39. Finland

April 2016. Helsinki – 2 days.

I feel a little bad for Finland. I had such a good time in Estonia it was hard not to compare everything in Helsinki negatively to Tallinn, made worse by the fact the locals essentially convinced me there was so little fun to be had in ‘Helstinki’ I might as well change my schedule and have an extra evening of fun with them.

I arrived in Finland bleary-eyed and sleep-deprived. My hostel room occupied by three silent Asian students. My half-hearted attempt at sightseeing thwarted by ice cold hail. I gave up, returned to the hostel, ignored the fact my roommate was now wearing a creepy white face mask, and went to bed at 8pm.

If I’d had more time, if I’d been more awake, if it had been a different season… I fully embraced the lazy, soulless, Helsinki city sightseeing bus the next day in my few hours before my flight, and in either summer or winter there could be fun to be had on Helsinki’s islands or the beach. There are a few cool sights – the church that is carved into a rock for one – but as a city I didn’t love it.

I am guilty of making snap judgements re places. My opinion is generally formed in the first few hours. And actually, I landed in Helsinki before Tallinn. It was surprisingly difficult to get around with a lot less English than expected – not that everywhere should be forced to cater for the uni-lingual Brit, but Finnish isn’t the easiest language to make a stab at. And as a city, it just felt lacking in something. Functional, stylised, Lutheran, cold – these were all words that sprung to mind. They love their architecture, shiny modern art structures abound, but it’s lacking in heart.

I met a melancholy, unkempt Finn on the beautiful boat from Helsinki to Tallinn (the boat back was just full of Finns making full use of cheap Estonian alcohol), and during several gin and tonics he stated ‘all of Finland hates me’ and named me ‘the nicest person I have ever met’. After my brief stint in Helsinki part of me can see why it held no place for Laurik.

38. Estonia

April 2016. Tallinn – 4 days.

I think there’ll always be the fear when embarking on a solo trip, that it’ll result in rocking back and forth and crying alone in a dingy hostel room. Writing this an hour before I board my flight to Iceland, that fear is alive and well but thankfully, it definitely didn’t come true in Tallinn.

Lovely, lovely, Tallinn. What a ridiculously pretty city. It was everything and more that I’d hoped. Gorgeous cobbled streets and breathtaking scenery: beautiful city walls and towers: layers of intriguing history. And all set in the backdrop of the most amazing self-deprecating, unassuming, hilarious, national sense of humour. Estonians made my trip. From laughing at the fact they only managed to be independent for 2 days, then 2 weeks, before finally escaping from the Soviet Union in 1994 – to asking tourists to be an informer for TripAdvisor and not the KGB at the hotel museum where the secret police hid out – to including the 500th anniversary of the national song festival in the year 2384 on their pavement history timeline. It was a sense of humour born out of making light of a difficult past which I, as a Northern Irisher, could really identify with.

The city itself had a lot of similarities to Vilnius, and could probably be seen in the same amount of time – 2/3 days. Which left me more than enough time for fun, of which there was so much I ended up buying a new ferry ticket and staying an extra night. My hostel was superb – everything about it was designed for easy socialising for the solo traveller. A pub quiz, two pub crawls, and a lot of laughs later I left with an impressive amount of new Facebook friends.

But really, the main thing you need to know about Tallinn, is that there is an entire bar dedicated to Depeche Mode.

 

 

36. Alabama Shakes: Sound and Color (2015)

For some unknown reason I had decided Alabama Shakes were a hip, cool, all-girl band who looked (and sounded) like Haim. Which meant I was very confused when I found out they look (and sound) like this:

I can tell that they are really cool, on a sunny day sipping a cold brew this album would be the perfect accompaniment, but in all honesty it’s not a natural fit for me. I don’t really like blues, and it’s taken a bit of work to enjoy. I’m too square for Brittany Howard’s screeches.

35. The New Pornographers: Challengers (2007)

When I put this album on for the first time it was like meeting a new friend or family member that I knew was going to be in my life for a long time. Admittedly I’d had a heads up by being sent two songs by a friend which I instantly loved, and although the rest of the album doesn’t quite live up to these two, I love them enough to make up for it. I pretty much listened to them on loop for a zillion hours. It’s actually a different song on the album however that contains my favourite line / potential wedding proposal: ‘Come with me, go places’.

34. Jonsi & Alex: Riceboy Sleeps (2009)

I like Sigor Ros, but I love frontman Jonsi’s solo album (Go). And I’d decided that if there were a spectrum of accessibility re experimental Icelandic music, it would go; Sigor Ros – Jonsi – Jonsi & Alex.

Sadly I was wrong. If Sigor Ros’ made up language and occasional 10 minute songs of wailing are sometimes hard to handle, this album is a full auditory workout. Complete with ears being sore after. Verdict? More Jonsi, less Alex. Sometimes using words is fun!

33. The xx: xx (2009)

With a band name / album that makes my title look like some sort of weird Roman numeral code, and this highly original album cover, I think it’s fair to say they really like the letter ‘x’. They should probably do a Sesame Street episode or something.

Ach, I expected to like this album a lot more than I did. I’d noticed it for years and just never got round to buying / listening. Met with critical acclaim when it was released in 2009, I actually think I would have liked it a lot more had I heard it then but in comparison to more recent music of a similar genre it just lacks something. Like a London Grammar lite. It’s still perfectly listenable, it’s made it onto my travelling playlist, but there is a twinge of disappointment.

32. Ra Ra Riot: The Rhumb Line (2008)

This was a blind buy based on once of those internet ‘if you like this you might like this’ algorithms. A New York indie band who haven’t put out a huge amount of material from this debut in 2008, but who I’ve just discovered released a new album a couple of months ago. Each time I listen I like it more than I thought I did.  Catchy and at times quirky, they remind me of Vampire Weekend and that’s never a bad thing.

27. Edgar Allan Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart & Other Stories (1843)

I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never actually read any Poe, and my knowledge of him is 100% the result of pop culture (largely The Simpsons) and amusing internet memes.
Chosen as another 80p Penguin Little Black Classic quick read, I didn’t realise exactly how short the titular story is. Like, 4 pages short. Kill the guy, freak out, hear the heart, here’s the body guv’nor. Atmospheric and well written as it is I’m quite impressed The Simpsons got a whole episode out of it.

Actually, and possibly due to the twist of The Tell-Tale Heart being so well known, I think I prefer The Fall of the House of Usher. Even if it does kind of make me think of the rapper.

 

26. Christopher Isherwood: Mr. Norris Changes Trains (1935)

This was another charity shop impulse buy based largely on the cover. I don’t care what they say, judging books by their cover has always served me pretty well. But it does mean I am physically incapable of buying a book that has been reissued with a film front. Ugh.

Anyway, knowing nothing about the book I was intrigued by the description of ‘the camp and mildly sinister Mr Norris’ on the back, and a novel set in 1930s Berlin. It’s a bit of an odd book. The tone makes it a mildly uncomfortable read, as the protagonist repeatedly encounters the bizarre Mr Norris amidst hedonistic parties, masochism, political unrest, and many cups of tea. It basically feels like it’s setting a Eurovision entry / Carry On film with Hitler in the background. As the Nazis rise to power and characters in the novel begin to be eliminated it starts to feel a little crass. Ishwerwood apparently later stated;

But to be fair, written in 1935, there was no way of knowing the extent those eliminations would go to. Hindsight perhaps leads to an unfair judgement on the novel and its cartoonish aracters.

25. Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness (1899)

I once again broke my rule of never rereading books here. Well, sort of. I had to read Heart of Darkness for my ungrad, but it was approximately 11pm the night before the tutorial and I sped read the first few pages, flicked through the rest, and never really got who Kurtz was.

Plus I found a copy with a nice cover in a charity shop and it was super light to pack for my Finland / Estonia trip.

It turned out to be the perfect book to read on a boat. Albeit on the Baltic sea and not the African jungle.

A much more enjoyable read than I had anticipated / remembered, and ridiculously atmospheric. I think it inspired more than one intense foggy darkness related dream. That or Estonian beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is an intriguing insight into empire / colonialism / imperialism, the seduction of power, the latent raw and animalistic nature of mankind, and some pretty progressive and subversive messages for its time;

‘The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.’

I kinda get why it’s kinda a big deal. I should probably watch Apocalypse Now.