Berlin dreams

After a bit of silence it's time for great great changes in my life...I will leave the peaceful green meadows of Finland behind for some time and move to the heart of central Europe...to a place that is very dear to me and that I have called my home town even when I have lived in Finland..

I went to Berlin last time in April, wandering around and wondering still how my postgraduate life will turn out to be. Then I also took these pictures on some side streets of Bergmannstrasse in Kreuzberg. Well, now I have got my degree and I know what I'll be doing the next months and where I will live. I have already found a temporary flat in a district of Berlin that is unknown to me, and share the next months of my life with another couchsurfer. I somehow feel like the best months of my life are just ahead of me. Something new, fresh and happy is about to start. I hope to dedicate more time to photographing, writing and blogging in my new home. At least I will be in a very photogenic city which I have loved to illustrate on my previous travels :)

Kirjailijoiden Lontoo

"East-End" alkaa Cityn itärajalta, jatkuen kauaksi allastelakoille ja Thamesin suulle. Siellä asuu enimmäkseen työkansaa ja köyhälistöä sekä runsaasti itämaalaista ainesta, kiinalaisia, juutalaisia y.m. East-Endin maine hengenvaarallisena seutuna alkaa jo olla tarua. Järjestys ja kuri on sielläkin moitteeton, joskin vastaantulevat oliot joskus saattavat tuoda mieleen Jack Lodonin ja muiden East-endiä kuvanneiden kirjailijain henkilöitä. Salaperäiset opium-luolat y.m. paheen pesät lienevät jokseenkin harvinaisia. Ainakin on niihin sangen vaikea pääsy. (Serp. Lontoo. Opas Lontoon-kävijöille. 1929)

Gradun kirjoittamisen tueksi ja mielen virkistykseksi olen lukenut viime viikkoina muutakin Lontooseen liittyvää kuin kaunokirjallisuutta ja kirjallisuudenteoriaa. SKS:n julkaisema Lontoo - kirjailijan kaupunki (toim. Marjaana Niemi, 2008) on yhtä viihdyttävää, valaisevaa ja mielenkiintoista luettavaa kuin aikaisemmin samasta sarjasta lukemani Pariisi- ja Berliini-kokoelmat: suomalaiset kirjailijat, taitelijat ym. kirjoittavat vaikutelmiaan kaupungista, sen asukkaista, luonteesta, siellä asumisesta ja monista muista seikoista. Lievetekstin mukaan "Kirjasarja johdattaa suomalaisten kirjailijoiden jalanjäljissä Euroopan kaupunkeihin. Mitä suomalaiset kirjailijat näkivät ja kokivat Lontoossa? Matkustaminen on tuonut suomalaisille kirjailijoille elämyksiä, kokemuksia ja aineistoa kirjallisiisn töihin. Sitaatit romaaneista, novelleista, muistelmista, kirjeistä ja postikorteista antavat lukijoille mahdollisuuden matkustaa ja jakaa kokemukset kirjailijan kanssa."

Omalle matkakirjojen lukulistalle kertyy myös lisää luettavaa. Lontoon kuvauksiin liittyen kiinnostaisi lukea ainakin Aino Kallaksen julkaisut päiväkirjat (1955-1957), Lasse Lehtisen Minä ja Thatcher. Lontoon matkapöytäkirja (1989) ja Kerttu Aitolan Lontoonrakeita (2004).

Dream dream dream

Lago di Como, in July 2008...my last days in Italy after 10 months of Erasmus exchange...

Why did I start this blog? I had no time for other one, or so it seemed as I had a long break with no new posts..I have been trying to figure our how to change it altogether to match a broader scale of interests, so here I try to keep it simple and short. So the main purposes of this blog could be listed here and now:

-write down some daily impressions about traveling for myself, my friends, family and whoever would like to read
- share some pictures from the past and maybe even from present, if I travel somewhere in the near future)
-keep track of my travel plans
-at least try to keep travel tips, advice from friends, travel guides, magazines and so on in some order! I have accumulated in my travel diaries and million little notes that I loose a lot of information that could be useful for some others, too. I know that the locals know always the best where to go and what to do, so I also want to write down some tips for my friends who might ask "what do you suggest I should do in Venice?"
- I dream about traveling all the time so maybe this is a way to nourish my fever rather than calm it down :)

Valentine's travels

LOVER! What a great place to go for a Valentine's day, suggests Visit Britain! :) I read occasionally those Visit Britain newsletters that I have subscribed to - maybe after participating in a competition for free flights? :) Sometimes there are some nice tips or at least some lovely pictures of green landscapes that make me dream of traveling there again. My last time in UK was in December 2006, so I should maybe take some of those tips more seriously!

What about this? "Recreate a romantic movie moment in Lancashire! If you fancy a Brief Encounter, snatch a kiss under the clock at Carnforth Station which looks much as it did in the 1945 David Lean film. For more recent romance seek out the locations of Four Weddings and a Funeral or Notting Hill in London."

Tonight I long for

Tonight I long for the rooms that are filled up with books
The shelves are reaching up to the ceiling
Books even above and around the doors, stairs, furniture
I never bought there anything, but I always wanted to visit

Shakespeare and Company
37, rue de la Bûcherie, Paris