Another Day

Another walk in the Dairy fields.

More Christmas Concerts

Photo taken by Williams Lake Tribune for Tuba Christmas


Yesterday was the annual Tuba John Christmas Concert at the United Church, featuring our Brass Ensemble, the Cariboo Men's Choir, Quintet Plus (mixed choir), and a capella group Synergy.  The concert is held in memory of tuba player and all around music enthusiast John Sykes, who passed away several years ago from cancer.

The church was full, the music was great, and the proceeds went to the Salvation Army and the Foodbank.

Tonight Cariboo Gold (swing band) plays with the Senior Secondary bands, and we play again on Monday for the Senior's Village Christmas Party.

More Seasonal Activities

Playing at the Community Christmas Dinner at the Catholic Hall with the Brass Ensemble

Wednesday was a busy day.  First there was the Ministry ofForests retirees' Christmas Luncheon.  Then at 6 the brass Ensemble played Christmas music for the Community Christmas Dinner.  It came with a delicious free turkey dinner, so that was two big meals in one day.  Lastly we raced over to the High School to play with the local Junior Bands.  Talk about a wall of sound when all 10 snare drummers played at once! 

Scout Island Walk

A beautiful warm, sunny day though the trails and boardwalks were pretty icy.  The lake is frozen pretty much frozen over.

Most of the snow has melted.

Leo braves the boardwalk

Coming back across the bridge, we heard a loud plop by the beaver dam.  The beaver must have been out enjoying the sunny weather too.  Its keeping a small hole open in the ice.

Cold Snap Over

When we woke up to -15 C in late November we thought it was a little early in the year for such cold weather, but then we read in our diary that it was -27 last year.

Today when we checked the thermometer it was 4 C, so the cold snap is officially over and from the weather forecast it looks like all our snow will be gone in the next few days.  Now we have something to complain about.

Beautiful sky over the Dairy Fields

More Snow - November 24

Another day, another walk in the Dairy Fields.

Came across these tracks - a lynx or a bobcat.

Yesterday

Dairy Fields in Winter

Evening of Remembrance

The concert season has begun!  Last week the Community Band played at the community Remembrance Day ceremony.

And the Swing Band I play in had our big concert last night.  Trumpeter Donnie Clark came as our headliner.  We workshopped with Danny all day, then performed to a full house in the evening.

The theme was music from the second World War era.  There was dancing and some people even dressed up in 40's fashion.  I tried to do my hair up in a Victory Roll, but no luck, too long and too heavy.  (Or too inept, not enough hairspray?)

Next week we start practicing for the Annual Tuba Christmas concert, and the Community Band plays next Sunday at the Medieval Market Christmas Concert.

Meanwhile Leo is sitting out the music season.  He's taking a break from the Pipe Band, though still practicing his pipes, and has to take a few months off singing as he has damaged his vocal cords (!!)  We hope he'll be back in business by Christmas.  Meanwhile I have to keep reminding him he's not allowed to sing.

Last Day in Finland

Last Day in Finland

Today we took the Tram No. 3 tour of Helsinki.  It travels in a circle all around the city.  We stopped in the design district for our morning coffee and cinnamon bun this time in the 150 year-old Cafe Ekberg.



At 15 Euro ($22), they were pretty pricey cinnamon buns, but worth it for the classy surroundings.

We walked about, photographing Helsinki's Art Nouveau buildings, built in the early 1900s.  Finland's version of art nouveau seems to be rather more plain and solid than the French and German versions.

We stopped off at the Central Train Station, home to the world's fanciest Burger King:

We climbed to the top of several parks for the view

 and lunched in the Hakaniemi Market hall

 near our hotel.

We finished off the day with a walk to the park on tiny Tervasaari Island, connected to the mainland by a causeway, where Leo played a few tunes on his bagpipes.

Leo shows up a few 60 year-old Finns

Today Leo ran a half marathon around Kasaniemi Park, 3 times around it actually.  He came in first , beating two Helsinkites named Pertti and Pekka.

Meanwhile, I visited the Design Museum, featuring iconic Finnish designs throughout the century, like the classic mid-century Aalto chairs

that are so popular now, and Marimekko fashions. 

Marimekko's famous flower print

Aalto also designed the Helsinki metro seat, which is still in use today, so I can say I sat on an Aalto chair.

After dinner, we walked around the Kamppi neighbourhood, where we stumbled across theTemppeliaukion kirkko, designed by Timo ad Tuomo Suomalainen, and basically carved out of rock.  Unfortunately, it appears to be leaking as it's now covered by a large canvas shelter.  Perhaps, not a triumph of Finnish design.

Soon after we came upon the Helsinki Zoological Museum, notable for the 2 paper mache giraffes having coffee on its balcony,

and for its Finnish title:

If it's Saturday, We must be on the Ferry to Suomenlinna

And the World Heritage site of the day is also Suomenlinna. Honestly, these world heritage sites are a dime a dozen in Europe.

Saturday, we joined the hordes of tourists and locals on the ferry to Soumenlinna (public transit and covered by our regional transit card, of course).

As we left the harbour, this steamboat came puffing by. 

No fun allowed, Helsinki style (but probably the only place in Helsinki you can't drink in public):

Leo sails out of Helsinki harbour

Soumenlinna fortress was built by the Swedish government in 1748 on an island to protect the Helsinki harbour.  

In 1808 the Russians took over and built an Orthodox church and many other buildings.  When Finland gained independence in 1917, the church was covered to a Lutheran Church and all the cupolas were removed.  It's pretty dull  looking now, but livened up by some interesting ornamentation.

Giant chains and cannons!

However, the original Russian residences remain, and some 300 people live on Suomenlinna today in apartments and private residences, so you see their bicycles parked everywhere.

After a vigorous morning of siteseeing,

it was time for a little refreshment:

We're in Finland now, so it's a Kahvi and Korvapuusti break (Connie's having strawberry-rhubarb cake)

And here's the view we enjoyed  from the porch of the cafe:

We had dinner at the venerable Karl Johan restaurant.  

Venerable perhaps, but the menu has been updated; my risotto came dotted with generous amounts of truffle flavored foam (wasted on me, I couldn't detect any noticeable flavour).  Also the dessert was deconstructed apple pie, consisting of two small bites of what resembled apple crisp, really good homemade vanilla icecream, and, this time, apple-flavoured foam that was admittedly delicious.

First of 5 Days in Helsinki

We were only able to rent our car for 1 month and we had to get it back to Helsinki Airport on September 11.  So this morning we organized all our gear into our 3 suitcases, not a simple task, dropped off our car, and took the bus into town.

We had cashed in our Airmiles to stay 4 days at the Hilton Helsinki on the Strand.  Sounds fancy, eh!  Unbeknownst to us the hotel is in the midst of renovation and we arrived to the sound of jackhammers.  And our room faces the office building next door and not the ocean.

Hilton Helsinki Strand

But the noise doesn't carry to our wing, and it is centrally located, just across from the Hakaniemi market, metro, and tram station.  And our room is very spacious.

If you look closely you'll see this boat docked near our hotel is called Saunaship.  In the summer you can charter it to cruise and sauna at the same time.

After checking in, we walked down to the kauppatori, or main market square on the harbour, past the Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral,

sort of the Sacred Coeur of Helsinki, ostentatious on the outside, but spare on the inside (because Lutheran), and then past the Orthodox Church, with its Coppola on the outside, and it's richly decorated interior.

The kauppatori was full of fruit stalls selling lingonberries and blueberries and various souvenir stalls.

In the background, lingonberries in season

We had a spicy lamb sausage on a bun with coleslaw relish here for supper.

Afterwards, I was too tired to go out, but Leo walked the downtown, reported it was very lively, with everyone on the streets having drinks and enjoying the pleasant evening.  And he brought back tarts from Fazer, one of Helsinki's longstanding cafes/bakeries/chocolatiers.

Baltic Cruise Finnlines Style

Leo had to get me out of Sweden before I went too native.

At the Skansen Folkmuseet

When we purchased our tickets for the Finnlines ferry from Stockholm to Turku, Finland, we didn't expect to be the only tourists. But when we arrived at the terminal we were the only passenger vehicle to be seen amidst a sea of transport trucks.

We convened in the drivers lounge to a hearty (read heavy) breakfast in the company of truck drivers from all over Europe.

Only a short portion of the trip was across open water; most of the time we were travelling between small, low lying islands.  There were groups of whooper swans all the way, with some ducks and cormorants. The highlight for us was when a migrating sparrow hawk hovered over the ship, ready land, until he realized we weren't an island and continued on his way south.

Second Day in Stockholm

On our second day we returned to Djurgarden Island to visit Sweden's original outdoor museum, Skansen.  Kind of like Barkerville, except larger, with buildings brought in from all over the country to represent different regions and eras.

Oh, look Leo, a bakery!

It took most of the day to visit only a portion of the park.  We chatted with an iron monger who showed us tools made by Husqvarna and Sandvik, and an original Electrolux refrigerator.  A housewife from the 30s explained that hers was a new profession with increased affluence, previously most women had to work on the farm or in the family business. 

Had to stop for a Kanelbulle and coffee, of course.

We ate paper-thin flatbread made from barley - mmmm, tasty cardboard, and chatted with a man knotting a fishing net.  He also showed us woven birch bark clogs, and told us about the beliefs and superstitions of the time..

There were churches, Sami dwellings, a zoo of Swedish wildlife, including a very bored brown bear,

and even a manor house.

We had dinner in the Ostermalm neighbourhood.  Everyone was out in the street cafes having an after work drink and enjoying the beautiful weather. Most Stockholm restaurants thoughtfully provide blankets for their outdoor customers, it's quite a bit north of Paris here.

Finally, we walked along the shore of the Sodermalm neighbourhood looking for the best view.

 This supposedly "gritty," working class neighbourhood is where the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo lived, but we happened upon a little old village now swallowed by the city.