diversion for the salmon that previously swam where the dam is now!!
Took a tour of the local musem only cost €1 and i was there for hours learning about finish culture and how the area built up.
Had a bit more of a bike ride about town and then headed back to my tent to drop off some stuff and pick up a towl before i headed to the beach! I'd love to come back here in the winter when everything is frozen over its hard to picture when the weathers been so good!
Last night the sunset over the sea was truely beautiful, wish i was a better photographer!
Ne who of to the capital of Lapland, Rovaniemi which is just below the artic circle - i can already hear santa's sleigh bells ringing!!
Until then ciao

Ferry Fun

so now i'm sitting in a coffee shop somewhere in helsinki, about to head to Oulu on a complete whim, not really sure what its like or if theres anywhere to stay but i can't get a train up to lapland today but Oulu is half way at least.
Had an amazing ferry trip from Stockholm to helsinki, the fery has to weave its way through th 24,000 islands and islets that make up the achapligos, the views were amazing!
Was hanging around in the bar watching the awful caberet when i got talking to a finnish girl, think i ended up getting to bed at around 4am finnish time (i lost an hour while travelling) after partying on the onboard nightclub!!
So now i'm really tired so will no doubt sleep on the train.
Catch up soon

Malmö and Stockholm

So I'm finally in Sweeden! Left My great aunts on Monday afternoon and headed into Copenhagen, then across the bridge to Malmö in Sweeden. I'm sure Malmö is a lovely place to live but trying to kill a few hours there and the place became hellish! Most of the "tourist attractions" had closed before I arrived so my time was spent walking from square to square and the back again. The old faithful Irish bar was closed for the summer and not really fitting in to the bar restautrant scene, i sat down and read my book. Having given up i headed to the station and spotted "The Bishops Arms" a british theme pub (appear to be a chain over here) nice pint of London Pride and my book and time soon flew by to catch my night train to Stockholm.
Didn't get the best nights sleep on the train but i've had a lot worse. Arrived in Stockholm at 7am realising that the hostel i had reserved didn't open till 9. A quick nap in the stations waiting area and i headed to the hostel, about 10 mins walk. Really nice place in the basment of a shop or something, but its plastered all over to somewhat look like a cosy cave!
Checked in at 9, but was unable to use the room till 3pm, so i headed into town.
After visiting Slotten (i think thats right) and going up the elevator to see the city from a hight, i managed to catch my bearings. Jumped across on a boat to another island (stockholm is made up of about 14 in all) to visit the impressive Vassa Mussem, which houses a 17th Centuary galleon that had been salvaged from one of the channels after 333 under water!! Was pretty amazing i have to say!
After that mostly milled about town taking in the sites and sounds, purhased my ticket for my ferry crossing to helsinki on friday.
Amazingly i've traveld all this way and nobody has checked my inter-rail pass so I still have 10 free journeys!
Ne who think i'm goin to nip to the supermarket and grab some pasta to cook up
Drop by soon

Castle's, Kings and Queens!

So today me and my great aunt headed north to Helsingør and Kronborg Castle (the castle where Shakespear's Hamlet is based) had a really nice walk around etc i shan't go into detail, though Helsingør is only about 2 miles across the water from Helsingborg in Sweeden so we watched the ferries go to and through for a while.
We then headed to Fredensborg Slot current recidancy of the Crown Prince Frederik and his Australian Wife Mary.
Then for a quick peep at Frederiksborg Slot and its gardens but i'll save the castle its self for next year.




We finaly endup at another theme park Bakken (apprently the oldest in the world) for a walk about and some dinner, all in all another great day out. tomrrow i'm off fishing with My great uncle, which shall proove intresting as i've never succeeded in catching any fish before
Hope your reading these and enjoying them, feel free to drop a message or something its nice to read what your all up to etc

Sights & Sounds of Copenhagen!!

Well I'd just written a few paragraphs of stuff and this computer shut down! So I'll try again (hitting save more often!)
So on Wednesday I set off for Copenhagen, I started off visiting Christiania, which is basically a squat town. It's formed from the buildings of an old naval base, just outside the city center. The idea being that they self-govern and are separate from any other ruling power. Unfortunately I found that the hippy love each other vibe had long gone. Although the graffiti and pro peace signs are still flying high there was an air of unrest. The residents clearly welcome the tourist in, but the no photo signs and evil stares i received left me feeling slightly intimidated. Maybe they should take their own advice and spread more love!?After that headed across the water to the main part of Copenhagen. Took the obligatory tourist photo of the little mermaid and then wandered about an English church (very strange). Headed down to see the Royal families winter residence, which was quite nice if i do say so!Then decided it was time for a little culture, so hopped on a bus to the National Art Gallery. The building its self was amazing, it was like it'd been chopped in two, the original brick facade at the front and a new glass structure at the back. Art wasn't bad either!! With an alterative way of displaying the modern amongst the more traditional and attempting to draw upon comparisons. Feeling mighty tired from all the walking i decided to try out Kings Park, where i stumbled upon some live Cuban band. It's Copenhagen Jazz festival this week so there are loads of free concerts dotted around the city. Since it was sunny I grabbed a pint and killed sometime listening to some awesome music. Getting bored I thought I’d check out the main harbour side and canal, to discover yet another free concert!
After receiving a phone call from my mums cousin (any idea what the proper term is??) earlier in the day, we arranged to meet for a beer and some food. Though quite how we would meet each other in a busy city and having never met didn't really cross my mind! After a few phone calls to and fro we were happily sinking a beer and discussing the family and life! So that was day one!!!

Anyone ready to read day two??
After getting into my caravan just after midnight the night before i woke up a bit later and headed in to Copenhagen at about 11ish. After jumping on a bus headed in the wrong direction i eventually worked my way to Christiansborg, which is where they royal family had lived and where there government offices are now based. My mum’s cousin had recommend the old castle ruins which were situated below the existing palace. I basically had the place to my self the whole way round which was nice, and got to learn a lot about the Danish royal family and how Copenhagen had developed - yes all that from a few old stones!!Heading around to the royal library (just for you mum!) and there gardens for lunch which was great, I seem to have grown an appreciation for flowers! So up next was the National Museum, taking in exhibitions on the Danish Pre-History (Vikings etc) and Danish History including the more recent history from the 1700 to the present day. This i really enjoyed, learning a lot about how Denmark became well ermm Danish I guess.
My great aunt had also recommended the Roundtower in the center of town, so i was making my way there when i guy approached my saying he was from the paper "Urban" (a free paper like The Metro or London Paper) and would i be willing to answer a few questions on contraception!! I thought why not and gave him my views (did you proud mum! I’m a good boy!!) Got my photo taken and was told I’d be in the paper the following day (alas after all that i wasn't :( maybe for the best that my lovely face isn't associated with the male pill around Copenhagen and its suburbs)Anywho the roundtower does what it says on the tin, its actually a royal observatory built by a king, but the quirk to it was that he refused to walk up to the top, so inside its a spiral ramp wide enough for a horse and carriage to go up. Took in the view across to Sweden and ascended to the sound of more jazz!

Milling about between diffrent stage and squares for a few hours i decided to check out the old styled theme park, Tivoli. This has to be the only real dissapointment of my time in Copenhagen. I knew not to expect disney land, but this was daylight robbery. £8.50 for entrance and then either £2.00 per ride ticket (larger rides costing 3 tickets) or a multipass for £20. Having weighed up th options the multipass was the best way to go. I knew the rides would never live up to the UK theme parks, but sitting on a runaway minetrain esq rollercoaster in the rain on your own is when you really know your at an all time low. As wel is there seemed to be more restaurants and dinners than atractions. Nice gardens tho!!
Tired wet and soggy i headed back to Lyngby!

Lyngby!

So after a glorious nights sleep in my little caravan, me and my great aunt took a trip around the local area of Lyngby. Having done so i feel alot closer to my danish roots and where my alot of my famiy grew up. We took a small steamer boat from Lyngby up a cannal and into a series of lakes. Jumping off at the top of one lake and walking around until we came to an old mansion house, that held art installations and exhibitions. Took a look around there, the current exhibition was entitiled "Your Danish Summer" and the paintings consisted of several artisits paintings of seaside and country settings, they reminded me of some of the cornish landscape paintings i've seen. Then we picked up the boat again and headed back to Lyngby, where somewhat to my amazment my great aunt informed me that she had once been able to ice skate on the lake when it had frozen over! Seriously hard to belive concidering the size of it!!
After that we took a short to a local open air museum, that contained old farm houses from various areas of Denmark and all varying in ages. was a quite intresting really.
Any way now i'm back at home and were about to eat dinner so i better be off.


Copenhagen and the "free-town" of Christiana tomrrow

Child Labour in Denmark is clearly a problem, as this poor girl was forced to captain our boat!!

8 Days of sun, øl (beer) and rock and roll - the aftermarth

Heya, right well i'm now in Lyngby, which is north of Copenhagen, staying with my great aunt.
Last night was pretty sweet, Jay-Z was pretty impressive despite my reservations and the first drop of rain in over a week! Things took a bit of a turn for the worse at night tho. I'd been warned of riots and thief out and about on the sunday night, but having been to festivals before i wasn't worried. I was wrong, i woke up admist a war zone of sorts! The tent next to mine had been vacated and was left in shreads, I awoke to the sound of the turning of a lighter as some guy tried to set it on fire. Luckily i startled him and off he ran. Next up was a a guy who unzipped my tent had a poke about until i shouted and he scarpered off. The final straw was the two guys who despite realising i was in the tent decided to slash it anyway! On later evaulation nothing that a few bits of gaffa tape couldn't fix, but needless to say i didn't get much sleep that night. The sight in the morrning was like the aftermarth of a battle field with remnants of what had been tents and gazebos scatterd as far as the eye could see! Maybe next year i'l heed the advice.
After navigating my way to Lungby and not being able to ring my great aunt for some reason i managed to find my way to her home. I'm staying in a small caravan in the front garden. It's awesome, hooked up with water and electricity.
Had a short walk around Lyngby earlier its a pretty quaint little town with a mixture of old and new architecture.
Any who i'm kind of waffling on so catch ya

8 Days of sun, øl (beer) and rock and roll

Hey again!! So its a week since i left! Festival is pretty much coming to a close now! Seen some awesome band and had possibly the most amazing time. I'll probably review few things when i get to to Copenhagen and have more time on my hands.
But yeah i'm alive and well! If any of you are reading this it'd be nice to know! Drop a commment or something

Till 2moz i guess

Roskilde!!

So here i am in an internet cafe @ the festival!! Having an amazing time camping with a few english guys and his danish girlfriends! This festival is so diffrent from Reading, everyone is so friendly and welcoming and theres so much to do! For exmaple yesterday i went ice skating!! The weather has been amazing, only problem is that the sun rises far to early and then i wake up after goin to sleep for 2 or 3 hours.
Think i'm off to go swimming in the lake here now, which will be great to chill off. Oh yeah and the music hasn't even started yet!! Radiohead are on 2moz tho :)
Well better leave it there, as quite a few people want to use the computers!
So i'll check back soon

oh and mum if your read this the kroner you gave me is out of date and they no longer accept it!!
Shall try to change it when i get to Copenhagen

Countdown!

Alreet!! Well I’m flying out to Copenhagen in less than 15 hours now!!
Today’s been a random day; amongst frantic packing and repacking, I woke up to find my degree results sitting on the door mat! I can happily say I'm pleased and can call myself a graduate!!! Never thought this day would ever come when I started my course 4 years ago!
So Roskilde here I come, I’m hooking up with a load of random people from all over Europe, were staying in what’s been dubbed Camp Unknown! Somewhere along the line there’s been some interest from a Danish TV station who want to document our time at the festival so god knows what I might end up doing on camera!!
So I guess the next time I’ll update this blog will be after the festival, when I’m recovering in my great aunts house, north of Copenhagen!

Till then farvel!!

Welcome!!

Well originally this blog was created to aid an imaginary record company which was created for a piece of coursework at uni. Hopefully sometime in the future this may come to light, however for the time being I’ll attempt to use this blog to update peeps on my travels this summer!
I head off in less than 6 days to Roskilde festival in Denmark! Just looked at an extended weather forecast and in typical festival fashion it’s looking like rain!
Not really sure what to expect from a foreign festival but I’m sure it'll be awesome none the less!