Pity me not

After one hour of sleep and several hours of what felt like angry wasps in my stomach, it was time to leave my cozy little home for four days to participate in design institute's entrance examination. I'm certainly not a morning person because I've always hated waking up and leaving my enchanting dream world, but I do love how quiet it is, and how beautiful the nature is around sunrise. The Sun slowly rose over the horizon and it gently rained at the same time, I had a pleasant journey because no one sat next to me during all those hours in the bus and the train (like most Finns, I get anxious if someone comes too close to my personal space), and I saw crows chasing deers through misty fields.

The train also passed by this medieval castle called Häme Castle. It's not as dreamy as, well, Schloss Neuschwanstein for example, but it always makes me feel oddly tranquil when I see old buildings. Kudos to my phone for taking decent pictures from a moving train.

During those four days, we had five assignments. They were nothing like I expected, but I believe I passed four out of five. The thing is, you have to pass all of them, and I miserably failed one. When they gave us that certain assignment, my first thought was "well, this should be quite easy." It was, really, because most people around me managed to do it. I didn't. I don't know why, and I'm truly angry at myself about that.
Even though I felt strongly distressed because of my utter failure, after a good night sleep I woke up almost happy. I can try again next year, I still have several delightful days ahead of me before I have to return to work and right now my life is good, overall.
And I got to travel a bit. I spent a big part of my childhood traveling around Finland in a truck, and I believe that's one of the reasons why I just love to sit in a moving vehicle, watching landscapes go by whilst listening to music. When I was still in school, I had to sit in a bus daily for about 3 hours, and I simply loved it. Most people complained about how boring it was even if their traveling distance was shorter, but for me, it was often the best moment of the day. It was so easy to shut out the hectic world and let the stress melt away by the power of music.

The Return of the Beautiful - My Dying Bride

Being alive

Snapshots from my deceased Instagram account.

Through landscapes forged by time

I'm on my annual leave now until June 15. Next Monday I have to wake up just before sunrise - 4 AM to be exact - because the entrance examination starts after nine and I have a bus and two trains to catch before that. I don't know if I'm more scared or excited.
Soon after that it's time to travel all the way to the Alps, after several years of longing. So, you may expect a mile long post filled with pictures of thousand-year-old buildings (although many of those have been reconstructed and greatly expanded during centuries) and mighty mountains. Burglars beware: dogs are staying at home, and not alone.

I was born and have lived my whole life here in Western Finland, where you can barely find few decent hills. Even so, I have loved mountains since I was a child and saw documentaries about them on TV. It was a dream come true when I got to visit Lapland with my siblings for the first time in my life, around the age of six. Those arctic hills, tunturit, made a huge impression on me and I visited them again, and again. It's the solitude and purity of the nature which attracts me. Those few people you see during your hike, all of them respect the nature and won't leave a single piece of trash behind them. It's too unusual to see places so pristine nowadays.

Finnish Lapland in late summer, more than ten years ago.

We also crossed the border to Norway few times and those majestic landscapes stole a huge part of my soul. Now it's been over ten years since my last visit. I was planning to finally go back this year, but despite my yearning to see Norway again, I thought it would be nice to see some other places too and chose Austria to be my destination this time. Very different kind of region, but I believe I will be as awestruck as I was when I first visited Lapland.