Dreaming of a White Christmas ...

I have now been home for two nights and I'm not flying back to Finland tomorrow. I think my body has finally realised I'm not just here for the weekend and is now starting to relax.

We had a glorious weekend before I left with friends Graham, Barbara, Jim and Linda. Lots of adventures and visits, the photos of which are all cunningly stored on the PC in my Helsinki apartment, so those will have to be posted another time. But the weather there helped to get the season feeling truly festive; we had snow whilst walking from the Winter Gardens to restaurant Sea Horse for Sunday lunch and, by Tuesday when Graham, Barbara and I visited Porvoo, temperatures were down to minus 15.

I flew back on Thursday, amidst threats of a BA strike, thankfully now averted. Had I tried flying a day later, the snow might have prevented my arrival, as several UK airports were closed by an amount of snow that my Finnish friends would consider an unimpressive start to winter. But on Thursday, I put all my experience of regularly travelling this route into action. I dawdled somewhat coming off the plane at London Heathrow, ensuring that I was the last passenger on the first bus from aircraft to terminal building. Doing this ensures that I am the first off at the arrivals hall, whereupon I stride out as a man on a mission, walking the (it feels like) five miles from entry point to passport hall. The unpredictable IRIS machine worked (yay) and so I was through passport control without queueing. And despite the UK baggage handlers showing sympathy for their striking Finnish colleagues by putting our bags on the furthest belt from the exit, my case (loaded with Glögi, Finnish chocolate and smoked Reindeer) was the first off the aircraft. I was out to the arrivals hall less than thirty minutes from landing, a personal best when travelling with luggage!

The photo shows the sight that greeted me from our living room window on Friday morning. I am so glad that I repainted the sheep in the summer, as their previous somewhat green tinge (from four years or so of lichen growth) would have been rather noticeable against the white carpet which nature had provided as their setting, for the next few days at least. Will the snow last until Christmas? I rather hope so.

A day less ordinary ...

Well, I think today (actually yesterday, by now) has probably been the most diverse set of experiences in the two years, five months and thirteen days since I moved to Finland.

It started with a text message at around 8am from one of the newswire journalists, suggesting that I might want to frame the day's copy of Kauppalehti, a business newspaper here. It turned out that a briefing I had given on Tuesday on a legal case had resulted in a story including my official photo, printed rather larger than the photo of our company chairman on the previous page. Surely a career limiting move!

Today was our Capital Markets Day, to which we invite representatives of our major shareholders and investment analysts, as well as journalists. It was only my second time wearing a suit and tie this quarter, part of my role was to press the button to advance the slides for my executive vice president who was presenting.

The event ran a little over its scheduled time, so I had to rush to my car to drive home and change to be assistant stage manager for the Finn-Brit Players' performance this evening. Thankfully, I was not too late and there were no traffic cops around.

The show was great, making me wish for the second time this year that I was performing rather than part of the technical crew. An evening in Marian Helmi, coincidentally my local, ensued.

I was rather grateful that none of my Finn-Brit friends had read Kauppalehti this morning, I got quite enough teasing on that from colleagues earlier. One of the joys of the group is that it matters not a jot what you do to earn a crust, you are taken on your merits as a performer or supporter, nothing more and nothing less.

On Friday, I will fly home to see my wife and daughter in their show. I only hope they have had as much fun as I have this week. I can't wait to see their performances.

From Panto to Pinter ...

This weekend we have been setting up for the Finn-Brit Players' Harold Pinter revue, the latest activity in their Pinter project. Rehearsals until now have mainly taken place at the offices of the Finn-Brit Society in Helsinki - the photo shows the festive table there, selling British goods in aid of the Anglican church in the city. Expats have been able to buy such treats as Branston pickle and Frank Cooper's marmalade, bringing a taste of home for those who have been too long away from the motherland. You may recognise a few of your own favourites in the picture.

For the revue, I am assistant stagehand, building on the technical skills garnered from lighting the last show. It is proving to be useful experience which I hope to put to use when I return to the one seasonal favourite not available here, British pantomime.

While I have been preparing here, my family and friends at home have been set building and preparing for the run of Jacko and the Watercress stalk, which opens on Tuesday in Old Alresford, hopefully to the usual packed houses.  I will be home in time to do front of house on Saturday night and then join the cast and crew party afterwards, helping with teardown on Sunday.

Though I love the panto and the shows we produce in TOADS, I am also enjoying the straight theatre productions here.  It has been great to get some life back into my work/life balance over the past couple of weeks!

My wife is a cow ...

Well, actually, she will be the front end of a cow, in the TOADS panto this year, Jacko and the Watercress Stalk.  My youngest daughter is playing the rear end and tonight I saw them rehearsing this for the first time.

Normally on weekends when I am back in the UK, I leave home around 3:30pm and so am gone by the time rehearsals start. But unusually this week, I am working in the UK on Monday and Tuesday and had the rare treat of a Sunday evening at home.

You may have noticed, dear reader, that it has been over a month since my last post. I do apologise, this was down to a couple of factors, the first being that the last month has been rather busy at work and the second that I am finding, after more than two years of living in Finland, that there are fewer things that seem novel to write about. So this post is rather more focused on "home home", rather than my weektime home of Helsinki.

Last weekend was also spent in the UK, celebrating at the village bonfire night party (I have posted about this before; as usual I was flipping burgers on the barbeque and also cooked Broccoli & Stilton soup).  Before that, though, we headed to Christchurch to collect two new kittens, a replacement for our blue Burmese boy George, who was run over a few weeks ago. His brother Zippy, a lilac Burmese, had never been alone since he was a kitten and so was pining for company.  When we returned from the breeder with Darcy (a brown Burmese) and Willoughby (a snow spotted Bengal), you could tell that he was trying to tell us that he wasn't that lonely! However, a week later and they all seem to be getting along fine. I have posted some photos on my Facebook account but you can see them here, even if you are not a Facebook user.

Sunday was a mild and sunny November day and we were able to drive to the pub in my wife's car with the roof down, as it was 12 degrees celsius. In Helsinki I am already driving on winter tyres and temperatures hit minus 5 celsius last week, so I shall enjoy the sunshine and relative warmth while I can.

Finally, you may have noticed a few changes on the blog. The new header photograph was taken from the boat heading to Korkeasaari zoo in the summer. In the sidebar to the left, I have added a feed showing my latest status as reported through Facebook; if you have not already added me as a friend on Facebook, there is a button to do so further down.  I hope you continue to enjoy the blog, comments are welcome as ever.

Oh, what a night ...

My wife is here in Helsinki for the weekend and we have just got back from an amazing evening.

We started with dinner at Luomo, a restaurant just around the corner from my apartment.  It has been getting high praise on eat.fi, a site I contribute to (as finn-mark) and have now reviewed 45 restaurants in the last two years, suprisingly putting me among the top 5% of their users.  Without doubt, tonight's meal was not just my best in Finland, but the best ever.

We didn't even see the menu before we were offered a selection of amuses-bouche; a pork and bacon sampler on a bayleaf, chicken and foie-gras ball rolled in vegetable muesli, pumpkin shreds with a blue cheese cream and a small glass of carrot and blood orange juice topped with blood orange foam.

Luomo's full menu offered a seven course meal, comprising three starters, two entrees and two desserts. We chose a more modest five courses, together with matching wines.

The first starter was a tuna tartare, served with wasabe, soy sauce cream, mango and partnered with an Austrian riesling.

Our second starter was called "deer and forest", a combination of rare venison served cold with fruits of the forest and mushrooms, including some freeze-dried berries and a herb cream. This was partnered with a German blanc-de-noirs, a white wine made from Pinot Noir grapes not left on the skins to ferment.  Mushroom bread and home churned butter was served on the side with this dish.

Before the main course, we were served a home made drink, produced from Cola nuts imported from Africa, which is the origin of the more sugary and artificial cola drinks to be had elsewhere.

Their main course was duck, "sweet and/or sour". To the left of the beautifully cooked wild duck was a sour braised red cabbage, to the right a sweet onion cream.  The maitre-d had paired this very well with an Italian Chianti Classico and another bread, olive foccacia, arrived with this course.

Before the first dessert, another palate cleanser arrived in the form of a tiny cone filled with lemon verbena cream.

A glass of a fruity, slightly sparkling Italian red wine was poured before the first dessert, a marriage of fresh and freeze dried raspberries, pistachio ice cream and a pistachio nut cake.

Finally, a French dessert wine accompanied the final dessert of chocolate and Porcini - a mushroom flavoured chocolate brownie topped with a chocolate ice cream, Porcini cream and a wonderfully tart, orange, Sea-Buckthorn ice cream.

The portions were sufficient to enjoy the meal without feeling bloated and I have never had such well matched wines for each dish.  My only regret is that we didn't take all 7 courses, and so missed the third starter (a goat's cheese and beetroot combination) and the second entree (a bouillabaisse).  We will definitely be returning - they change their menu every six weeks or so.

After two and a half hours in the restaurant, we were ready for a walk, so headed to the Svenska Teattern (Swedish Theatre) to catch the late showing of Pink Noise by Fork, a four-piece acapella band, who I saw perform last month at the Nokia World party in Stuttgart.  They put on a great show, which rounded off a wonderful evening.  And the weekend has only just started, as tomorrow (well, later today) we are off to the Hartwall Areena for the second time in two weeks, this time to see Elton John and his Red Piano.  I can't wait.

Living in a material world ...

You can't live in Helsinki for long without noticing the UFF shops.  One of my Finnish friends is a big fan, regularly scouring the branch on Kalevankatu after a coffee at Gran Delicato.  But I hadn't picked up on their supply chain until this weekend.

Back home, we have a lot of charity shops, run by organisations such as Oxfam, Sue Ryder and the like. Each relies on donations brought to the store.  In addition, groups such as the Salvation Army or my own local favourite, the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, have collecting bins in public places; the latter has one in the car park of our village hall.

But here in Finland, UFF has an end to end approach.  This morning, after a wet Sunday spent sorting through the wardrobe, I took a bag of clothes to a collecting container, one block away, having checked on their website for my nearest site.

According to the UFF website, they have these in about 131 municipalities in southern Finland. In total there are over 600 container sites. In 2008 UFF Finland collected and recycled 7.6 million kilos of clothes.

In addition to reselling used winter clothes wholesale to other European countries, they also have 8 second hand shops in the largest cities in Finland: 6 shops in the capital Helsinki, one in Tampere and one in Turku. In 2008, a total of 400,000 paying customers (or one person in 13 in Finland) visited the UFF shops.

UFF (more fully, U-landshjälp från Folk till Folk i Finland rf) was founded more than 20 years ago as an independent non-profit non-governmental humanitarian organization. In 2008 they supported 19 development projects in Mozambique, Angola, Malawi, Zambia and India.

This country has a very enlightened approach to recycling generally.  But I am pleased to think that my few items donated will have a positive impact on those less fortunate elsewhere in the world.

Comedy, the international language ...

Wednesday saw a global comedy performance at the Kultuuritalo, celebrating five years of comedy production from Laugh Riot. They put on a show with a good selection of comedians, some local and others from around the world, all performing (mostly) in English.

It was a fun evening. Two of the local guys, Tomi Walamies and Ismo Leikola, did a very nice job of overturning the Finnish male sterotype. Yannis Pappas from the US (no, really) and Steve Hughes from Australia were also very funny, but for me the highlight of the show was Nina Conti, the only woman and the only Brit on the bill. She was the last act and the funniest ventriloquist I have seen. If you don't believe me, check out her performances on YouTube.

It was only after I got home and looked her up on wikipedia that I realised that she is not only the daughter of British actor Tom Conti, but also a graduate of the University of East Anglia, my alma mater. If only I had known, she could have been the seventh drinker at our reunion the previous evening!

Pub night with a difference ...

Last night was a Global Pub Reunion for the University of East Anglia, where I studied half a lifetime ago for my BSc in Biological Sciences.

The UEA is celebrating its 46th anniversary this year and the alumni association decided it would be good to organise groups of graduates to share a drink and a few memories around the world. I volunteered to host the Helsinki event, at my almost-local, Molly Malone's Irish Bar.

Apparently, there are more than 35 UEA graduates in Finland, the association had email addresses for five in Helsinki. So, I was delighted that we had a turnout of six former students, though most of the others hadn't even started school at the time I graduated.

Their talk of computer labs with several PCs sharing one printer compared with my half-unit of computer programming, done in Fortran on punched cards and and run in two batches a day on an ICL George 4 mainframe. The mobile phone I use every day now has significantly more computing power than that device, but it was that first exposure to computing that changed the direction of my career, away from being a research scientist and towards the world of IT.

We also learned a little about the university today, through a quiz supplied by the alumni association. UEA is ranked amongst the top three for student satisfaction according to the first National Student Survey and in the top 20 in the UK by the Sunday Times. It also came top of the most recent research effectiveness league table published by Research Fortnight. We are among some 85,000 alumni, united by the university's motto, "do different". I believe I have lived up to that since and continue to be grateful for my time at UEA and the impact it has had on my life. So cheers to the other 84,994 or so who were with us in spirit last night!

Finnish exports ...

I've just got back from my first ever "unconference", the Nokia IdeasCamp held at Asilomar on Monterey Bay in California (the picture shows the view of the ocean from my room.

It was an interesting experience, mixing work colleagues with some of the great and the good from Silicon Valley. In addition to the workshops organized by attendees, after hours activities included "Midnight Cooking Madness" in which a dozen or so of us cooked for the rest (I made hummus for 70 or so people and was very pleased with the feedback!). We also had a talent show drawn from those present and had a bonfire on the beach, under strict supervision, given California's current problems with fires.

The organisers had tried to bring some Finnish customs to those present. Part of this involved me importing 144 pieces of Finnish Ruisleipä (rye bread), which added 6.6Kg to the weight of my suitcase! Meatballs and pea soup were served during the weekend, together with some more traditional American fare (I guess that's what it was).

But I think my favourite experience was trying a sauna tent for the first time. A very portable piece of equipment, apparently popular with hunters, campers and the like, this was a very welcome end to the day. The experience was completed by a large paddling pool to get the cold plunge after the heat. I may have to investigate shipping one to the UK!

Those crazy Finns ...

The BBC has reported on Finland's love for crazy contests. Click to see the full article, but I've pasted a few excerpts here as I think this is very much in the spirit of cultural education which was one of the reasons I started this blog.

"The mobile phone throwing world championship in Finland on Saturday is just one of many crazy contests on the country's summer diary. Helsingin Sanomat columnist Perttu Hakkinen asks why Finns have such a fondness for these wacky pursuits.

Finland is well-known for several reasons: mass-produced mobiles phones, lakes - 190,000 of them - and boiling hot saunas. Also, for Santa Claus and the Eurovision monsterman, Lordi.

Finnish summer sports and pastimes owe something to all of these things. The telecoms industry, the natural environment - and the country's gimmicky eccentric side. The list includes boot throwing, wife carrying, mosquito slapping, mobile-phone throwing, sauna endurance contests... and many more.

The most popular summer sport in Finland, however, is not wife carrying or boot throwing, but swamp soccer (SS). The SS World Championships can attract over 30,000 enthusiasts and 300 teams to the tiny northern village of Hyrynsalmi (population 2,895), travelling all the way from the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Russia and Iceland. The game is basically just like normal soccer, but it's played on a wet, marshy swamp."

The article concludes with a quote from Harri Kinnunen, two-time organiser of the Boot Throwing World Championships. "Yeah, I know what the foreigners think," Kinnunen laughs. "Those crazy Finns!"

Hmmm.

Summer holiday part deux ...

It seems amazing to think I've been back working for a week already and returned to the office in Helsinki today.

After our return from the mökki, we visited Helsinki's zoo on Friday and then flew on Sunday to Edinburgh, via Heathrow. We started with a couple of nights in Edinburgh, staying at the Haymarket area, in easy walk to the city centre. We packed in a lot - an open top bus tour, visit to the Edinburgh Dungeon, some shopping on Prince's Street, a craft market and a walk through Grassmarket and around the castle area. We didn't manage to get tickets to any of the fringe comedy festival but picked up the buzz around the city.

We then crossed the Forth Road Bridge and travelled to Stirling Castle, thence to Perth (shown on the picture) for an overnight stay and a visit the following day to Scone Palace, the original home of the stone of destiny.

From there, we visited Scotland's oldest working distillery at Glenturret, which dates back to 1775. Unlike the visits recently to Guinness and Jameson in Dublin, this place is still preparing the water of life (the word whisky is derived from the Scottish Gaelic words of that meaning, uisge beatha) in a process virtually unchanged in more than 200 years. Glenturret single malt is one of the whiskies that go into the Famous Grouse, so we had the tour and were pretty impressed.

After this, a couple of days of chilling out were called for. We stayed in Drymen, on the shores (or is that the bonnie, bonnie banks) of Loch Lomond. Though all of the scenery we saw in Scotland was beautiful (helped, of course, by the sunshine), this was perhaps the most spectacular, the largest body of freshwater in the UK (by surface area, Loch Ness is smaller but has more volume).

We flew home on the Friday, after a visit to Hopetoun House, Scotland's finest stately home, then went to Ladies Day at Newbury Races on Saturday with friends. Unusually, we came out ahead of the bookies on that occasion, a very enjoyable day.

So now it is back to work. Hopefully when I feel stressed, a look at the photos will remind me of the tranquility of the Scottish countryside and reduce my blood pressure a little.

Summer holiday part 1 ...

This week saw the first part of our family holiday. Horrified at the prices quoted for Tuscany, I had persuaded the family to take a cottage in the Finnish countryside.

I've written before about the mökki thing - Finland has around half a million of them, for a population slightly less than eleven times that number. Escaping from the cities to a cottage during the summer months is considered a normal thing to do.

Regular readers will know that I have a strong affection for this country and its people, so I apologise in advance to any Finnish friends who feel my reporting has taken a more negative turn. I'm afraid our experiences this week mean it is rather unlikely that the kesamökki will become a regular fixture on this family's calendar.

I booked our cottage via a website (http://www.lomarengas.fi/, ours was number 8238 and the company's service was excellent). The details suggested that the town of Perniö, only 5km away, offered restaurants and other amenities and we would not be too far from Salo, a larger town and an hour or so from Turku, one of Finland's major cities.

Things did not look promising from the beginning. As we drove to the cottage on Finnish road #1 (European route E18), the heavens opened and the rain fell so hard that even the wipers on double speed had trouble clearing the screen. The few tunnels en route gave temporary respite but confused the GPS, already struggling for a signal because of the millions of litres of water in the air between the satellites and my phone.

Having followed the (very accurate) driving directions, we spent the last 3km driving down barely surfaced roads, finally ending up in the yard of a farm, in whose grounds our cottage was. The cottage was well equipped, warm and clean and we unpacked, before heading back to Perniö for supplies. We had plenty of choice at least, with K-Market, S-Market and Siwa all represented (first stop, though, was Alko, for the most essential provisions).

At the only bar in the town, which doubled as its only restaurant, we chatted with our waitress who was recently returned to Finland after 11 years spent studying and then working around Birmingham, the first Finn I've met with a brummie accent in English! She explained that the next day, Saturday, was the annual market in the town, worth experiencing.

So, we returned to see more of Perniö, which we concluded in rough translation means "one horse town but the horse is on vacation". We did make it that day to Fiskars, once home of the eponymous manufacturer of knives and related items but now a cute village of craft workshops and sales outlets.

Sunday saw rain, so we stayed at the cottage, swam briefly in the 21°C lake during a gap in the clouds, took a sauna and played Mah Jongg.

On Monday we ventured to Turku to see the castle, billed in my tour guide as one of Finland's most popular tourist attractions. It was shut, despite information to the contrary in my guidebook and online. The rest of the city appeared to be similarly disinterested in visitors and we returned home rather disappointed.

Tuesday gave us a warm day, ideal for chilling out by the lake (or in it) and some barbecue, so that was OK.

On Wednesday, seduced by further tourist literature found in the cottage, we visited Hanko, described as a pretty little town by the sea. It seems to have been caught in a time warp since the 1950s, though it did give me an opportunity to paddle in what I was told was the most southerly seawater in Finland (the picture at the top of this post shows the proof). We at least had found the Finnish equivalent of Littlehampton.

Today, we decided to return to Helsinki a day early, stopping in Salo for the market and a very pleasant lunch. It was the hottest day of the holiday so far, at 24.5°C, so sitting at a pavement table felt almost Mediterranean!

Now we have a couple of days before the next part of our holiday, 6 days touring in Scotland. Stay tuned for the next instalment

Lucky numbers ...

A few weeks ago, I was snapped by a Finnish police traffic camera, which was in the back of an unmarked grey van parked under a bridge on the side of the motorway to the airport. I was on my way to Vantaa to fly to see our friends in Sweden; the road was clear, the weather was good and there was only one other vehicle on the same stretch of road; a taxi which I was following that suddenly slowed and pulled in to the inside lane. I mention these circumstances, not to justify my transgression, merely to set the scene.

A few days later, a letter from the authorities arrived on my door mat. It noted that the vehicle had been observed travelling at 93 km per hour in an 80 limit and asked me to confirm who had been driving the vehicle. In the UK, one can apparently decline such questions, as you have the right not to give answers which might incriminate you. This is not the case in Finland, so I sent off my details and prepared to discover my fate.

I was aware that under Finland's system, some traffic fines are salary related, determined on the basis of a certain number of days' pay. The BBC reported in 2004 that "Jussi Salonoja, the 27-year-old heir to a family-owned sausage empire, was given the £116,000 ticket after being caught driving 80km/h in a 40km/h zone". Fortunately, our family "fortune" was made from fridges rather than their contents, and I am certainly not heir to an empire, so I was confident that I would not break Jussi's record.

Colleagues at work suggested that because I was not too far over the limit, I would likely only receive a fixed penalty, so I waited to hear from the Poliisi. The second letter, shown above, arrived this week. It is a summons to present my driving licence at the local police station, between 08:00 and 18:00, any day for the week before July 27. Frustratingly, it gave no clue to what else I might expect.

So, at 10:45 yesterday I presented myself. I took a numbered ticket and waited my turn, a very Finnish way of queueing. As I was the only miscreant there, it took just a few minutes until I was shown into the office with the two-way mirrored walls and advised that my fine would be €70 and I would have two weeks to pay. I was asked if I wanted to dispute the offence, which I did not, and then was presented with the paperwork. And finally, before I left, the very pleasant police officer pointed out the section on the forms where I could make any complaint about the way the matter had been dealt with by them.

So, that was it. Twenty minutes in the station, €70 fine, no points on my license (which would have been the case in the UK) and a lingering feeling of an efficient but very human way of dealing with the matter.

I have long considered that 93 is a lucky number for me. It was the number of my Round Table club in the UK, Basingstoke 93, which I was a member of for more than a dozen years. After these events, I shall continue to believe it to be true!

Feeling connected ...

A couple of weeks ago, I passed my second anniversary of moving to Finland and starting my new job. The combination of that together with an impending "big" birthday next year has put me in rather a reflective mood over the last couple of weeks.

Living away from your home country is a great way of learning about what you have taken for granted. Of course, top of the list are family and friends; I now value the opportunities I get to spend time with both far more than I used to. Then there are more subtle things, such familiar foods and beverages; I've noted before on this blog the challenges of finding fruit cake and Pimms in Finland. Finally, there are the experiences which give a feeling of connection to what has been left behind.

This weekend was a good example. Whilst my US friends were celebrating Independence Day on Saturday, I was preparing to have a few people at my apartment for a brunch and the chance to watch the Wimbledon Men's Finals on Sunday. Last year, I upgraded my Welho cable subscription to get live coverage, but this year, the same channel was not showing the matches. Instead, I was able to add a one month subscription to the Swedish TV4 channel, so that we could see the images at least. I had this in mind as my plan B, as plan A was to watch through the BBC iPlayer, using a UK proxy service. For those not too technical, this is a way of getting round the BBC's restriction of only allowing UK based viewers to see the program. Since I do pay for a TV licence in the UK, I did not feel too bad at finding a way around that limitation.

However, in the end, the BBC's servers were overwhelmed it seems, so I could not stream the live coverage. So, we had Wimbledon Radio via the Internet, providing an English commentary whilst watching the game with the Swedish audio off. This was also instructional, as we learned that live coverage is not always live. There was a delay of several seconds between the pictures and the sound. Initially, the commentators were describing the action before we saw it happen. (If Roddick had been able to tap in to this, the outcome might have been different!). After a while though, the sound was lagging up to 12 seconds behind the play on screen. At this point, we used the "timeshifting" feature of my cable box to delay the picture by about the same time, ending up with a satisfactory pairing of sound and vision.

It was a good match. But the enjoyment for me was increased enormously by sharing it with friends from Helsinki. We did have strawberries and cream, as well as a few glasses of Pimms, the staple fare of Wimbledon goers. And somehow it made me feel closer to my wife back at home, who I knew would be watching the games avidly, as she always does. I look forward to the simple pleasure, previously taken for granted, of being able to share such experiences with her again when my time here is done.

Wine, Wien but no whining ...

One of the challenges of being resident in Finland is that I can only spend a certain number of days in the UK without being taxed there as well. So, the past couple of weekends have given me the opportunity to spend time with my family but without setting foot on British soil.

The weekend before last was spent in Tranås in Sweden, at the graduation of the youngest son of our friends there. Regular readers will recall that we were there this time last year too, for his sister's graduation. It was another lovely weekend and we were honoured to be part of the extended family there for the celebrations, having met up at Stockholm Arlanda airport, 45 minutes apart on flights from London Heathrow and Helsinki Vantaa.

This weekend was our annual city break with four of our longest standing friends. (As we are already in our middle years, we no longer use the pejorative term "oldest friends"). We were in Vienna, from Thursday to Sunday afternoon and have fitted in an amazing amount of walking, sightseeing, eating and, of course, some drinking. We stuck to Austrian wines for the whole trip and were pleasantly surprised.

From the cultural perspective, we visited the Schönbrunn Palace and were very impressed with what had been the summer residence of the emperors of Austria, including the parents of Marie Antoinette. Having seen the lavish surroundings in which she was raised, it is no wonder that she found it impossible to identify with the lives of the average French peasant who were her subjects. The palace is vast and well presented, the gardens range from formal planting to tree lined avenues and a hilltop Gloriette from which to observe the whole estate. We also toured the zoo, thrilled to see Pandas, great and red, as well as a host of other animals in sympathetic surroundings.

In the city centre we toured the Hofburg, as well as the State Hall, home to a fascinating exhibition of geographical books from hundreds of years ago. I came away in awe of the beautifully painted ceiling, as well as enlightened to the origins of the naval hammock, so not a bad day's study.

On Sunday, we visited the Freud Museum, in the apartments that served as living and professional quarters for Prof. Sigmund Freud before he fled to England in 1938 in the eye of the political storm facing the continent at that time. It was a humbling experience, especially as both of my daughters have a strong interest in his chosen subject.

In between, we have dined well. We were recommended to try Ofenloch and Schimanszky, offering traditional and modern Viennese cuisine respectively and were not disappointed. We also visited Griechenbeisl and Stomach, both mentioned in the Dorling Kindersley guide to the city. The first was an old guest house from hundreds of years ago and the other a more modern family run restaurant near our hotel, neither disappointed, though both were very different. The photo shows us preparing to try genuine Sacher Torte at Cafe Sacher.

Our abiding feeling after the weekend is that Vienna is one of the jewels of European capital cities and well worth a return visit.

Next weekend is the third in a row where I shall be meeting my wife in a capital city, this time in Dublin, Ireland. More on that soon.

Sticks and stones ...

I had a new cultural experience this evening, playing a Finnish game called Mölkky (pronounced merl-koo), something like a combination of skittles, darts and boules. I played with some of my colleagues on the beach in Lauttasaari, where we had an enjoyable team summer picnic amongst the rocks.

There are 12 numbered pins, which are placed together to begin and then a further piece (also called the mölkky) is thrown under arm at them. If you knock down just one piece, you score its face value. Knock down more and you just score the number of pins felled. After they have been knocked over, you stand them up again where they fell, so the target pattern gradually spreads out. The aim is to get to exactly 50 points, but if you go over, your score reverts to 25. Miss the pins three times in a row and you are out. It was recommended by a colleague for us to take to the summer cottage, where we will be spending a week of our holiday this August.

Mölkky is based on older games but this version was invented in 1996 by Tuoterengas, an independent business unit in the Lahti Region Education Consortium, which provides work training services and vocational rehabilitation. The game is manufactured in Finnish pine and you can buy it from Touoterengas' online shop. On the basis of a couple of games this evening, I think this is going to be popular with our family! It will add to our collection of garden games, which also includes the Breton Palets which we bought on holiday a few years ago.

Son et lumière

Yesterday was opening night for the Finn-Brit Players' double bill of Harold Pinter plays, Moonlight and A Slight Ache. I have to admit to being rather unfamiliar with Pinter's works before I joined the Players and, at my first run through, wondered what I had let myself in for.

I didn't study drama or literature very much at school and have done little to further my education in that area since. My performances have been in pantomime and musical entertainment with our local drama group in the UK. The Finn-Brit Players are a rather more serious group and so it was probably a blessing for all concerned that, on this occasion, I have been working on the technical side of the production, as the lighting operator. It has been a hugely insightful experience, which will help me when I return to the UK and our village amateur dramatic group, TOADS.

It was back in April that I joined a technical workshop organised by the Players and volunteered to operate the lights for the show. Since, then, I've been calling the lighting cues at rehearsals, but on Monday this week, saw the theatre where the show is running for the first time. Working with Antti, who designed the lighting for the show, we set up the different lighting scenarios for each play; A Slight Ache runs first and has 17 changes, for Moonlight there are almost double that. Each of these lighting combinations is then programmed into the lighting desk together with timings for each transition, so that on the night, I should just have to press one button and the change happens.

The other element is synchronising with the sound effects and music for each play. The sound operator is also a newbie, so Susan and I have been learning together. Susan is a freelance journalist for the Helsinki Times and this week's edition included her piece about the show.

I've found that as the rehearsals have gone on, my understanding of Pinter's approach has developed and I have been formulating my own theories about both plays. I have also been impressed by the performances of all the cast members, as well as the professionalism of everyone else involved. Last night, with an audience in the theatre for the first time, was a very moving experience. If you are in Helsinki, there are still some tickets left for performances next week, you can book at the Finn-Brit Players website. I hope to see you there!

En famille ...

This weekend, my wife and daughters have been with me here in Helsinki, the first time that all four of us have been here together. We were also joined by our eldest daughter's boyfriend, on his first visit to Finland too, so we had lots to celebrate.

On Friday evening, we walked out to Kappeli for drinks before dinner at Farouge, where we had their excellent Lebanese meza.

Rotten weather on Saturday meant we had a rather more relaxed day than I had planned. We wandered around the city centre, shopping and then lunched at Norisushi in the kauppahalli. Back home for a rest before heading out for a superb Italian meal at Gastone, stopping only for Mojitos at Kappeli again!.

This morning, we packed the car and headed to Seurasaari to feed the squirrels (and ducks, birds and a few thousand pigeons). The picture shows the younger ones feeding the last squirrel we found, who was burying one peanut at a time for later. I hope he can find them without a GPS! After the encounter with Finnish wildlife, we went for the Reggae brunch at Nolla, before heading to Linnanmaki for an afternoon of amusement park rides, including two goes on the wooden rollercoaster, which I love.

By then, it was time to head to the airport for my visitors to fly home. Now I am back, on the third load of laundry, thinking that even with the washing machine and tumble dryer on, the apartment seems rather quiet again. At least I will see my wife and youngest in three weeks time in Sweden, when we celebrate Ludde's graduation from gymnasiet. And, excitingly, we have booked a kesämökki (summer cottage) in Finland for a week in the summer. I will look forward to reporting on that later in the year!

Vappu in Helsinki...

Last weekend, we celebrated Vappu, or Labour Day, here in Helsinki. My wife flew in on Friday, May 1st and we joined an alleged 50,000 people in Kaivopuisto, one of the big parks in Helsinki, for a picnic. The picture shows the view from our spot.

Almost all of the Finns were wearing their student caps, which are rather more practical than the mortar board I graduated in. Current students also wear coloured overalls covered in sponsor's logos; the colour denotes the subject they are studying, such as burgundy for law. I suspect the practicality of overalls when drinking for a sustained period of time is not to be underestimated.

As is to be expected at any party in Finland, alcohol is consumed, champagne being popular with the picnic. As a result, with so many drinking all day, the temporary conveniences became quite busy. I did add to my Finnish vocabulary, as can be seen from this picture, taken while I was queueing. I think you can probably deduce what it means - the French word is quite similar!

Blinking into the light ...

This has been my first weekend in Helsinki for five weeks and it really does feel as though the city is waking up for summer.

On Friday, I was in the tent at April Jazz (more correctly the International Jazz Festival in Tapiola). Playing live were excellent local singer Tuomo and a British group, US3, amongst whose hits in the 90's was Cantaloop. I'm not normally a fan of rap, but their fusion of jazz and hip-hop, with a stage show full of energy, was a great way to start the weekend. I caught the free jazz-bussi from the city centre, which added to the sense of adventure!

On Saturday, the cultural experience continued, with an introduction to another of Helsinki's ex-pat communities. April 25th is Anzac Day, originally to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I but now commemorating all those who died and served in military operations for their countries.

There is (of course) a Finn-Anzac society here, who celebrate the day with a picnic on the beach in Lauttasaari and I joined them with some other friends. We (of course) took a barbeque and grilled English sausages and drank Pimms, to show solidarity with our fellow Commonwealth citizens! One of the members had even made Anzac biscuits; my Mum baked these during my childhood and it was nice to have a reminder of home. Though the weather was a little cold, the sun was out and the view over the sea from our picnic spot was glorious. I even have a little celebratory sunburn as a result.

Today was a technical workshop organised by the Finn-Brit Players, as an introduction to sound and lighting techniques. They share the challenge our TOADS group at home suffers, trying to find volunteers to help with these areas for productions. I have been persuaded to take an apprenticeship in lighting for the next show, a Harold Pinter double-bill in June. I hope that this, too, will be an illuminating experience!

Round and round the castle ...

Readers may notice that this is not a Finnish landmark. As I have only spent four days in Finland over the last three weeks, this post is about our weekend trip to Arundel in West Sussex to celebrate my wife's birthday.

Arundel has been a favourite destination for many years. I grew up not far from here and when our eldest was small, a visit was always a popular choice.

We started with a tour of the castle, seat of the Dukes of Norfolk, set in 40 acres of beautiful countryside and dating back to Norman times. After a stroll around the gardens and tea and cakes, we visited the Roman Catholic cathedral of Our Lady & St Philip Howard. Back to the Norfolk Arms to get ready for the evening and then out for dinner at Butlers. (In case anyone from the restaurant is reading, here's what a Caesar salad should be. It should have egg and anchovies. Romaine lettuce not mixed leaves. Definitely no cherry tomatoes. And no vinegar in the dressing!)

On Sunday, after the inevitable full English breakfast, we took a stroll at Swanbourne Lake, a former mill pond which is now home to a variety of wildfowl. This and the surrounding land was purchased by the Duke of Norfolk in 1787 and forms part of the Arundel Park. Our memory was that the full walk around the lake took around one and a half hours, so we nearly didn't attempt it. Of course, it used to with a young daughter, but with both of our girls now grown up, the full circuit took around half the time!

It was a wonderful spring weekend in England, with flora and fauna at their most appealing. For more pictures, see my Arundel 2009 channel on Ovi Share. Many happy returns, darling!

Easter bun-nies ...

I blogged last year about some of the Easter traditions here in Finland. This year, I decided to do just a little to share one of ours from the UK, so during my team meeting this week we had Hot Cross Buns which I imported at the weekend.

This was somewhat of a logistical challenge. As they are traditionally served hot (!), I needed to find a way of warming them and concluded that the microwave in the office kitchen would not suffice. So, I brought in my toaster from home. I did wonder whether the health & safety folk might object, but we avoided setting off the smoke detectors, so I think I got away with it!

The buns proved popular, as expected, since they are similar to some of the Finnish pulla. I hope that one of the beliefs about the buns holds true; if you share them with someone, you supposedly ensure friendship for the coming year. I am fortunate to have a great team already, but there's no harm in taking out a little insurance!

Hob nob ...

Regular readers may remember the incident with my suitcase and the cooker in my apartment. Entirely unrelated to this, my oven gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago, just before I was due to host a Sunday brunch for some friends here. Fortunately, cooking a full English did not require more than the grill and stove so we managed, but the following week, thanks to my landlady and the nice folk at Nordea who manage her affairs, a new oven and stove were installed. The repairer insisted that the previous ones were beyond economic repair and they have been taken away to one of the local museums.

The new items arrived with manuals in all four Nordic languages, but not English. I am now in discussion with their help desk to see what can be done, but the particular models are only made for this market. The hob is easy enough, despite having no knobs or buttons, you just have to touch it in at least three places to turn it on. This should ensure that it is Mark-proof.

However, the cooker seems rather more complex. I have managed to work out how to use the grill but the oven has more combinations than my bicycle lock. I may have to take the book into the office and beg help from a colleague. The real novelty, though, is being able to see through the glass door to the inside. The old oven allegedly had a glass door too, but years of cooking had given it the same level of transparency as the rear screen of my car after weeks of driving through the Helsinki slush.

So now I look forward to cooking a Sunday roast and trying the cooker out in anger. Any takers?

Splitting hares ...

Today was another beautiful sunny day, so I took the chance for a walk with friends around Lauttasaari. It means"ferry island", as until the 1950s, the only way to reach the island was by boat. But then came the bridges and now I drive over the island every morning on my way to work.

About half way round, we spotted this fellow, not quite the mad March Hare, but he was a little odd. As I walked towards him, he ran away, though I managed to catch this photo as I was walking back to my chums and they shouted "he's behind you" (in panto fashion) as the hare was doing his best to chase me! Compared to similar creatures in the UK, he was a lot larger, more the size of a small dog than a large rabbit and it was fun to watch, just for a while. It also reminded me of the book my team gave me last year, The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna, a well respected Finnish novelist. I can now understand why the hero Vatanen was so taken by the eponymous animal.

We also saw some great sights during our three hour amble, here is one of my favourites, combining rocks, snow and frozen sea. For more, see my Ovi Share Finland channel.

The gloves are off ...

It is finally feeling like spring in Helsinki! The temperature today was +4°C, which feels positively mild. Of course, it is around the same temperature as the inside of a fridge, but after the winter we've had here, together with a sunny sky, the grey of this city in winter seemed a little less drab.

I walked to Hakaniemi for a trim at Nadem's, my Tunisian barber, and felt brave enough to leave my gloves in my bag. Not at home, but at least I didn't put them on. And despite a very short haircut, I didn't feel the need for a hat either. The picture shows the view from the bridge en route; yes, you can see footprints. The sea froze during the winter, then snow settled on top of it and the Finns, displaying extraordinary sisu, like to take their constitutional walking on the water. Most Brits are brought up to believe that walking on frozen rivers and lakes is dangerous enough; doing so on the sea sounds even worse.

After picking up some groceries, I then walked into the city centre for some other bits and pieces I didn't know I needed until I saw them, then headed to Café Engel for a coffee and Lingonberry pie. Now I am procrastinating, trying to delay starting my Finnish tax paperwork and then the ironing.

Reversal of fortunes ...

Tonight was the third pub quiz I have attended in Helsinki, organised at Molly Malone's by IESAF, the International English Speaking Association of Finland. On our first outing in February, we came a creditable fourth out of fourteen teams. Last week, my team came last, though at least that meant we won our €10 entry fee back, though that was little compensation. Both of these evenings were the regular "first Wednesday of the month" quiz.

This evening, IESAF organised a special event for St. Patrick's Day, Molly's being an ideal venue. Of course, St. Pat's isn't until tomorrow, but the pub has a party on then, so our team joined a couple of dozen others (or so it felt) for a quiz based on a broad Irish theme. And we won! As well as winning Molly Money for highest or joint highest scores on three rounds, our winner's prizes were four return flights with Aer Lingus to Dublin, plus vouchers to spend at (non-Irish retailer) Ikea. Not bad for a Monday evening.

It seems the prize may cost me a little though, as I shall now need to work out when Stephanie can join me for a long weekend in Dub, sometime between now and the end of June. The year is beginning to look busy!

Two Left feet ...

My new shoes arrived today. I happened to be at home when the Posti man called and delivered them into my hands.

It has been a month since I was measured for them, so I was keen to see how they looked and, more importantly, fitted.

You can see more pictures in my album on Ovi Share, but in short they arrived in the box, plastic wrapped for shipping. Each shoe was in a soft cloth bag with the two wrapped in tissue paper; it was like opening a birthday present I had sent to myself!

They look rather smart and the right shoe is personalised with my name and customer number, ready to order more direct from their website. The left lace is customised with a badge bearing the Left logo, just in case I was not clear which foot it was for!

And so to try them on. They fit well, quite a different feeling than buying ready made shoes which fit where they touch. I have had them on all afternoon in the apartment and am fairly certain I am going to like them. One of my colleagues has warned me that they are an addictive experience!

Nice buns ...

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday, celebrated in the UK and many other countries as Pancake Day, when by tradition the store cupboards are emptied in preparation for Lent.

In Finland, the tradition is different; the Lenten seasons starts 50 days before Easter on laskiasunnuntai (nearest English translation is Quinquagesima Sunday). This starts the three day feast called laskiainen (Shrovetide) that ends on laskiaistiistai (Shrove Tuesday). The Finnish traditon is to eat pea soup (normally served on Thursdays) and laskiaspulla, a special type of buns filled with jam or marzipan and topped with whipped cream. The picture of these pulla comes from the Helsinki Times website.

Sadly, I missed both traditions this year, tying to stick to my existing abstinence programme. But the pulla do look good.

Love is the key ...

I have had two unpleasant incidents with my keys over the last couple of weeks. The first came last weekend, when in a rush to get out for an evening of games playing and movie watching across town. I have lived here for more than eighteen months and for the first time, leaving in a rush to catch a bus, forgot to take my apartment key. Of course, I realised just as the door clicked shut and had that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Luckily, I had not left the building, so was able to check the notice board in the hallway and, by a process of elimination, identify the service which could help. One phone call and twenty minutes later my rescuer appeared. The door was opened in exchange for a 2o Euro fee and I was on my way, thinking how this compared with UK experiences. When eldest daughter locked herself out on her 21st birthday, a rather expensive locksmith visit was added to the costs for the evening. I wonder whether there is a business opportunity for a low cost "keyholder" service back home?

The second incident was today (Sunday), when driving back to the airport after my first weekend home in three weeks. We'd had a great time, despite my coming down with a cold, which has left me feeling somewhat slugged. As I got to Heathrow and returned my rental car, I realised I had left my Finnish keys - car, apartment, desk etc. - hanging on the hook in the hallway at home. The same sinking feeling ensued, but I phoned home and my darling wife, without hesitation, got in her car and drove to Heathrow, almost in my tyre tracks. Together with youngest daughter, they got the keys to me in the nick of time; I managed to make the flight with a few minutes to spare.

So, despite missing Valentine's weekend at home, for the perennial reason of Mobile World Congress, I can say that love is key for a happy marriage. I suspect, though, that this second incident may end up costing me a little more than 20 Euros!!

Building memories ...

This week, the builders took down the plastic sheeting and scaffolding and unveiled the construction opposite my apartment this week. It was not quite as exciting as unwrapping a present, but it does look marginally more attractive now than it has done during construction.

It is a new building for the University of Helsinki, which has a lot of property in this area. I am not sure whether it is going to be student accommodation, or teaching rooms, or something else, but I am sure I will find out later this year.

Construction started last October, just after my parents had been over to visit. According to my landlady's agent, construction should be finished on August 14 this year. I love the idea that they are confident enough not just to state the month, but go right down to the day, I don't thinky you would get that from British builders! As well as causing some disruption with reduced parking in the street, the footpath which went down the side of the building has been temporarily diverted, though through a charming group of university buildings with an old cobbled yard.

The second photo shows how the space looked before, my Dad took this shot when he was here. At least some of the large trees have been preserved, so that once the building is finished, it will look like it has been part of the cityscape for a while. But it doesn't give me quite the same view from the balcony.

If the shoe fits ...

Friends and family will know that I am rather fond of shoes. I believe that owning more than 40 pairs is unusual for an Englishman, even one with two homes. However, until now, all my purchases have been from the stores, ready made, even if some have been particularly splendid.

This weekend, I took the next step (sorry) in my journey of discover in footwear. I was measured in Helsinki by the left foot company, for a pair of individually made shoes.

This company is a Finnish success story. In 1998, they began developing "a system that enabled detailed measurements of the customer's feet using 3D technology. Three years of in-depth development work led to the creation of the CMS system, which forms basis for the left foot company's activity.

The CMS system makes it possible to manufacture individual shoes with an efficiency almost matching that of mass production. Using computer aided design, 3D foot scanning, computer guided cutting systems and an automated production control system, tailored shoes can be manufactured industrially."

The process involves wearing socks printed with grids, then standing on a scanner bed with a camerate that travels 360 degrees around the foot, creating a 3D image. With one fluorescent yellow sock and one fluorescent green, each with a pattern like graph paper, I did feel somewhat like a mathematically obsessed Teddy Boy. The details are checked and stored and you then receive a unique username and password to use on their website.

After that, the challenge is to choose what style and colour of shoes you wanr. They have hundreds of variants to choose from. I eventually opted for their Via Nomentana style in Coffee / Cognac. You can find them on this page, they are also shown in the image above.

Now I have to wait for delivery, by post, in week 10. Apparently, if I am not happy with them then we retry until I am. Once I am certain we have a good fit, then I can order further pairs from the website without needing to go back for another fitting.

I look forward to reporting to you on the results. I hope I shall be head over heels!

Compact and bijoux ...

I've been back in the UK for the weekend and, as I do frequently, hired a car to drive home and then back to the airport.

Normally I book the car separately, but for this journey, into London Gatwick, I got a deal from Easyjet to include car rental through Europcar, a company I have had good service from when renting at Heathrow.

To keep the costs down, I booked a 2 or 4 door compact car, expecting a small Ford or similar. However, when I collected the keys, they were for a Citroen. I've not had great experience with that marque before, so was not expecting to enjoy the drive, but hey, it's only for a few hours. I was even more surprised when I went out to the parking bay and found that my ride was one of these pictured, a C4 Grand Picasso, 7 seat MPV. Compact it is not, but it was all that was left and time was pressing, so I set off.

I've joked with my wife before that with the number of cars I am renting, perhaps I should start reviewing some of them for the blog. I think, though, that might cause several readers to go and check out something more interesting. In short, this was a surprisingly good drive, the car handled very well, the diesel engine was lively and responsive, delivering around 44mpg for the weekend and, should I ever be looking for a seven seat vehicle, I would consider it. Of course, as I already have a seven seater, my Land Rover Discovery, I don't think it will be an immediate purchase.

When I returned the car, I was pleased that I had paid the few pounds extra to reduce the insurance excess to zero. Pulling into the filling station, I managed to scrape the rear nearside wing on one of the metal poles designed to avoid people driving into the pumps. Perhaps if I had been given a compact as ordered, that wouldn't have happened!

Going underground ...

For the last couple of weeks, I have been hoping for snow, lots of it. This may seem strange, as for most of my time here the thought of snow has been a bit grim. Of course, it does make the place look like a proper winter capital and enhance the light, but it comes with a downside if you park on the street. You need to clear the snow off the car before you can drive. If the snowplough has been past, you may also need to dig your way out.

All this changed two Fridays ago when I finally got a place in the parking garage beneath my apartment building. There has been a waiting list since I moved in, but over the holidays my name moved to the top of the list and I got a mail from my landlady's agent at Nordea to say I could rent a place. On the day my wife was due over for the weekend, I visited the service company, taking proof that I had paid the security deposit into their bank account, so that I could sign the contract (written in Finnish, of course) and collect the keys and the transmitter for the door and gate.

The rental cost works out to around the cost of a latte a day, which at this time of year seems well worth it. Being able to drive out with clear windows and above zero inside temperatures still seems a novelty. Of course, with the space come some rules. I can't use the space for anything other than a car, I need to keep the space clean and tidy, can't repair the car or wash it in the space and I can't sub-let it.

What surprised me, considering the waiting list, was just how may spaces are empty, all the time. There are also some rather cool cars down there, a big old Rolls Royce, an American cruiser (as yet unidentified) and several Porsches. However, Gunther is not going to get ideas above his standing as there are also several Audi A3's in there as well.

Fawn again ...

This evening, I donned ice skates for the second time in my life, on a team outing to Jääpuisto, the Helsinki Icepark in the railway station square, Rautatientori. I had a real feeling of déja vu.

My first ice skating attempt was in 1983, when I was living in Poole, working for a small computer dealership in that English south coast town. Having never even roller skated, I had all the coordination of Bambi in the Walt Disney film from 1942. The girls from the office convinced me to come along and with one on each arm, I made a lap of the rink.

Today was much more successful than 26 years ago. Feeling (and clearly looking) very wobbly, with a blonde on each arm, I eventually managed two circuits of the outdoor rink after a couple of rest stops! I then decided to sit back and watch the rest of my team, most of whom have been skating since they were kids and make it look very easy.

We were sharing the ice with a TV crew, filming for a travel programme. A young couple were skating for the cameras, pretending to be just another pair of skaters out for the evening. But the crew picked the wrong subjects to film. One of my team has figure skated competitively and put everyone else to shame with her effortless and graceful performance. In her normal, modest way she deflected any attempt at compliments from us, almost embarassed by the attention. But watching her skate, you can see that she is literally in her element, at one with the ice in a way that most of us, especially me, can only dream of.

My wife and daughters love the UK TV show, Dancing on Ice; back in 2007 before I moved to Helsinki we saw the live show at Wembley Arena. After today's experience, I am even more in awe of the celebrities and professionals on the show. And determined that it won't be another 26 years until I try it again. Apparently, you can get lessons, even for middle-aged novices!