Skopje!

Last year we had the opportunity to visit beautiful Skopje as part of our Balkan tour that later on continued to Albania and Montenegro. I feel that Skopje was surprisingly perfect for our needs at the time. It was early August 2018 when we started our travel from Wroclaw to Skopje. The most cheapest way was to take a bus to Budapest and fly to Skopje from there. After arriving to Skopje we were already in love with the city. The first afternoon we spend having lunch and coffee in the restaurants next to the river tasting local foods, wondering in the city and taking pictures of all possible statutes. In the central square the old meets modern technology in interesting and beautiful way. Skopje has to offer many different sides as we were spending the evening in the old town bazaar and Skopje Fortress listening to mosque near by.

Even though Skopje is a capital city, nature is still close. The second day, we decided to have a trip to Matka Canyon. We took a bus from the main station as a two way ticket. The bus was very full of tourists and locals and there was no air conditioning with the temperature over 35 degrees. We were already tired when the bus finally got to its destination. From the bus stop, it was still quite a walk to the actual canyon. At the canyon there are boat trips offered but we wanted to have a hike and ended up going further than any of the boat tours. The views were awesome! The nature and the canyon were so beautiful. We did not quite realize for how much we were actually walking and we started to get tired. We had plenty of water when we started but in the end we had almost nothing. Finally when we got back to the point where the canyon starts and the boat tours are offered we decided that we are too tired to get back to the bus stop and decided to take a taxi back to the city. Wonderful day! After the trip we had cevapi dinner in the old bazaar followed by some rakija and ice cream for dessert.

The next day was our last in Skopje. We decided to have breakfast with the locals and headed to the city for some burek with local youghurt. This day was all about relaxing and taking it easy, wondering the streets of the old bazaar and stopping for some tea at least few times. Skopje surprised me, I really fell in love with this city!

To see and feel Skopje even better, we created a video about our amazing trip:

-Camilla

Surprise visit to Finland!

In the end of March I visited Finland. It was only a trip for a weekend but still I am more than happy that I was able to make it. The trip was a surprise for my family as only my sister was aware that I'm coming. I could not sleep well for a couple of nights before the trip as I was just thinking how everybody will react seeing me in Finland. This was the first time that nobody was picking me up from Turku ( as nobody knew ;)) so I needed to take a train. Trains are very expensive in Finland but luckily I was able to find good tickets. As I arrived to Tampere my sister picked me up from the station and it was time to surprise everybody else! The surprise was successful as nobody had even thought that there would be possibility that I could be in Finland. Happy reunion with family!

There were few things I wanted to do while in Finland (except spending time with family), enjoying the nature and eating wings plus some other real Finnish food. Luckily I was able to do all that. The weather was beautiful for the whole trip so that it was easy to spend time outside. We went to a lake in our town and enjoyed the nature and sweet-bun-on-a-stick. Sweet-bun-on-a-stick is like the traditional Finnish sweet bun but it is baked on campfire. It is great snack while hiking or spending time in the nature. Specially when I do not like Finnish sausages that are just full of flour. On Sunday I had the opportunity to go to my favorite restaurant in Tampere, Hook with by brother. Hook is known for their wings and their decor is just awesome with all the pirate things.  

Before the trip it was hard to think what to bring with me. At the time it was already relatively warm in Poland and I was just using my Converse shoes, however for Finland I needed to take my winter boots that were in the closet already. I also took my winter jacket. It was good to have it in Finland but when coming back to Poland I was way too hot. It can be said that the spring is officially in Poland! Terrace season is open and flowers blossom. Today +23 degrees ;)

-Camilla

Stockholm Part2

Hey, now is the time to tell you what we saw in Stockholm!

On Friday afternoon we went to the Moderna Museet, the admission is free for some of the collections. 

Moderna Museet has one of Europe's finest collections of modern and contemporary art. It inculdes key works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Dorothea Tanning, Andy Warhol and Niki de Saint Phalle.

-Moderna Museet

On Saturday we went to the Royal Palace of Stockholm. Part of the palace is a museum. We visited the Royal Apartments and exhibition of the Royal wedding dresses. I haven't visited the Palace before even when I have visited Stockholm many times and now it seems that we have still part of the palace to see; the Treasury. 

When we were leaving from the palace we saw a demonstration and an opposing demonstration. It started to get a bit violent so we decided to leave. On our way to find another way out from the Old town we saw police with horses coming to break the violent part of the opposing demonstration. Link to the news about the happenings:

https://www.rt.com/news/366683-stockholm-neo-nazi-march/

On Saturday evening we went to the Fotografiska, it is just next to the Viking line terminal and open till very late! During our visit there was exhibition 1-2-3-4 of the work from Anton Corbijn. He has taken pictures from well known bands and musicians, for example The Rolling Stones, Courtney Love, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, Metallica and Bruce Springsteen. 

Also on both days while in Stockholm we were walking in the Old town (Gamla Stan). There are a lot of nice small boutiques for handcraft and souvenirs. The architecture itself is beautiful too, small streets and different atmosphere than in the rest of the city.

Every time we go to Stockholm we want to eat in Mongolian restaurant :D It started maybe 4-5 years ago and now it is more like a tradition. The restaurant we went for the first time is not working anymore but luckily we found similar one. The point is, that it is a buffet and you pick everything to your plate so that it is not cooked yet. The cook will prepare your plate in front of your eyes. 

If you haven't been in Stockholm before I also recommend Vasamuseet, maritime museum that displays the 17th century warship Vasa!

-Camilla