Feels like Autumn is upon us

May sound silly for me to say this, since August hasn't even started yet and August is typically the holiday month in most of Europe. Still, I'm getting a feeling that the Autumn is here soon. It's partly because typically the Finns' holiday month is July rather than August, so the latter already feels like "holidays over". But mostly it's because the schools start in mid-August, so in late July the stores begin advertising school clothes (trendy of course, no school uniforms here), backpacks (also trendy) and pens, rulers, erasers, pencil cases etc. (very often, like the backpacks, parts of the merchandise range of a big Hollywood movie or whatever is popular with kids at the moment. Harry Potter, Spiderman, Lego Star Wars, Pokemon, Bratz...).

Still, August might turn out to have stunning summer weathers so I must fight the "summer is over" feeling.

I did my little trip to Tallinn Estonia. The morning catamaran took 2,5 hours instead of the usual 1,5 due to a technical fault, so I had a little less time than I had hoped. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my day hugely. The forecasts of the previous evening had predicted rain, but it was sunny and warm throughout (although I feel sure that if I HADN'T taken an umbrella along, it WOULD have rained). Usually the most interesting things can be found outside the typical tourist tracks, so I did not go to the city center but headed out from the port towards northern Tallinn. I walked along the seaside and then in the city districts. These are places where traces of recent history, the Soviet time, are still visible. The city center is shiny and full of glass and stone palaces of commerce, but here you can see blocks of wood and stone buildings that on the outside look like nothing has been done to them since the 1950's. Probably it's true, at least as far as the exteriors are concerned, because the fact is not much was done in the Soviet era, and now there is so much to repair and renovate that it will take years and years. I find places like these fascinating.

I could've done with more time but then again it's easy to get to Tallinn again, and very cheap. I'll post pictures when I get them edited.

Travel plans and other assorted bits and pieces

Not very grandiose but will be a pleasant day all the same.

I have the catamaran tickets to Tallinn reserved for tomorrow. I'm leaving on the 10.30 am boat and returning on the 7 pm boat. That gives plenty of time in a fairly small city like Tallinn. Will be a very pleasant day and I of course plan to take lots of pictures. I did consider one of the cheap hotel + travel packages too, but the hotels included in them tend to be ones that are mainly used by Finnish booze tourists. So, not very nice - that was my sister's and her bf's experience when they visited Tallinn recently, anyway.

Yesterday I spent some time nannying my nephews. My younger nephew greeted me with a hug, then I spent most of the time playing with legos with him. Still very Star Wars themed. The little one also gave me what he calls a "super smooch": a very long and very wet smooch on the cheek. Of course it was very lovely seeing my elder nephew, my brother and sister-in-law too. :-)

The City Beneath Her

One of those lucky shots just today. Given that she's elderly, she probably lives in this part of the city. Perhaps she was born and has lived her entire life here, and this is one of her favourite places where she likes to rest on her walk and look down at the bustle of the street below. I like to think so anyway.

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I did a little excursion today: to the neighbouring town of Järvenpää (30 minutes on the regional train), to see Ainola, the home of the composer Jean Sibelius and his wife Aino, who lived there until their death, that of Jean Sibelius in the 1950's and of Aino in 1969. The home is now a museum, left as it was when Aino was living there in the 1960's. No pictures I'm afraid as photography was forbidden in the house, but here's a picture of the grave monument.


Click THIS LINK or the original orchestral work of Sibelius' Finlandia (short interview at the start, music starts at ca. 1:00).

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Now I'm actually tempted by another excursion, this time to Tallinn, Estonia. I could take the fast catamaran at 10 am, be in Tallin by midday, and come back on the 7 pm or 9 pm catamaran. Only a bit over 50 euros two ways.

Eat Shit

Don't look at me, that's what the sticker in the picture says (better view in larger size). I was amused by this very succinct message and also wondering what motivated it.