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!