Drip dry...

Family who have visited my apartment in Helsinki have commented on the draining cupboard above the sink in the kitchen area. There was also one of these in my temporary apartment at the cable factory. Reading the latest edition of Six Degrees, the free English language paper in Helsinki, there was a piece about this innovation, which does allow you to drain your washing up without having to look at it. I never have enough on my own to justify running the dishwasher.


Back home, the sink is under the window with a view of the garden, which is why I couldn't have one there. I have to say, though, I prefer that view to this!

Art and history...

I decided to spend some of my time this weekend learning to be a better tour guide. When Mum, Dad & Jill were here last weekend they admired this building from the car, but we didn't have time to visit. So on Saturday, I walked down to have a look and discovered it is the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral, built in 1868, so just a little after the Lutheran Cathedral we visited together.

Inside, it is religious bling. Lots of gilding, icons and the ornate style associated with Orthodox churches. Well worth a visit if you are in town.

After this I walked through the market, up Esplanadi and along Mannerheimintie to Kiasma, the museum of contemporary art. There was an exhibition of landscape inspired art, as well as a series of storytelling works from the former Soviet Union. I was struck by a series of photos by Elena Vorobyeva and Viktor Vorobyev. As they travelled all over Kazakhstan, the artists noticed that the red of revolution visible everywhere during the Soviet era had been replaced by turquoise blue, which is called "kok" in Kazakh. Their photo installation, "Kazakhstan. Blue Period, 2002-2005" is very striking.

After that I ambled home (via Mollie Malone's for a Guinness). Then into the domestic bliss of ironing and cooking an apple crumble. Not a bad day!

Eating someone's lunch...

I did a double take when I saw the lunchtime menu in the staff cafeteria today (you may have to click the picture to enlarge it to read). I know my previous employer is having a tough time at the moment, but even I didn't want to eat the fish!

However, now I've checked Wikipedia I know that Zander is the fish I've eaten several times already in Finland, but is translated to Pike-Perch in English, though it is related to neither of those two species of fish.

Former colleagues know it as a different kettle of fish altogether.

German measles...

So, Gunther got sick today. With less than 55km on the clock and less than 24 hours since he was delivered, his automatic gearbox got stuck in first gear and we limped to the Audi dealership. I now have a rental car for the weekend and no idea when he is coming back. And my iPod is in his glove box at the dealership, where it's not a lot of use to me. So much for the idea of a weekend spent driving around Southern Finland. I may just have to go to Mollie Malone's instead...

Farewell to Algy ...

It was time to say goodbye to Algy today. Not a colleague or neighbour, but my temporary car.

My new Audi A3 arrived today, a week ahead of schedule. He looks great and drives well. A couple of things made this a different experience than getting a new car in the UK. Firstly, it has a cable which I can connect in winter to a power point to heat the engine block. At least, I could if I had off street parking, which I don't. The other was that the back seat was folded down and the set of winter wheels and tyres were in the back. I'll have a couple of months before the current wheels with regular tyres get swapped for the studded ones, supposedly good for driving on ice. I'm just off down to get them out of the car and put them in my storage cage in the basement of the apartment block.

Oh, his name? Well, the registration is GHR 627. As he is a German car, I think he will be Gunther, after the coffee shop guy in Friends who is besotted with Rachel. I think the coffee-related link is appropriate now that I am living in the country with the highest per-capita consumption of that beverage!

On my own again...

Dad has just rung from the UK to say they got home safely. We had a good time, the longest we've spent together as a family for several years. In addition to watching a rather disappointing Cirque du Soleil show, Delirium, we had dinner last night at Lappi, a restaurant with a traditional Lappish menu. We started with an assortment of appetisers, including Arctic Char tartare, air dried and lightly smoked Reindeer and white cheese with Cloudberries. Mum, Dad and Jill had Reindeer fillet to follow, I opted for the Reindeer stew, all were good.

It seems amazing to think that I have now been living in Helsinki for more than three months. The city feels like home, or at least a home-from-home. And having Mum, Dad and Jill to stay reminded me how much about my new home I now take for granted, rather than finding it unusual. They were impressed by the promptness of the cabs, the friendliness of the people and the range of shopping on offer. I had prepared them for cold weather, but apart from some rain on Saturday morning, we had relatively warm and sunny days.

I shall look forward to other visitors, to give me more reason to visit some of the landmarks I pass every day. Any takers?

Tour guide...

Today I am featuring the work of a guest photographer. My parents and sister have been visiting me in Helsinki this weekend and this is a picture Dad took of the cathedral on Unionkatu, just down the street from our apartment.

It is an Evangelical Lutheran cathedral was built between 1830 and 1852, the pages on Wikipedia give more details and some other photo links.

This afternoon we are off to see Cirque Du Soleil's show, Delirium, at the Hartwall Areena. Having seen Cirque several times before, I am sure we are in for a fabulous spectacle, as long as I can find the car park!

Web TV

This evening has been very exciting, the successful last step in getting my Slingbox working. This cunning device is connected to the Sky+ box in my living room in the UK and allows me to watch and control the box over the Internet. Though I lose some of the picture resolution, I can now watch whatever the family are watching or, even more annoying for them, change channels while Stephanie is watching Midsomer Murders.

Better down than up

This is my nephew Mike, in the pub celebrating his Dad's birthday. My first memory of Mike is when he was a baby and Stephanie and I were babysitting him for the weekend. He managed to bring back his baby formula in an impressive projectile manner all over my brand new carpet. I hope he manages to keep the beer down tonight!

Reet canny ...

I am in Newcastle for the weekend, celebrating Martin's fiftieth birthday. Getting here was fun, up at 3am UK time to drive to Vantaa airport for the first flight to Copenhagen, a two hour layover and then another flight to Newcastle. I've just arrived at the Snowy Owl in Cramlington, the inn where we are staying, and am contemplating the idea of a pint and a nap.
It is definitely autumnal in Helsinki now, the temperature went down to 2.5 degrees celsius on the drive to the airport, with a beautiful low mist hugging the trees alongside the road.
I'm also smiling at the thought of coming to Newcastle and feeling warm, as usually this is the frozen north!

Dress down Friday...?

A lot of workplaces now have a more casual dress code on Fridays. As someone who started their working life in a blue suit & white shirt, I've always found even business casual a difficult concept to deal with. For a start, it requires a lot more thought than just choosing which tie to wear. After all, if you aren't wearing a dark suit and black shoes, then what colour socks to wear? Long sleeved or short sleeved shirt? What about jumpers or pullovers? And having to make all these decisions first thing in the morning is not, as my family will testify, a strong point for me.

But today, I feel I have scored a win. Grey jeans, long sleeved sweater and new shoes. These are not just any shoes. And I should know, my wife is an acknowledged shoe collector; we stopped counting hers when we topped 100 pairs. I had never quite understood her passion for footwear, until this year. These are Robert Wayne "Rocket" loafers.

I first saw them when I visited White Plains earlier this year. I loved how different they were from my normal styles, but the store didn't have them in my size. Luckily, when we visited Nordstrom in San Francisco on holiday, I found them again. I had to have them. I suppose that if these are evidence of a mid-life crisis, they are a lot less expensive than a sports car, or an affair.

So, I have been feeling good all day and getting positive compliments from my colleagues. It's back to the contour foam slippers when I get home, though!

A fine mess....

I have been caught breaking the law. I parked outside my apartment last night, rather closer to the pedestrian crossing than I have before, as finding a space is proving difficult. This morning I had a ticket for being within 5 metres of the crossing and a bill for 40 Euros, the same as it costs me for a six month parking permit for parking on the street. The good news is that I don't have to report to the police station and have been able to pay the fine already using my Nordea netbank account.

So why did I do it? There was another car parked across the street the same distance as me from the crossing, so I assumed it was OK. He didn't have a ticket this morning. Why? He has diplomatic plates on his car! I must write a letter to my embassy...perhaps they have a spare set!

Stepping out...

After a great weekend in the UK, I boarded the flight home to Helsinki last night. After a few moments, the Finnair captain made an announcement, somewhat longer than usual, in Finnish, which was intriguingly followed by a round of applause. When he repeated the announcement in English, I understood why. On board the flight were the winners of the first ever Eurovision Dance Contest, the final of which had been televised on Saturday night. Of course, all the English speaking passengers were also polite enough to applaud Jussi Väänänen & Katja Koukkula from Finland. The UK came in 15th place, only managing to beat Switzerland.

Interestingly, my colleagues seemed unaware of their nation's sporting triumph in the Eurovision. Perhaps that word is just too tired after they hosted the eponymous Song Contest earlier this year. They were more aware of Tero Pitkämäki's gold medal in the Javelin at the IAAF World Championships in Japan on Sunday.

As the proud owner of a brand new Finnish ID card, I offer my congratulations to all of my adopted country's athletes this week, whatever their disciplines.

My clever girls....

Big celebrations in the house last night, as my eldest daughter Ellie found out that she has been accepted for an MSc course in Business Psychology at Gloucester University, starting later this month. Youngest daughter Sally also got the results of her GCSE sciences modules that she took this year, two Cs, so good news for her too. We had a celebratory curry last night at the Shapla, our favourite! Well done girls, I am so proud of you both!