Have you ever wondered how would Need For Speed be as an action game? Well, now you don't have to, because the new Need For Speed: The Run offers not only racing, but also action part. So far all the action in the games has been short films and mini movies, but this time were taking the driver out of the vehicle.
Need For Speed: The Run -gameplay demo
On first thought, why do they have to mess up the main idea of Need For Speed by adding some more action into it? Then again, this might be a good thing since the games have been running around one concept, pure racing, either it is escaping cops or shifting gears on a racing track. And even tho there has been different kinds of stories and missions, you never take the driver out of the car. This will be one hell of a interesting game to try out. When PS3 came out, action buttons came to be more and more common thing during the gameplay. This is definitely game worth of attention, now let's just hope that it won't be a total flop like some of the NFS series games that just can't stand next to good classics.
I do not want to wake up... do not want.. hey, hold on.. could it be? Athens! I woke up to an interesting day, since this was the day I was going to live to Greece! I've been waiting for such a long time for this vacation, excitement was overflowing. I was at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport 8.35, since my plane was taking off at 10:45. After making it through of the airport check-in, I decided to take a small breakfast that included super yummy (and expensive) croissant and glass of orange juice. I also made a Skype call to my friend in Denmark, just to give some update and get company for my breakfast.
Waiting my flight to leave was really nerve wrecking, since I just wanted to get to Athens and to tell the truth, I'm not fan of flying either. When the plane finally took off, I was already starting to feel happy.
My flight was in Athens about 14.30 or something, even earlier than it should. First I had some problems with lost suitcase, but thanks to my local friend who was waiting for me at the airport, that mess got solved and my suitcase was found. It's good to have someone speaking greek, since even with perfect english, you can't always manage. We took a taxi to my hotel, and finally I started realizing that this week will be superb.
Hotel that I was staying in, is Classical Athens Imperial, five-star hotel in Metaxourghio, definitely worth of money. Staff was nice, hotel was clean and tasteful, before I saw the carpet of my room. It was just horrible. But I shouldn't complain, everything else was nice and I even got upgraded to a better room, from standard double to deluxe, not bad.
King size bed, marble bathroom with shower and bathtub, TV, decent view and basic stuff.
And the view from a rooftop pool & bar.. I don't think there's anything more beautiful than this;
Acropolis view from the rooftop of Classical Athens Imperial
First day pretty much passed by settling in and taking it easy, hanging with my friend and having dinner down in the hotel restaurant. I tried out Caesar's Salad with chiken, probably one of the best Caesar Salads I've ever had. Sleeping was pretty easy after that tiring day, and even the hotel bed was decent enough not to give me any trouble.
Mon 8th of August, 2011
Good morning Athens! Nice to wake up and see sun high up in the sky, even tho I was really tired, american breakfast that was included to my room got me up and going. It was the perfect breakfast that included everything, breads and "bread accessories", yogurts, puddings, juices, coffee, tea, croissants and other pastry, cakes, fruits, bacon, pancakes, sausages, tomatos with cheese, eggs.. basically everything for every taste. Too bad I didn't take pictures from breakfast, tho at least I don't have to drool to my laptop. Delicious.
Second day went pretty easily, me and my friend went out for some basic places-to-see in Syntagma. These included the Parliament house and Athens National Garden. I was enjoying myself, even tho the heat was definitely getting to me, after all, in Finland it was like 10 degrees cooler.
Something to see if you take a trip to Athens;
The Parliament House
We found something super cute from the National Garden! Few clips from there;
Music by Projected Twin Song: Circle of Two (feat. Temple Tigers)
Album: Earth To The World
Rest of the day went pretty much relaxing at the hotel, first dinner (really yummy spaghetti bolognese) and then amazing time at the rooftop, looking at the view and stars.
Tue 9th of August, 2011
3th day in beautiful Greece, wake up, breakfast and ready to roll! Plan was to finally get to THE tourist spot, heart of Athens.. Acropolis. First we visited Acropolis museum, lots of rocks that we never really looked that much closer, mostly just walked around and I was very interested about my friend telling some ancient historical stories that I almost forgot to pay attention to the museum itself. It was definitely nice to have own private guide who had something to tell about the place and it's history.
After the museum, it was time to meet "The Rock", Parthenon to be exact. Climbing up to the hill was some hard work in that 35 degree heat, it's a good thing my guide took care that I got enough to drink and had some time to rest in shadows so I wouldn't totally die.
When we finally got up, it was totally worth it, even tho that time there was still cranes and scaffolds. Maybe someday I get to see that place when it's clean from all of that modern stuff that kinda ruins the main feeling.
Acropolis under reconstructions
Even the view from Parthenon was worth of climbing up;
When this picture was taken, I had no idea I would end up to that exact spot some days later (saturday);
Acropolis was definitely the place to visit, and worth it, tho I highly recommend to visit it as late as possible to avoid a heatstroke. Good thing my friend/guide kept me from not dying because of thirst or heat. Smoothie after all that climbing was definitely the savior for the trip back to my hotel. This day definitely tired me pretty good, after dinner and some pool time, I slept like a baby and my feet muscles enjoyed the break.
Wed 10th of August, 2011
Wednesday started out with super early wake up (5:54), since I was supposed to go for Hydraiki ToursAthens One Day -cruise and bus was coming to pick up me and my friend at 7am. So no time for breakfast and I have to say, I was super tired. When the bus came, our trip to Piraeus port began. From there, we got on ship and got really lucky, since there was somewhat many tourists getting on the same cruise, but thanks to my friend who is greek, we got in faster instead of standing outside waiting for masses to get on that boat. For some reason they asked for two greeks out of the masses, so I guess this local-thing really pays off. I definitely couldn't have had better Greece guide.
First we set sail to Hydra, one of the three Saronic Islands we were going to visit this day. Hydra was 69km away from Piraeus, so trip there took quite a while. Tho it was really nice to enjoy the sun and sea. Hydra was pretty tourist-crowded but nice and pretty island. It was second smallest out of the three islands we visited (64.443 km2). Public transportation was mainly donkeys and water taxis. If we only knew that there was nice place for swimming, since my friend didn't take any swimming gear with him. That's why before leaving to the other islands, we took a while to visit the shops and find swimming trunks for him, just in case we get another chance.
After Hydra island, there was also lunch served at the ship, but this was definitely something that explains why price wasn't any higher. But at least it was some food.
Hydra's alleys were pretty but really narrow.
Sunset Restaurant was really nice looking, too bad we didn't have chance to eat there. Shadoww!
Sunset Restaurant @ Hydra Island
Swimming spots were more than tempting in that heat;
Hydra had lots of homeless kitties all over the place, and most of them were really nice and cute;
Second Island we headed to was Poros, smallest of the three islands (49.582 km2) and most traditional. We didn't really walk around too much, the main spot was Poros clock tower but we decided not to climb there, at least not this time. This island didn't have swimming spot anywhere near, so we decided to take it easy because the heat was really getting to us, and especially me, super white finnish girl that I am.
Port of Poros
Third island we went to, was biggest of the three (87.41 km2 ), called Aegina. Most modern but to tell the truth, we didn't really enjoy the island itself too much, since while we were arriving to that island, we spotted really nice beach and we both were dying slowly because of the heat. So right away, after getting out of the ship, we set our course to that beach and cooling waves. We played in the water pretty much the whole time and made it just in time back the ship. Water was super warm and nice, and even tho it would have been nice to look around a bit, I have no regrets, beach time was awesome. For the same reason I don't really have pictures from the last island, but that's why we have google.
Aegina port (photo from wikipedia)
Then it was time to get back to Piraeus and to the hotel. We stopped to grab some local food right next to my hotel, and when I was fed, it was time to rest because next day another friend(s) would be joining us. Cruise took the whole day, and I would definitely recommend it for anyone visiting Athens. Price is really good, and it was nice to see the places. Whatever I didn't see this time, I have all the time in the world to go back there someday and visit these islands again.
Thu 11th of August, 2011
Morning started again with really yummy breakfast and getting ready to meet couple more friends. We went to really nice beach club for some coffee. It was really nice to hang out with some friends, but I didn't take any pictures since I was enjoying myself way too much. After coffee we went some food, crepes to be exact (pictures can be found in google). These come in salty and sweet forms, however you want it. These are basically another version of pancakes, so nothing extreme but not the most common food in Finland. Mine was sweet with chocolate, coconut & ball of vanilla ice cream.
Crepe dish (Picture from google)
When our friends went home, it was pretty late so I decided it was good time to go up to the rooftop just to chill out, and to be honest, I was a bit scared to go out that day when it was already getting dark. I also took a good rest that night, because next day was going to be fun beach time with one of our friends.
Fri 12th of August, 2011
Wake up, breakfast, make up and out! Time to head for a nice beach. We had awesome time and again, no pictures... I fail so hard when having too much fun! It was nice to go swimming again, I love greek sea, so warm, blue and clear. After having superb beach time, we headed for local fast food place which was really good. I just sticked with chicken, when the other two had something more burger-place stylish food.
It was time to say goodbyes for a friend that joined us for two days, since this was the last time I would get to see him before my next trip to Greece. After that, taxi to a metrostation and back to the hotel. At the hotel we took some pool time on the rooftop, and after that shower and clothing change before going out again.
When we got out, we headed to Kerameikos, really nice place with lots of restaurants and clubs. There we walked around for a while and then stopped for eats to a place called Gazi College. Really nicely decorated study-styled restaurant / bar, with some basic foods. Prices weren't too bad either, and their smoothies were super yummy.
Gazi College @ Kerameikos
We spotted many other cool places that looked like something to try out when I get to Greece next time;
That was definitely a place worth of seeing and I definitely wanna go there again. ;) After visiting Kerameikos it was time for sleeps. It was actually kinda sad, since at this point I knew, I have only one full day left.
Sat 13th of August, 2011
It was kinda sad to wake up, knowing this was the last full day in Athens. But I was also happy that it wasn't the last day. Time for breakfast and best pancakes ever, some pool time and after that it was time to head out.
Hanging by the pool and getting some slight tanning in good company, swimming in the pool and having some light lunch, oh all the good times.
Rooftop Pool
Rooftop view by day
Crazy bird by the pool, this bird had the coolest hair-do ever! CUTE!
We went for a cool place, University of Athens in Panepistimiou, that I saw earlier and I wanted to go see closer. Took some really nice pics of the place and walked around quite a lot.
University of Athens
After visiting University of Athens, we headed to Monastiraki square. There we walked around a lot, checking out places and restaurant. We had nice long talk while sitting in the park, since that was the last day to go thru what we've done that week and what we haven't talked about yet.
After that we went a bit further to see where to eat and discovered how nicely you can see Acropolis from there;
We found nice place for eats, even tho our waiter had stick in his ass for some reason..
And darker it got, view got better and better. It was sooo amazing.
After eats and having some good time, it was time to get back to the hotel and visit the rooftop for one last time;
Rooftop pool by night
Last night was pretty sad, knowing that tomorrow would be the day I have to leave, I didn't sleep that well. My body had finally adjusted to the heat and sun, I got used to the culture and how Athens looks like.. But I guess, I had to come back so that I could return, or that's what I tried to think.
Sun 14th of August, 2011
Last breakfast in hotel restaurant, super yummy and I enjoyed it as much as I could. This morning I decided to go unhealthy and just stick to sweet stuff, like pancakes, little bit of cake, watermelon and fresh squeezed orange juice, just to make myself feel better.
I remembered to take picture of the restaurant bar, which is one of the main things to see in this hotel.
Hotel Restaurant & Bar
No more pictures from this date, since it was such a sad day for me. My friend helped me get to the airport, which was also very emotional trip with metro, because it was so fun to spend that week together. There was some crying included when I had to go, but at least I took off with the thought that I will come back. I love Athens.
..how have you been? As heard in Portal 2. I've been so busy lately, lots of things to take care of and especially now, that my blogging is about to move into youtube for a week, I had to get my channel ready. So from next sunday, I'll be vlogging on my channel; She's So EPIC! @ YouTube. I'm still gonna update this blog from time to time, but for 7th of August to 14th, I will mostly be vlogging. Oh, why is this week so special?
Because I will be vlogging from Athens, Greece! (Like that didn't clear up in previous blogs when I gave picture hints..) I'm traveling to the other side of the Europe to have awesome week with some friends, and yes, my trip will be filmed and posted on youtube as soon as possible.
I've been shopping like crazy, since this trip actually required little bit more preparations than I originally thought.
1. Clothing
Most of my clothes are black, especially tops and shirts, which happens to be a problem when it's over 30°C and sunny, I might die. So I've been shopping light colors, like white, nude, yellow.. basically anything but black. I might have bought new dress for evenings ;)
2. Appearance
As a girl who uses make up everyday, I needed to get make up that lasts even if I get little bit sweaty (since it' not like I can sit in the shower 24/7), and also something that makes my problematic skin to look a lot smoother. ^_^ With that, I also bought new make up removing products, skin scrub and basically stuff that takes care that even tho it's gonna get hot and sweaty, my skin will hopefully stay under control instead of me going thru another teenage period when I get back from Greece.
3. Protection
Sun is gonna be high up all day (at least I hope that I don't hit sudden raining season), and me who's skin is probably most pale ever, since I haven't met anyone in 20 years that has lighter skin tone, so I'll mostly like burn and die. To avoid this, I bought suncream with 30 protection. That probably will not save my ass, I just have to take care that I don't burn myself couple first days and be unable to go outside at all for the rest of the week. That would suck.
Besides all of this, lots and lots of planning what to pack, lists of what I need to take with me.. it's all stressing at this point, so that my week in Athens would be perfect.
About my hotel.. I'll be staying in Athens Imperial, 5-star hotel. I booked standard double room with american breakfast included. Booking.com had really nice offer for the period I'm staying there; 656,25€ for a week (normally 889€) so I thought, why not? Originally I was planning to find 4-star hotel with free wifi, but why go with four when you can upgrade your plans and get five? Photos of the hotel in this post.
Can't wait! Six days left ;) See you in my youtube channel! Subscribe!
Yesterday was one of those nice days that you need from time to time, just to get a small break and let it all out to a friend that actually listens to you. I went out with my girl, and I'm not gonna lie, we did do some shopping. We also took our traditional visit to Wayne's Coffee, to have some yummy smoothies and blueberry-white chocolatecake & cheesecake. Jealous much? It's a good thing I did workout with my sportsbike earlier, and walked to the city center and back so I don't even feel bad for eating these treats ;)
Instead of buying clothes I actually bought something extra girly, nail polish. It's never really been my thing, but lately I've been trying to bring up my girly side that I so much used to avoid few years back. And I have to say, this is the most epic nail polish ever, this is the kind of girl-thing I can put up with. Graffiti, best thing ever.
Now it's time to take care of some details for August, hopefully get out at some point and get some cleaning done too.. And hot summer days are back, just when yesterday seemed decently nice and cool, now we're back to the whole melting mode. Tho I shouldn't be complaining, at least not yet, because I will see worse than this ;)
This was definitely a nice day, went for a long walk with one of my best friends and had talk about stuff that's happening in my life and got chance to ask how his trip to New York went. So we started out by getting Starbucks Qandi Lattes at the store near to my place and headed to the beach. Even tho it's not perfectly clear and sunny day, it's nice and cool, just the perfect temperature for a walk. It was really nice to get to update how we've been, after all, it's been a while since last time and lot of changes has happened since then.
It was nice to get to talk to someone, now only if rest of the day was as good as how it started.. I highly doubt that, but this was definitely awesome day just because of those 1,5 hours we spend walking and talking. It's always nice to be reminded that there is at least one person that you can truly call a friend, even when it takes months before you get to see that person again.
I have to give some credit to that yummy Qandi Caramel Latte, it was the perfect breakfast (if you can call coffee at 1.30 pm a breakfast). I seriously thought I wouldn't like it but now it's probably my definite favorite out of Starbucks coffees that you can get from finnish stores. I do find the story of this coffee's origin very ironic, and those who know anything about my life, probably know why. Others, you'll just have to wait and see.
"Starbucks Qandi Latte (Caramel Flavour)
Long ago, Arab candymakers on the Greek island they called "Qandi," meaning "crystallised sugar," introduced caramel to the world. In their honour we blended the sweet flavour of caramel with our signature Fairtrade certified Espresso Roast."
It's definitely yummy, and if you haven't tried it out, check if your local stores have it and give it a try. Now it's time for me to get something to eat and probably figure out what I'm gonna do rest of the day, now that I'm actually on a good mood and have high chances to actually get something done. Tho I have to admit, I haven't played Need For Speed Hot Pursuit in weeks, so I might just get stuck with my PS3 for couple hours ;)
Canon IXUS 220 HS 12.1-megapixel sensor HDMI output Full-HD video capture Stainless steel body 5x optical zoom
I finally decided to go and get it, so here we are! It cost me 189€, totally worth it. All ready to vlog and save memories as pictures. Ok I have to admit, I was kinda thinking about getting it black, but there was no black cameras in Helsinki area! After five stores, that only had silver version which was definite no-no, I was so done that I just didn't have the willpower to go and find black one. Though, this one is absolutely cute and delicious looking camera. We shall see how long this one stays alive. Not that my last camera was totally wrecked or anything, but it just wasn't enough. No auto-focus, no full-HD video, nothing. And only 8.0 megapixels. It was definitely good time to update.
Remember when I mentioned about a roadtrip I took sometime ago? Reason for this was simply that ReXie (Mazda RX-7) needed new rims and here we are, all nice and shiny!
