I’ve been up 193 of these buggers now and of them all Catstycam is the one that most looks like a child would draw a mountain. It’s really quite a sexy beast – though as I proved today, a relatively easy walk up and down.
No work for two weeks. Took Joe to the new National Football Museum in Manchester, in the former Urbis building, which has already featured on this blog on a few occasions (amongst others, here and here). Here he is face-to-face – kind of – with Joe Hart, Manchester City and England goalkeeper. If asked however, I am sure he would claim that Ben Roche of Morecambe is better. And good for him.
Last day in Helsinki. Went on a walk this morning round Töölönlahti, which is an arm of the sea in the centre of the city, encircled by a pleasant path festooned with joggers and cyclists. Many of them stop at a terrace café high up on one side, where the famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto must once have enjoyed his cups of coffee. The evidence for this statement is given above, where you see Aalto’s 1976 Finlandia building (a multi-arts venue), placed in front of the much older – and twice as distant – tower of the Finnish National Museum behind. Just look closely. What a stroke of genius, only visible from this exact spot, and all done with a lick of paint.
First day of my summer holiday, finally! I am still in Helsinki so visited the World Heritage site of Suomenlinna, a fortress outside the harbour that is the reason the city grew into the metropolis it is. An interesting exhibit there was the U-boat Vesikko, fascinating to look around but, I bet, a bitch to actually serve on. Should you be in the area I recommend Suomenlinna: though on a sunny August Saturday like today, I’ll be damn sure you won’t be alone there.
Returned from Tampere to Helsinki today and have the weekend here before heading home on Sunday afternoon. This is taken in a market near the square of Hakaniemi. Fish, potatoes and berries seem to be the staples of the Finnish diet, which is fine by me.
Does the plastic bag spoil this shot or help it? I also like the little flag in the background, just in case I forgot where I was.
Plenty of photo opportunities in Tampere this evening as they are in the midst of some arts festival and there were lots of street ‘happenings’ tonight. But though I thought the capoeira performance would be a rich seam for pictures it turned out mainly to be a kind of monotonous cross between kung fu and hare krishna chanting. This mother and child watching it were much cuter.
Hey, I’ve just noticed it’s day 350 of the blog. 16 to go before I’ve done the full year: and also time to add some to the ‘Best of the Rest’ page. I’ll do that shortly.
Tampere is the largest inland city in Scandinavia and known as the ‘Manchester of the North’ as it was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in this region. Unlike Manchester itself it does still have a sense of industry about it, like things continue to be actually made here. I’m here for a conference (which traditionalists will say has nothing to do with ‘making’ anything, and they’d probably be right). This is the city’s second appearance on this blog, the first being way back in September 2011.
I’m away again. When heading east most of the day is spent travelling and there wasn’t much to see today. Snapped this while sat on the Finnair bus waiting to head into Helsinki city centre from the airport.
My leather jacket, of many years’ use (but surprisingly little photographed, once I looked through the archives), died following the biblical downpour of 9th July, when it got soaked and then was never properly dried because I never thought about it as I dashed off to New Orleans. It was knackered anyway, but its fate was sealed when I next picked it off the rack and… you don’t want to know.
Fortunately, if you want any clothes even remotely in that genre and your budget is limited, there is always Affleck’s. Threatened with closure a few years ago because it didn’t meet the profile of the district’s gentrifiers, it’s pleasing to see it still open and still selling good gear of this type for – in my case – £25. Long may it reign.
This is one of my town’s more pleasurable regular events and was thankfully blessed by good weather. I no longer have an interest in cars as a means of propulsion but any one built before about 1965 just has such a damn fine look to it. And when they come out to events like this they’re all looking their best, polished and chrome and curvy and well, dammit (Janet), rather sexy. But I only look. I don’t want a relationship with one of these things again. Too complicated.
(PS technically this is a self-portrait: look carefully.)
Being 42 