As the year was winding down I thought to myself, “Wow, so many things happened I should make a rewind to remember them!” The Erasmus happened, living on my own for half a year in Finland was a great self knowing experience. I made the best friends and memories I could possibly think of but also have some things I would not hesitate to do next time.

Jyväskylä erasmus

During my stay in Finland I visited quite a few cities in the country starting with a day-long trip to Tampere which was first bigger city close to Jyväskylä. We visited wonderful Moomin museum, had an exceptionally tasty (and expensive) brunch at very cozy place in city centre. We visited the must see churches, walked through Finlayson factory builings, visited the Spy museum (not worth it 😂) and ended the day at the second highest nordic observation tower Näsinneula (168m) right next to frozen lake watching sunset. After a days of living, studying, learning how to cook for myself and my friends and occasionally partying at Kortepohja or in our apartments we decided to go on a trip. This trip has become THE memory that all eight of us will remember the most.

Starting in Rovaniemi through Tromso and Lofoten with 5 days reserved for hiking and exploring the beauties of Norway. We also visited the very interesting village called “Å” at the very end of the Lofoten E10 road with a great view on the mountains, Kiruna a city that was originally built in the 1890s to serve the Kiruna Mine and is now in a process of relocation, Svolvær or Henningsvær both with great smell of drying fish and absolutely adorable red houses. I had my film camera with me so check the pics below.

Another great one was three day long trip to Helsinky and Turku, we were kinda hesitating with this one but concluded that if not now then when else. We walked through Helsinki streets wandering around, people watching, admiring the architecture and the extremely well dressed people. Most memorable was the moment when we got lost on our way to museum in a park on a scooter, that one was really fun. But believe it or not because of this little accident we found and had lunch in the best possible place ever. It was called Restaurant Tokyo Street and we got high on food there. Later that day we took train to Turku where we met with our friends and continued our journey. We have seen the huge cathedral and the canal with ‘parked’ boats/bars.

Erasmus is an experience that has to be lived through, there’s not really a way to describe those memories with words.

Matej Suchý 2023

Coming back home ?

Summer was mostly about meeting again with my friends, organizing a b-day party for my 22nd birthday, attending Karate meeting in Moštenica, hiking and trying to figure out a long-distance relationship.

I have visited Riga twice and got to know the local culture a little bit better. I spent a lot of time exploring the city and tasting the local IPA beers that are so much different than lagers, which I am used to.

Me and my team MRAVCE!!! have attended a Red Bull 400 at Štrbské pleso which was a big reality check. Originally we have strived for our best to get into the top three…. well we ended at 9th place with me wanting to puke even 30 minutes after the sprint. 😂

Tallin trip was the last one in the year of 2022 and it was great way to spend extended weekend. We had so much fun exploring the city, eating in Olde Hansa was an experience worth a post itself. The conclusion is that Tallin is (too) beautiful medieval city where you can explore everything by foot, almost no need for public transport. It was a love for the first sight.

Thanks for reading till the end. I also made a sort of a ‘rewind’ format video from year 2022.

Grateful
Matej