Europe 2013
July 2013 was a busy month for me in a wonderful way. After visiting the former Finnish settlement in Rio named Penedo, I went to the commemorations of the Paulista Revolution of 1932 in São Paulo City. I spent the night at my grandparent's and then in the next morning my family took me to the airport so I could start the trip I call "Europe 2013" in which I would spend the rest of July and the first week of August in Europe.
São Paulo to Nice, France (connection in Germany)
The line to get to the departure area of Guarulhos Airport was huge but I patiently waited since I was in a good mood. I was supposed to make a connection in Germany and then continue the trip. Once in the German airport in Munich I walked towards the departure gate and then a guy stop in front of me and asks where I was going (I understood then he was an officer) so I explained to him and he asked for my documents (of course it was hard to find at that time just because I needed) before I gave him he asked me what my profession was and I told him "English teacher" so he didn't even look my passport well and let me go so I concluded that there is maybe a certain power in my occupation. Getting to the customs another German officer asked me where I was going and where I would stay, I answered quite careless and continued on the way to the gate, then I realised that that was my official entering in Europe, so it wouldn't be in France, as I expected, so all my worries and the letters I asked my friends to write saying I would be with them were useless. If I knew that would be my official entrance in Europe, I would have been more attentive, showed the letters and etc. After making friends with an American couple on the way to the luggage reclaim, I went to the departure place and met my Brazilian friend Paula and her French boyfriend François. French people hate to speak English, so that was good that François could speak Spanish, so I could speak that with him and Portuguese with Paula (while they talked to each other in French).
We didn't stay only in Nice, we also visited my beloved Antibes. Antibes was the first place I went to in France. It was in 2009 and I still have very good memories of that time. Antibes was exactly the same, with its historical buildings, narrows streets and traditional houses. The only sad part of this trip was that I forgot the bag of my camera with my spare battery, my battery charger and my Brazilian cell phone sin card near the belvedere at the beach and when I went back to recover it, it was already gone. (another sad story during my time in France was that the dogs of Paula ate the energy power adapter cord of my laptop, but that was funny and sad at the same time. François went with me to FNAC and I bought a universal power adapter and a battery recharger for the camera that I use to this day)
I was lucky that they took me also for a third place called Villefranche-sur-Mer, they were very patient with me while I was taking many pictures.
My main flight ticked was São Paulo-Nice / Nice-São Paulo so it was a round ticket from the same places, which meant I had to arrive in France and would have to return to São Paulo from France also. While in Nice, I took a 45 minutes train to Italy, to the town of Ventimiglia and as I enjoyed being there and learned that the town's Medieval Games were happening, I started a hotel hunting because I had the idea of spending my last two days in Italy instead of France before getting back to Brazil. Was interesting trying to speak Italian, I made a mix of Portuguese, Spanish, Franch... but I found a hotel, the attendant there was even Brazilian. In Italy I felt like home, it was a strange but a good feeling, maybe the blood in my veins and my genes identified the place. I was listening to a lot of Italo Dance while visiting the places, artists as Gigi D'Agostino, Gabry Ponte, Prezioso.... and also I got to know many new Italian songs there. (As I went back again to Italy for my last 2 days of Europe, I wrote more details at the end of this post)
Nice, France to Helsinki, Finland (connection in Sweden)
In Nice I took a flight to Sweden first before going finally to Finland through a connection. The Arlanda Airport in Stockholm is amazing, one of the best I have ever been. Places to rest, to eat, internet, all of them in the best level possible.
Flying with Scandinavian Airlines' Asgerd Viking to Sweden
Crossing the Alps towards Sweden
Landing in Sweden
Landing in Sweden
Landing in Sweden
Landing in Sweden
Landing in Sweden - Arlanda Airport
At Arland Airport I ate at Max and I was worried because Sweden doesn't use Euro money but actually it was cheaper than the Euro area restaurants. The hamburger there is delicious and their chips is crispy, the way I like it. After eating I went to the boarding gate to take the flight to Finland.
Flying over Helsinki
Flying over Helsinki
Waiting for the plane to totally land and we start to get off I saw a very tanned blond man (everybody actually was blond) with Mjölnir as a tattoo and this time I knew I was again in Scandinavia. Once in Helsinki I took a bus to Helsingin päärautatieasema and from there a train to Hämeenlinna. I didn't have much time for pictures since I was lucky that the train was soon leaving. On the train I just sat and checked that there was internet and power point to charge the cell phone and I thought that was very good, all the train services should be that way. The guy came to check the tickets, I said "terve", he checked and went away. Only when I was already in Hämeenlinna that I realised that I sat on the first class, I was on the wrong wagon because obviously I bought the "lower class" ticket. I didn't check the ticket for seat number, I don't know why. In Hämeenlinna Matleena was waiting for me and we started our tour. During my days in that city I was very active, I played and sang songs with Matleena in Finnish, I swam in a lake, I play football and of course, visited many places. I got to know some new people including Claudio, an African young man who is living in Finland, he let me sleep in his house since his room mate was travelling. The curious about Claudio is that he is from a Portuguese speaking country in Africa, so I spoke Portuguese to him. Another new friend was Peteri, who told me he lived in Brazil for a while and I again spoke some Portuguese to him, but my intention was to learn some Finnish actually. I could see again Lea and Lauri, the siblings I met in 2009 through Matleena, I slept in their house in 2009 and after 4 years I was back again in the same house. Their family treats me very well, I admire them a lot. Lea is very fun and is always positive to do something different and Lauri is a person who I really enjoy to have a conversation about History, I learn a lot with him about Finland. They both took me to their grandfather's house and to get there we needed to row a boat.
After my time in Hämeenlinna I took a train (€75!!! ) in the late evening and I was supposed to spend the whole night in the train to arrive only in the morning at Kemi, a more or less 10h journey. As this time I was on my right seat (not first class) there was no internet and no power point so soon my cell phone died and I realised I had nothing to read so I tried to sleep and/or use my imagination. That was very beautiful to see the sun raising on the fields of Finland and when I finally arrived there my friends Samuel and Maíra were waiting for me and I learned we were supposed to stay two nights at the house of Samuel's parents in Kemi and then after go to their house in Rovaniemi. Samuel's family was very nice to me, on the first day they weren't at home because coincidently they were in an event with a Brazilian Christian music group. Samuel's father took us to a tour to many places and I also met Samuel's brother-in-law Simo who also like Finnish metal bands, so we could have some talks and he cooked a delicious salmon for us. Samuel is Married to Maíra, who is Brazilian and Samuel's sister is also married to a Brazilian man.
During my time in Finland I had the surprising possibility to also visit Sweden and that's what we did. I went to Haparanda twice, which is the first Swedish city when the border is crossed.
The next destination was the city where Maíra and Samuel lives, so we went by car to Rovaniemi, which took us less than 2h
These below (youtube playlist) are the songs I discovered in Finland, some because of the radio and TV and some others by Matleena's recommendation
My days in Finland were over and I needed to head back to Helsinki so I would need to take again that 10hs train. This time I was prepared and I made a program of what to do to spend these 10 hours without getting crazy. The program involved time to sleep, to listen to music, to read, to walk around the train. After listening to a lot of The Rasmus, that was time to walk around the train and that was interesting, each wagon I past there was something new to discover, one wagon was a restaurant, another wagon was first class "rooms" with beds, another was just like mine and the last ones were the best, they were load wagons and some of them were even rustic and were carrying nothing. On the first class wagons there was internet, so I just sat there on the stairs on the floor and used the internet on my cell phone, I was dealing with the idea that I could be caught at any moment.
My food for the trip, of course, bread with ham and cheese (but that ham is not as good as Sadia's)
Tempere train station (Tempere rautatieasema)
Sitting on the stairs of first class to use internet (I remember sending this pic to my brother)
Arriving in Helsinki
Breakfast at McDonald's Helsinki
Breakfast at McDonald's Helsinki
Breakfast at McDonald's Helsinki
I had to wait so I bough some gifts at Eurokauppa in Helsinki
Waiting in Helsinki Airport to get on board to go to Germany with a connection in Latvia
Helsinki, Finland to Berlin, Germany (connection in Latvia)
I took the Air Baltic flight and then arrived at Riga Airport in Latvia, I wish I could go outside and check the place but there was no time for that. While there I had a different feeling from other European places, I didn't feel ok, people were somehow too strange in attitude, it's quite hard to explain, but soon enough my flight was available to passengers to get on board.
Flying over Mārupe towards Riga Airport, Latvia
Flying over Mārupe towards Riga Airport, Latvia
Flying over Mārupe towards Riga Airport, Latvia
Flying over Mārupe towards Riga Airport, Latvia
Flying over Mārupe towards Riga Airport, Latvia
Flying over Mārupe towards Riga Airport, Latvia
Flying over Mārupe towards Riga Airport, Latvia
Flying over Mārupe towards Riga Airport, Latvia
When I finally arrived in Berlin, my friends Michael and Santosh were waiting for me and we were all excited with the meeting and they know how I like Deutschland. So Santosh drove us to Dresden so our tour would start, but I was extremely tired because I had one night on the train in Finland and that whole next day travelling, I arrived on the evening. I slept at Michael's place and finally met his wife Evelyn (I know about her since 2009). The next day on the morning I took a walk with Michael until a historical tower near there and I felt sick because of the hot temperature, but after recovering soon, I made the rest of the tour well, and that was amazing (I just refused to try the kebab again, because last time in 2009 I got sick with that turk thing full of mayonnaise)
I went with Michael and Santosh to visit the Festung Königstein, in the Königstein town, which gave us the opportunity to take a lot of interesting pictures in a so historical place
I didn't get to know any new German song or band while in Deutschland but I listened too much to one particular And One's song:
Berlin, Germany to Nice, France (then Ventimiglia, Italy)
When my days in Germany were over, I took a bus to Berlin to then take a plane to Nice, in France. The plan was: I would go to Nice, take a bus from the airport to the house of my friend Paula, a person would be waiting for me to give my luggage and then I would go to Ventimiglia, in Italy, in a 45 minutes by train, after two days in Ventimiglia, I would take the train back to Nice, go to the airport and then the flight back to São Paulo. (it all means that I all the trips I did inside Europe was only with a hand luggage, otherwise I would have to pay a fee apart of the fact that every flight I would have to reclaim my luggage)
When my days in Germany were over, I took a bus to Berlin to then take a plane to Nice, in France. The plan was: I would go to Nice, take a bus from the airport to the house of my friend Paula, a person would be waiting for me to give my luggage and then I would go to Ventimiglia, in Italy, in a 45 minutes by train, after two days in Ventimiglia, I would take the train back to Nice, go to the airport and then the flight back to São Paulo. (it all means that I all the trips I did inside Europe was only with a hand luggage, otherwise I would have to pay a fee apart of the fact that every flight I would have to reclaim my luggage)
Flying over Berlin towards Nice, France - Olympiastadion Berlin
Flying over Berlin towards Nice, France
Flying over Berlin towards Nice, France
Flying over Berlin towards Nice, France
Flying over Berlin towards Nice, France
During this flight towards France something happened to me that had never happened before. Out of nothing I felt sick, I guess my pressure lowered when the plane was more or less 20 minutes to land, I was pale and sweating and I had no one with me there, only strangers and I didn't want to alarm the passenger besides me or the flight attendant. I had my earphones in my ears (those modern earphones that enter almost totally in the ears), so I don't know if it affected me somehow when the plane started lowering its level to land, I just know that when I finally arrived I really needed to sit and wait, Paula called me and I could barely hear her, my ear was humming. Thanks God that when I took the bus to Paula's home I was already getting back to normal.
Those last days in Italy would be the only ones I would be alone, all the other days I had very good company of old and new friends. When I finally got to the hotel I have booked weeks earlier in Ventimiglia, I was extremely tired of all my journey, so I took a good shower, organised some stuff and went for a walk.
These below are the songs (youtube playlist) I discovered while in Italy, apart of them I listened to a lof of Italo Dance as Gigi D'Agostino, Gabry Ponte...
Nice, France to São Paulo (connection in Germany)
The journey was getting to its end, so on the day of my flight back, I took a train from Ventimiglia to Nice and there Paula and François were waiting for me. They took me by car to the airport and we said goodbye. The flight went to München Flughafen "Franz Josef Strauß" (MUC) in Germany and from there I took the flight to Guarulhos Airport "Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport" (GRU), in Guarulhos, near São Paulo City. There my family was waiting for me and once at home I distributed the gifts I bought for them.
