A little piece of heaven – First time in Lapland

There was a long way to drive and unexpectedly many cars all the way. We were quite unsure of the reservation because they didn’t ask any credit card number, nor guaranty – they just said “welcome”. Everything went well in the end – people are reliable in the north.

The cottage was wonderful: very humble outside, very high tech inside – like everything else in Finland. Showing off is a waste of time and taste – after all…

Compared to an “all inclusive” holiday, the atmosphere is from another planet. No  noise, no jokes, no friends, just you and the nature. All what you could do is ski. So this is what we were doing.

Skiing is an individual sport. You are most of the time alone with your thoughts.

Phase one – when you start you’re full of energy, ready to conquer the world. Then the hills are starting. You can see the first peak and you think: I really needed some exercise, this is perfect. Reaching the first peak you realize that this was just the beginning. Despite all the physics, it seems that the direction is only up. The routes are round, and always skiing up!?

Phase two – you stop counting the peaks, they are always hidden– so you submerse in your inner world. While driving, 13 hours, I’ve heard over and over  “I’ll catch a grenade for you”. Why someone would think that dying is a gift? – I have no clue… Why don’t you buy her a Maserati, or take her on your boat? Make her a soup when she’s sick – but dying for her? This is pure revenge – get help and understand: you alone are responsible to solve your problems! Why would she catch a grenade for you? I wouldn’t! Thank you very much for asking…

Phase three – you are on top of the hill, finally. Now the only direction is down… Of course is a red track, so you feel obligated to fall down at least ones. The snow is new, soft, shiny and perfect – you can do it… The adrenaline renews your appetite for life.

Phase four – you stop thinking at your body and start enjoying the nature. All this beauty only for you, and you alone! The tracks are redone every day, but during one route you maybe meet 10 people in 2 hours. (Mainly in the resting cottages.) All the empty hills are just for you, all the trees and birds – just for you, the sun is shining – just for you. This is a piece of heaven… just for you.

Phase five – you pass the non-returning point, going further or turning back means more than 10km. All what you have to do is keep going. You’re not thinking about nature anymore, you don’t pay attention to the color of the track – you are thankful for each slide that will save your forces. All what you think is how to survive till the cottage, where the sauna was programmed to wait for you. You are imagining only the sound of water thrown on the hot stones and that you have to move your right hand, then left leg, then left hand, just breathe in, breathe out, then in, then out, until you make it home…

Venetia

Ma omoara timpul… N-am despachetat, n-am spalat, nu m-am pieptanat, nici macar n-am ajuns la zi cu posta… Alerg din dreapta in stanga si din stanga in dreapta, insa macar atat trebuie sa va destainui: Venetia e superba! Gondola e un must! Si daca va prinde un apus de soare pe plaja de la Lido in Adriatica, puteti spune ca viata merita traita! Azi! Mai ales de cand am aflat ca sunt muritoare si ca timpul se scurge unidirectional.

Catamaran, my first love

When it’s the right one – you just know it! I don’t believe that you actually need time to be sure, or to over check, you just “click” and there you are, chained to it! I have been on big ships, on smaller ones; on speed ones, on rowing boats, on water bicycles, on sailing boats, but from all of them I love the catamaran. I have met him in 2009 in Malta. For some reason, because of Eminescu’s “knights from Malta” I was under the impression that this country is a must to be visit. I was a little disappointed until I met him. Outside it was unbearable hot, the hotel air condition was not the best, the sand was killing my skin and I couldn’t wear any of my beautiful shoes, but then he came walking down the see, singing doo wa diddy diddy dum diddy do. It was tall and fresh, I could lie on the net between his hulls and feel the wind, see the water and hear my heart beating doo wa diddy dum diddy do. His name was the Spirit of Malta. (in case you’re too laisy to check my links).

Now in Maldives, with all the diving there was no  much time left – but since you must have 18 hours between your last dive and a flight, we had time to book a catamaran in the last day.

A smaller one this time, but love was there, in the air… The ocean was tough, the wind was blowing, the sky was clouded and the skipper was sailing with 20nodes/hour (he said laughing). Nothing to worry about! He rush us from one hull to another, we were in the air, smashed by waves, with the ocean sneaking under my life vest, touching my skin, salty, demanding, totally on control. My heart was bumping, I had no voice left for screaming, it was love all the way… I definitely could live like this!

Dancing with the sharks

When Shamil told us that there are baby sharks around the island, I thought that he’s joking… He said that they are not dangerous – they are just looking for food…OK – maybe it wouldn’t be good for the business to scare the tourists, so I didn’t dare to go close to any of the baby sharks, not after seeing Jaws anyway…

Ignorance is bliss – who said this knew what he’s talking about… so after some days I believed all the “just don’t touch anything”, “no peak and poke” and “marine creatures attack just to defense themselves” theory written in the 262 pages of Open Water Diver Manual. Since the internet speed was quite low and I was in vacation –already reading and doing homework for the course –I didn’t need any extra research on the subject. Bottom-line being that nothing can hurt you there. In addition, the over 1m long shark sleeping under a pear and appearing from time to time in quite shallow waters, inspired trust, somehow.

Getting over the fear and technical issues, you start to feel like in an aquarium in the home reef. The mask makes everything looking like in a movie. Thousands of small and big fishes are fling under and over you and if the visibility is good they look like birds flying in a cloudy day. And all of them are looking inoffensive. Even the lionfish which was very close to my leg and which by a miracle I didn’t hit by mistake. The scorpionfish didn’t look to friendly, so if you don’t walk over it, since it looks like a rock – you should be ok. Octopus on the other hand was amazing. It was looking like a black phantom when swimming; changing its colors to the ones of the environment as soon as it stops. Now I read that all of them can kill you – or at least poison you. The snake fish as well. But ignorance is bliss – so they were all wonderful.

The guitarfish on the other hand was not so wonderful anymore. It was over 1,5m lying on the sand and not paying any attention to us. We stopped; look at it, facing it, no sudden moves and wait. He wait too and in the end moved 3m further in other direction. So what’s the danger?

The big encounter was with the grey shark in open waters. No so close to the reef anymore, no bottom see, no corals, just one diver making some noise to tell us that is there. We were 8 divers all together, he was one. Swimming gracious, not paying us any attention, maybe 3 meters away, one glance and he was gone. Nobody took any picture and thanks God for that because I’ve just read that he hates paparazzi. He was the top of the food chain but we were not on his menu list. Not that day. Maybe next time.

A lot of words, no pictures – our camera could stand only 10m deep and we were up to 23. But this guy has got most of everything – check it out!

Didn’t quite believe me, isn’t it?

So I’m still doing it… mask off, mask on, breathing without mask, replacing the regulator second stage – etc etc – all the way!

Conquer your fear

It’s 3 o’clock, am, no TV, no books, no tomorrow… In Maldives is monsoons season, when you can’t predict the weather for more than 3 hours. Today the sky is full with stars, so it won’t rain for some time. The air conditioner is doing its job – outside is a wet sticky hot, which can be barely calm down in the hot calm Indian Ocean. No waves, this is a lagoon.

The island, Kuredu, has 1,5km all around. You can walk it through in half of hour. It’s all sand – white sand – nobody wears any shoes, not even the man who waspiloting the seaplane…

First day I was a zombie – I’ve tried unsuccessfully to sleep, to eat, to relax, to rewind – no way! I had another movie running in head, full time. The welcome massage synchronized a bit my inner and outer world – I was in paradise, what the heck! It’s time to enjoy it!

Since my sis infected me with the scuba virus, I had it on my list for quite a while, tried it in Italy, got water in my mask, scared to death – heart pumping heavily in my ears, so I’ve abandon it in the middle of the session. But since it was a virus I have infected my significant one, therefore he put it on his list – so here we are giving it another try. We are 3 students: us and one Russian. The trainer is French, Benoit, speaking perfectly English. After some theory we went to lagoon and tried the gear. It was easy: put on and off your mask, cease the fish in shallow water, control your buoyancy. I could do it. The second lesson we went further in the sea. Don’t stop breathing, equalize the pressure, adjust the air in your BCD (buoyancy control device) – I was scared but brave. We were going deeper and deeper and after some time my glasses were so full of steam that I couldn’t see anything – only fog and moving shadows. Then the trainer showed us a black hole and said let’s go for it! No, really? I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, why should I want to go in that hole? So I told my French guy: I’m not going there! We had a long conversation about this: did I have problems in my ears? No. In my heart? No. In my head? Definitely! So he made a very wise decision, change the route, take my hand and said that we’ll go just for a little more: about 1,5 cm – he shown me with his eloquent hands. He was articulate, smart, experienced, fit, so I trusted him with my life. And there we are, deep in the hole, with my steamy glasses and my heart bumping in my head. There was no fun, just my will trying to control my closer and closer panic attack. But I stick it in, and I went all the way out. The next night I could finally sleep. The third day we had an open water diving. The French man abandon us – he was French after all, so we’ve got a German instead, worst English, laughing like crazy, definitely not my type. We went by boat in the middle of the sea, put the gear on and jump in the water. The French fixed my glasses before I left – it was supposed to burn he protection film before using them. How should I have known it? Nevertheless seeing is a bless. I didn’t need any hand, any support, I was free and independent. And the world deep there is breathless: millions of fishes all the colors: blue, red, green, yellow, big, small, round, fat, I was the little mermaid. There was no shark today. Over 26 species of sharks are living in Lhaviyani Atoll. Baby-sharks are coming close to the beach looking for food; and sometimes parents-sharks too. Don’t touch them is the main rule. And control your fear; your mind is more powerful than anything else.

 

Gone with the wind…

18 hours of flight… In the end, the TV monitor became smaller and smaller, the headphones were crushing my ears and every bone in my body was cramped in the microscopic space of the British Airways’ craft. But I made it…

In Rio was winter, deep darkness at 21:00. Three girls at the airport were fighting to sell us a ride. We took a cab to the hotel. It was good that I was not alone. The traffic was chaotic and quite long…

The hotel was beautiful, the streets were empty, but the ocean made worth it all the effort … Great waves, salty water, warm, I love the water, I love being surrender by the water, under its power, a little unsafe – but still friendly, small drops of adrenaline pumping through my veins. I didn’t dare to try it in the first night – so I had to wait for the second day; bitter- sweet taste of waiting…

First day in Barra da Tijuca– small walk on the beach – yes the water was exactly how I dream about it… Outside was quite cold, maybe 20C – it was winter after all…

Second day was working day – the Brazilians are good for samba, but don’t let them organize anything for you…

Third day we went to Ipanema. My guys were all young, looking for girls, counting their money, but never the less, I belonged to the group, I was not an outsider like in almost all the other occasions… In the night we went to see a local samba group performing in Nuth. We could not entry without IDs, metal detector checking and pictures taken of each of us- quite scary, after all the stories with dangerous Rio in the night. The people in the club were mixed, gay friendly and sex selling friendly, but after the band started I began to dance and everything changed. One old lesbian couple showed me some moves, another one said I was looking like an amazon – I was in friendly waters. Alone, but not entirely…

Fourth day I had my presentation. The 3 hours of sleep I have spent stressing about it. I have tried to check everything, but in the end only one of my movies was working. My Finns came to support me, after the sleepless night! Waw!

Fifth day we went to see Christ the Redeemer and the Sugar Loaf. It was a jeep trip with a very talkative guide. A huge balancing of cable car spiced out the trip. Jeesus was there, embracing us all: “Our Father in heaven… lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

In the evening I went home. Today is the second day since I’ve left the southern hemisphere and my time is totally upside down. I can’t sleep I can’t eat, I can’t unwind; Rio mixed up my rhythm completely.

Koli

Cabana, lac, sauna, lac, sauna, lac, sauna, lac, apusuri de soare, Lea, Ruuna, rapids – repezi, canoe, tantari, muste Paarma, record de temperatura in Finlanda, bere, bere, bere, cald, sauna, lac, incalzirea saunei cu fum – 4 ore, lac, sauna, lac, peste, zmeura, Off – noul Channel, back to the future.

Vara a ramas o amintire, insa scopul amintirilor e sa extragem din ele puterea de a merge mai departe,  ca sa putem crea alte amintiri… alte seri de vara cand cerul se oglindeste in lac si lacul se oglindeste in cer -  iar la mijloc eu, ascultand cum respira pamantul…

Oslo-marathon

Cea mai veche capitala scandinava, cu o istorie de peste 1000 de ani, isi dezveleste mandra trupul scaldat de valurile reci ale marii. Este unica. Este mandra. Este costisitoare. Marea este sursa puterii ei de seductie. Marea, pe care vikingii au strabatut-o in vase construite cu o incredibila maiestrie; marea, ce l-a ademenit pe Thor  Heyerdahl in expeditiile Kon Tiki, Ra, Tigris; marea, ce a fost subjugata de Fridtjof Nansen in calatoriile lui cu vasul Fram dicolo de cercul polar, marea din care astazi Norvegia isi extrage bogatia – si o trimite “darnica” intregii lumi.

Oslo, desi graviteaza in jurul marii, nu te dezamageste nici pe uscat este impanzit de muzee, unde poti admira vapoare construite de-a lungul timpului, incepand cu cele Viking din anii 830 in care si-au dormit somnul demnitari ai vremii si terminand cu ultimile machete ale navelor de croaziera. Poti vizita parcul Vigeland, ce gazduieste sculpturile lui Gustav Vigeland, a carei varianta a coloanei infinitului este formata din trupuri. Poti vizita expozitia de pictura a lui Edvard Munch, un pionier al expresionismului – ce afirma: “From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that and that is eternity.” Creepy, isn’t it? Poti admira fortareata Akershus, a carei constructie a inceput in secolul 13. Imi poti imagina ca-ti iei zborul de pe partia ce va gazdui in 2011 Campionatul mondial de schi. Poti invata de la cei ce au primit premii Nobel, poti intra in atmosfera casei lui Ibsen sau pur si simplu poti savura un bufet cu raci proapat pescuiti din mare intr-o croaziera in jurul orasului. Nici barul de gheata nu este de ratat.

Oras frumos, multe de vazut, insa I had promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep!

Din gradina Domnului

Sarpe serpeste cu solzi ca de peste, printi albastrii si prieteni de-ai lui George, in Oslo Reptile Park, doar sirenele lipseau…

si ca sa nu plangeti dupa sirene, le inghesui si pe ele tot aici…