It seems quite strange to be spending a weekend on my own in Helsinki, as so much of my time recently has been (thankfully) with the family. Today is Sally's 15th birthday: the first in her lifetime that I have not been with her, though at her age fortunately I don't think it is too much of a worry that I am more than 3,000 miles away. I called her earlier and sang Happy Birthday, so I expect she is quite pleased that I am not in the same country.
I managed to spend the morning on chores and shopping, so by lunch time I rewarded myself with lunch at the market in the South Harbour. The early afternoon involved more shopping, including for Stephanie's wedding anniversary present, followed by a visit to Molly Malone's bar.
Alex and Terry were the bar staff on duty, they are respectively Tasmanian and Irish. There are two main reasons why you'll find non-Finnish men living in Helsinki. The first is mine; working for Nokia. The second is theirs; Finnish women. Now, I'm just coming up to my 17th wedding anniversary, so can't comment much on their reason, other than to say that if gentlemen truly prefer blondes, then their odds of finding a preferred partner are increased if they include Finnish women in their list of potential partners.
It has been a long time since I had 5 pints at lunchtime, but today I did so. Wonderful Guinness, Beamish and Spitfire were the reasons. I shall have to wait a while before I start the ironing, the next chore on my list, lest the creases down the sleeves don't come out straight.
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