Svalbard

I’ve always been fascinated by H.C. Andersen’s story Snow Queen – the story is enchanting and the Snow Queen herself is a very puzzling character. One Saturday morning in January I was searching information about the story (I don’t even quite remember what it was I wanted to know) when I ran into an article according to which Snow Queen lived in Svalbard; this is what Andersen himself claimed. I googled Svalbard to see some pictures and half an hour later I booked flights. That’s where I was earlier this week, in a settlement called Longyearbyen, 78°13’ parallel north.

At the moment I’m slightly too confused to say anything about the days I spent there. The place was simply surreal, very plain and barren but uncommonly beautiful and dreamlike. Perhaps I’ll write more about that later, now I’m still trying to organize my thoughts about that otherworldly place.

A couple of things most on my mind right now:

1) Nature. It’s unbelievable. The temperature was -7°C and the sun was ridiculously bright. The light blue Greenland Sea seemed magical being surrounded by white mountains; the plane’s windows were covered in ice crystals when we were landing; the landscapes made me run out of words the first minute I saw them and still do. And no, I didn't see polar bears. It was still worth it.

2) Norwegians are nice. One thing that makes travelling alone so cool is that it’s much easier to start conversations with strangers. I chatted with a really nice Norwegian family (and the wonderful thing is that they kept on being nice after they heard I was Finnish which is quite surprising after the hockey game on Monday). Also, one night when I went to the lobby of the hostel I was staying in to have a cup of tea the kind receptionist told me I could have it for free if I didn’t tell anyone. How nice is that? Then again at Oslo airport I was trying to get rid of my Norwegian coins and went to a café. However, I had one crown too little and the wonderful waitress took the missing coin from their tip box. I really hope we here in Finland will be able to give travelers and tourists as nice experiences as the ones I got in Norway. I want to believe it’s possible if we just step up and stop being so grumpy.

3) Safety. In Svalbard people really respect each other’s space and property. In a place like that it’s easy to trust which is something I really value.

4) Library. It’s probably odd that I spent some time in Longyearbyen Library since I don’t know Norwegian (written Norwegian is surprisingly understandable if you speak Swedish, though). As I’ve brought up several times I love books and feel at home when I’m surrounded by them. To me visiting the library was more than natural. The Norwegian editions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s and C.S. Lewis’ books seem very beautiful.

Falling water

I’m aware that coherency isn't really my greatest virtue as a writer but even with that remark being made the following text is remarkably random. Feel free to grow tired with this rambling.

I’m completely obsessed with waterfalls. Yes, waterfalls. I love them. They’re beautiful, mystical and wondrous to behold. They remain in the same place for ages and yet live in constant movement. The sound of falling water is as enchanting as are the foam and wavelets in the pool below. I regret to say I've only seen some small waterfalls and I guess they've been more like high rapids than actual falls. I’d love to go to Iceland, Italy or New Zealand (among dozen other places); as far as I know they've got wonderful falls there and at the moment my travel fever is practically impossible to handle. I should never type words such as 'Most beautiful waterfalls' in Google search box. Never.

As I've written several times more than actually would be necessary I love nature. I’m especially fond of water – I don’t fully understand why but that’s the way it’s always been. I adore lakes, rivers, fountains, brooks, seas, everything. There is something so deeply soothing about water that both seeing it and touching it seems to have a healing effect. One of my favourite things to do in summer is to go for a late night swim (in Finnish we have specific compound word for ‘swimming in the moonlight’, I guess that says something about us) in a lake located in some quiet woodland area. It’s unbelievably relaxing to float and look at the darkening sky, to feel the mist slowly rising from the water around you and to hear the voices of the night birds and the water itself. Those moments are, in my opinion, as close to magic as a simple human child can get.

As a suitably labyrinthine conclusion to the equally labyrinthine text I could say that to me water stands for harmony and healing whereas waterfalls stand furthermore for utmost beauty if not sacredness.

Scotland the Fair

One afternoon, not very long ago, I had a cup of tea – not just any cup of it, though.  It was Dragonfly rooibos tea with a wonderful, sweet touch of vanilla. It’s not just tea in my humble opinion, more like a piece of heaven turned into liquid – and I’m a devoted coffee-drinker.  Alas, the teabag I used was the last one I had left and therefore, naturally, the circumstances had to be ideal; it was a gray, rainy afternoon, just the kind of afternoon that makes you realise winter is definitely on its way. So I had my delicious cup of tea wishing the brand was also available in my country. However, even more than the tea itself I miss the place where I drank it for the first time.

Scotland has always had a special place in my heart. I've had a great pleasure to visit that wonderful country three times, twice on holiday, once volunteering in a local elderly care in Aberdeen. I was staying in a very nice, quiet village called Bieldside and even though the time I spent there wasn't that long it felt like home.  I couldn't stop admiring the greenery and the old houses and every morning I woke up I was amazed to realise that the country I was in was strange and yet not strange at all. I was at home without truly being at home, I was abroad without truly being abroad.

Bieldside

I spent most of the time in Aberdeen but it certainly isn't the only place I fell in love with. The most beautiful place I've ever seen is in the Highlands where the nature is plain and barren and yet so uncommonly fair. One of my favourite places is a small village called Braemar for not many sights are dearer to me than the mountains, the mist, River Dee and all the little brooks running down from the hills. I could walk there for hours just looking, listening, breathing and sometimes if I stood still long enough it felt as if the mountains were speaking and time ceased to exist. There were just the mountains, the mountains alone.

Braemar

Probably I should have written this in Finnish – as my native language it is the only one that allows me to express my thoughts properly and only by using Finnish I can reach at least some depth of expression. However, it felt right to write this one in English, it is about Scotland after all. Alas, this choice includes the very unpleasant risk of making embarrassing grammatical and phraseological mistakes. That is a risk I choose to ignore.

Stonehaven