New toys

Red skiers: From Christmas 09

On Christmas morning we always used to look out for kids on their new bikes. I guess it's the same here with skis... going for a walk on Sunday you would almost think you were in some ski resort in Lapland rather than the eastern edge of Helsinki.

See the imaginatively titled Christmas 09 album in the sidebar at the moment for christmas pictures and another walk in a snowy forest with a camera.

Hyvää Joulua / Merry Christmas

Still here...

Logs in the snow: From Lapland - Winter 08/09

Yes we are still here.

A combination of moving flat, being busy at work/starting a company, laziness, and a lack of ideas has meant a hiatus in blog posts. Neither of us want to blog about work stuff so not much to talk about and less 'spare' time (as I can use my Xbox360 now when I'm bored...............). At least we're getting a white christmas.

Maybe the new year will bring some inspiration?

Nuuksio

In the midst of nature: from Winter 2009

When you take your camera for a walk metsässä (in the forest), you don't always end up taking pictures of what you might expect.

So we are walking in Nuuksion Kansalaispuisto (Nuuksio National Park) where we are staying for the weekend - in a better than average lakeside mökki (cabin) - with Bore and her American friend 'Saab'. We figure we should go for a walk and enjoy the snow and light, both likely to fade; so we set off down the track hoping to link up to the 'proper' walking trails, talking about the climate here and in the northern states, buying flying squirrel poo on the internet, (mis)identifying animal tracks and (if you are Konna) trying to do penguin impressions... so generally enjoying walking in the woods.

After trying a couple of turns we end up following this car width track for about 30 minutes until we reach a dead end with a small hut and a big red phone mast. Well I guess that's what you get if you want good 3G mobile coverage, but still...

Winter 2009 photo album

Norsu huonessa

Sibeliustalon metsähalli: from Finland summer 08.

Actually I do have a couple of architecture related things to mention come to think about it. First is the Puuinfo Puupäivä in Lahti at the Sibelius Hall on Wednesday (11.11) which we are going to go along to. A good excuse to see the concert hall again if nothing else (see this old post for more). If I manage to understand any of it I will let you know!

Then next week is a (free) two day seminar series called 'Innovations: Architect and Engineer' organised by the Alvar Aalto Akatemia/Foundation and TKK. Speakers include Kenneth Frampton and Iain Ritchie, amongst others, so about three-quarters of the progamme will be in English.

After our visit to EMMA we also made a trip out to Otaneimi to use their arkkitehtuurin kirjasto their for some research Konna is doing for work. Then the next day I met up with a friend at my favourite cafe who happens to be studying at TKK at the moment, and we discussed how strange/repressive it must be for Finnish architecture students to study in Aalto designed buildings in part of the soon to be Alvar Aalto (super-)University; the elephant in the room if you like. Mind you apparently they still get frustrated about the quality/availability of seminar rooms just like any other architecture department I have heard of - but I bet they wouldn't swap with the this school in here... (and believe me these are flattering images if my memories of 1988-94 are to be trusted!)

outside/inside TKK: architecture tour 04/09.

Culture corner

Tapio Wirkkala: Utima Thule, 1967. via.

I suppose we are overdue an Architecture Corner - but not much going on that front so we'll have to cast our net a bit wider. Although only as far as Espoo it seems...

This week we visited EMMA (Espoo Museum of Modern Art) at WeeGee for an exhibition of the work of Finnish sculptor and product designer Tapio Wirkkala (1915-1985). He trod a strange path between sometimes figurative, sometimes abstract works and apparently unwilling to differentiate between his product work and sculptures. Much of his work - certainly his best known pieces - are in carved plywood (for which he used extremely high-quality birch plywood to his own specifications). 'Ultima Thule' (pictured above) which shares it's name with the Iittala glassware he also designed, is one of the centrepieces of the exhibition, although I actually liked the roughness of his studio doors more made from simple pieces of standard timber (unfortunately I couldn't find a picture on the web and we couldn't take photos). You can read more about him here and here.

Also in Espoo last night were RinneRadio (a jazz via hip-hop, electronica, straight fusion, dark dub, ambient, and Saami yoik singing experience since the late eighties) and Circo Aereo performing 'Ruostetta iholla' (rust on the skin). Featuring a RR backed choreographed acrobatic act with scaffolding, posture balls, planks, tyres, a trampoline and a suspended hoop... you can find video of their other shows on YouTube, but here is Ommatidi from RinneRadio.

What to do?

Chirp chirp? From Around Helsinki - Autumn09

I know - I'll join the Twitter bandwagon. Then I can not post anything for ages on that too...

Well that was 5 minutes wasted, now what?

Furry friends

I was told a story yesterday about someone shutting their puppy in a room at work (let's just say it had been a bad boy), accidentally locking it in and that by the time they had found someone with the keys it had chewed through the office's internet connection cable...

This reminded me of the time I was on Skype with my mum a few months ago when she had just got a new kitten. She was saying how it had needle sharp teeth and liked to attack strings and cables when suddenly the sound cut out... then on the video link my mum showed me the two severed ends of the microphone lead... I don't know, some people will do anything to get out of a boring phone conversation.

Next week: Squirrels ate my homework

Pumpkins and mitre joints

Well the new seasonal header image from the Linnänmäki Valotkarne kurpitsat photo seemed appropriate for the weekend. You won't be surprised to hear that Konna has bough a mini one to make a lantern from.

With Konna busy at work and me busy preparing for a new 'project' not much we can write about at the moment... except that as Konna is ironically doing project information in English (again) she keeps asking me what the English for such-and-such architectural term is, either by description ("you know one of those metal bars that presses the timber down" which turned out to be a compression rod/bolt) or by it's Finnish term - "what's Haapa and Terva Leppä - they are good for sauna's as they don't have much pihka - and I need to say make jiiri corners".* Usually after a bit of head scratching, leafing through dictionaries and quizzing wikipedia (suomeksi ja englanniksi) we work it out. Maybe I should start an English-Finnish Architectural Terminology Dictionary website/wiki...

*That's Aspen, Black Alder, Resin/Amber and Mitre joints, in case you were wondering.

Are we here yet?

Kurpitsat! From Winter 2009 - Helsinki & around.

In case you were wondering we didn't turn into pumpkins, but did actually come back to Helsinki. So what's been happening to Emmdee and Konna?

• A fancy dress party where we went as teenagers c. 1987 (for me think black jeans, sister's of mercy T-shirt, studded belt...; for Konna think language student - complete with EF rucksack)
• A week dog/house sitting (good weather for walkies in the central park - where Konna had never been!)
• Mennimme Linnänmäkiin - katso valot karne kuvista (see Linnänmaki Carnival of lights pictures on Picasa) - the lazer show was crap though...
• Five (more) boxes of stuff arrived from UK: we now have more clothes, a TV, DVD/home cinema, and A3 printer again after a year! Hurrah! (But where the heck do we put it all?)
• DVD player and printer aren't working! Boo! Where's that insurance claim form...?
• Konna is working for a small but successful and critically acclaimed practice doing very interesting buildings (down to the doorknobs) ... can't say any more than that
• We (or I as Konna is working full time now) may have some small projects coming... the big problem is of course what to call the company if we do
• Menin hämmäsläkkärille / suunhygenistille, ja nyt minun hampaat ovat (melkein) valkoinen... ja hän sanoi minulle - sinä puhu hyvin suomea jos olet assunut suomessa vain yhden vuoden (!) Well who says Finns aren't polite?
• 'Somebody' lost that dentist bill - cue comedy misunderstanding of spelling of my name on telephone: dee ... day - pay?, DEE - bee?; DAY - ...? Voisinko lähetää sinulle sähköposti..?
• First sauna for six weeks (I even started to miss it)
• First cycle ride for six weeks (since the biggie); 75km Porvooseen ja takaisin - was so damp and cold that on the way back had to stop at a bus stop to take of my shoes and socks to warm my frozen numb feet; notes to self: a) dress warmly when it's 5°C; b) after six weeks 75km is too far...
• A video of my TdH triumph is on Strands here; and my Strands page is here (a sort of Facebook/training log for running/cycling)
• We may have blinked and missed autumn... it snowed today...

Going home?

Fish'n'chips via.

That was weird. Without thinking about it I just typed the title of this post (before I added the question mark) - I wonder if that means something? So actually our 'holiday' back in UK visiting my family is ending today, and we will be back in Finland tonight. After three weeks of unusually sunny, warm weather in Blighty, with only the first autumnal tinges showing, we will be greeted by temperatures 10 degrees cooler, and touching zero at night, and autumn in full swing... the first snow has even fallen in Lapland.

But is Helsinki 'home' now, after only fifteen months? Strangely it is Stadilainen Konna who keeps saying 'If we come back in a year's time ... we'll wish we hadn't sent six more boxes of stuff over' or '... we'll want most of this stuff that is now filling your mum's spare room'.

While I've been here I've been keen to partake in several important local cultural culinary treats:

• Battered fish and chips (not fries) with salt and vinegar - from a fish'n'chip shop, in paper
• Steak and kidney pie - mmm pastry
• 'Proper' italian style, wood oven roasted, thin crust, pizza (no Finnish kebab-shop minced-meat pies thanks)
• Sunday Roast (lamb) - cooked by my Mum (who makes fantastic crispy roasties)
• Sitting and reading the weekend papers

I've also realised that I actually missed British TV and radio (particularly radio channels that play new and current music... a radical idea that doesn't seem to have reached Finland yet).

Maybe this all explains why I managed to lose 7 kilos this summer (leading to some comedy trouser issues) not having this stuff around to eat, but I dread to think how much I've regained in the last few weeks. Back on the bike for me then until the snow comes.

It's only a number

via MoMA by Alan McCollum

Wikipedia will tell you (amongst other things)

1. The letters are in alphabetical order
2. It is an octagonal number
3. It is a pentagonal pyramidal number
4. It is the atomic number of Zirconium
5. It's negative is the temperature where Fahrenheit and Celsius scales are equal
6. This many winks is a nap
7. This many days and this many nights means a long time

But it won't tell you what connects it with 20 09 2009 - any ideas?

Day for the Big Chief of the Clan

Zig Zag: From Dartmoor 2009

We ended our family get-together-cum-holiday in Dartmoor today in a rather fitting way on a rather fitting day. But some explanations first.

What 10 things do you associate with Dartmoor?

1. Ponies (in the road)
2. Walking up 'Tors' (the granite outcroppings on top of the moor)
3. The prison
4. Narrow roads/tractors
5. Family holidays
6. Windy days
7. errrm...
8. Heather??
9. Sheep?
10. ..... oh yeah - that thing with stamps

No.10 is properly called 'Letterboxing' which was a past-time my youngest brother, li'l sis, Mum & Dad picked-up visiting Dartmoor sometime after I foreswore family holiday's in my late teens - so something I had zero interest in back then. Later Mum and Dad continued to visit the area to walk the moors and Tors. So it was appropriate that last year, when we went to Dartmoor on 'goodbye' family holiday before we headed off to Finland that the clan left a box out on the moors in memory of our 'big chief'.

So this year, 18 months later, with my own significant large-numbered birthday celebration at hand, we have come back to Dartmoor to regroup, catch-up, celebrate (two birthdays other than mine), meet new additions (nephew and b.f.), walk (best one just Konna & I - 12km, lovely sunny day, Hameldown Tor, Grimspound bronze age settlement and around), eat (excellent and over-ample cooking all round), to dress in Victorian clothing (obviously), take lots of photos with my new 'toy' (and thanks to all my family for the present); and to check on Dad's letterbox.

So yesterday we recovered the box from Feather Tor, near Windy Cross and replaced it with a new one (with an appropriate cross stamp); then after browsing the visitor book last night we placed that box on Top Tor this morning, the day of his anniversary. It was nice to arrive home this afternoon to take some of his favourite flowers from the garden to the churchyard and tell him about the new boxes. I think he would have liked it.

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Clues to find the letterboxes: (remember to wear appropriate clothing, take an OS map and a compass when walking on the moors! A notebook, pen, stamp and inkpad, as well as a sharp pair of eyes, may also come in handy...)

• The new box in the old place:

1. From the car park on the B3357 head south to Windy Cross;
2. Cross the aqueduct and head up to Feather Tor;
3. Find the 'balancing rock' (see picture) and head east-ish towards a square looking rock;
4. The box is somewhere about halfway between...

• The Chief's old box in the new place:

1. From the small car park on the B3387 cross the road and head south to the small Tor;
2. Look for this small stack (see photo) you may want to scale it for the view west;
3. Head towards Widecombe-in-the-Moor's church tower - about 70 paces
4. The Chief now resides nearby...

No. 84 made it!

No. 84 approaches the finish at the Helsinki Velodrome: Tour de Helsinki 2009

It was a cold, wet day but 1300 cyclists turned up for the Tour de Helsinki yesterday. Lue lisää ja voittajasta tämä suomeksi.

No. 84 (who bears a startling resemblance to emmdee) was nervous at the start: riding on a borrowed road bike* he had only ridden for 10km, not sure what speed group to go with, not used to group riding, not looking forward to the forecast day of rain and 14°C temperatures, and hoping to finish before the 7hr cut off for the event.

In the end he started with the 24km/hr group near the back of the field (so crossing the start about 5 mins after the official 11am start time in the last hundred or so people) and rolled along slowly in the convoy at less than 20km/hr for the first 10km. The rain had stopped and the roads were damp but not soaked. When the 'free' cycling got started he realised that he could go faster than the group speed, especially drafting in a pack, and after the first pit stop at Lepsämä (38km) left the group hoping to catch one supposedly 5mins ahead... the rest of the was spent moving from small group to small group, hoping to catch one that was travelling about 27km/hr on the road (his average by this time) and enjoying the ride.

Skipping stop 2, things stayed this way (near misses with cyclists dodging orava aside) until after stop 3 at Paippinen at 95km where after stopping to refill bottles, eat mini-bananas and phone ahead to the support team his ETA, he rejoined to find the roads seemingly empty, only catching and passing the occasional rider and seeing several stopped with punctures. The roads then became soaking wet from recent rain, and his legs started to tighten up and tiredness set in and without a group to shelter in the speed began to drop off. Then at about 110km as no.84 took a breather behind another slightly slower rider another one came past (no.1410) at a better pace; tagging onto him 84 was able to pick up the pace and after a few kilometres agreed (in broken Finnish) to try to stick together and help each other for the rest of the ride. Towards the final 5 to 10 km this became a matter of sisu as 84 couldn't quite stay with him - particularly after a close call with a car that disobeyed a signal to stop from policeman directing traffic.

The support team gives a hand: Tour de Helsinki 2009

Finally arriving in the Velodrome for the finish and after few scarey moments on the wet track 84 completed the course, and stiff, exhausted but happy to be greeted by his supporters.

Official timing stats

Distance: 140.1km

Time: 5 hrs 37 mins 50 seconds

Position: 947 of 1178 recorded finishers/1301 starters

Average speed: 24.9km/hr

Stats from bike computer (i.e wheels moving):

Distance: 144.5 km (!)

Time: 5hrs 20mins

Average speed: 27.10km/hr

Max: 53.75km/hr

Thanks to everyone who sponsored me for this event, it was really appreciated - currently we have raised £340 (+£47 gift aid) via my JustGiving pages for Cancer Research UK and the CJD Support Network. If you haven't and still want to contribute the pages are still open!

*Many thanks to Patrick for the loan of his road bike for the day - it would probably have been 7+hrs on my mountain bike. Hmm - maybe I could get my own road bike for next year....

Pictures by Bore & Konna

Ruska tulee, sitten tälvi...

Senaatintori steps: from Around Helsinki - Autumn09

You might think that this month's new header image is a bit early, especially if you are in the UK having just enjoyed the late summer bank holiday, and breathing a sigh of relief the kids are back to school. But looking out our window you can believe autumn is already here. A cool, damp, windy day; koivu (birch) leaves fading and falling to the ground; mushrooms sprouting up. In fact that header picture was taken at the end of September last year (see Autumn Colours), and this year's ruska (the aforesaid autumnal vegetation) will be well underway, the autumn equinox will have been and gone, and Finns will be bringing out the cold weather gear from the attic before the month is done and the header changes again. And the bad news for me is the same is forecast for next Sunday - not ideal for the big ride.

It seems like only yesterday I was wandering around stadi under blues skies showing our weekend visitors from London the sights, and taking touristy snaps with my (slightly early*) birthday present. Hang on it was only yesterday... Where are my jumpers and wooly socks?

*Well I had to make sure it worked, right?

Hot water bottle

Plasticiens Volants at Taiteiden Yö (Night of the arts) 21.8.09 in Helsinki

It was advertised in the papers that during the arts' night on Friday the fairy tales become true... and they did - in the form of the hot water bottles. Perhaps I should explain...

A few years ago we were driving around the country side with Emmdee and I happened to see a group of colourful hot air balloons in the sky - and I scared the driver by yelling loudly (as I often do): 'Look - lots of hot water bottles over there!' Of course the driver couldn't see them immediately, but wondered probably in his mind that now she has lost it big time.

He might have rubbed his eyes twice on friday too, if he saw the hot water bottles, which were shaped differently; there was a whale, a helpful lobster who let the pearl out from its shell (& eventually put it back where it belongs), an evil octopus & small sea horses & crabs - but he didn't as he was sleeping home...

That brings to my mind that I was supposed to book a hot water bottle ride for this September - yes the one we were suppose to take already a year ago :0 Perhaps we are lucky with the weather this time around?

And finally...

Eija Laakso of Finland mid-fling during the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships in Savonlinna, 2007. Photo copyright by Seppo Sirkka / EPA via Flkr

I guess all Finnish summer sports were invented by drunk people

Harri Kinnunen, boot-throwing world championships organiser, Via BBC News website

So here's the annual "those Finns are crazy (and drunk)" summer article from the UK, supposedly triggered by this year's totally sensible kännykkä chucking event in Savolinna (

although as it was actually written by a Finn for the BBC I suppose it was a sort of self-stereotyping). You'll have to wait until winter for the "seasonally affective disorder/suicidal (and drunk)" one to be rolled out.

Interestingly for grapheme spotters auntie beeb doesn't seem to do Ä or Ö - and is also apparently inconsistent in (semi-incorrectly as it isn't an umlaut) transposing Ö as OE in the the only* 'foreign' word used (mökki -> moekki) but A for Ä in a few of the place names and surnames (which is more conventional). Mind you, even Konna's passport has AE for the Ä in her name so we can't be too critical.

Maybe they don't use Macs so can't figure out how to get those ¨pësky¨döts¨ from their UK localised Windows keyboards?

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* Okay I realise sauna is Finnish, but we use it too, even if we pronounce it wrong!

Cows, Horses and Crayfish

Apparently they are both lactose-free

I managed a 120* km 'training' ride to Somero on Friday and after six hours and nine minutes** in the saddle was greeted with an appropriately named 'Recovery' bottled drink (although I was ironically too knackered to open it before the call of the sauna overcame me). I think it will come in handy for the real thing though. I also finally got the courage to try the infamous 'chamois' cream. If you don't know what that is, let's just say that the padding in cycle shorts used to be soft chamois-leather. So yes it goes there. I have a tub of 'Udderly Smooth' (see what they did there?) which was apparently developed for dairy cows... (I wonder how and why someone first thought to use it on places other than udders?) But despite some uncertainty of how much to use, it did indeed work, preventing any soreness in my own udder regions.

Earlier in the year - when I hurt my back - I thought I may only be using another animal treatment: Hevosvoide or horse 'liniment' (cream) - which Hiiri insisted was the best treatment. Although I'm not convinced it was, it actually does seem to be a popular sports muscle rub here, so who am I to argue - it works for tired a cyclist's legs and back muscles anyway - so I'm a bit annoyed to discover we left it at the cottage!

The reason for going to Somero in the first place was an invite from K&K to their rather lovely place there. It was originally supposed to be a traditional end-of-summer rapujuhlat (crayfish party) but ended up being raputtajuhlat (a without-crayfish party). Not that I minded - I was just pleased to get there.

Strangely getting back was much easier***

___

*well, 119.43 to be exact - although I had only planned it to be about 105km originally I did unintentionally take the scenic route out of Helsinki (well Espoo actually as I even cheated and started from Rauholahti at the other end of the Metro line from us to knock off 20km). I don't think they will allow that on the TdH. There again hopefully the TdH won't get lost.

** yes I know that's slow: only 19.4km/h average from pedal power. Even worse I actually set off at 13:10 and arrived at 20:30 - so I was actually stationary for over an hour.

***kiitos again to Taiska for the lift!

PS: You can still sponsor me for the TdH here

Kaappi kuin kaappi

Savusauna at Taiska's cottage in Sysmä (hatch for the outgoing smoke & incoming candle light)

My mom was born in a savusauna in 1945 near the place were Kekkonen is from. Perhaps you know the place perhaps you don't - that's not relevant... Relevant is the next question that was made to my mom when she told the story of her being only 1.9kg and coming to the world only after 7 months in the safety of my grandmother's womb. the question was: 'Oliko siellä keskoskaappi?' (=was there an incubator?)

How detached are we from the reality that in 1945 in the middle of nowhere (7km from the main road to the nearest village, which is approximately 30km away) in a savusauna the last thing there could have been is an incubator, unless the Doctor travelling in a blue phone box brought it there! The next question was: 'No oliko siellä edes kätilö?' (= was there a midwife then?) Yes, the old hag from the neighbour's house, said my mom... The title 'Kaappi kuin kaappi' (= Cupboard as a cupboard) refers mainly to the savusauna acting as 1940's model of an incubator for her (and many others!)

P.S. Emmdee is now on his 'kaappimopo' on the way to kesämökki & 'rapujuhlat' (= cray fish party) for the weekend... Only 130km to go... I'll gladly wait for the Meze to pick me up. Have a good weekend you all!

S5000: Rest in Pieces

R.I.P 03.2004 - 07.2009: It took some Fine Pix

I think I already mentioned that my beloved camera has shuffled off this mortal coil - although I'm not the only one similarly bereft.

It's a lonely feeling going out without it to shows and events (especially on bright and photogenic days). But my snappily named FinePix S5000 had a long (for a piece of consumer electronics that is), hard life - having taken it's first picture on 1/03/04 - I guess it was the first thing I saw after I unpacked the box, loaded the batteries and slotted in the memory card.

picture_00001

Despite it's upgrade to a 1GB xD card last year, it's passing comes as no surprise: after it's watery escapade in Tallin the flash gave up the ghost, and it's auto-focus became geriatricly unresponsive. But it served me well recording thousands of happy memories, buildings, scenery and sites - and the occasional inside of a bag, blurred back-of-head and substandard brickwork detail; but it's crowning glory was shots for the 'This is not a building' competition - those and many others live on as a fitting tribute for my little photographic friend.

Hmmm - I wonder what I'll get for my birthday next month?

Ruma Suomi?

From Asuntomessut 09 + Taiskan mökki 08&09: best of Asuntomessut

There has been a series on TV recently called 'Ruma Suomi' (Ugly Finland) which is described as a tragicomic investigation of how Finland (and specifically urban and sub-urban Finland) has replaced 'beautiful old timber buildings' with 'ugly concrete' in the post wars period. Architects and town-planners will be torn between running for cover and rolling their eyes and sighing at this point. To be fair the program, produced by YLE1, seemed quite balanced in also presenting the political, economic and social historical background to this - not just a reactionary attack on the designers. In particular the program questioned the still frequent urge just to rip everything down a build new - is Finland still a developing nation in that sense? Despite the fact that Finland has produced some fantastic Modern and contemporary architecture (and still does) we have to agree there is more than a grain of truth in what they are saying.

This weekend we visited this year's 'asuntomessut', (housing fair) which was held in Valkeakoski, on the event's last open weekend in fantastic weather. It was reported that the messut hit the visitor target of 5000 people & was a success...

It made me wonder what kind of success was it and for whom. I found only a few successful sides to the messut including the fiddler on the roof of Talo Valo (no.34), 2 interesting developments: passive house Paroc Lupaus (no.21) & ENSI-omakotitalo (no.17), good company of friends & free press parking near the main entrance & kyyttö cows (definitely the high point of the 4 hour stay at the messu area for me!)

The first so called disappointments were the houses located on the first loop to the right of the main entrance ('so called' as we knew that these asuntomessut were not going to be as good as Vaasa last year & that neither offered the same kind of interesting solutions as Espoo in Kauklahti asuntomessut a few years ago, both of which we visited... Saying that I should probably mention that the city had tremendous difficulties getting all the houses/flats sold in Kauklahti...)

Anyway the Valkeakoski houses no.1-10 were standard package houses (why would I go to see these to asuntomessut, when there are brochures after brochures of these solutions out there? + Finland full of these boring wannabe boxes... being too harsh on standards of our newly builds?) - one of the houses even bosted on the accessible design solutions, which culminated in high thresholds (for the main door & all doors inside), inaccessible sauna where you have more than a high chance of falling onto the 'kiuas' (=stove where you throw water...) and stairs leading to the main entrance (note secondary entrance included a steep ramp ending with a ad-hock timber 'creation' ramp between the terrace & door - still with a high enough threshold for a person with a wheelchair to have a difficulty getting in).

After these shockers we entered no.11 with a hopeful thought that we can't judge this one as it is not actually yet finished. The promised sea side features & feeling most likely had not been realised yet - perhaps the engineer designer should leave it to this. We entered the house, passing two massive garages, via 'takkahuone' (=the chilling room for sauna, where you usually have a fire place etc) without 'takka' (=fire place) which was not yet been built, we climbed to the main living floor via spiral staircase... The challenge for this house had apparently been the sloping site to the north and perhaps the fact that the house of 192m2 was designed for a SINGLE MALE (with a note: this house suits also a bigger family... uh?)

- What does the nation learn from this?

1. Perhaps we should use an architect on the challenging sites next time? Hmmm...

2. Don't date the owner of the house

Huh - the first loop ended in a cafe. Pulla & coffee had never tasted this good. Next stop was the 'celebrity house' (no.14) designed for a famous bike rider Mika Kallio & his family (incl. a bike & trophy room). The house was hideous from outside, but never the less we approached the destination happily discussing the food products from our coffee break. The massive sauna for the whole family (perhaps for the moms, dads, cousins, kids, dogs, cats, turtles, nieces, cousins friends, stray cats, neighbours, asuntomessu-visitors, etc) was pleasant, I guess the three jacuzzi/whirl pools were ok too (definitely not too many), the huge manor-like middle stair case was ok (brought to my mind tv-program Dynasty - aaaah that charmer Blake Carrington)... Was I in a bad dream with Joan Collins? I must have been as the messu-magazine said that this was a dream of most men!!! Emmdee - please comment!

Luckily the next houses were pleasant. Pretty standard, but pleasant (after the Blake Carrigton manor anything goes). No.17 had a surprising (in a good way) exterior - a by passer commented as follow: 'helvetti, että osaa olla muuten ruma talo' (= h*** that it can be an ugly house). I had read earlier that an architect's (sorry can't remember whose) comment was as follows: 'tuo pystylaudoitus on tavanomaista' (= that vertical timber bording is fairly common)... I would like to remind of the Blake Carrington in this case...

Yes - swiftly moving on to no.21 by architect Kimmo Lylykangas. This passive house was the jewel of the site. The design concept was based on the wedge shape site and the client's wish for the living areas opening towards north & the scenery over the flower fields (& towards the cows). The shape of the building gives a strong character for the upstairs bedrooms with lovely rounded roof & walls. A magnificent bonus was the internal exposed brick spine wall extending as the fist floor walkway balcony balustrade. The house fulfills VTT requirement for a passive house - the simulated heating requirement is only 23,8 kWh/m2/a (the concept of VTT passive house is tested via 3 concept houses, one being this Lupaus in Valkeakoski, second in Vantaa & third in Rovaniemi).

Fiddler on the roof

Last, but not least we spotted the violin player on the roof of no.34... Not to sound too positive about this year's housing fair (is it possible?), I still need to comment on tv-house no.35. What on earth has happened here? Outside the house strikes like a standard brick faced day care centre - slightly upscale from a standard single family house, but this almost 300m2 - also a passive house - is monstrous in it's use of internal space. Apparently client's clear vision for the way they wish to live, tv-audiences influence for the development of the house & external swimming pool (remember we are still in Finland where a good summer is 'vähäluminen' (=with little snow only)) make us vacate the housing fair as soon as we were able to find our way out from the tv-house labyrinth...

The best house was yet to come - our friend's Taiska's lovely red timber cottage in Sysmä from the 1920's. Thank you for your family's hospitality. What a lovely day after all :)

What does the nation/designers/architects learn from this?

... probably nothing, but ought to respect old traditions and design/build beautiful - EVEN IF IT COSTS MORE & to keep it passive!

Good intentions

Luckily my bike is in better condition: From Åland cycle tour 2009

I know, I know. I was supposed to be writing in Finnish about the cycle trip, but what with language exams (yesterday) and Konna's (unintentional?) filling of every weekend with various activities the acres of spare time I should have seem to like a mirage...

Anyway as it is now only one month to the day until the Tour de Helsinki I thought I better commit myself to it once and for all, and so have now set up a JustGiving charity page, and a widget on the side of the blog, so it's not just my thighs that get to see the benefits of 140km of cycling.

At the moment I have two British charities Cancer Research UK and CJD Support Network, chosen due to their different connections with my family history. I would also like to have a Finnish charity, as I am in Finland afterall... but I am at a bit of a loss here as to what it could be - any suggestions of a suitable one in the comments section please, or to holynpoly[at]mudelta.co.uk

Click click click

Click the links for Emmdee throwing his winter fur coat away after paddling in his red 'Ferrari', hoisting sails on Linden and visiting the past... Also view some Turku Tall Ship Race weekend photos by clicking Konnan picasa web album... which has now been finally set up (as Emmdee's camera is kaput).

Eli klikkaa ylläolevia linkkejä, niin näet mitä ollaan viime aikoina puuhailtu - Ahvenanmaalla sekä Turussa. Lisää Ahvenanmaan pyöräretkestä tuonnenpana (kunhan 'koululainen' ehtii kiireiltään)...

Paljon onnea minulle ja muille :0

Kakkua taas meikäläisen malliin - cake again á la moi...

It is the name day of my good friend today (my alter ego?)... which means is the name day of me too... and Johanna, Hanna & Jenni... to mention a few. To celebrate the occasion we invited a few mates around from Vallila & Walsrode + we carried some leftovers to Vartiokylä to a friend who had just ordered some indian with her sister. Does the strawberry cream kakku go with curry? At least the thank you message said that they enjoyed the dessert.

As e.g. in Finnish phone books V & W are often under the same heading V,W, this time we only invited people from towns/cities/places starting with V & W covering the above mentioned placed in the world... perhaps next time L for London & 'L-can't think of any other place where we have friends'? Sorry guys... The cake was good though :) ha ha ha...

Pyöräilyretkimme Ahvenanmaan ympärillä

Kartta / Map: From Åland cycle tour 2009

Olen päättänyt kirjoittaa Ahvenanmaasta pyöräilyretkistä suomeksi ja ilman Konnan apua. Todennäköisesti huonosti. Toivon että en tee lian paljon isoa virhettä, tai ymmärretään vahan kuitenkin. Tee kommentti niin että minä voin korjata niitä!

Ehkä minun pitää kääntää sitä englanniksi myös...


I’ve decided to write about our Åland cycle trip (probably badly) in Finnish and mostly without Konna’s help (unless I’m really stuck). I hope that I don’t make too many big mistakes, or it can be understood at least. I have asked the Finnish speakers to make comments so that I can correct the most glaring errors.

Of course the irony is that Swedish is spoken in Åland, not Finnish, so I didn’t get much practice there!

Almost forgot: I think we’ll put up the posts with retrospective dates so they will be before this post; and some photos are already here if you just can't wait for the blog.

I do have some reference material at least...

Waft of tar

Pommern anchored in Mariehamn

On our last day in Mariehamn we visited the famous four-masted barque Pommern (built in 1903), which belonged to Ålander Gustaf 'Gusta' Erikson in its hay day when it used to carry grain from Spencer Gulf area in Australia to harbours in Uk & Ireland until the WWII. Pommern's strategic measurements are a bit different to Linden's... Made of steel her length is 95m, width 13m & draught 7.5m. The windjammers were able to attain great speeds; most four-masted barques were able to cruise at 15kn on plausible winds, some logged 18kn regularly - and Herzogin Cecilie is known to have logged 21kn. This was excellent on long voyages against steamers doing barely 8kn. Pommern now sits still in the harbour. Her sails are not hoisted anymore, she is only towed to the boat yard for regular maintenance works once a year or so - but she is truly a windjammer from the era long gone (can't wait to see the Tall Ship Race that comes to Turku this year...).

The Mariehamn Sea Museum has a fantastic exhibition on the last grain race around the treacherous waters of Cape Horn in 1949. This was a race against the clock between Pommern & Pamir on Pommern's favour. The exhibition in the museum and on board Pommern prompted me to buy a book titled 'The Duchess'.

'The Duchess' tells a story of Pommern's sister ship Herzogin Cecilie (ship named after a German duchess; book written by the skipper's wife Pamela Eriksson 1958), who was wrecked off the coast of Devon in the summer of 1936. Parts of the ship are now exhibited in the museum for visitors to admire, but the true marvel of Herzogin Cecilie is well captured on the pages of The Duchess - with the occasional peculiar waft of tar when turning the pages (no kidding!).

Interesting link for 'a survivor's story' to be read with regards to the last voyage of Herzogin Cecilie.

Strategic measurements

Sails up!

Early afternoon of the 18th July we arrived to Mariehamn (Maarianhamina in Finnish) and we had some time in our hands after setting up the camp to Gröna Uddens camp site (middle of the city, on the coast... like everything else). Conveniently it was the Sea Days of Mariehamn and the city was bustling with people, activities such as Rock off, gathering of old American cars & all sorts of boats, e.g. schooner Linden - and we hopped on board for an evening sail.

Her strategic measurements are:

- length 49m

- max beam 8.6m

- height of the masts 32m

- sail area 632 m2

- draught 3m

Linden sails under the flag of Ahvenanmaa (of Finland)

On board we admired the lovely scenery and enjoyed 'kalakeitto' (= fish soup), 'saaristoleipä' (special archipelago bread, which takes approx. 3 days to bake) + 'Ålannin pannukakku' (=Åland's pancakes) with jam & cream and witnessed the last moments of Emmdee's camera. You have to stick with my photos for a while now... :(

Kalakeitto + dark saaristoleipä (which I don't like!!!) and pannukakku with jam & cream

Melontaretki

I'm heading to the open waters through a narrow passage

It was a pretty still & sunny day when we rented kayaks from the Föglö camping site near Finholma. We had a break from cycling on Thursday 16th July and what could have been a better past time than relaxing legs on board of a kayak. We took a local map & compass with us & bottles of water. Hat was a necessity as the sun was beaming on us.

We spotted a heron or a stork couple (didn't recognise which!... Emmdee only saw the legs underneath, so it could have been anything really...), ducks (sorsia), grebes (silkkiuikkuja), an otter (saukko), and some other sea wild life such as Emmdee capsised near the shore...

On board of Emmdee & staring at him investigating an old boat shed

After the 'melontaretki' we relaxed in the sauna, which had a fantastic setting on the rocky shore - we also threw our winter fur coats away... which means we swam in the sea (can also be a lake) first time this summer... yeah yeah - better late than never!

Sauna (bastu in Swedish) & the view out from the sauna's terrace

One year on

verilettuja ja puolukkan hiloa - blood pancakes and lingonberry jam

Today is a year to the day when we came to Finland (or rather was, as this is a retrospective post because of being off peddling in Åland and not having an internet connection in our tent).

I feel like this should be significant, but strangely can't find much to say about it even though a lot has happened in the last 12 months:

1. Quit job
2. Rented out London flat
3. Moved to Finland (obviously)
4. Didn't get a job (yet)
5. Visited a few places / buildings (by foot, cycle, boat, train, plane, canoe, kayak, ferry, sledge, (husky and reindeer), skis, snow shoes, schooner, 'meze', and ladder)
6. Took some photos; okay a lot of photos
7. Learnt some Finnish - Nyt minä ymmärrän (ekhä sanoisin vain kirjoitan ja luen) suomen kieli parempi kuin vimme vuonna, on totta, mutta ei puhu hyvin tai nopeasti vielä. Tiedän minun täytyy harjiottaa lisää puhuminen, kunneleminen, kirijoittaminen ja lukeminen suomeksi.
8. Sold London flat
9. Entered an architecture competition
10. Had a few saunas (electric, wood and smoke)
11. Eaten sausage, moose, blood pancakes, cloudberries, lingonberries, macaroni laatikko, rye bread, salmon...

It would be good if I could at least say that the 'culture shock' is over - but since I haven't worked here yet I think that is really still yet to come... ask me next year.

Timeless expressions

My other half has noted that I make LOADS of spelling mistakes when I write (in English that is - as not sure he would find the Finnish mistakes - yet!)... This was also pointed out to me by a good friend in Uk (who thinks that her spelling is perfect... and that everyone lives in a perfect world of spelling!!!) - My response is: 'Annetaan kaikkien kukkien kukkia' (=Let all flowers to bloom) and continue blog writing even with not so perfect language skills :) A colleague of mine here in Finland has pointed out to me many times that I should write a book (ha ha - there you go you spelling chekers!) and has already figured out the name of the book & my writer name. It goes like this: Imperfect life of Joan Coupé. So if one day YOU - English friend of mine in Uk walk along the street & see Imperfect life of Joan Coupé in the window of Borders, be happy as the book is for you :) Check all you want - there will be millions of spelling mistakes - unless the editor has managed to find them all!

This brings me to (who knows how) the image above - Timeless expressions, which is the Aalto exhibition at Vellamo Maritime Centre in Kotka and to the story told on a short film re: Aalto's pants... 'Usually Aalto wore quite elegant black shorts at the summer place of the family when some visitors (even reporters & famous folk from abroad) came around. One day he was wearing dirty, baggy trousers when some important visitors were scheduled to arrive to the Muuratsalo experimental house. The wife of Aalto's pointed out this (which might have been a mistake) as Aalto is said to have started loudly protesting against this making a point that he wore exact same pair at the Paris World Fair many years back... also taking (used) handkerchiefs from his pockets throwing them around in front of the visitors saying that he used the handkerchiefs at the fair too'. Nice... So be careful before you comment on other peoples spelling as I might start throwing deliberate/random midtakes everywhere and your time will go in correcting them! HA - there you go.



Models of Aalto's small houses made by students - I can spot Villa Mairea in there... + my friend's face - can you?

P.S. It's worth your while visiting the exhibition if you are near Kotka anyways this summer. The film is funny & informative (but shown on a miniscule screen). The models are interesting too... Otherwise the usual is on show - Remember though that Sunila is very near Kotka, so pop in there too.
P.P.S. I spelt Morrissey wrong - hmmm...