Tag: Stockholm

The Advent Christmas Calendar is here again

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Christmas balls, stars and light
Made with Canva

Day 1

Wow, this year has gone fast, and that’s what makes it so surreal. Today it’s December 1st. I had an advent calendar on this blog in 2016 and 2017, and I’ve decided to have one this year, too. It’s 23 days to Christmas Eve. It’s my first Christmas alone. I never thought last Christmas was the last with Dad around. Christmas won’t be the same, but one thing hasn’t changed. I’m taking a cruise to Tallinn this year, too. I don’t need to think about anything other than relaxing. In a way, I’m not alone since there will be other people. Christmas isn’t that important for me anymore. If I had a family, I would feel differently. My parents and I haven’t spent Christmas at home since 2010. In 2011 and 2012, we went on a cruise to Riga, Latvia. On a cruise, everything is done for you, including the food and the entertainment. A big bonus is a day on land. In 2013, we didn’t go anywhere since my mother died on December 15 that year. Me and my dad stayed at home. That was a sad Christmas. In 2020, we stayed home too. It was COVID-19 then, so no cruises were organised because of it.

The shipping company made cruises to Riga until 2017 and then to Tallinn the following year. I went with Dad on the Christmas cruises, the last time being last year. Because of the cruises, I have been abroad the most in Latvia and Estonia—unless you count Stockholm, but that’s summer trips and one advantage of living in Finland. Once, we went on a Christmas cruise to Stockholm. It’s two nights on the ship and a day on land. I’ve been to those places so many times that I almost know it by heart, at least in the town centres. So Riga, at least 6 times and Tallinn 5 times, so quite a lot.

So, this is the first post of the 2024 Advent Calendar. It won’t be all about Christmas. Here we go.

Summer of 2024

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pink and yellow flowers on field
Photo: Generate with AI

The summer of 2024 so far has been both slow and eventful. Weather-wise, it has been different. There was a heatwave here in Finland in May, and then it’s been a little chillier. There have been hot days in June once in a while. I hate hot weather, so this summer has been much better. I prefer it to be between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius, but anything hotter than that is not my favourite. I’m glad we haven’t had the heatwaves they have in other countries.

An event that I went to was Bryan Adams’s concert on June 5 in Tampere, Finland. I love every minute of it. I sat pretty far, but I didn’t get to choose any closer. I bought the ticket in advance when it came on sale, so I couldn’t choose where to sit. If I had bought it later, I could have. But I didn’t know the tickets wouldn’t go that fast. You never know how fast concert tickets go, so I had to ensure I got one. He’s been one of my favourite artists for years. It didn’t matter where I sat; I was there to enjoy myself, and I did. The concert was sold out, so he is still famous here. Rock music is a popular genre over here.

Here is a short clip of one of the songs he performed. If you can’t see the video, do let me know.

Bryan Adams performing, Can’t Stop This Thing We Started

And a few photos.

It was definitely the highlight of my summer.

Other things that have happened this summer for me are lame compared to that. I got another achievement in the GuruShots Photo Challenge. I levelled up to Challenger. I could get one step further to Advanced, but I need a few steps to do that. That’s the highest level I will get. The highest level is Guru, but you need to win a lot of challenges to even get to Veteran. My goal is to get to Advance, but it doesn’t matter. It’s only a bit of fun.

GuruShots new level status

Last but not least, I am going on holiday to Stockholm in August. There will be a noisy festival in the park I live near, so I want to get out of here. Two days away from that noise will be bliss.

A trophy for my efforts

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a trophy and stars
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com

The reasons why I should get a trophy for my efforts.

On June 2, I turned one year older than last year. That means I’m one step closer to death, but hopefully, I won’t die in many years. I went on a cruise to Stockholm alone for the first time ever. Before, I went with my parents and on class trips. Of course, I travelled alone inside the country. This was the first time I was alone abroad. It was only a cruise, but that’s a start. I stayed on the ship for 23 hours. It was kind of lonely since Finns don’t talk to strangers. But I didn’t need to go through the hassle that I went with my dad. He always wanted to sit and drink beer. But at least then, I had company. A good thing about travelling alone is you can go as you please. If I was tired, I would go to bed. I did that without telling another person if I wanted to sit on deck and read a book. On the cruise, there were a lot of families, so there weren’t young party people. It’s calmer to be on board when there aren’t drunk people there. In general, there weren’t many people on the cruise, which was nice. You didn’t need to queue anywhere. It’s been a heatwave in Finland, so sitting on deck with the wind blowing was nice. The best part of a 23-hour cruise is the buffer and tax-free shopping. I only buy sweets/candy because I don’t like alcohol, and I don’t smoke. Unlike some people in Finland.

For some people, unemployment brings them down or being single. It brings me freedom and confidence that things will get better. The only time I get depressed is when I’m forced to do things I don’t want to do. I’m selective, and I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t go for the 2nd best as Madonna sings in Express Yourself. It’s better to be alone than socialise with the wrong people. I have had enough of those when I was younger. Life is too short to have toxic people in your life.

I should get a trophy for tolerating people in the first place. I don’t need to get it from others because I can get it alone. Treat yourself with a trophy of your choice once in a while. I will award myself with sweets/candy that I bought from the cruise ship. I have always had a sweet tooth, no matter how I feel.