Happy Birthday Helsinki

Thursday June 12 was Helsinki's birthday. I felt awful, as I hadn't got it a card or anything. But this weekend, there have been all sorts of activities going on around the city.

In Senaatoori Square, in front of the cathedral and close by where I live, there has been a regional exhibit celebrating the food and crafts of Pohjois Karjala, or Northern Karelia, on the border with Russia. As well as trying a simple dish made from lamb and barley, I bought some juice containing birch sap, rhubarb and lemon. It's quite refreshing and unlike anything I've tasted before.

Elsewhere in the city, there have been other live music performances and cultural events, making the most of the great weather we're enjoying at the moment. On Esplanadi yesterday, I am fairly sure that I was the youngest person watching the rock band playing in the bandstand opposite Kapelli. Never have I seen so many walking sticks tapping to the beat!

It's now nearly a year since I moved to Finland. On Friday, I started my Finnish lessons, a course of ten, ninety minute lessons. I look forward to reporting on my progress through the blog.