It’s been warm this week and I don’t have to use my winter boots anymore. That means only one thing: spring is here! And so is flu…
This week I was at work from monday to wednesday and painted some walls. I also did heart shaped funeral decoration with my bosses help. Apparently they use those kinds of decorations a lot in Denmark and there are different kinds of them: round, cross and even cars etc. I also learned that here even though many people are cremated that doesn’ t mean that there would be less flowers in funerals. In Finland it feels like cremation has reduced the use of funeral decorations and that’s shame
The rest of the week I’ve been feeling sick and resting in my room, watching netflix . On saturday I got sick of staying at same place and I decided to visit a city Aalborg. It is about hour train ride away from Aarhus. I had little hard time to figure out how ticket machine at railwaystation worked but after I got tickets I went to an adventure. So I spent nice sunny day walking around, shopping little and eating. For next week I just hope that I wouldn’t be sick anymore.
Today I’ve been exploring and seeking the city. (as I always do when I’m not in work or sleeping haha!) Weather has been nice these days and trees and shrubs are in bloom.
Today here was some kind of spring festival, I saw a parade with horse carriages and people in national costumes. Also there was music performances around the city.
Budapest has many different thermal baths and today I visited in one of them, Gellért Spa. Gellért spa opened in 1918 and it’s one of the most famous thermal spa baths in Europe. There are nearly ten different baths, swimming pools, saunas and steam rooms. Water temperature in pools ranges from 33 to 40 degrees. Ticket to the spa costs 5500Ft. I feel so relaxed and comfy now!
Tomorrow I’m going to go to the hospital museum. The Hospital in the Rock Nuclear Bunker Museum is located beneath the Buda Castle Hill in caves and cellars. Museum is dedicated to a former secret emergency hospital and nuclear bunker. The history of the emergency hospital goes back to World War II.
On Wednesday I’m going to the flower market with the shop owner. The flower market is about 30 minutes drive from Budapest and I can’t even imagine how big and stunning place it is. We’ll see!
This week went only working at supermarket. We were putting lamps in new side of store and pulling cables for airmachines. I dont have any plans for this weekend, but i think if weather is good i will lay under sun.
I can’t believe how fast the time goes here!
This is already my second week at the flower shop!
So, this is Imori Virág-Enteriör, flower shop where I work. Flower shop was established 20 years ago and in addition to owner there are 5 employees. They have lots of flowers, dishes, fabrics, decorative items, candles, teas, chocolates etc. on sale. Flower shop is open from 10AM to 9PM. Morning shift starts at 9AM and between 9-10AM, before opening the doors we take care of cut flowers.
The shop is really nice place to work and I feel comfortable to be there even when only one of the workers speaks English. I’ve been able to do all kind of daily works there and served few clients in English. I have learned a lot of new ways of working and my head explode from all the new ideas!
I had little different week last week. On monday my boss had arranged so that I have school day at florist school that shops other practicer goes. At school we did round bridal boquets to oasis handle. I have only done bridal bouquet to flowers own stems so this was good opportunity try and learn new things. Also at school when we had made first bouquet we used flowers fromnother students first bouquets to second one.
I have also done much planting and potflower decorations. On friday I also got to do funeral bouquets and went to take them to church.
On the weekend I went to copenhagen to explore what Denmarks capital looks like. City is really big and there are many things to see and one weekend isn’t enough for all of them. But I had fun just walking around city and feel what copenhagen is like. I was also so excited that I forgot to take pictures.
At monday we went to some tour that local students had made to us. We saw many churches and some wineyard. At work we were putting lamps in store and yesterday we went to castle of Ibiza to make some connections but it started to rain so much we left in other place. Yesterday we had dinner with our friends from here and today i will have dinner with my workingmates.
Today it`s raining here in the sunny Spain so we can take a look to the history of the Hotel Reina Cristina.
The Hotel Reina Cristina was founded due to the construction of the railway between Bobadilla and Algeciras in 1890. It was named after Queen Maria Cristina, mother of Alfonso XIII. It is the oldest hotel on the Costa del Sol and it is one of the most reknown in Spain.
The Government comissioned the construction of the railway by the British company “Henderson Administration”. Sir Alexander Henderson, a wellknown philanthropist who was later granted the title of Lord Faringdon by Edward VII stayed in Algeciras and liked the region so much that he decided to build a hotel next to the railway station. The British architect followed the British style with some Spanish details similar to the Hotel Reina Victoria in Ronda.
The Hotel was inaugurated in 1901 and subsequently started a long history of distinguished clientele including Spanish and international aristocracy and personalities. In 1928 the Hotel Reina Cristina was almost entirely burnt down. Two years later it was reopened with more rooms and with an interior patio enclosed with glass. In those days it had four suites all named after the illustrious visitors who stayed in them: “Maria Cristina”, “Alfonso XIII”, “Juan Carlos” and “Reina Sofia”. Nowadays it has two suites.
During the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War the hotel remained open and housed many German and Italian spies who controlled the movement in the Straits of Gibraltar. Many bathrooms were converted into dark rooms to develop films brought from Gibraltar.
Among many historical events which have taken place at the Hotel Reina Cristina was the International Conference of Morroco 1906, attended by representatives from France, Germany, USA, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Spain and Morocco to negotiate the division of the latter into Spanish and French Protectorates. This Conference was atended by a young journalist called Winston Churchill!
Today ,the signatures of the famous guests are reproduced from the Golden Book on two plaques, one of either side of the reception. The King Alfonso XIII, the Sultan of Johore, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Mariscal Petain, the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, Maria Jose of Italy, Orson Wells, Lord Halifax, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rock Hudson, Ava Gardner, these are some of the famous guests who stayed in the Hotel Reina Cristina.
What a hotel! But now it`s time for me to start working again.
Signatures of the famous guestsA la Carte Restaurant
Another trip for me invited from The Saga Group. This time to the beach of Atlantic Ocean. There we also visited an old Roman town. Most interesting was the repaired Roman Theater where they use to keep concerts during The Full Moon. The guide said they are always fully booked. It would be dazzling to sit there at the theatre, listen to music in the dark night with The Full Moon shining. In front of your eyes only the beach and the Atlantic Ocean! At that same beach there can also be a possibility to see wild horses running! I haven`t even known there were wild horses in Spain any more. What amazing!
When we drove back to the hotel, we stopped at a place you can see Africa if it´s not cloudy. And we saw, Morocco, so near!
Today, before working, my daily walk took me to the market. There is so much to wonder and enjoy the atmosphere! Huge strawberries they have here, 1,50 / kg. But I must say, they are big and they look very tasty but they are not nearly as sweet as the Finnish ones!
Colourful market
One little shop was very interesting and it has a very clever business idea; in the same shop they sold paints and other building supplies and on the other wall perfumes and other cosmetics! If a man works hard and too long days it helps him not to forget her wife`s or girlfriend`s birthday. He can also save his time when he can buy the present from the same shop where he maybe has to go during his working day, clever, isn`t it!
The beginning of the week was quite interesting, we were at Ibiza town and we had to move a distribution center (jakokeskus) of some sort a few meters and this guy Arved that i always work with needed to cut the cables while there still was tension.
Thank god he wore protective rubber gloves because as he was cutting the cables one by one then suddenly there is this huge goddamn bang and a flash of light. There must have been some kind of short circuit going on in one of the phases because otherwise that wouldnt have happened.
Now im glad that he didnt even suggest that i would cut those cables. The scissors melted together and Arved had some burnmarks in his elbows and propably some sort of a lifelong trauma but loppu hyvin kaikkihyvin.
After that i came down with a slight fever and spent nearly rest of the week just chilling and drinking noodle soup. But somehow i recovered just in time for saturday when i promised to go out with few of the guys i met at our school visit. They showed me around the city and they also showed me this one place in Talamanca where there is a huge cliff with a great view to the ocean.
More to see here in Spain. An English tour operator, Saga Group makes voyages to Reina Cristina. Their group leader invited me to their trip to Tarifa last saturday when I had my second day off.
The southest point in Europe
It was an interesting half day tour, where we followed the coastline of the “Costa de La Luz”to reach the enchanting town of Tarifa. Situated on the southernmost tip of the Spanish peninsula it is the only place in Spain where you can enjoy both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the most attractive destinations for historians and windsurfers alike.
The castle of Alonso Perez de Guzman
Tarifa was founded by the Arabs who converted the city into a giant fortress in the year 710, and, being in a strategic position of defense, from there they controlled the Strait of Gibraltar. In 1295, Alonso Perez de Guzman, the mayor of the fortress city, built a castle and strolling around the historical part of the town. There you could see the Arab influence of fortress walls and towers.
Very interesting place and a very warm and nice Spanish day!
