Zero degrees sea...

I had been told that the sea usually freezes in Helsinki in winter and was looking forward to this spectacle. Having grown up by the sea on the South coast of England, this is not something I had ever experienced, though sometimes even swimming in the English Channel in summer feels cold enough to scare a brass monkey.

On Saturday, I walked to the Kauppahalli (market hall) at the South Harbour to buy fresh Salmon steaks to cook for dinner, as my wife and youngest daughter were flying over for a few days. On the way, I noticed that the water around this old sailing ship, moored at the harbour as a restaurant, was solid enough for birds to walk on.

When I looked more closely, I saw that the ice on the surface was still moving and had taken on the appearance of "crazy paving", a popular finish for patios in my youth. I assume this is due to the conflict between the tendency of the ice to freeze as a flat sheet and the effect of the motion of the water cracking the sheet. Whatever, I found it intriguing. I am looking forward to when it is solid enough for people to walk on out to the islands in the harbour. Rest assured I shall not be the first one testing the ice!

Career progression...

Well, I am back from Barcelona and the pinnacle of my career in PR, directing pedestrian traffic from another press conference to ours. Those of you on Facebook may already have seen this picture, currently my profile photo on there.

This was my seventh Mobile World Congress. Actually, technically it was the first as the name changed from 3GSM World Congress this year. Whatever the name, the show is pretty much the same; the great and the good of the mobile world assemble to share views on the future of the industry (and a few bottles of Cava). The rest of us drink beer, in my case perhaps a little too much London Pride at the City Arms, a Taberna Inglesa! It comes to something when an Englishman, resident in Helsinki, has to travel to Spain for a pint of bitter brewed in Chiswick.

After six years of duty on the batwing booth, it felt like I had crossed the floor, as the politicians would say. I saw several of my old buddies from that company and caught up on their news. To those I missed, please do drop me a note, via email or on Facebook or LinkedIn, whichever you prefer.

Soupe du jour...

If I head North from my apartment instead of South, I come to Hakaniemi, another of the major market places in Helsinki. It's about the same distance to walk, but whereas the market at the South Harbour is "touristic", as my former colleagues in Germany would say, at Hakaniemi it seems somehow more authentic.

As well as the outdoor stalls, there is an old market building, inside which are stalls selling all manner of fresh meats, fish and vegetables, as well as cakes and cheeses. A visit there today gave me a wonderful selection of fare, as I am cooking for one this weekend.

One of my friends here had recommended the soup seller Tapaste at the market. He is quite a character and has a busy business. It's a very simple setup. I had the choice of two soups, Bortch (his spelling) with bacon or Bouillabaise. I opted for the beetroot soup as I am the only one in the family who likes that vegetable and so take any chance I can to enjoy it. While I waited, a dish of olive oil with fresh green herbs was presented, into which I could dip the fresh bread until the soup was served.

I was not disappointed. Instead of the usual thick, blended soup this was a broth filled with julienne-cut beets and carrots, with a huge dollop of sour cream on top. The rich, smoky Paprika flavour took me back to our holiday with Graham, Barbara, Jim and Linda in Budapest a few years ago. It was delicious and I understood why, even at only 11 in the morning, his stall was busy. I was lucky to get a seat, as several people who arrived after me had to wait for 10 minutes or so for a table.

After that, I enjoyed choosing a Salmon steak for Sunday lunch and a piece of steak for this evening, my reward for two weeks worth of ironing. Tomorrow I will be off to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, so I am enjoying my last few hours of peace and quiet!

More free speech ...

My thanks to John, my 2.0 guru, for recommending Odiogo as an alternative to Talkr.com. It has the added benefit that if you subscribe to the podcast, the text of the post is also visible in the file. Each blog post now has a button to listen to the post. Finally, at least the gender of the voice is now correct for me (and does a much better American accent than I can manage!).

I'll cancel the Talkr.com subscription, so if you have subscribed to that feed, please switch to the Odiogo one using the button in the sidebar. I am sure it will be worth it!

Free speech ...

You may have noticed the new items in the sidebar. Through the wonders of Talkr.com, you can now listen to my blog posts as audio. For those of you who enjoy the slightly robotic twang of your satnav, this could be right up your street. Underneath the radio panel, there is a button which will allow you to subscribe for posts on your podcasting software, such as iTunes or, though I haven't tried it for this feed yet, the Nokia podcast client on your mobile device.

I've put this up really to demonstrate some interesting technology, rather than because I think it is really cool. Personally, I find it a little unsettling to hear my words spoken in a female American accent. That probably rules me out as a Hollywood screenwriter, then!

Let me know what you think... use the comments box or drop me a mail.

We all have baggage ...

I flew this week to New York from Helsinki on business and saw Heathrow as I never have before; as a transit passenger. Until now, flying into Heathrow has meant going home. After the inevitable delays landing, I collect my luggage, find my transport and head back to the family. But on Wednesday, I had an hour and a half to switch planes and terminals to head to JFK.

In Helsinki, I had suggested that I would collect my suitcase at Terminal 1 and take it with me on the bus (ah, the jet-set lifestyle) to Terminal 4. But the FinnAir agent assured me that it would be much easier for me to check it through to New York. My sixth sense was screaming "no", but she had such an air of confidence that I gave in.

All seemed to be going well at Terminal 4, when the BA agent insisted on checking my luggage tag number. If I boarded the plane without them doing so, the suitcase would be "de-planed". "So, the bag is on already", I asked, not entirely convinced. "Oh yes, sir, of course".

Well, someone, somewhere was fibbing. When I got to JFK, after an unusually short half hour wait for Customs & Border Protection, I made the acquaintance of one other traveller who had lost her bag. We trod the path to the lost luggage office, where the staff slipped into their well practiced affectations of surprise and took the details.

A question for you, gentle reader. Can you describe your most frequently used suitcase from memory? What colour(s) is it? What size? Which brand? Does it have pockets on the outside? How many are there? If it has wheels, what do they look like? What other details of trim? I suggest next time you travel you take a photograph of it on your phone before you wave it goodbye on the conveyor!

My case is an Eddie Bauer Brookline 29" Overseas Case, the picture here is for my future reference!

Anyway, to cut a long story somewhat shorter, the bag eventually arrived 42 hours late from the UK. Conveniently, it arrived on the day I was leaving, so I was able to collect it from the lost luggage desk and check it in for the return flight. It had company for the return journey, a new bag bought to carry the various items of clothing and toiletries classed as "emergency replacements". Now begins the attempt to reclaim the costs for these from the airline.

So, a few ideas for the future. A laminated notice will be inside my bag with full details of its owner and I shall be engaged in desperate attempts to cram all my luggage into carry-on bags.

I suppose I should be grateful that this is only the second time in my travelling career that I have had a bag delayed. According to the Air Transport Users Council, the major European network airlines mishandled over 5.6 million bags in 2006. BA has the worst record, perhaps because some of the other airlines are less transparent in publishing their statistics.

A new angle on the blog ...

Regular readers may have noticed that the my blog header (the title bit above with the name on) has changed from just text to a photo.

The panoramic picture was taken on my Nokia N95 8GB with PanoMan, an excellent add-on application from bit-side GmbH. I think it may be the best €9.99 I have ever spent on software. Really easy to use; it helps you pan across the scene you are taking and then stitches the frames together to create one image file.

In case you don't recognise the view, it is looking towards the city from the market square (Kauppatori), the open space you can see in the webcam image at the left.

I walked through the square today on my Sunday afternoon excursion to Cafe Ursula for lunch. We ate there last time Stephanie and Sally were over, but drove there. Today, the sky was trying to snow, but not making a very good job of it. The weather was cold enough to need a coffee when I got to the cafe but clear enough to enjoy the views on the way. The picture shows the sun setting around 4pm when I left to walk home.