Sunday, March 31, 2013

Just relaxing

Hola!

Here I am once again! Yesterday was absolutely amazing! It seems like I havent forgotten everything as I danced the whole night till 4o clock in the morning...wooooo I was on fire haha! I just love this city soooo much, I hope the rest of Spain is as amazing as BCN! I will find out soon as I am heading to Valencia tomorrow :)

Today I got to relax a bit and I went to Barceloneta for a few hours! Mmmmm listening to Norah Jones's smooth voice on my mp3, sitting on the beach and having the greatest view, what else could I possibly ask for? Yes, life is more than good :) me happy!

I took some pictures today with my tablet and I was hoping that I could post some of them on here, but we are having some technical issues ehm. Hoping it will work tomorrow at least!

I will need to figure out what I will do tonight...maybe get some tapas and go for salsa again? Sounds like a plan :D

I even kinda got an offer for a job here. One of the guys who works at the hostel told me to send my cv for a job. I must admit that it sounds tempting but my cv would be quite empty. Oh well maybe I should give it a try :)

Besos xoxo

Karoliina

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Safe in Barcelona

Hola!!

Actually now that I have the tablet I thought I would give a try and write a short post about my adventures here!

So far everything has been good! The weather was lovely today ( no rain so far...yey!) and I got to meet up with my dear friend Manuela. Its a pity that most of the people I met here have already left but thats life! I am so excited to go for salsa again in a proper salsa club and get these hips moving! I have probably forgotten everything so far but we will test it tonight and see what happens.

Last night I had an interesting adventure with finding my hostel. Plus I had to wait a long time to get my bag at the airport and by the time I arrived I was dead. Fortunately I met this nice couple from Uruguay and I chatted with them for a while at the bus as I was going to the city center. In the end I found my hostel( had to take a taxi) and chatted with two guys who are staying at the same room with me.

So far so good!! More to come soon :)

ps. I really need to get used to this stupid touch screen! 
karoliina

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Next stop: España

Hello loves!

Wohooo! One day left for Spain! I am in a try-not-to-freak-out kind of state. This time I am not so worried even though it still scares me, but no matter how much I have traveled alone I still have this strange twist in my stomach before leaving.

If somebody had told me a year ago that I would be doing these trips on my own I wouldn't have believed them. Since then many things have changed...or actually maybe it's just me who has changed!

Many people say that I am brave for doing this, but I don't really see it that way. For me it's more like pushing my limits. Trying to force myself to try something different and get some space from everything to clear my mind. Maybe it's a process of becoming independent who knows!

No matter how it is I am well prepared this time for my trip! I decided to make a small gift to myself...a tablet! I used to say that I would never ever ever get a gadget that has a touch screen but here I am...I tried to use it today and I'm a disaster! I wanted it for traveling and it is the cheapest I could find. I admit that I am addicted to my computer and when I am traveling it's not the easiest thing to carry around but hopefully this will do :)
 Having a thumbs up situation here! Wish me luck for my trip :) I have packing to do and as I heard it's going to rain in Barcelona the next days...just my luck! :D
 
No matter how bad the weather is I can't wait to eat tapas and dance salsa again!
More posts in the end of April  :)
Until then...Hasta luego!
 
xoxo
 
Karoliina

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Banoffee cake

Hello there!
 
Cake is the theme of today's post! One of my best friends had her birthday a few days ago so I didn't miss the chance to bake a cake for her :)
 
I put my imagination work and decided to make a banoffee cake. The combination of banana and toffee is just soo goood! Yummy!
 
 
For the base I used the same recipe as here!
 
For the filling you are going to need:
  • 2-3 bananas
  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 3-4 dl milk
  •  2 dl whipped cream
For the decoration:
  •  2dl whipped cream
  • milk chocolate
  • nonpareil pearls
  • chocolate wafer sticks
 
Basically there are different ways to make the toffee or dulce de leche. Here is a link if you have never made it before : http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Dulce-De-Leche
What I do is to put the can in a pot and leave it there for three hours in medium-high heat. Usually I make two at the same time because you can save the other can for another desert.
  1.  Cut the cake in three slices and wet the first slice with milk
  2. Spread half of the toffee on one of the cakes
  3. Put on top the sliced banana
  4. Apply a thin layer of whipped cream
Then you do the same process by putting another layer of cake (don't forget to wet it with milk!), toffee, banana and cream. To be honest I would leave the cream out because it became too heavy for my taste...but you do as you like ;)
Leave the cake in the fridge for an hour before decorating.

  • Whip the cream and apply it on top of the cake
  • With a knife make the number on the cream and add the nonpareil pearls in a row
  • Spread the grated chocolate around the number
  • Apply the wafer sticks around the cake
Voila! :)
Happy birthday honey!! :)
 
Karoliina

Monday, March 25, 2013

Happy 25th!

Hello!
 
Today was the celebration of Greek independence day and as you can imagine it is a big thing for us! The Greek revolution was a war of independence againt the Ottoman Empire which started on the 1821. I wish I could give you more information but I seriously don't remember anything anymore. I admit that I am really bad in history. My level of knowledge about these things is really basic...I blame that on my bad memory! Oh well!
 
Here are some pictures of today's parade :)
 Gorgeous ladies! Hehe :D
Today was a good day! Many happy faces and positive people :) Me likey!
 
Karoliina


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Fifty Shades of Grey

Hello there!

In about five days I will be heading to Spain and I haven't done any kind of preparation for my trip! Maybe some laundry would be good to be done before leaving, heh. Oh well, one thing at a time! I don't want to stress too much, besides I am going there for holidays!

But enough about that...let's talk about books! I must admit that I have been really bad on reading books lately. Maybe it's because I haven't found a good book to read and then I end up reading some trashy novels...ugh! This time as well I ended up reading something that I would never ever ever read!
Well, from the picture it's pretty obvious what I have been reading lately...Fifty Shades of Grey. Everybody has been making such a big fuss about that book and so many women have absolutely loved it and others have hated it. So as you can guess my curiosity hit and after a lot of thinking I decided to give it a try. I wanted to have my own opinion about the book.

So...to be honest I haven't finished reading it yet and I am not quite sure if I really want to keep on reading it. I was laughing so hard when one of my Greek friends told me " Stop reading it! It's a book straight from hell!". Of course she had read it and she knew what she was talking about. Maybe being too curious can harm you sometimes? Egh...I don't know!

I knew it was a sex book so I wasn't too shocked about that, BUT who would ever want to write a book like that? And even worse...why would the author write not just one book but a series of three!?? Oh wait...they are even thinking to make a movie as well if they haven't done so already!!

This book just gives the wrong picture to people. A story of a young, handsome, always-good-smelling, billionare guy (Mr Grey) who meets a normal girl (Ana) and wants to make a contract with her so that she would become his sex slave for three months. I mean come on! First of all there is no such thing as good looking, young and billionare...those three words just don't match. Old, ugly and billionare yes.
I know this is a book and it's not even trying to be realistic otherwise it wouldn't be able to sell all these millions of copies. I guess what I worry about is the effect this does to human mind. I don't know how the book ends so maybe there is some kind of surprise in the end but ugh...I have had enough of it already.

I am glad I didn't need to spend money on that! Obviously there are people who have liked it otherwise it wouldn't be a bestseller but for my taste it is just going too far with the details. But that's just my opinion!

If you have read it I woul be glad to know your opinion about it!

 
Karoliina

Friday, March 22, 2013

Bergamo

Ciao ragazzi!

Here comes the end of my trip in Italy! I hope you have enjoyed my posts so far :) I surely had a fun time remembering and writing about the things I got to experience. It was a fun journey and I got to see so so many new things and eat so so great food and meet even greater people! I overcame my fear of traveling on my own and I must say that I enjoyed it more than I imagined :)

But still one last stop left: Bergamo! Also one of my favourite cities in Italy after Florence ;)
It was a small city but I could easily imagine myself living there! It wasn't magnificent like Rome but it was cute :) me liked it very very much and it was so colourful compared to the other cities!
 You should always have a good book with you when you are traveling! I got one in Rome "A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger" which was quite funny, but still a silly romantic novel for girls only. The second one I bought in Bergamo but it was so boring that I couldn't even finish it...blaaaah! I just hate leaving books without finishing them but it was too boring for me.
And the next morning surprise surprise...RAIN! I was extremely pissed off because 1) I had woken up early early in the morning (and I am not a morning person) to start my day by exploring the city and 2) I realized that I had to stay in the hotel till the rain would stop argh!
In the end I decided to wait and fortunately after a couple of hours the rain stopped just a bit. Wohooo!
I walked all the way up to Citta alta, with the rain hitting on my face and my shoes getting wet on every single step...that was a good day for me. The view though was absolutely stunning. If the weather had been better I would have enjoyed it even more :)
 Later on I decided to have my last Italian meal! I don't know if this is just a creepy thing I have but for a long time now I have always avoided going to restaurants on my own. To be exact it is one of the things that I am afraid of...I admit it! I don't simply hate it, I am afraid of going to restaurants on my own. But once I was forced to do it because I was hungry I decided to go for it and it wasn't that bad after all. I had the best carbonara ever and for desert tiramisuuuu...yummyyy! In one day I ate the amount of calories I need for a week but who cares! :D
 
In the end I found myself talking a bit in Italian with the owner of the restaurant. Probably normal things like grazie mille, molto bene and arrivederci haha. I could understand so many thing but I couldn't speak italian...what a strange feeling! Anyway maybe italian will be my number five on my list of languages...who knows! Right now I have to focus on improving my Spanish which has been going very bad lately iiiih ¡¡que mal!!
 
Anyhow...the next day I had to catch my flight and be at the airport at 4 o'clock in the morning. Actually, I almost lost my flight because I was daydreaming ( I don't know what the hell I was thinking ) but in the end I ran to the last call for my flight and everything was good again! I just got a small heart attack at that point but nothing too serious heh :)
 
Without realizing it I was back home again. It felt good but strange at the same time. Going back to the old routine takes some adapting but I won't need to adapt for too long. In one week exactly I will be heading toooooo SPAIN! I know I am obsessed with Spain but I have missed it so much that I have to go back again. This time I will be going to Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, Seville and maybe Cordoba, but we will see. YEAH I AM EXCITED!
 
I'm leaving you with a song ;)
 
 
Karoliina

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Milan

Hello there!

My next stop after Florence was Milan! I didn't stay there for too long though...just one day and a half to be exact! After being so sick in Florence I decided to have my first proper meal and get some PIZZA! As I said two girls that I met in Florence Heidi and Petra decided to go to Milan as well so I had company with me :) I also met some new people at the hostel and together we went out.
I was quite surprised of how many people and especially women were traveling alone! I thought I was some kind of exception but gladly I wasn't the only one!

My overall impression about Milan wasn't too bad, but it didn't have many things to see to be honest. It would have been a great place for shopping though! But no money no honey, so I prefered to invest my money on food and I don't regret it! :D
 I was so jealous of her pizza...I just got a round one! Mah...


Heidiii! :)

 Another duomo
Sara from Mexicoo! :) Such a sweetheart!
 This is where I shop! So cheap as well ;)
Soon I had to pack my stuff (again!) and go to my next destination which was Bergamo! ( I don't look tired at all here!hih )
I became an expert on fitting all my things in that bag hehe
 
Karoliina


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Florence part 3

Ciao ciao!

Once again here we are with Florence! For my last days I stayed with a host through couch surfing and I must say it was the best experience ever! Clara and her family were so nice that I wish I had stayed longer with them. Plus they had the cutest dog ever hehe! :)

I wish I had more energy to do things with Clara but as I had been sick I couldn't do much. On women's day every museum in Florence was free for women so we went to Santa Maria Novella and after that we walked around a bit. Also at some point Clara really had to show me something and we ended up in Hard Rock Cafe just to see the cool toilets they had...they were actually pretty awesome! ;)
 There she is! Claraaaa! :D
She has a strange way to pose for pictures hihi :)
 We look goooood! When you start taking pictures like this one it means that it is bed time ;) Actually the mouth opens came because one time I was photographing something and I was yawning at the same time. Since then Clara has been making fun of me...it must have looked quite funny hehe :)
Here trying desperately to dry my shoes with a hairdryer...It worked quite well I must say! ;)
 
Unfortunately the next day I left for Milan and we got to spend only one whole day with Clara but I am sure we will meet again! I liked Florence that much that I would definitely go there again! :)
 
Karoliina

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Florence part 2


Ciao!
 
On my previous post I got a comment asking about the handsome young man on the last picture! He is actually a Greek friend who is studying in Florence and for those who are interested he is single ;) ( he is going to kill me if he sees what I am writing about him buahahah ) Oh well, back to Florence once again!! As I said I went to the tours the hostel was organizing and these pictures are from the second tour I went. When it was finished I went to a few museums with a girl from Argentina and a guy from Chile...both of them were very, very nice even though their Spanish was too difficult for me to understand sometimes hihi :) As the weather was a bit rainy it was the perfect oportunity to visit  museums and by the way I went to see the statue of David as well! Wau...that's all I am going to say about it! For sure it was worth waiting in line...but I wasn't allowed to take a picture, MAH! :(

 
 
 Duomooo again...
One of the many chapels we saw. I am sorry but I never remember the names of them iiih
That guy (in the red) knew the whole book by heart! Felipe ( in the blue ) started reading a line and the guy would continue. I was impressed...I have the memory of a goldfish and something like that would just simply be impossible for me. That's why I could never be an actress :D
Dante!
 Somebody had been partying hard :O
 For the loverrrrrrs
And my dear friend from Chile, Felipe! :) He is just the sweetest guy ever!
Petra from Germany! We ended up going to Milan the same day and staying at the same hostel which was awesome :)

 As you can see I met tons of people in Florence and I don't even have a picture of all of them! That is my favourite part about traveling, meeting new people.
While I was there I wanted to go to Siena and Pisa, but the weather was terrible and also I couldn't get out of bed for a couple of days because I was sick, so my plans changed but that's life! Planning your trips too much can be a disaster sometimes. In the end life is full of surprises! (that comes from a person who hates surprises eheh )

Karoliina