Going nuts in the woods ...

This is my travelling companion from today. He's a red squirrel, quite a rare sight in the UK but much more common in Finland.

I visited Seurasaari, an open air museum on one of the islands of Helsinki, around 7km from my apartment. There are a lot of old buildings which have been moved from their original sites, showing what homes in Finland were like in days gone by. During the summer months (which technically includes today, though it didn't feel like it) there are also folk in traditional costume who show how life was lived.

I stopped for a kahvi (can you guess what that is?) and noticed the smell of woodsmoke, which was coming from a public grill for makkara, the Finnish word for sausages. Cooking these over a wood fire is an important part of outdoor life here. Since I am currently doing the LighterLife programme, I did not linger once they started cooking! The programme is working; I've lost over 6Kg in three weeks. I have another 4Kg to go before I transition from "obese" to just being "overweight" - what an ambition! 2Kg after that will take me back to where I was in June last year, when I had just finished the programme and moved to Finland.

Because I am avoiding real food, I did not risk temptation and buy peanuts for the squirrels. It rather irritated the fellow in the picture, who, while I was getting the phone ready to take his photo, ran up my legs and onto my back. Fortunately, he was not in a vengeful mood and scurried off to the trees, posing for this shot before he disappeared.

A touch of brass ...

The Helsinki Festival is going on at present. Last evening was the Night of the Arts - my normal route to work through Senatoori was blocked by a huge stage, which last night was the venue for a concert including the five top songs from 1968, voted by readers of the Helsingin Sanomat. According to their pages, "Friday sees the Night of the Arts in Helsinki, a free culture'n'fun happening in in which museums and art galleries, bookstores and libraries all keep their doors open late, and more than 200 events are held throughout the city and suburbs. The hugely popular night on the town was first arranged in 1989, so this is the 20th celebration of the occasion." I was bushed, so didn't make it down there.

Instead, on my afternoon constitutional today, I caught this brass band performing at the Espa stage on Esplanadi. It was a strange experience - in the midst of the more traditional pieces, they played a country and western number. I then noticed that they were using clothes pegs to hold their music on the stands and avoid the pages blowing in the wind. I started wondering whether the clothes peg was invented before some of the instruments. You can tell I have not been getting out much lately!

A week in Tuscany ...

So it doesn't sound as dramatic as A Year In Provence, but the therapeutic effect is not to be underestimated. We stayed about 20km from Arezzo in the middle of Tuscany (think of Italy as a boot and Tuscany is the front of the thigh). The picture shows the view from our villa.

It was our first time in Tuscany and won't be our last. We've been to Italy before - a great holiday in Sorrento, weekends in Venice, Rome and Florence and I've been to Milan several times on business. Each time, we have loved the warm welcome, the great attitude to life and, of course, the food and drink.

Italy was only unified in the late 1800s and each of the regions proudly reflects their contribution to the union. We were close to the Chianti region and after a day in Siena, visited Castello di Brolio, the home of Barone Ricasoli on the way home. One of the former Barons not only was prime minister of Italy but also devised the formula for Chianti Classico. Sadly I was driving, so had to break my normal rule when tasting wine. I usually don't spit at tastings, since my mother once told me it was rude to spit and I always try to be polite.

We spent a few days just chilling by the pool, barbecuing ourselves and some local produce, but also managed a few other days out. We tried two great restaurants in the main square - lunch one day at Logge Vasari, dinner the next at La Lancia D'Oro - the owners are brothers and the food in both is up to the same high standard. The degustation menu at the second left us waddling back to the cars. They share the same website and, as you can see from the photo, the same terrace facing the piazza.

A highlight for me was our last day, spent in Florence and then Pisa on the way back to the airport. We revisited Il Latini in Florence, where a four course Tuscan meal with some of the most delicious ham, pasta, roast meat and dessert cost only 40 euros a head, including plenty of their house Chianti. Our first trip here was with friends last June and the return did not disappoint. The pedestrian navigation feature of Nokia Maps got us around the city and we visited the Duomo as well as the market. Afterwards, we travelled one hour to Pisa and took the obligatory photos of the leaning tower.

When we checked in for our Ryanair flights home, we discovered the true cost of our bargain shopping. Our four cases were cumulatively 17kg over the weight limit of 15kg each. The low fares airline was charitable though, and only charged for 5kg at 15 euros per kilo. Ouch. Perhaps the biggest surprise for us with the Ryanair flights, though, was that Pisa Airport is less than 5km from the city centre. Somewhat closer than Stansted is to London, or Skavsta is to Stockholm!