Week in Malmö

On my way to Stockholm, I realized that I had been away from Sweden for 8 months now. I had never missed Malmö so much before and simply could't wait to get there. It was my first time to fly to Stockholm and take another plane from there to Malmö. It was quite a hazzle to have two flights for such a short distance, but hey, girl's gotta do what girl's gotta, especially as I am still a poor student.

Seeing my old buddy Sabi was just great. We had so much to catch up about our exchange in Canada and Australia, but also a lot of school work to finish. I actually went to do my exam I hadn't done earlier this year due to my exchange. It was business mixed with pleasure :)

I had enough time within these 10 days to see all my friends and visit my lovely church. It also happened to be the week of Malmö Festivalen- a great outdoor festival with lots of music, rides and food. I had heard so much about it the previous years, so I was really excited to be there this year.

After a great week in Sweden and little stops in Denmark and Finland, I'm back in Estonia. This time I will have a whole two weeks to charge my batteries in my quiet little hometown before another semester of school starts, this time in England.

Back in Europe- first stop, Finland :)

Sophia and Nicholas

My destination for this long journey back from Australia was Finland, but before I reached the land of thousand lakes, I had a small 3 hour layover in London. It was well planned as the Mack-Jones family was on their last day on vacation in England and as I won't have any time to go to America this year, America came to me :) So I met my little munchkins who of course weren't so little anymore. It was a sweet reunion and I was overwhelmed with happiness. The kids had had a great time in Europe but were also excited to go back to Boston. These 3 hours went fast, but making my journey 4 hours longer and seeing these faces was the best choice I could have made.

Once in Finland, it finally hit me that I was home. Spending time with my step mom and brothers was the best. We went to our summerhouse for the weekend and I felt like a kid again. My brothers and I jumped on the trampoline, played basketball, picked some blueberries, went for a ride with our ATV/motorbikes in the woods, saw some horses(we are all scared of them), swam in the lake twice and of course went to the sauna. Typical Finnish summer holiday- I love it!!!

summerhouse fun

It was also great to see some of my old friends who I now only see twice a year if I'm lucky. I spent the last day in Helsinki and met some more friends and had a lovely dinner with my dad. A time well spent :)

So, let's see what's waiting for me now- for the next 9 days I will be in Estonia,  then 10 days in Sweden, another 2 weeks in Estonia (hopefully will be enough time to see my whole family and friends) and finally on Sept 14th I will leave to England to do my second exchange semester. Dear life, well I guess I should be used to it by now, the life of a world trotter.

 #onasidenote- can't wait to settle down!

Abu Dhabi, UAE

On my way back from Australia, I decided to have a little 3 day stop in Abu Dhabi. I have always wanted to go to the Middle East and that was a good opportunity to have a long layover there. It was everything I had expected and more. I had such a great time! The weather with its 40 degrees of Celsius was the only sucker. You couldn't basically do anything between 12-6pm, so I barely survived at the beach.

one of the gorgeous beaches in Abu Dhabi

It all started off fancy already at the airport where a beautiful white limo from the hotel picked me up. I spent the first day mostly at the private beach our hotel had. The water was so warm (about 35 degrees) and so salty that I could have painted my toe nails while swimming.

The second day I visited the famous Heritage Village. It was filled with Emirates` history, small markets and museums. Such a beautiful place that unfortunately couldn't really be enjoyed due to the sickening heat. I did manage to buy some souvenires and even stop at the famous Emirates Hotel Palace for a picture. That night I had a desert safari I had patiently been waiting for. It started with dune bashing with cars, camel ride in the desert, sand surfing and ended with delicious Middle Eastern food and smoking shisha- without a doubt, the best experience I have ever had!

the desert

camel ride

somewhere in the middle of a desert

On my last day, I visited the famous and magnificent Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. I don't even have words for how gorgeous it was. I just hope everybody would have a changed to see something so beautiful once in their lifetime. Mandatory ropes were to be worn by women and that only added to the full experience of this holy sanctuary for Muslims. In the evening I went for a little stroll to the Abu Dhabi Mall and with that had all the places from my list ticked off.

Ramadan Kareem

speechless how beautiful

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

From the twenty countries I've been to, UAE is one of my definite favorites :)

Leaving Australia (27.07.2013)

My last week in Australia was quite overwhelming. I stayed in Brisbane for the first 3 days. On Wed evening I had a lovely dinner with my host family. It was so bitter-sweet as the kids didn't really understand that I was actually leaving. I got a wonderful card and a gorgeous necklace.
On Thursday, I flew back to Sydney. It was so good to see the Opera House again. I went to St Marys and stayed with my lovely Maori sisters :) I was so excited to see the kids and vice verse . I stayed overnight and was covered with hugs and kisses.
The last day, Shianne, Shia and I went out for a lunch. I took the train back to Sydney in the afternoon. In the city I went and bought some souvenires, picked up my luggage and headed to the airport. It all went so fast, but I was quite excited for my stop in Abu Dhabi.
Living in Australia was such a great experience and I am definitely leaving with a heavy heart. But hey Aussie, I wrote you a little good-bye letter:

G'day, Aussie! Thanks for treating me so well. You are such a beautiful country with lovely people- good on ya! I also reckon I had some of the best meals for daily tea here. I saw heaps of kangaroos and even hugged a koala- fair dinkum, I did! I could go on, but it's too easy. Cheers for now! (time to go home and speak normal English lol)