Holidays @Helsinki&Stockholm

 I spent the last 4 days with my DGVB <3   We had so much fun in Helsinki and Stockholm <3

Helsinki:

I flight from Kuopio in the morning and arrived in HEL around 13 o'clock. It was very warm! Like 19 degrees and sun shining! Just perfect :) Before the take off I got an sms from Jesse! He was in the train from Vaasa and he was also coming to Helsinki to party with us!! jeah! Sunny Beach reunion! Jesse arrived at 17 o'clock and we decided to met in the station and wait for Sandra there. But nothing goes always as you planned and you know what happened? Sandra lost her luggage... AGAIN! They lost her luggage also when she was traveling from Burgas to Sweden! Not such a good luck! The worst thing was that her viking bucket was in the bag and that the shops closed at 18:00 so she didn't have time to buy clothes for the night! But we are guides, we have a good attitude and we know how to solve the problems so... we went to the supermarket and we bought a lot of alcohol :D We prepared all the ingredients for the Hockey and the party was ready to start. Granadine, Vodka, Sprite, Enegy drink and ofc my original viking bucket!

 

Making the bucket was easy, we just used the method that "my favourite bartender" told me...we counted the amount of alcohol in seconds and not in cl :D That was a good way to make it :D But after a while I think we had some problems counting :D  (like all the bartenders in DGV :p)

This is what happened with the vodka....

and this is the result of drinking it .....

I loved every second of that night or at least the ones I can remember! But I must say that the bars in Helsinki are quite boring! Bartenders are sober, old and not so good looking and is not allowed to dance on the table! buuu! But thank you Sandra, Mira and Jesse! It was an awesome night!

The day after I wanted to show a little bit of Helsinki to Sandra! We were tired but not hungover, so we took the bus to the centre and sit for a while at the Senate Square, where the beautiful Helsinki Cathedral is! We visited the market square where they sell traditional Finnish food and souvenirs, the Esplanad Park, the orthodox church and walked in the main shopping street Aleksanterinkatu <3

I know Helsinki quite well since I worked as a sightseeing bus hostess for long time but there was something new in the city that I did't know about! The "Finnair SkyWheel" and the "Bad bad boy" sculpture.

After some researches I discovered that the statues is a Tomi Toija´s sculpture that was a part of the sculptor´s exhibition called Mutatis Mutandis! mmm I really like art but this one? I don´t get it :D Need to speak with someone who can explain it to me because all I see is a boy peeing in the sea :D

We needed to be at home at 18:30 because they were bringing Sandra´s luggage (yes they found it and the viking bucket is safe juhuu), so we took some Starbucks "refresha" sparkling green coffee, popcorns and chocolate and we went home to watch some movies and just relax!

Stockholm:

Next day the alarm rang at 4:45 and we catch the airplane for Stockholm at 9:05. Stockholm was beautiful as alway but OMG it was cold! It was raining like crazy when we arrived :D We went straight to the hotel to put our luggage and it was a nice surprise. The hotel, Fridhemsplan Hotel & Hostel AB, was lovely and clean BUT they were making some renovation works so from 9 to 16 was very noisy!

We were so tired that we fall asleep also with the loud noise and when we woke up was already 14 o'clock! Since it was raining we decided to go to a shopping mall in Kista! We made some crazy shopping there hups! But we needed all that stuff we bought.... or?  -_-  In the evening we went back to the hotel to relax a little bit and we put a very nice chocolate and blueberry facemask just to get more in the relaxing mood! We are soooo beautiful, don´t you think? :D

Than we went out for dinner with Robin, the guy I met in Sunny Beach this summer! We had some very healthy food in a place I can´t remember the name :D and a very good time! It was so nice meet him again!!! Thank you Robin for being such a good person to me! Hope to see you soon <3                                                                                       

Next day we went to the city centre, had breakfast, swedish "fika" and did some more shopping!  I just love Sweden and I really think I can move there after guidelife :D <3 In the late afternoon was time to say goodbye to my DGVB! :( It was hard but I know that no matters how far we are we will always keep in touch! Love you  Sandra <3

........

        And tomorrow? Tomorrow is time for Gran Canaria! So afraid and so excited at the same time!             I really don't know what to expect! But maybe is a good thing going there without any expectation! Keep the fingers cross for me!  

Hasta la próxima!!!!!

  

Holidays @Vieremä

The 10/9, after exactly 4 months, was time to leave Sunny Beach :( 

It was hard...I really did't want to leave! I love guidelife but goodbyes? Not that much... The worst thing in this kind of life is that you need to say goodbye too many times to too many friends :(

BOJ S14 <3

   GOL team BOJ S14

                                   
                            
                                                                                             Finnish Mafia BOJ S14

                                                             
I left 1 week before the destination closed because I need to be asap in Gran Canaria but before that.... 

                                            two weeks holidays :) 

My father and my brother came to Helsinki to pick me up :) We spent the night in Helsinki because I arrived at 00:30 and than next day we took the car and started our road trip to Vieremä, a little "village" in the middle of nowhere where my family live :D

I spent my week here doing...ehm...NOTHING! Going to bed at 2 and waking up at 10, watching tv, enjoying my family and eating good italian/sicilian food!Thank you mum&dad for that :D I also tried to exercise a little bit with my bike :/ God I' m in a bad shape! In 20 min of biking my heart rate was 143min and 175max :D But in GC everything will change and I will start my healthy life again! :P I did it once so I can easily do it again!
Today we will have a family night with all the cousins together and tomorrow is already time to leave and say goodbye to everybody... again :( This week went too fast and I don't know when I'm going to see them again since I will be in GC for more than 6 months :( So sad... And also my brother is starting a new journey. He is moving to Manchester the 24/9... So Good Luck little brother! Love you so much!! <3

But enough with sadness, you know why? Sandra ( and Mr. Järnström? :p ) is coming to Helsinki tomorrow!!! WOOP WOOP the DGVB partying together again!!!! <3 Are you ready?! So excited!!!! :D Cant't wait to see you again!!!! We will stay in Helsinki 2 days and Monday we will leave for Stockholm where we will spend other 2 days ! :)  In STO I will also meet up with a very nice person a met in Sunny Beach this summer ;)

                                                Life is good <3

                                       " If we were meant to stay in one place, we'd have  roots instead of feet"

Next step? LPA

In August was time to apply for winter destination.... In the application we needed to put 5 preferences but one of them had to be one of the Canaria´s Islands! I really wanted to go to an exotic place so I applied like like this:

1- Thailand = Phuket ( Guide Online )

2- Thailand = Phuket ( Service Guide )

3- Thailand = Krabi ( Guide Online)

4- Thailand = Krabi ( Service Guide)

5- Canaria = Gran Canaria ( Airport team)

Like you can see, I really wanted to go to Thailand :D And do you think I got what I wanted? Noup :D    I had a day off that day...I remember I was waiting with the phone in my hand, shaking and refreshing my employee page every 2 sec...and than it was out...

The first thing I saw was Guide Online, that was good at least... but than I saw LPA...My first thought was "WTF is LPA? Did I apply for it?" And than I remembered... LPA= Las Palmas = OMG! 

                               F***ING GRAN CANARIA! 

Ofc LPA was the last place where I wanted to end up... especially GOL in LPA... is the place where NOBODY in  this company want to end up because apparently is very hard work! Before the destinations came out all the old guides were saying to us " Don't worry! All the destinations and the positions are good... hmmm except if you got GOL LPA, than you are screwed" -_- And like with Turkey and Bulgaria... I got it :D I' m so lucky :D

I started laughing like a crazy girl  and not because I was happy :D I was so disappointed and just for a second I wanted to press the " do not accept this position" button... but then my positivism came back and Sandra sent me a message... She got PHUKET! :D We promised each others that no matter what we got we will be happy, also if just one of us got Thailand... and I was happy for her... I really am happy for you MY DGVB! You will rock in PHUKET <3  Than also Kasper asked what I got and guess what? He got LPA GOL as well! I felt better! Much better! Someone I knew, a friend, will be in the same team! It´s so strange, we both apply for Phuket and Krabi and ended up together in the only destination for witch we didn't apply for! Life is strange sometimes :D But anyway... I just needed time to metabolise everything so I decided to wait until next day before accept... That night we went out ofc :D I talked with my friends and my colleagues about LPA and it helped a lot... Me and Sandra made a list for me of all the positive things about LPA...

1- Is not that far from Finland

2- I don't need any vaccines ( I´m so scared of needles)

3- I can practise my spanish

4- I will live in an apartment  not in a hotel so I can cook and eat healthy

5- I can go to the gym

6- There is a lot to see comparing to Sunny Beach

All good things right? :D Next day I pressed " I accept this position" button without any doubt :)

Will see... I really hope Gran Canaria surprises me...Maybe I'll love it or maybe I'll hate it but I will never know if I don't try it :) I'm positive, I have a good attitude and I will give LPA  a chance!              And Kasper, I'm happy to go there with you! We will rock LPA and we will have a lot of fun! I said it, happy now? :D

"If you take a chance you may win and be happy or lose and be wise. If you don't, nothing changes" 

A new beginning: Sunny Beach

Preamble: 
The last 8 years of my life I have been a girlfriend, a student and a responsible daughter... I always acted like everybody wanted me to act...I always had a program and a backup plan... Have a boyfriend, move to Finland, find a job, pass the test for the university, study, study more, work, graduate... Don't misunderstand me.... I don't regret anything of what I did in my life. Ofc I was happy but something was missing! I was living with someone, cooking for someone, taking care of someone, studying a lot and having good results, all good things but...Did I had fun? Did I put myself as a priority? I don't know... I don't think so...Than I graduated and something happened, I didn't have a goal anymore, not a program for my life... And it was panic! I started to think about my life and what I want to do before settle down and I made choices...difficult ones actually...I broke up, I left my job and I started guidelife... and than? Than SB happened :D In Sunny Beach nobody knew the old me! I wasn't just someone girlfriend, I wasn't  just a student, I was a cool single tour guide and I had the possibility to just let go and try to live without a plan, go with the flow... CARPE DIEM! And it's exactly how I lived SB... It's how I will remember this place... A new beginning.... and it feels so good :)

How it started:
When I came back from Cyprus I had 10 days to mentally prepare myself for working in Sunny Beach. I wasn't so negative about it anymore but... I did one mistake. I started watching an english Tv- program "What happens in Sunny Beach". If you don't know about this program, just watch it and you will understand why I was so worried after I saw it :D
                                   Just watching the first 10sec of the video will give you and idea :D

Arrival:

Let's be honest... All those who go to SB for holidays have this face when they arrive. Is not that you don't know how your vacation in SB will be. SB=Party&Alcohol. Everybody knows it. But what I didn't know by than was that that face will also be my face after a while there :D

First days:

My colleagues will maybe not believe this but the first month in SB was not easy.... I liked the place and the colleagues where nice but I spent my free time alone in my hotel room because I didn't really connect with anyone in my group... Than there was also another problem... In this company there is always more swedish and danish guides than finnish ones and when you go out together everybody will just speak in Swedish...not because they are mean but  they just forgot that you don't speak theirs languages.... so sometimes you feel an outsider... after a while you just have the courage to say " hey peeps english, NOW" but at the beginning, especially the first season when everything is new, you don't dare because you feel like they just don't want to talk with you... So if new guides are reading this blog, if you have the same problem (and you will have for sure :D) just remember them to speak in english and they will do it ;)

After a month I felt already home, I had routines at work and I felt like everything was in the right place.... Also two amazing people took place into my heart... two swedish sweeties: Sandras  <3

                If  I love Sunny Beach it´s just because I love every moment I spent there with you girls <3

The work:

The work in Sunny Beach was fun :) You work more as GOL that means guideonline. You answer the phone, the emails and the sms. I did also airport, had service in our service centre and had excursions to the wine cellar in Pomorie and the evening one in Erkech :) For the finnish guides is more quite comparing to the swedish and danish but still, you learn a lot :) It´s a good first destination  :)

Free time: 
Omg where should I start with this!!  Sunny Beach was party and I was the party queen!!!!! :P

Pub Crawl, NeoSplashParty, BoatParty, FoamParty, BeachParty and so many nights out in our favourite place....

                                                          DEN GLADE VIKING <3 

DGV was ours (me and Sandra) second home! Gosh we love that place! All the good memories ( and not just memories :P ) are from there!!! The best bartenders? In Viking!! The best music? In Viking! The best drink? Also in Viking... HOCKEY <3 Try it and fall in love  :D And remember YOU DON'T DRINK HOCKEY FROM A GLASS! YOU DRINK IT FROM THE BUCKET!!! :D

 There is so many things that I can tell you about Sunny Beach but I thing that this is all for now :)

                                                             This is my Sunny Beach <3

Cyprus: Blue Academy 2014

21/4/2014 - I was ready to leave Finland and start this new adventure... They told us to pack everything we need because most probably we will flight straight from Cyprus to our summer destination :) I was so proud that my bag was just 21 kg, what I didn't know by than was that after you receive your uniform the bag will be like 10 kg more :D 

I remember how nervous I was... Not about traveling in a new country, not about leaving Finland...That was the easy part for me since I made the huge decision to leave everything behind and move from Sicily to Finland when I was just 18 years old.... I was afraid.... afraid to not find someone to talk with... that the people will not be nice and that we will not have anything in common...that I will be too old comparing to them... I know, sounds stupid but believe me, when you leave everything behind that feeling will come up for sure....

When I arrived to the gate I started looking around, searching for girls that may look like guides and than...here they are... the Finnish mafia :D I was expecting more people but we were just 9 girls :D When we started talking all the fears just went away! I realised that there is nothing to be worried about...Those who want this kind of life, GuideLife, share the same interests and finding a friend is possible if you just want to!!

I met a lot of amazing people in Cyprus!The Finnish mafia was super and my swedish roomie was just the best!!! <3 We spent all nights talking about everything, trying to get used to talk in english, trying to teach swedish/finnish words to each other and every time we tried to sleep, something came up into our mind and we start talking again!It was so nice! I had a great time with her and I really hope to do a season together with her <3 Micaela I miss you <3

Cyprus was beautiful and the weather soooo goood :) It was already summer there!! And our hotel... OMG! Blue Village Nausicaa Beach! Just awesome!! I can really recommend it if you want to relax!! The hotel is by the sea... there is an amazing view, the water is clean and crystalline... I want to go back :D

But Blue Academy wasn't just sea and sun! Our days were very busy and we studied a lot :) Was very interesting actually :) Most of the training was theory but we had also the possibility to practise airport, excursion and welcome meetings! By than everything seemed so scary! Microphone?! Uuuu :D But now? Now when you talk into a microphone in front of 50 people you feel like you are talking to your mum in your living room :D If you start this job as a shy person, after one month you will not be that shy anymore :D


Blue Academy went fast...We were in Cyprus 10 days...The worst part of the academy?? Don't knowing your summer destination!!!! It was killing us! And you know when they told us? THE LAST DAY... in the AFTERNOON :D So cruel!! :D There was just few people that knew it already, those who were going to Turkey. They knew it before coming to Cyprus just because they needed to fix the visa in advance... Actually I was supposed to go to Turkey... Finnmatkat called me at the begin of April and told me that I will be a Guest relation host in Turkey... But I was in Sicily so I could´t go to the embassy and fix my visa in time so they told me I will get another destination... I really wanted my first destination to be Sicily... And I had just two places where I didn't want to go.... Turkey and Bulgaria.... and guess what I got?? :D First Turkey and than......

BULGARIA OFC!!! :D I didn't know if laugh or cry! :D From our blue academy other two guides got  Sunny Beach... Kasper and Emelie... I did't know who they were, actually we didn't  talk at all to each other in Cyprus :D But in Sunny Beach everything changed, that´s for sure <3

Like you can imagine I was a little bit disappointed with my destination also because I needed to go back to Finland  and leave for SB the 10/5 :/ It was frustrating since I had already said goodbye to everybody... But after a while I had time to digest everything and I realised that it will be fine.. I said to my self "just have a good attitude... you will have a great season"... and it was... oh god if it was... best summer ever ... best time of my life....
       
                                                                                    SUNNY BEACH <3 

                          Remember: Sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck <3

Life unexpected....

Here I´m again, starting a new blog. Since last time everything is changed... I am changed but I´m happy and grateful for everything that happened to me in this year...
All of this can be resumed with just one word:  

                                                                                        GUIDELIFE <3

One year ago I was a girl who just got her Master Degree and didn't know what to do with her life...Than I got an opportunity... A job in Tuscany as a Tour Guide for 4 weeks... It took me one month to say yes to this job but than, after a little trip to London and Sicily that helped me to understand how unhappy I was, I got the courage...I packed my bag and started this wonderful journey in Tuscany....

Tuscany was beautiful and this job took my heart <3 I visited and worked in Firenze, Pisa, San Gimignano and Volterra but also in Cinque Terre that it´s situated in Liguria :)
When I came back from this first guide experience, the feeling that I had before leaving just became stronger and I knew I needed to change something in my life, that  Helsinki was not my place anymore, at least not for now.

I decided to do something I always wanted to do and apply for a job as a Tour Guide for  the Finnish Tui, Finnmatkat. I thought I had all it takes to apply: good language skills, customer service and tourism experience BUT I soon discovered that driver licence was required and I did not have one :/ In Finland the driver license costs around 3000€ and I did not have that much savings but I got a brilliant idea :D Go back to the origin... I asked in Sicily how much would it cost to get my driver license there and they told me around 500€ .... it was not hard make a decision. I packed my staff and moved again to my old house in Catania, Sicily.

Live again in Sicily, after 8 years in Finland, was fantastic. My friends, my family, sun, happy people...Gosh I miss Sicily :( At the beginning of February, after passing few tests and a phone interview, I got a call from Finnmatkat... I needed to go to Finland for a job interview! I went to Helsinki, did the interview and on Valentine´s day I got the call that changed my life! I was in!! I was officially a Tour Guide for Finnmatkat! <3
Now I just needed to go back to Sicily and do my best at the driving exam. I have always been afraid of driving, It´s why at 18 years old I spent my money to move to Finland and not to get my driving license like all my friends did....BUT the 13/03/2014, the day after my birthday, at the age of 26, I finally got my driver license!! woop woop!

I was so happy and I programmed to have two weeks in Sicily with my family  before leaving again for Finland BUT life always surprises you and I got a call from the same company for who I worked in Tuscany... they wanted me in Spain to be a guide for them again ASAP!! OMFK! Life is an adventure so I said yes and left for Barcelona the next day :D

I had two great weeks there and learned so much about Spain, Gaudi and Salvator Dali! Amazing! Traveling and working as a tour guide teaches you so many things and you feel so reach everytime you leave a place! The 1/4/2014 was time to go back to Sicily, few days there and than back to Finland! In Helsinki I fixed all I needed to fix, I said goodbye to everybody and the 21/4 was time to leave and start my adventure. Was training time in Cyprus!

                                       Blue Academy 2014

But this is another story...... :)