So, last Sunday I turned 22 and my boyfriend Mike came to visit to celebrate, so this blog shall be all about my week long birthday shenanigans!
It had been 6 weeks since I had last seen Mike and so when I met him at the airport on Saturday evening I was ridiculously excited!
When we arrived at my flat he spoiled me with all the things I needed that were either far too expensive to buy in Finland or just not available here. This of course included Irn Bru and Haggis.
I had been awake since early Saturday morning because I was acting like a child at Christmas waiting for Mike to arrive and so it was a struggle to even stay awake until 2am that I had to set an alarm to wake me up at that time.
The next day was my actual birthday. In the morning I opened all my lovely cards sent from my friends and family back home and then my presents from Mike. He got me the most gorgeous bracelet ever - it's silver with garnet stones in it (his birth stone) as well as some cosy socks and a book. He's too good to me!
Lunch consisted of chocolate orange waffles and a pint at this gorgeous place called cafe 21. It had to be done.
We also had a lovely Romantic walk home and took several touristy photos.
When we came home we organised my flat for my party and had some dinner.
I invited a bunch of my friends round to eat drink alcohol and be merry... and merry we really were. Some of my friends were so sweet and made me cakes and pancakes! Some even gave me chocolate. WAAAAAAAAY too much chocolate!
We played an international language drinking game that I learnt whilst travelling to Russia where we each say a word in our native language and everyone else has to repeat it as best they can but if they don't do it well they must drink. It would be fair to see this was hilariously fun but got me terribly drunk.
The next day was a struggle. A really big struggle. Most notably because the first thing I saw when I woke up was this:
However, after several moments of doubt, I survived and cleaned up the mess and went out for a lovely meal with Mike. We went to a traditional Finnish restaurant and had a delicious three course meal that included some reindeer! Reindeer was surprisingly really tasty yet for me was similar in taste to beef...
On Tuesday Mike and I took a trip to uni, I showed him about, ate lunch and I did some work on an essay. In the evening we had another birthday party to go to. That night was an incredible and unexpected northern lights show. I was unbelievably pleased that Mike was there to see it and that we got the opportunity to experience the aurora together.
As always the photo does this no justice whatsoever but you get the idea.
On Wednesday we took a trip into town and went to Hesburger for lunch. Hesburger is much like Burger King but I personally think it's better. After lunch we headed to the Arktikum which is an arctic museum. It looks stunning from the outside but was really interesting inside. It was also interactive which I loved. I'm a big kid at heart.
We weren't really supposed to take photos here unfortunately.
On Thursday
we didn't do much. For whatever reason I was incredibly tired and
couldn't be bothered doing anything. In the end we decided to go bowling
but there were no free lanes and so we just had a slush puppy at the
cafe. Later I went to the sauna with my friends whilst Mike made us
dinner. We had haggis with neeps and chips. Not quite traditional but
still delicious.
Now Friday, without exaggeration, was one of the best days of my life. Not only did I go to see Santa, I also went to a husky farm. I guess it is kind of sad to say meeting Santa was so amazing but it really was!
We went with my other Scottish friend here and her boyfriend. I was definitely the most excited out of us all. There was some snow on the ground too which just made the whole thing even more magical and there was even Christmas music!
At the entrance to Santa Claus village is the arctic circle line showing the coordinates of the arctic.
We also went to Santa's post office!
All the letters Santa receives from children around the world generally go here. So cute!
And of course, we met Santa!!
It's never too early for celebrating Christmas if you ask me!
Here's an assortment of pictures from Santa Claus Village:
And some more... There's tons!
I also mentioned that I went to a husky farm! This was equally as amazing. I didn't go on a sledge or anything but just being surrounded by so many huskies was enough for me.
On Friday evening we went out for a couple of drinks... Which resulted in more than a couple... Which resulted in a hangover on Saturday morning.
As a result, Mike and I literally dragged ourselves out and went to the Chinese for lunch. We then did a spot of shopping and went on a romantic cycle along the river. We found a BBQ area and decided to make a little campfire which failed miserably and so we gave up in the end and went home.
On Saturday evening we went to a Mexican themed party with my friends! It was loads of fun, with delicious food, tequila (of course) and fake moustaches!
Sunday morning was sadly the end of Mike's trip. I didn't want him to leave but I know I will see him again in another 6 weeks. Until then I have all the lovely memories from one of the best birthdays ever!
Sorry for the long post, but it really has been a truly awesome week.
Thanks for reading everyone! I shall update you all next time I have some exciting stuff to share!
Emma x
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