She took me half the way there.
She's a big teaser.
She took me half the way there, now."
— John Lennon and Paul McCartney, 1965
Remember school field trips? Back when you needed your parents' permission to basically leave school and spend the day in some far out fun place with your classmates? Well, one of the best field trips I'd ever had was to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to see the Liberty Bell in 1981. Along with my fellow fifth graders, I had the time of my life exploring a symbol of U.S. independence and the City Of Brotherly Love. Though chaperoned, just that little bit of independence, away from school and parental guidance, felt like heaven on earth.
Not to be ungrateful, but when you get down to it, field trips were really nothing but a big tease. You see, after a long bus ride, you'd arrive with just a few hours to sightsee, then it was back on the bus and the trip was over like lickety-split! It really just made you yearn for more. On the other hand, I guess any time spent in a cool destination is worth while — even if it's just for one day.
With this in mind, let's reveal that surprise I mentioned in the last episode. You see, after the Big Baltic Tour, Sarah generously added a little something, something extra to my birthday trip. For one day only, we explored Finland's most famous city. And despite a disagreement that temporarily split the Brave and Fearless Castle Hunters, all was forgiven after exploring a cathedral high on top of a rock, a church stuck deep down in a rock, and a lady who simply loves to rock. Read on . . .
Officially The Republic of Finland, at about 130,000 square miles, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, comparable to the size of New Mexico and three times the size of the Sunflower Capital of the World. However, Finland's 5.4 million population count, in comparison to smaller countries like Bulgaria's 7 million, makes it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the European Union with a high economic status to go with it.
Sharing its entire eastern border with Russia, Finland, which is 1,600 miles north of Sofia and a one hour sail north of Estonia, is often mistaken as being a part of Scandinavia — possibly due to its close ties and regional connection to Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, to the western border, and Norway, to the North.
Despite being bordered by the top three most irreligious countries worldwide — Sweden, Norway and Estonia by sea — surprisingly 75% of Finnish people belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, with the rest claiming no religious affiliation. With regards to language, naturally, Finnish comprises about 90% of Finland, with Swedish rounding out a huge majority of the rest.
There's a reason for that Swedish touch. You see, from the 12th to the 19th centuries, Finland was a province and grand duchy under Sweden. It wasn't until 1917 that Finland gained full independence and fought to keep it from the Soviet Union, with a little help from Germany, during World War II. Unfortunately, Finland suffered a loss of land in the process.
Like its Swedish neighbor, Finland is filled with my kind of peeps — fun, friendly, fair, beautiful folks who love to bike. Besides an adoration for the two-wheeler, pesapallo, which is liken to American baseball, is considered the national sport of Finland. However, other spectator sports like ice hockey, cross-country skiing, and car racing tend to bring in the bigger bucks.
Unfortunately, with just one day to spend in Finland, Sarah and I decided to forgo the country's traditional meat and fish heavy cuisine, and opted for some yummy veggie soup and wild berries from the market area. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention my ever-so-present celebrity status. Well, let's just say, traveling south to north through the Baltic states up to Finland, I started out as a big star in Lithuania and gradually became a nobody by the time I got to Finland — a status that was probably due to Finland's fairly large Somali population and booming tourism, which brought in 7 billion last year.
Last but certainly not least, being that the day trip took place in mid-August, we experienced some exquisite moderately warm temperatures in Finland, which generally maintains a northern like cold climate, consisting of short summer nights and dark winter days. Now that you've chewed on that, let's see how the day began.
After a relaxing ride on the Tallink, a medium size ship that sails north from Tallinn to Helsinki, we arrived at the gorgeous Central Railway Station and took a smaller sail to a destination that I wasn't too thrilled about. That said, Suomenlinna, a inhabited sea fortress built of six islands — kustaanmiekka, Susisaari, Iso-Mustasaari, Pikku-Mustasaari, Lansi-Mustasaari and Langoren — sounds pretty cool, right? But when you're dealing with only one day in a country, it's best to be sure the cool name matches the destination.
So, beforehand, I Googled Suomenlinna Sea Fortress and next to an amazing ariel view — that would be impossible for us to see unless equipped with a helicopter — the fortress island just didn't do it for me. Sarah, however, begged the differ. Though my girl from the north country's decision would crack our castle slightly, she insisted on going and I bitterly complied.
THANKFULLY, SARAH AND I MENDED THE cracks in our castle during the sail back. Then, with the most eager thoughts of exploring the rest of Helsinki, it didn't take long before a stroll down the shopping district of Aleksanterinkatu and a breathtaking view of Helsinki's South Harbor, the industrial Kamppi Centre, the art nouveau section, the grand Helsinki Cathedral, Parliament and the colorful buildings of Toolo warmed our hearts and made us forget all about the earlier disagreement.
THE DAY AFTER THE Fine Finland and Big Baltic Tour, Bulgaria got the wonderful opportunity to spend a day with pop superstar Lady Gaga, a singer who is probably best known for wearing controversial attire, such as a meat dress to the MTV Video Music Awards or attending a baseball game in her underwear, rather than the commercially acclaimed album The Fame from 2008 and a hand full of number one singles such as "Poker face" and "Born This Way" — the namesake of her sold-out concert tour that blasted through the Balkans this August.
Before reviewing the Born This Way Ball, it's a matter of urgency that I give a shout-out to my boys The Darkness, Gaga's handpicked opening act for the day. With the pop diva waiting back stage, the house lights still up and hardly any attention paid, the modern day classic rock band from Suffolk, England, led by Justin Hawkins, ripped through an energetic short set of career hits and album highlights, including "Get your Hands Off My Woman", "Friday Night" and "I Believe In A Thing Called Love," from their classic Queen meets AC/DC inspired 2003 album Permission To Land.
Speaking of permission, may I please convey that in this dire age of minimal internet produced music talent, it's rather refreshing to see a chick from Upper West Side, Manhattan best known as Lady Gaga writing her own material and delivering a stellar live performance, quite reminiscent to classic 1980s Madonna — naturally Gaga's biggest influence. And I'll be the first to admit, I was a tad bit reluctant to attend. I really didn't know what to expect. In the end, however, Gaga's performance was convincing and proved that she is well worth the hype and then some. Here's why.
Accompanied by a large group of fellow U.S. ex-pats and Bulgarian friends, who all opted for the seating section, Sarah and I got lucky and positioned ourselves next to the cat walk that stretched from the stage through the ground level of Sofia's Arena Armeec. With this in mind, like George Clinton rising up from the holy Mothership during the 1978 P-Funk Earth Tour, Sarah and I had a reaching view of a surprisingly petite, but curvaceous Lady Gaga, who opened the Born This Way Ball stealthily donning a mask, while riding a black unicorn... yes, I said unicorn, folks, from a humongous Castle stage prop to the sounds of Born This Way track "Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)".
After Bulgaria showed their love and appreciation with ear splitting screams, Lady Gaga, who was reminiscent to Bolan and Bowie during glam rock's peak years, removed her mask, strapped on an electric guitar, and rocked out to "Electric Chapel." In this generation of poser rock stars, to my complete and utter shock the Lady could actually play the damn thing!
The rest of the Ball featured well known hits like "Bad Romance," "Paparazzi," and an outstanding performance of an unreleased acoustic piano driving ballad called "Princess Die" — where Gaga, impressed me again with her keyboard plucking skills. In addition to showing off her musicianship and fancy footwork, Gaga often changed wigs and scantily clad clothing (oh, and did I mention Gaga riding a motor cycle? Or wait, perhaps she was dressed as a motorcycle!?!), which perfectly fit with the Ball's overtly sexual theme.
On that note, at the height of me going goo-goo over Gaga, I glanced around the arena to observe the reaction of the Bulgarian audience. To my surprise, I was surrounded by children far younger than 13. In fact, Gaga welcomed a Bulgarian girl no more than 10 on stage during the Ball's memorable encore, which featured a touching speech regarding Gaga's first childhood musical memories, ending in a jam to "Marry The Night."
Speaking of musical memories, remember the Spice Girls? The top-selling girl group of all time that most, other than myself, won't admit to liking? Well, Gaga's pubescent attendees at the Born This Way Ball was reminiscent to the Spiceworld Tour I'd attended in 1998. Although the former British pop queens performed a setlist of mostly mature themed songs and sported scantily clad clothing, the general nature of the concert was G rated. I can't say the same for the Born This Way Ball, which was smothered in foul language and blatant sexual acts that would make even Madonna and Prince blush!
That said, the last thing I want to do is come off as an old fogey from the stogie and join the band wagon of folks hating on my girl Gaga. Next to digging her politics and sex, drugs and rock and roll mentality, it's just not in my nature to be the judgmental type. But because Gaga's flamboyant appearance, accompanied by infectious pop tunes and music videos, clearly attracts pubescent eyes and ears, I do adhere to the Lady toning down her concert's provocative nature or simply smacking on a 13 years and under restriction.
Just as I firmly believe and support an artist having the right to wave their freak flag high and proud, at the same time, when children are involved, I strongly comply to a certain adult responsibility in helping to preserve that innocent phase of childhood.
AS I GET OLDER, SUMMERS GET SHORTER. A couple of weeks after that day trip to the Fine Finland and Gaga's glamourous Born This Way Ball, presto, I was back at work teaching a third consecutive year at American English Academy of Sofia. And you guessed it. During the first month, the students were scheduled to take a field trip to Sofia's Presidential Palace, which included a guided tour through the city.
Unlike the first days of the previous school years, there was an obvious absence of those annoying butterflies that tend to flutter right before speaking to a packed room full of angst teenagers, seemingly ready to devour you. Well, after teaching nearly every level of K through 12 education, I must have gained an ample amount of confidence and patience; two important teaching ingredients that were most likely sensed by the student body, who seemed a bit more relaxed and exuberant on the first day.
I owe a huge majority of this development to observing friend and co-worker Krassi Yordanov, the high school English and grammar teacher — whom you may recall from Episode 36, when we hit up Kavarna Rocks. Krassi, an eight year teaching veteran —who, like me, stands out amongst the primarily brunette Bulgarian population due his striking bleach blond features and whopping 7 foot frame — mixes an easy-going demeanor, with a no-nonsense teaching approach. With this in mind, he and I got the opportunity to prove that patience and confidence, after being assigned to chaperoning duty to what would be my first field trip since becoming a teacher in 2010.
Still, even knowing that Krassi would be there assisting with possible mishaps, I'll admit, the thought of being responsible for 20 something eighth graders outside of the school grounds, was pretty intimidating. Even scary. I thought of all the worst-case scenarios, such as a student getting hurt or even lost. But just like me during that first school field trip to the Liberty Bell, the students seemed to be enjoying their sense of independence and acted on a somewhat mature level inside the Presidential Palace and throughout the Sofia Walking Tour.
Of course, there were a couple of disciplinary issues to be dealt with, like a few knuckleheads being late to certain activities or breaking up arguments that usually occur when traveling, but it was all in a day's work.
Be seeing you.
O
Not to be ungrateful, but when you get down to it, field trips were really nothing but a big tease. You see, after a long bus ride, you'd arrive with just a few hours to sightsee, then it was back on the bus and the trip was over like lickety-split! It really just made you yearn for more. On the other hand, I guess any time spent in a cool destination is worth while — even if it's just for one day.
With this in mind, let's reveal that surprise I mentioned in the last episode. You see, after the Big Baltic Tour, Sarah generously added a little something, something extra to my birthday trip. For one day only, we explored Finland's most famous city. And despite a disagreement that temporarily split the Brave and Fearless Castle Hunters, all was forgiven after exploring a cathedral high on top of a rock, a church stuck deep down in a rock, and a lady who simply loves to rock. Read on . . .
"When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face.
When someone else instead of me
Always seems to know the way."
— Bill Withers and Skip Scarborough, 1977
I CAN'T REALLY PINPOINT WHY, BUT IT'S SAFE to say that Finland would defeat the three Baltic states, hands down, in a U.S. popularity contest. Having said that, though most American Blog-O-Daria readers might be familiar with Finland's Nordic locale, there may be some shrouding in other vital areas of the country. In any case, here's a small summary to chew on before starting out the day . . .
There's a reason for that Swedish touch. You see, from the 12th to the 19th centuries, Finland was a province and grand duchy under Sweden. It wasn't until 1917 that Finland gained full independence and fought to keep it from the Soviet Union, with a little help from Germany, during World War II. Unfortunately, Finland suffered a loss of land in the process.
"Cheer up, sleepy jean.
Oh, what can it mean?
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen."
— John Stewart, 1967
FROM MY BOYS LENNON AND MCCARTNEY right up to Michelle and Barack Obama, you'd better believe all great partnerships have a row every once in a while. And when it comes to traveling together, disagreements happen more often than not. If you don't mind me quoting my girl Lesley Gore, I'd be a liar if I said that it was all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows when the brave and fearless Castle Hunters are hot on the trail. In fact Sarah and I disagree quite often during hunts. Mainly over the urgency of one particular destination over another. And at the start of our day trip to Helsinki, the capital and largest city of the Fine Finland — a nickname I bestowed for good reason — that's exactly what occurred.
So, beforehand, I Googled Suomenlinna Sea Fortress and next to an amazing ariel view — that would be impossible for us to see unless equipped with a helicopter — the fortress island just didn't do it for me. Sarah, however, begged the differ. Though my girl from the north country's decision would crack our castle slightly, she insisted on going and I bitterly complied.
So, in no time at all, the Brave and Fearless Castle Hunters turned Fortress Finders, started the journey. When finally arriving at the popular tourist attraction and UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is closely linked with the Baltic, nothing really changed regarding our feelings for Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. I thought it was overrated and Sarah still loved it. So, to not step on each other's toes while touring the premises, we made like R2-D2 and C-3PO at the opening scene of Star Wars - Episode IV and took separate paths.
"One day in your life
You'll remember a place.
Someone touching your face.
You'll come back and you'll look around."
— Sam Brown, 1975
THANKFULLY, SARAH AND I MENDED THE cracks in our castle during the sail back. Then, with the most eager thoughts of exploring the rest of Helsinki, it didn't take long before a stroll down the shopping district of Aleksanterinkatu and a breathtaking view of Helsinki's South Harbor, the industrial Kamppi Centre, the art nouveau section, the grand Helsinki Cathedral, Parliament and the colorful buildings of Toolo warmed our hearts and made us forget all about the earlier disagreement.
After a yummy snack break from Helsinki Market and quick pit stop at an awesome CD outlet called Levykauppa Ax, Sarah and I resumed our day trip and explored the futuristic architecture of Temppeliaukio. One of the most visited sites in Helsinki, the church, which was designed by the Suomalainen brothers, is sometimes called the Rock Church for its dome like structure which resembles an alien space ship stuck inside a bed of stone.
At the end of the day, this time Sarah and I fervently agreed on what we thought was the best part of our Fine Finland quickie; Uspenski, an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in honor of Dormition of the Virgin Mary, which pleasantly overlooks the city from a rocky mountainside of Katajanokka. Of course, just one day in Helsinki was like a big tease. So, we both vowed to return one fine day.
"Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased.
Rejoice and love yourself today.
'cause baby you were born this way."
— Stefani Germanotta, 2011
Just as I firmly believe and support an artist having the right to wave their freak flag high and proud, at the same time, when children are involved, I strongly comply to a certain adult responsibility in helping to preserve that innocent phase of childhood.
"Just wakin' up in the mornin' gotta thank God.
I don't know but today seems kinda odd.
No barkin' from the dog, no smog.
And momma cooked a breakfast with no hog."
— O'shea Jackson, 1993
AS I GET OLDER, SUMMERS GET SHORTER. A couple of weeks after that day trip to the Fine Finland and Gaga's glamourous Born This Way Ball, presto, I was back at work teaching a third consecutive year at American English Academy of Sofia. And you guessed it. During the first month, the students were scheduled to take a field trip to Sofia's Presidential Palace, which included a guided tour through the city.
Unlike the first days of the previous school years, there was an obvious absence of those annoying butterflies that tend to flutter right before speaking to a packed room full of angst teenagers, seemingly ready to devour you. Well, after teaching nearly every level of K through 12 education, I must have gained an ample amount of confidence and patience; two important teaching ingredients that were most likely sensed by the student body, who seemed a bit more relaxed and exuberant on the first day.
Still, even knowing that Krassi would be there assisting with possible mishaps, I'll admit, the thought of being responsible for 20 something eighth graders outside of the school grounds, was pretty intimidating. Even scary. I thought of all the worst-case scenarios, such as a student getting hurt or even lost. But just like me during that first school field trip to the Liberty Bell, the students seemed to be enjoying their sense of independence and acted on a somewhat mature level inside the Presidential Palace and throughout the Sofia Walking Tour.
Of course, there were a couple of disciplinary issues to be dealt with, like a few knuckleheads being late to certain activities or breaking up arguments that usually occur when traveling, but it was all in a day's work.
Be seeing you.
O
