#91 Slow on the old posting-front I'm afraid

This is a courtesy post to let you know I'm still here, but won't be posting so much for the time being.

Please feel free to browse through my other posts using the blog archive or search labels to the right >>

I know many people are heading over to Japan around now for the JET programme, so for my Japanese related posts look from 2012 to January 2013, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to comment :)

Anyway, here's a picture of beautiful Ireland to brighten up this post a little!

#78 Weather Forecasts

When you are travelling anywhere the weather is imperative. Not only does it affect what activities you engage in, or what sights you see, it also means feeling miserable when you are either wet/cold/sunburnt. Plus your pictures will almost certainly turn out awful, grey skies make even the nicest view look dull, and you'll probably not be in picture perfect mode either.

Of course it's unavoidable and unfortunate if it happens to be raining or in the middle of a heatwave when you arrive at your target destination - but planning is also vital. For some countries, the weather can be anticipated depending on what season you go. So for example, if travelling to Sweden in Winter you can assume it will be snowing and very cold, or if you go to Japan in the Summer, you can expect it to be very, very hot. But for some countries, like Ireland, the weather can be hard to predict regardless of season.

Out of habit, the national weather services are always where I would go to for the most accurate and trustworthy weather information on a country. I am wary of the internet and it's vast amounts of wisdom, and I guess that the national website will probably be the most detailed and reliable.

However, in Ireland The Irish Meteorological Service (Met Eireann) website is something that has been annoying me for quite a while. While many national weather service websites are helpful and detailed, this website provides you with as little information as possible. It is irritatingly vague in comparison to many other websites of this kind.

For example, if I go to the Met Eireann website and look at forecasts for the Dublin area, it will tell me that today it will be raining, and the same for tomorrow.

Photo: Vague information on the Met.ie website

If you type the words 'Dublin forecast' or something similar into Google, you get a combined result from different weather websites. This gives you a much more detailed breakdown of the expected temperature, wind and rain for 3 hour intervals.

Photo: Detailed weather breakdown from Google

Comparing the Met.ie website versus the information from Google, you see quite a difference. Met has told us that it will be raining today. If you go to Google though, it tells us that there is only a 10% chance of rain for late afternoon, and 0% chance of rain for the night.

Wondering what the weather is like in Stockholm? Let's check the SMHI, Sweden's Meteorological service: 

From this you can see the website is available in both English and Swedish - and is also quite detailed - giving you information for every few hours. 

Similarly, the JMA, Japan's Meteorological service, has detailed information in both Japanese and English about the weather, as well as earthquake and tsunami information.

JMA website

Met Eireann give more detailed weather information after the 9pm news on our national tv station, RTÉ. I can't see why this information can't be put on the website too. When I was in Sweden I had no TV, and I couldn't figure how to make mine work properly in Japan. Providing weather information once a day via television is simply not a feasible idea, and Met Eireann have to update their website in keeping with the needs of both the Irish people and visitors to Ireland.

#72 One Year Later

So, it has now been just over a year since I first set out on my travels. Writing this, I'm now at home back in Ireland and I've started my final year in college.

It's been an interesting 12 months.

Previously, I had been away from my family for one month at most, and that was within Ireland when I was away at college, surrounded by my friends. Taking the leap to living by myself almost 6,000 miles away for four months is, looking back, utter madness.

No one tried to talk me out of it, and now that I think about it, my mother must have been sick with worry! My sister had previously spent a few months in Finland so she wasn't completely alien to the concept of us living abroad, but she had travelled over there with her when she first moved, and we visited her again while she was there.

I don't think I was really nervous about the whole thing. Well I was nervous, but in an itchy-feet excited way, not an anxious way. I couldn't wait to get to Japan and see all these famous locations and meet lots of new friends. It was an adventure - one I had been looking forward to for nearly four years.

My time in Japan, while amazing, wasn't all a barrel of laughs. Work was terribly annoying sometimes and the severely early mornings are a lot to take every day. For the most part, I was lonely. During the week I went to work by myself and came home by myself, and I spent most weekends exploring Tokyo by myself. That was the worst part - when you see something extraordinary, and turn around to comment on it, but there's no one there to tell.

My time in Sweden was different from what I expected. I was really looking forward to making friends with all these other nationalities, as well as finally having house mates again! When I arrived it was a little different, and I think I expected too much. I had little to no contact with my five house mates, and of the 50 or so people I went to class with and lived beside, I became close with only a handful.

Now I'm home, and I can't wait to go somewhere again. I'm flat broke and surrounded by people who have money saved - but whenever I feel jealous or have to cut back my spending, I just think about the amazing year I've had.

#71 Inactive

Hi all,

This is just a courtesy post to let you all know that I will not be active on this blog for the next few weeks. I'll soon start back to college for a year and therefore no travelling will be done!

Feel free to read through my many posts on Japan (Tokyo) and Sweden (Stockholm) and leave a comment if you have any questions/suggestions/opinions!

Please use the blog archive and search tool or the popular tags/posts at the right of the page to help you find what you're looking for.

Sue

#70 Hultsfred Music Festival

So Hultsfred Music Festival 2013 was a very last minute decision, as my friend and I applied only a week before, and amazingly got accepted to volunteer there!

We were working in shifts for parts of the festival, so it was impossible for us to see everyone play. However, we saw almost all the acts we wanted to, which was great! The festival was very small, less than 5,000 people I'd guess. It had recently moved from Hultsfred in Southern Sweden to an hour outside Stockholm to try encourage more sales (which I didn't think worked...).

The main headliners were Fatboy Slim, Two Door Cinema Club, Arctic Monkeys, Imagine Dragons, Bastille, Adrian Lux and Portishead. For me this was a mediocre lineup, but since the ticket was free I decided to go anyway!

Arctic Monkeys were just boring and Fatboy Slim just DJ'd instead of playing any known songs, so for me the real stars were Imagine Dragons. I hadn't heard much of them before the festival, but they were fantastic live, and I'd recommend you see them if you have the chance! We also by chance met the drummer and bass player wandering around the festival, which was cool. (Super nice guys, we were chatting to them for ages too!) We also sat in on someone called Miriam Bryant, just to fill in some time. We had no idea who she was or what type of music she sang, but we were pleasantly surprised when she came onstage. I'm sure she hates this - but the easiest way to describe her is like a cool, Swedish Adele (she sings in English though!). And she was amazing live, even better than recordings. So I'd advise you to look her up too!

The campsites were quite small, and there was no other entertainment available - so if you weren't listening to  a band there was nothing really to do. Also, there were very few artists - there were at most two artists playing at the same time, and at some points there was just one! This could be good as you don't have the problem of two or more people you like overlapping, but it also meant if you didn't like either you didn't have much choice.

There were (overpriced) food stands, hot showers and the toilets were cleaned quite regularly so that was good at least! We didn't sleep there as we had no tent, but there were free buses running to Stockholm so it was easy to get there.

The most surprising thing I found at this festival, (and also at the Grona Lund concerts) was that I could walk up to the stage, while the band was playing, and get a spot at the front! It seems the Swedes prefer to be at the centre front, or even just at the centre. This leaves ample room to the right and left of the stage so I can just walk up and snap a few great pictures! This would never ever happen in Ireland - if you want to get to the front you have to camp out all day! There are some exceptions, but generally you can get very near the front quite easily.

So anyway, that was Hultsfred, probably not the most exciting music festival, but not terrible either!

 Fatboy Slim

 Guess who?

 Festival Area

 Big crowd for Adrian Lux

 Miriam Bryant

 Two Door Cinema Club

 View of the festival

View of the second stage

#69 Swedish Midsummer

June 21st is the highlight of the Swedish calendar! Why? Midsummer!

This is basically the day when everyone eats strawberries and dances around the Maypole.

#68 Stockholm - The Gateway to Scandinavia

Today marks my last week in Sweden. This got me thinking - not only am I leaving Stockholm - I'm leaving behind a great gateway to Europe, or Scandinavia at the very least.

For the 5 months I was in Sweden, I visited six other countries - Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Poland. And not only did I visit these countries, I visited their capital cities and saw the famous landmarks of Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Tallin, Riga and Warsaw. And I visited Gothenburg and Malmo here in Sweden too.

I'm from Ireland, so these countries aren't very far away. But Ireland is an island to the far West of Europe, and it's not as cheap or easy to get to these places as some of you (especially Americans!) might think.

It cost me only €10 (or €40 for a cabin of 4 people) to get to Finland, Estonia and Latvia using the amazing cruise services from Stockholm. €45 for train tickets to Gothenburg, Oslo and Malmo/Copenhagen. €10 flights to Poland. Now if that isn't cheap, I can't tell you what is.

Some people were visiting places like Spain or Italy, but for me, I could go another time from Ireland and it wouldn't be so much in price difference. But there are plenty of countries you can get to from Sweden so cheaply!

So if you come to Stockholm, you're also getting the opportunity to travel to some great places. They say Stockholm is the Capital of Scandinavia, and although I'm still not sure if I agree, it is definitely the gateway to Scandinavia, and a stepping stone to Europe.

Happy travels my friends!

#67 Warsaw, Poland

This was the very last of my side-trips from Stockholm, and it was very sophisticated as we actually flew this time, instead of our usual boats/trains excursions!

The first thing I will say is that it was CHEAP. After coming from Sweden everywhere is cheap (except Norway!) but here was ridiculous! It applies especially to food and drink, we ate and drank like Kings for 3 days, with an average of about €7 for a big meal and a drink. Unbelievable!! For this reason we thought that perhaps Poland is the greatest country in the universe, but there are some other reasons why we liked our trip to Warsaw too.

Warsaw was surprisingly modern. The city centre boasts about five sky scrapers, as well as a rather tall, imposing old building from which there is an amazing view! The public transport was quite easy to navigate, we mostly used trams which run very often and efficiently, not to mention cheaply too!

Poland obviously has a very sad history, and although some of the places I wanted to visit appear to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (I advise you to check!) free walking tours and the Uprising museum really brought it to life, and it gave me a great respect for a country that had to rebuild itself from ruins, not so long ago.

I will admit the only downside to the trip was the Polish people - they were terribly rude. Obviously not every single Polish person ever, but those that we came across couldn't speak English and were quite rude. In one (half empty) restaurant we were waiting for 10mins without being handed a menu, and when we motioned for the idle waiters to come over to our table, they smiled and waved back and then they started very obviously talking about us! But when they finally came over and took ours orders, the service was quick and the food was tasty and cheap, so it was really a downside that they were so rude to foreigners, especially in the capital city at the start of tourist season.

Some of my Warsaw highlights:

 The Palace of Culture and Science (great viewing area!)

 Seen in clothes shop TK Maxx

 Prozna street, untouched since WWII

 Statue of Chopin

 Cheaper to have beer at breakfast than coffee or juice

 View over Warsaw

 Warsaw National Stadium in background

Stare Miasto, the old town (identically rebuilt after WWII) 

 Warsaw Uprising Memorial

Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 

Nazi uniform at the Uprising museum

 The old city walls

The birthplace of Marie Curie

So I would recommend a visit to Warsaw, or Poland. It seems to be quite cheap to get to, and incredibly cheap to stay there for a few a days (our hostel was €7 a night, most museums were less than €5 entrance, as already mentioned food and drink is cheap!). Our biggest regret about Warsaw is that we didn't stay a few days longer, which is always a good sign!

#66 Swedish Royal Wedding

Just two days after seeing the Royal Family at the Swedish National Day, June 8th was the wedding day of Princess Madeleine.

Because of our poor understanding of Swedish, we actually got there two hours early - but this was beneficial, as we got space at the barrier in front of the Royal Palace, and we got to watch the army drills and listen to the army bands while we waited.

In general I thought there was a poor turnout, I have never been to a Royal Wedding, but I thought there would have been a much larger crowd, although there were more than enough people around. After celebrating the National Day, I really felt Swedish and patriotic, although it seems the Swedes themselves weren't much bothered about any of this, which is a pity!

The bride was preceded by hundreds, possibly thousands, of members of the armed forces, army, navy, air force, pretty much everyone was there! Then came some public transport buses with "Royal Wedding" as the destination, and these buses contained distinguished guests, as well as members of the Royal Family (it was amazing to see someone wearing a crown wave to you from a bus)! Then came lots of pretty horses, and finally the bride and her groom in a horse drawn carriage, looking beautiful!

Awwww!

#65 Swedens National Day (or hanging out with the Swedish Royal Family)

The Swedish National Day, June 6th, isn't a very popular holiday in Sweden. For most it seems to be just a day off work, instead of a celebration to actively partake in. While researching a few days before, I found it difficult to find information on events or activities in Stockholm, except for Skansen. Skansen is the large outdoor museum, featuring a mini zoo and buildings from Sweden's history. It is also the place that holds traditional Swedish celebrations and places special events, and it was where we decided to go.

What was extra special about the National Day in Skansen, was the appearance of the entire Swedish Royal Family, and a speech from King Carl Gustav! There were events during the day such as traditional Swedish dances and Swedish games activities, and then at 6pm was a special concert, which was broadcast live on Swedish television.

I had previously visited Skansen in March, when it was still covered in snow. It was nice to visit again in the sunshine, and to see it so busy too! 

 Traditional Swedish Dancers

 Speech by the Swedish King

The Swedish Royal Family

#64 Vasa Museum

The best in Sweden? Maybe not. . .

There are two big attractions you are told you must visit when you come to Stockholm: one is the outdoor museum, Skansen, and the other is the Vasa museum. The Vasa museum is a museum about a warship which  sank on its first voyage in Stockholm bay in 1628. The ship remained largely intact and was dug up from the ocean in 1961, and is today on display at this museum.


After visiting a lot of Stockholm's other museums, I had left Vasa for almost last, and I was a little disappointed. It's just a big piece of wood in the middle of a big room. There is lots of information about details of the ship and the lives of the sailors, as well as information about the salvage process and possible reasons why it sank, but I just didn't see why it is a must-see for Stockholm. I've spoken to other people and it seemed to be a split divide - either they thought it was really cool, or nothing special!

#62 Abba The Museum

The facts: I went on a Saturday afternoon, and I was told to come back at an allotted time about 2 hours later - which is pretty good since it has only opened.
It costs 200kr, which is pretty expensive.
It's not very big- the rooms are packed with different things to see and take in - and unfortunately they are packed with people too. So I think they could have spread it out a lot more.
The Swedish Hall of Fame is small and disappointing.

 The phone didn't ring :(

 Nice costumes

 The recording studio

 The "Become a 5th member" hologram

 This quote on a wall near the end of the museum made me sad

 A wall of their releases

And a wall of all their awards

So, the "Become the 5th Member of Abba" hologram thing was pretty disappointing. The holograms are very cartoon-y, I had really expected it to be more realistic. Nevertheless your video is recorded online, so you can go back and download it and keep it forever! There is also the karaoke booths, a quiz with different difficulty levels, a music mixer thing, a video that puts you in the video for dancing queen (although it doesn't look quite right), a thing that takes a picture of your face and then puts it on a cartoon Abba member - and then you can dance as them. There is also a disco room blaring Dancing Queen for those who feel they want to dance (no one did). They had lots of pictures and quotes from songs and tvs playing their songs and stuff all over the museum, and basically anything about Abba you ever wanted to know.

Swedish Music Hall Of Fame

This was pretty much the room

The Swedish hall of fame was disappointing - there are so many famous songs that have been written or produced by Swedes and they barely got a mention in a list on a wall. . .They really could have done a lot with this museum, and I feel it was just shoved onto the side of the Abba Museum to fill in space. They have different rooms with some information and samples of songs that were popular from the 1920s to today. It was nice but it could have been a lot better.

Just to point out that I am not a big Abba fan, I just know the singles like Dancing Queen etc etc. The museum provides a lot of background about each member, how the band started, the stories behind some of their songs, their recording equipment, outfits, albums, awards etc. There is also the interactive things like the karaoke, quiz, dancing, music mixer etc which are fun. There is really a lot, but it is all very close together, and I think they could have made it bigger and easier to see at a more comfortable pace.

If you're an Abba fan you simply have to go, but if you're not it's still interesting and I would recommend it!