EUROTRIP 2014/2015: Winter in Graz, Vienna, Salzburg and surrounding little towns and Sarajevo

We are happy to tell you a story. This story will lead you through Austria, Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This is a travel diary from last winter 2014 -2015. We divided this post into three sections for you. After each "photo album" you will find our travel diary. Hope you'll enjoy it! We surely did! Posts from last summer are also almost finished so you'll be able to enjoy them too soon!

GRAZ

Sabina and I began our one month long trip with a night bus to Helsinki and a flight to Vienna via München. Our journey continued straight to Graz by train through beautiful Austrian towns and villages. Evi was waiting for us at the local train station and we were really happy to see her after a long and quite exhausting trip. We took a taxi to her student apartment she shares with three other students from the University of Graz. As you all probably know she has been in Graz as an exchange student (Erasmus) for one year now. It was really nice to see her again, we had missed her a lot. She showed us the campus area the first day. Sabina and I walked around it while she had a lecture and managed to find this really cute restaurant called Propeller right behind the corner. It was so warm and sunny, quite opposite than the weather in Finland we just had to escape from. First days in all that sun and warmth after living many months in dark finish winter was really refreshing, as if we were born all over again. 

Graz was really nice city, the second in size right after Vienna. We walked every day to the city center from Evi's home to eat different local specialities like Speatzle, Apfelstrudel (which by the way was the best we've ever tasted) and Glüchwein, visit christmas markets and just wander around the city and its parks. One place that was our absolute favourite was Schloßberg and the clock tower (Grazer Uhrturm). The view over the entire city was breathtakingly beautiful, sun shone and no tourists had yet invaded the entire place, which suited us better than well. There was one thing we noticed quite fast- almost half of the people spoke some language that is spoken in area of former Yugoslavia, it really made us feel comfortable and happy, almost like home in a weird way!

SALZBURG AND SURROUNDING GERMAN TOWNS BAD REICHENHALL, BERCHTESGADEN AND KÖNIGSEE

Finally also Elvira's winter holiday started and we were able to continue our trip to Salzburg by train. The views were spectacular but there was one definitely unforgettable group of passengers that made sure no one enjoyed those long hours near them. We are talking about this young pair and their one year old little monster-baby. Toddler took stuff that belonged to other passengers and threw them all over the train, screamed almost the entire time (for many hours) and his mom gave him candy to "keep him quiet", which only made him scream more to get more candy... well played mom. That entire train also smelled so much because this little guy had diarrhea and his parents changed him there on the passenger seat... and left his diapers on the floor... (ps. there were toilets also).

Otherwise this part of our trip was maybe the best one! Thanks to that goes to our dear dear friend Mirela and her family, these beautiful places and the joy we all experienced after reuniting after a long time. We not only stayed in Salzburg but also visited two little towns too Bad Reichenhall, where Mirela's family lives and Berchtesgaden. They all were absolutely beautiful! Alps, fresh air, sun, that great atmosphere, happy girls and all! City of Salzburg was just a big wow. It has always been on my bucket list. Salzburg itself pleased us all so much that we could easily see us all living in there some day. Old town, fortress, river and the alps, houses of Mozart and Doppler... We loved every minute!

Every morning began with a breakfast Mirela's beautiful mom (such a nice lady she is) made for us and a walk outdoors, petting their little dog Belka and exploring the surrounding nature or through little towns or Salzburg. Sun shone the whole time, air was so fresh and it was soooo warm in the middle of the winter! Something very unusual for us who have lived in a bit depressing and dark Finland through winter time. It was so nice to connect with the nature, culture, animals, history and all the beauty around us. We also tasted Salzburger Nockler, a dessert that tasted too much like sweet egg foam coated with hot raspberries. We coudn't finish it. We made a trip to Königsee and Eagel's Nest, a place where Hitler lived. It was located really close to the town where Mirela and her family lived. This place was just phenomenal! Alps, that beautiful lake, fresh air and the wind that blew through the valleys in a way it sounded like the strongest thunder ever. It was like a little piece of heaven on earth... In addition, while visiting Hitler's house, I couldn't stop thinking that we shared the same view with Hitler as we stand there in that mountain of his...

Days ended by listening to Mirela's dad sing and play accordion to us. I mean, bosnian hospitality is always something special and this time was not an exception by any means. Before we even realized it was time to head back to Vienna but we all left our hearts to this region of Austria and Germany. 

VIENNA

 

After the time we spent in the northern Austria and southern Germany it was time to take a train back to Vienna again. A big capital, with no mountains but with a wind that made us all sick. It was much colder in Vienna than in other parts of Austria or Germany we had visited by so far. Vienna was beautiful in its own way. It was like any other European big city. We decided to eat real Sacher cakes, visit Schloss Schönbrunn and Belvedere, Rathaus and the christmas market in there and the oldest church in entire Vienna. The parks around two palaces were beautiful even if it wasn't even a summer. The city itself offered much to see for art and history lovers or shoppers. I bought myself a copy of the painting Die Küss (The Kiss) painted by Gustav Klimt. I fell in love with his paintings in local gallery. Such a beautiful work! 

After all those exhausting and eventfull days there was only one thing in our minds in the end... Bed. Nothing felt better than taking a hot shower after those windy and long days and curling up to the clean and soft hotel sheets.

SARAJEVO

The last place we visited on out winter holiday was Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We have been in Sarajevo for many many times as you all know from previous posts. What was exceptional this time was that it was winter. Sabina has been in Sarajevo during the winter but we two haven't. This was one of our dreams for a long time to see our part of the Europe during the winter. What will it look like when there are no leaves nor green grass? Will it be foggy? Is it going to be cold this time on New Years Eve or +26 as it was last year? Do we need to buy extra blankets to our apartment? Will it be possible to drink a cup of coffee out? All our questions were answered soon after a long drive through Austria, Croatia and Bosnia by night bus. Arrival to Sarajevo was just mystical. The fog around us, smell of winter and wood-heating, entire city waking up slowly...

This was also our first ever New Year's Eve and christmas holiday outside from Finland and was really worth it. In Sarajevo we stayed in our own home. It was so cold first when we arrived! We had to put heating on and in addition buy many more candles to warm up the place for the first nights. :D This year the weather was changing a lot from day to another and it was almost impossible to know how much and what to wear. One day it was +15 and the second, for example during the New Years Eve, it was -26! Our butts literally froze and we had left all our winter jackets to Finland, because hey it can't be that cold there? Well it was... luckily we had warm chai to drink, great company and the view was absolutely amazing from Zuta Tabija. Entire Sarajevo on your palms. 

We also decided to visit our family friends every time we possibly could, went shopping and ate in different local restaurants. One of our favourite places though definitely was Srebrenica Exhibition near Sarajevo Cathedral. It was a gallery about Srebrenica massacre and Siege of Sarajevo. Documentary films and pictures stopped the world around you and took you back to those stories our own family has been telling us. We also helped poor local people, some treats to their children and food to entire family. Helping did not end there. We also bought food to all stray animals around us daily and saved one puppy from the street. She was maybe 2 months old and left in a box alone. We contacted our friend to pick her up, got her a place from local kennel and found her a new home from Finland. This all made us really happy. Helping others really is something... it just feels so good.

All journeys though come to the end. So did this one after four very nice weeks of traveling through the lands we love. It was really sad day when we had to pack up our belongings, say goodbye to the view from the balcony and take a bus back to Austria. Evi headed back to Graz and Sabina and I back to Vienna for one more night before our next flight to Finland... Buu.

- Herminica

A Western Warchild, part 2

Bosnia 1992-1995 from Midhat Mujkic

23 years have passed from the beginning of the genocide in Bosnia and wiping off my home country Yugoslavia (nowadays: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo) from the map.

24.05.1992 - was the day when my parents had gathered together with their families for a cup of strong afternoon coffee. Black gold was already served but non of them got a chance to sip it before the grenades and bombs started their rumble, blood started to spill, memories were destroyed from photo albums, school diplomas became meaningless and only F was left from families. For some not even that one F stood on its feet after the war that took three long years of torturing, raping and mass murdering. All that is still continuing in different form today, thanks to Deyton and world that messed things up so that it is almost impossible to go on because of the division of BiH into two different states where war criminals rule and where police arrests only Bosnian (catholics or muslims) people for all different reasons... By posting this picture here, with the legal Bosnian flag even I am now a criminal and a terrorist in the eyes of Nazi serbs and could be arrested on my next vacation. it is injustice. Genocide is still going on and world does nothing.

1. My grandma and grandma seven years after the war in front of their house 2. My house 3. Me (left) , my cousin Elma (right) and my mom at the refugee camp 4. My face on the Seura- magazine.

This is a cigarette holder (mustikla) my dad did on time period he went through different concentration camps. That time period was from 26.05.1992 to 01.10.1992, four months of surviving, torture, mass killings and hard work by digging new mass graves for your friends and family- maybe even yourself. Four months of not knowing if your family is still alive or not. I was a 1,5 years old baby back then hiding with my remaining relatives who were not killed because they managed to escape and my mum, who had just given birth to my first baby sister Elvira and walked 40 km's to the next save spot with us through mountains avoiding land mines, rapers and killers. Elvira lived her four first months as a refugee with us in cities Prijedor and Travnik in different cellars in constant hunger, fear and darkness, the first sounds she heard were not happy ones and she slept under the table on concrete floor.

Not all were that lucky. Some of them unlucky ones were my four uncles aged from 17 to 23 years, they all were tortured to death by serb forces. All in all, only this little town called Kozarac had 27 000 inhabitants who all were either killed or forced to a life of a refugee for the rest of their lives. Almost 95 % of all homes were distroyed and all mosques and catholic churches were bombed to the ground. All what was left were houses of serbs and their orthodox churches. We managed to escape to Karlovac to a refugee camp on 02.10.1992. That is when my dad saw her newborn for the first time and our family was reunited. Dad had changed so much both physically and mentally that I couldn't recognize him. Finally we got a flight to safe place called Finland 01.11.1992. 

Meanings of the days my dad had engraved:

24.05. - our house and Kozarac were attacked

26.05. - concentration camp Keraterm;

27.05. - concentration camp Omarska;

06.08. - some were moved to concentration camp Trnopolje, another to concentration camp Manjaca;

27.08. - UNHCR registered all in Trnopolje

17.06. - Elvira was born, the information he received on 01.10.92 through UNHCR

And how could we possibly forget it all? Especially when it is still going on... There is only one good thing in war, it is much harder to kill us all when we are all (2 millions) dispersed around the world.

More about this same subject, here: http://lolimte.blogspot.fi/2013/04/a-western-warchild.html

- Herminica

Beautiful spring / Kaunis kevät

Spring has been coming to Finland for almost three months now. It is fighting for its residence with autumn, winter and summer. This has been one thing that has always bothered be about Finland- there is no proper spring in here and spring is one of those things that I like. Birds singing, bright colours,  buds and opportunities, sunny days that cherish you and those refreshing drops of summer rain. Spring always means the start of summer holiday, joy and laughter, fulfilling your own desires with time, traveling and time for yourself. This year my spring has been special in many ways- in good and bad. Bad things are not worth remembering because doing so is already one form of bad and does not help in processing those things into desired direction. Good on the other hand is worth remembering. It helps you to charge your batteries, brings up the smile on your face, provides you with feelings of accomplishment and casts strength and belief in to the future. It calms down and gives energy and strengthens up your own path of choice just the way spring does.

Kevät tekee tuloaan Suomessa jo kohta kolmisen kuukautta. Se tappelee vuoron syksyn, kesän ja talven kanssa olemassaolostaan. Tämä on asia, joka minua on aina vaivannut Suomessa- täällä ei ole kunnon kevättä ja kevät jos mikä on minun mieleeni linnunlauluineen, kirkkaine väreineen, uuden elämän silmuineen, uusine mahdollisuuksineen, hellivine aurinkoisine päivineen ja raikkaine kesäropinoineen. Kevät tarkoittaa aina kesäloman alkua, iloa ja naurua, itsensä toteuttamista ajan kanssa, matkustelua ja omaa aikaa. Tänä vuonna kevääni on ollut monesta syystä ainutlaatuinen hyvässä ja pahassa. Pahaa en muistele nytkään, koska pahan muistelu on sitä itseään, eikä auta asioiden käsittelyssä ainakaan sinne suuntaan, johon on pyrkimys. Hyvää sen sijaan kannattaa muistella. Hyvän muistelu sekä lataa akkuja, tuo hymyn kasvoille, luo onnistumisen tunteita ja valaa voimaa ja uskoa tulevaan. Se rauhoittaa ja energisöi sekä eheyttää omaa valintaa positiivisella polulla, vähän niin kuin kevät itsekin.  

My own spring has begun probably as early as in last December when we escaped Finish Polar nights for one month (there are blog posts coming about that month and last summer too, I've had some issues with my hard disc). We were able to experience all seasons from flowery spring to stern frost of the winter and that harsh wind from the autumn. In addition to the trip I have strive for taking some time for myself even in the middle of the biggest rush. All rush and pressure I experienced almost led to the burnout. That is something that is against my life style and against all my habits to stress like that. Luckily I was able to find a piece within myself and clear my to do-list by following the lead of inner me and by being loyal to my own path and way of doing things. I have been painting, reading books, celebrating my small and forgotten birthday with my sister Sabina and celebrating others' birthdays too. I also saved one pearl of my life- a stray dog named Kida with my sister Sabina, started my internship among type 1 diabetes, continued exercising with new passion, operated my vision, took many Master's courses and got my Bachelor's degree out with total 253 ECTS.

Oma kevääni on alkanut luultavasti jo viime Joulukuussa kun lähdimme kuukauden reissuun pakoon Suomen jatkuvaa pimeyttä (tästä ja edellisestä kesäreissusta tulossa tänne taas tavaraa, ollut ongelmia kiintolevyn kanssa). Reissussa sai kokea kuukauden aikana kukkaisen kevään, tuiman talven pakkaset ja syksyn riepottelevan tuulen. Sen lisäksi olen pyrkinyt kesken kamalimman kiireenkin ottamaan aikaa itselleni. Helmikuussa olin tapojeni ja oman ikiaikaisen elämänasenteeni vastaisesti ajautunut tehtävien ja ympäriltä tulleen paineen vuoksi tilaan, jossa burnout kolkutteli ovella ja se näkyi ei vain henkisesti vaan myös fyysisesti. Onneksi rauhoittuminen luonnistuu minulta ja selvitin sekä pääni että to do-listani kunnialla seuraamalla sisintä ja ominta itseäni. Olen siis maalaillut, lukenut, viettänyt pienet unohdetut syntymäpäiväni siskoni Sabinan ja koiravauva Kidan kanssa ja juhlinut siinä sivussa muiden syntymäpäiviä. Pelastin myös yhden elämäni helmen- kulkukoiran siskoni Sabinan kanssa, aloitin työharjoittelun tyypin 1 diabeteksen parissa, olen liikkunut taas paljon, leikkauttanut näköni haukan näköä vastaavaksi ja niin suorittanut maisteriopintojani ja ottanut vihdoin ja viimein kandidaatin tutkintoni ulos 253 opintopisteellä. 

As you may notice I have been doing different things that have been helping either me or others and that if something is the best way to find that balance, where you can say that everything is ok not only in my life but also in others. The main thing is to stay on your own track and not to fight against the speed you are going nor trying to find short cuts or escape along the sides. If you mistake and choose one of these three acts you can be sure that the sand is going to sweep from under your feet. The advice I gave to myself was "Open your eyes you silly and you won't be gasping later".

Kuten huomaatte olen pyrkinyt tekemään erilaisia asioita, jotka auttavat joko minua tai muita ja se jos mikä on paras tapa saavuttaa se tasapaino, jossa voi sanoa, että nyt on taas kaikki hyvin sekä minulla että toisilla. Pääasia on pysyä sillä omalla polulla, ei tapella etenemisvauhdin kanssa tai pyrkiä oikomaan tai pakoon reunoja pitkin. Jos erehtyy johonkin näistä kolmesta, voi olla varma että maa vyöryy jalkojen alta pian. Minä sanoinkin itselleni että "Silmät auki hömelö aiemmin, niin ei tarvitse haukkoa myöhemmin."

- Herminica

"What we think, we create. What we feel, we attract. What we imagine, we become."

"What we think, we create. What we feel, we attract. What we imagine, we become."

In the end it all depends on us and only us. If you feel like doing nothing, then let it be so. Do not force yourself into things you are not feeling comfortable with or ready to. Remember that the strength lies within you and if you feel like it is you who needs time or rest then please, help yourself. After you have recognized everything is not okay, admit it to yourself and listen to your own body. You should relax immediately, feel the relief and lightness when all that burden comes off your shulders. Problems are normal, they can be the ones around self esteem, school, relationships, money, too many unfinished tasks piled up... but they all have something in common. They stress you out, challenge your strength and endurance, make simple things seem like giants and make you numb. As I already said they are all normal things in life we all come across with. They are normal crossroads in life, which in the same time mold you and empower you after you've dealt with them. Difference is in the tools you are using to deal with them. Some of us are better in using them than the others, some of us do not even know which tools they have or what to do with them while others are either passive and constantly seeking for the help or active and already thinking about improving their own.

Lopulta vain yksin me vaikutamme kaikkeen. Jos havaitset itsessäsi vastahakoisuutta tehdä jotankin, niin anna sen tapahtua kuten on määrä tapatua. Älä potki itseäsi jatkuvasti aktiiviseksi osaksi ympärilläsi vellovaa maailmaa jopa silloin, kun tuntuu ettei juuri tällä kertaa nappaisi yhtään henkisesti eikä fyysisesti. Muista että sinussa on kaikki voima, sinä itse olet sitä voimaa ja kun tunnistat, että hengähdystauko olisi tarpeen, niin tartu omaan auttavaan käteeesi ja anna itsellesi lupa vain olla edes hetken aikaa. Kaikki lähtee siitä, että tunnistat itsessäsi tarpeen levätä, myönnä itsellesi että haluat sitä ja kuuntele sisintäsi ja kehoasi. Jo tämä hetki rentouttaa, poistaa kertyneet ahdistavat asiat harteiltasi ja tunnet hetkessä olosi paljon keveämmäksi kun ei jatkuvasti tarvitse yrittää hengittää ja liikkua painolastin alla. Kaikki ihmiset kohtaavat elämässään vaikeita tilanteita, toiselta nimeltään ongelmia. Nämä ongelmat voivat pukeutua sekä itsetunnon, koulun, ihmissuhteiden, rahan tai liian monen tekemättömän tehtävän rooliasuun, mutta niillä kaikilla on yhteinen piirre. Ne kuluttavat sinusta kumpuavaa voimaasi, pahimmassa tapauksessa jopa syövyttävät itse voimanlähdettä. Ne stressaavat, haastavat voimiasi ja kestokykyäsi, tekevät kärpäsestä härkäsiä ja puuduttavat. Ne ovat kuitenkin normaaleja vastoinkäymisiä elämänpolulla, jotka samalla muovaavat sinua että valavat sinuun lisää voimaa sen jälkeen kun olet niistä ensin selvinnyt. Ihmisten välinen ero onkin omaamassaan työkalurepertuaarissa tai niiden käytössä. Ne on tarkoitettu näiden ongelmien ratkomiseen. Osa meistä ei edes tunnista omia työkalujaan, osa tunnistaa, muttei tiedä miten niitä käyttäisi. Toiset tunnistavat, mutta turvautuvat mielummin ulkoiseen apuun ja ne lahjakkaimmat kehittävät omiaan jatkuvasti. 

Another even more important matter concerns the way we are dealing with these not so pleasant situations. If we are constantly making a web around us that only contains negative things and thoughts we will create a negative world around us. It depends on you if you are a spider or a fly in it. Spider is more resourceful even if he shares the same negative mind state as the fly. So those like spiders will find their way out and solve this net so that their world seems more clear and they can  then see long into the future. However flies are not like spiders, they do not have tools like them and they can only get more lost in that web around them and possibly even drown in that world. If so, they desperately need some help from the outside.

Yhä tärkeämpi on tapamme kohdata näitä vaikeita tilanteita. Jos kudomme ympärillemme negatiivisista asioista ja ajatuksista koostuvan verkon, kudomme samalla ympärillemme harmaan ja mustan maailman. Se oletko hämähäkki vai kärpänen tässä verkossa riippuu täysin sinusta itsestäsi. Ne jakavat saman negatiivisen ajatusmaailman muodostavat verkkohäkin, mutta hämähäkki omaa ne avut, joilla se pääsee verkosta pakoon, toisin kuin kärpänen. Meistä ne, jotka muistuttavat enemmän hämähäkkiä myös selvittävät ongelmavyyhtinsä nopeammin ja pääsevät taas raikkaaseen ja kirkkaaseen maailmaan, missä kauas tulevaisuuteen tähyäminen on taas mahdollista. Kärpästen loru on kuitenkin erilainen kuin hämähäkkien. Niiden työkalurepertuaari on joko puutteellinen tai konstit niiden kääyttöön riittämättömät- jopa tahdonpuutteen vuoksi koeajamattomat. Kärpäset eksyvät negatiiviseen vyyhtiinsä ja pahimmassa tapauksessa sotkeutuvat niin pahoin, että hiljalleen tukehtuvat sinne. Tällöin ainut mahdollisuus päästä pois riippuu täysin ulkopuolisista avunantajista.

Our mind can and will be the King of our own temple, who decides which people we attract and who we become. It will be the leader for us when we are still searching for our life paths. If we are constantly having unpleasant or negative feelings, we will attract those people who are sharing the same state of mind. When you surround yourself with the wall made of negativeness it is not easy to escape from that bubble. It is easy to hide behind that wall and use that strength for that but it needs much more strength to break that wall down. On the other hand, if the feelings are positive that wall around you will consist of positive people and help you to shield yourself from negative things.

If we imagine us in certain way we are also more prone to becoming that person we are heading to. That image becomes a goal for the King of our mind he is very eager to accomplish. When you see who this I is for real it will proceed to the direction your mind is seeing as a future image of it. When ever that image is not ideal for yourself, you will become more and more distant from that I you truly are and want to be. That is why it is important to have that positive image of I and that is what you'll become. This is when you'll be that spider who has tackled his path through the negative web and sees the world more clearly. That is when you'll be satisfied with yourself and the other things will be much easier to handle when you always see that right path and have that safe harbor within you no matter what the cause is. There lies the strength of Positiveness. Your strength.

Mielemme on oman temppelimme hallitsija. Kunniapaikaltaan se vaikuttaa siihen keitä vedämme puoleemme ja keitä meistä tulee. Se on johtajamme silloinkin, kun edelleen etsimme omia polkujamme. Seura kun houkuttelee kaltaistaan. Tämä pätee myös silloin jos elämme jatkuvassa negatiivisten ajatusten sävyttämässä maailmassa. Houkuttelemme tällöin ympärillemme saman negatiivissävytteisen mielenmaailman omaavia ihmisiä, koska kaltaisiinsa on helpoin sopeutua. Tästä ympärillesi muodostuvan negatiivisuudesta koostuvan muurin takana on helppo piileskellä tuhlaamalla voimia tähän. Poispääsy muurin muodostamasta vankilasta vaatii kuitenkin voimaa aivan eri mitta-asteikolla, jotta sen saisi sortumaan. Jos muuri puolestaan koostuu positiivisuudesta ja voimaannuttavista ihmisistä, toimii se riittävänä ja voimakkaana suojakilpenä negatiivista ajatusmaailmaa vastaan.

Tämä ajatus päätee myös siihen millaisiksi mielemme meistä muovaa. Oma näkemyksemme itsestämme nyt ja tulevaisuudessa ohjaa monia tekojamme juuri tälle ajatuksiimme piirtyneelle polulle kohti tätä kuviteltua ihmistä. Tästä mielikuvasta tulee päämäärämme. Mielesi muovaa myös tulevaisuuden Minäsi herkemmin haluamaasi suuntaan, kunhan ensin huomaat ja hyväksyt kuka tämä Minä on todellisuudessa. Niin kauan kun tämä kuva itsestäsi on vääristynyt, kehität itseäsi väärään suuntaan, sillä et pysty etkä voi muuttaa sitä mitä et halua nähdä. Tämä on myös yksi syy sille, miksi on hyvä nähdä itsensä positiivisessa valossa. Kun näet itsesi niin, myös mielesi hallitsija tekee kaikkensa, jotta saavuttaisi päämääränsä. Tällöin löydät myös sen tyytyväisyyden itseäsi kohtaan, joka sallii itsellesi yhä suuremman kentän kamppailuille ongelmiesi kanssa. Tällöin olet siinä kirkkaassa hetkessä, johon hämähäkki pääsee voitettuaan ensin negatiivisen osan itseään ja osaat aina suunnata kohti turvasatamaasi oli tilanne mikä tahansa. Siinä piilee positiivisuuden voima. Sinun voimasi.

- Herminica

Different kinds of dreams / Unia vai unelmia?

Photos from last summer in Dubrovnik / Viime kesän kuvia Dubrovnikista

I was dreaming about living with my whole family at our relatives place in this historical city of Dubrovnik, Croatia located at the beautiful Adriatic sea. The sun was shining to the yard where lemon and orange trees were growing wildly and we all were gathered by the wooden table my grand uncle had made under the rich winery. There was plenty of food, such as almond pie, freshly made limunada sweetened with the honey my uncle produces himself, freshly picked fruits from the garden, such as melons, pomegranates, plums and grapes. Freshly baked bread made from poppy seeds was bought earlier from the bakery next door and it was filled with fresh tomatoes, such kind have never been seen in the North. Traditional Trapista cheese was brought from the city of Travnik on Bosnia's side by my uncle when he visited it. Trapista cheese had arrived to the area at the time when Ottomans Empire reached the Balkans. In addition, there were pancakes made of buckwheat and they were decorated with honey and Turkish-like yogurt. The scent of strong Bosnian coffee served from copper ware made us all smile. The sound of locusts was all around us and my grand uncles wife was watering her garden with a smile on her face. Elder blind cat was making circles around our feet. Bikinis were hanging on the string waiting for us to take them swimming in so crystal clear sea, where even the sea cucumbers lived. To sea, where little zebra fish swam and you could collect sea urchins if you only dove deep enough. The sun was gentle, water refreshing and shores made of white limestone glowed from the light. My bruschetta was on its way to my mouth when it happened; I woke up having my sunglasses on my face from one of my many beds, but this one was located in Finland. At which point did something went wrong? I'm confused.

Näin unta siitä, että asuin koko serkuskatraan kera sukumme luona historiallisessa merikaupungissa Dubrovnikissa, Kroatiassa. Aurinko paistoi isosedän sitruuna- ja appelsiinipuiden valtaamalle pihalle ja me söimme yhdessä aamiaista viiniköynnösten alla olevan isosedän veistämän puisen pöydän ääressä. Tarjolla oli mantelipiirakkaa, tuoretta limunadaa sedän tuottamalla hunajalla maustettuna, puutarhasta aamulla poimittuja hedelmiä- meloneita, granaattiomenaa, luumuja ja rypäleitä. Viereisestä leipomosta oli haettu tuoretta unikonsiemenleipää, jonka väliin sai latoa itsekasvatettuja meheviä tomaatteja, jollaisia ei pohjolaan tule ja perinteikästä Ottomaanien aikakautena alueelle saapunutta Trapista-juustoa, jota valmistettiin Travnikin kaupungissa Bosnian puolella ja jota eno aina sieltä mukanaan toi. Lisäksi oli tattarista valmistettuja pannukakkuja eli paksukaisia, jotka koristeltiin hunajalla ja turkkilaistyylisellä jugurtilla. Kupariastioista tarjoiltu vahva bosnialaisen kahvin tuoksu hymyilytti levännyttä seuruetta. Kaskaat sirittivät ja isosedän vaimo kasteli puutarhaansa. Jaloissa kierteli sokea vanha kissaherra. Bikinit odottivat eilisen jälkeen narulla sitä, että ne pääsisivät taas tänään hyppäämään niin kirkkaaseen veteen, jossa merimakkaratkin viihtyvät. Vedessä, jossa ui pieniä seeprakaloja ja merisiilejä sai kerättyä ämpäriin kun tarpeeksi syvälle sukelsi. Aurinko oli lempeä, vesi virkistävää ja valkoinen rantojen kalkkikivi hohti päivänvaloa ympärillä. Olin juuri laittamassa tuttua ja turvallista aamiaisbruschettaa suuhuni, kun heräsin yhdestä omista sängyistäni Suomessa aurinkolasit päässäni. Missä meni pieleen? Olen hämmentynyt.

- Herminica

Ps. I think I could finally make the posts from last summer. I have been so busy with my life but now finally I think I could turn new page and start doing these things again that I love so much- writing and photographing :)