Wien / Bécs

Just landed back to the desert approx 2 hrs ago.. and now eating mummies home made cookies.
Finally i was in Europe :) And quite close to home. The main event of this trip was to see my dear family and best friend who drove to Vienna to see me for a dinner.
I had a very nice afternoon and evening, i had so many stories to tell to my loved ones whom i haven't seen for a long time that i didn't shut up even for a minute, i couldn't even finish a story i always started a new one. I had a tireing morning, i don't know where i got the energy from to talk so much. I guess i was just excited to see them. Meeting them is different than talking on the phone or skype. We had a nice Vienna dinner in an Austrian restaurant with some nice wine. Wine was specially good to warm up after walking outside. It was quite chilli outside. Mum brought me some winter cloths, coats and jackets - yeah they came in handy. (in Doha it's still "40 celsius, sunny" since i arrived here in July).

Vienna? It's one of the most romantic and beautiful city i have ever visited - i know :) always the last one is my favourite destination. It gave me the same impression as Paris.
Vienna is the place where i could spend endless time. I envy everyone who has the chance to live there.


And at the end of the day my visitors sit into the car after we said goodbye, i was standing on the pavement and watching them leaving.. i felt strange. They were going home, and i had to stay. I just realized how lonely i am. Than i went up to my single-bed hotel room. Always alone. The hotel had a classy antique style - just like the city. I liked it.
I filled up my bath with hot water and bubbles.. the only thing i needed.

To be honest i really enjoyed freezing outside. I missed this feeling. My favourite season is autumn because of it's colours, the way of feel, its atmosphere, it's a bit of melancholic - and i love everything which is melancholic.
Autumn. Summer is gone, you dress in several layers, but not enough, and at 7 o'clock in the morning going to work it's always raining, everybody is holding umbrellas, ppl trampling each other to get on the morning tram, and you can see your breath, and when you get inside the building your nose and ears are burning and having a cup of hot tea never felt as good as these mornings. And in the evening when you finish work it starts raining again so by the time you arrive home you are soaking wet and taking a hot bath is the high spot of the day, than curling up under the blanket with a book...

This is how Vienna made me feel at the end of September.

இலங்கை / Sri Lanka

Just back from Sri Lanka and suffering of insomnia. I skipped the last two nights, slept a bit in the morning, a bit in the afternoon in different time zones.. i arrived home in the morning, closed the window shades, had a shower, put on pj's.. doesn't help to fall asleep.

It was an unexpected trip, nice surprise. Anyway my suitcase is always ready to leave anywhere (bikinis, a pair of flip-flops, towel, set of summer + winter clothes).

I'll try to describe my impression of Sri Lanka (old Ceylon), i think the photos will illustrate much better.
I had a short stay, though i tried to make the best of it. I never leave a city without having a short look at least. Of course you can't see everything in a day but i like to have a general picture of it once i'm there.
My favourite part is always the way from the airport to the hotel. The first look. This time it was quite long, 1,5 hrs but i guess we were accomodated in one of the nicest hotels of the island.

Sri Lanka itself is a teardrop shaped island located in the Indian - Ocean approximately 800km from the equator under India. Due to its geographic location it has a tropical climate - heavy rain showers this time of year, we managed to catch a thunderstorm in the evening.

I tuck-tuck driver took me and another girl for a couple of hours sightseeing roundrip around Colombo and told us some information about the places we were visiting. It was quite heard to understand his accent, like everyone's there. But he was very helpful and patient - waited for us everywhere we wanted to go inside and asked for a very small amount of money. (I have his phone number in case anybody is going there, a friend gave me his contact as well.)

When you give tips they are grateful for every penny. And thinking of the fact that i couldn't even have a dinner in Madrid for the money i spent during the whole stay including the fancy dinner in the hotel' restaurant is funny.

I was spellbound by the island's natural beauty, tropical flora, beaches and landscapes. It's not a developed country but they are very rich regarding its culture from ancient times, religions, believes and the kindness of people. It's the centre of Buddhism, and the second most popular religion is Hinduism. There are several Buddhist and Hindu temples, Christian churches, Islamic mosques around the island. I managed to visit one each of them. (And now i'm blessed by God of all religions, in the Buddha tample i got a bracelet which will bring me luck, in the Hindu temple i got a third eye on my forehead..)

The Buddhist temple was the most impressive for me. First because it's so different to my culture and the view was spectecular (full of golden statues - illustrates mainly Buddha - and cluttered by colourful symbols and holy items, messages of Buddha...) and secondly because i like their main philosophy. They highly respect nature, there was a huge thousand years old tropical tree in the garden, decorated by colourful items - i guess all had a meaning - and women in white dress poured water on it, i asked Jana our tourguide why, he said "for hope".
Also there was a huge elephant in the garden (picture attached).

The island was colonised by Portugal, Netherlands and later by England therefore impacts and remainings from these periods can be still found eg. they are driving on the left, churches built by Dutch..


Besides the temples Jana took us to the centre, huge streetmarkets everywhere, the traffic is a complete chaos, it was very interesting to see how ppl live there.
We have seen the "white house" and the monument of freedom built when Sri Lanka gained its independence (1972).


Later we had dinner in our hotel's garden. I had salmon in coconut and lemongrass with spicy cous-cous, the atmosphere and decoration was amazing, there was a lake around our table full of pink and white fish with size of my arm, surrounded by tropical flowers, million of tiny lights on the trees and candles.. i have to say i had a nice dinner :)




Well, i could continue the story of Sri Lanka for hours, but i recommend everybody to visit it and experience it themselves, unfortunately i didn't have the chance to see the countryside and the fascinating holiday resorts along the seaside.
As for me Sri Lanka is definitely one of my favourite destination i visited so far.

Still in Doha

This is a short video to have a brief look into Doha. The city and the culture is intersting escpecially for those who were not used to the islamic culture. After being here for almost two months.. rather feel myself in a prison now. I miss the lively streets of European capitals full of bars and pubs, caffee shops, crowd on the street, you can flag a cab - or take public transport, dress in whatever you feel like today, no one cares about your look, you can do anything, you are independent and free... here things are slightly different. Many many rules to bare in mind.. no one to blame, this is the culture we are living in.
And in Doha? On the left desert, on the right desert, in front of you construction.. a new city is being built. Gonna be much different in 20 years.. at the moment this place is not for a European woman.
My last week? Getting prepared to work. Prison break out is coming soon.. yeee :) So the final preparations to get started finally. Basically the whole week i was trying to get my optical glasses sorted out - yeah i need one to carry with me. I had couple of unsuccessful trips to the shopping mall.. (shops weird opening time due to ramadan - open after 8pm-, find the right optics.. and that my deadline to be at home by 10pm did not make my life easier either.) Glasses ain't cheap here and taking the taxi costs into account i wasted every day from one shopping mall to another and that stress involved when arriving home by 9:59pm every evening and when i was left without a taxi on the street and went to ask a black guy if he would take me home.. i had some exciting moments this week... plus if i'm in a shopping center i tend to forget what i came for and buying unecessary things "i must have" (eg. widening my lipstick collection)
Never mind, i got the glasses finally! Yeeee