I am in Spain for the first time! It’s warm, and I love it. Severe weather is expected tonight, and it will rain for the next two days, but today was perfect! Our flight left Helsinki at 6:20 AM (and we were happy to find out that the European lounge opens at 5 AM, and even the Platinum Corner was open :)). It was a direct flight, so we were there early and had time to walk around. We even climbed the Valencia Cathedral Tower! (207 steps up!)
The conference will take place at Palacio de Congresos, and most participants stay at the Sercotel Scorolla Palace hotel, right next to the venue. As often happens, when I checked the AARP website, I found a better deal than the conference discount and reserved a huge corner room with a view. Funny story, I forgot that I already paid for this reservation and forgot about the room size, so I was surprised twice 🙂
Window view
While we were waiting for our room, we walked around a little bit.
Looking at our conference venue from the hotelFirst paella 🙂
Although I am not working a “real” job these days, I booked several days in Valo because I still need to work on many other things, even if these things are not “real” work (define real!). In addition to an office, Valo gives me a free gym, unlimited coffee drinks, including cappuccino and espresso, and an absolutely delightful breakfast and lunch buffet at a discounted price. Honestly, if I had it at home, I would rarely cook.
However, this time, I do not need to rush, and I do not need to ask to extend my hours, and I have some other life as well :). I can leave before 5 PM, and randomly wander the city.
On Tuesday, I didn’t go to coworking at all, and Boris and I biked to IKEA, had lunch there, and biked back
And on Thursday, we managed to fit in a (shorter) bike ride after I was done with my “not real” work, and then went to a concert at the Helsinki Music Center. I’ve been there multiple times, but each time, I love it more and more, and admire how well-thought-out each and every piece is!
Previously, Boris used to get ticket in the middle, and although the visibility is great from each corner, we found that you cnt’ hear a soloist well enough when you are facing the back of the orchestra (and the soloist). This time, he got the tickets in the second row, right in the middle, so it was a paradise!
The Mahler Chamber Orchestra presented three pieces: Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks concerto, Mozart’s Clarnet quintet, and the best part – Folk songs by Luciano Berio, sang by Fluer Barron. She was absolutely magical, I just can’t get over it! She was also playing harp, and the last note she sang was the first note picked up by harp, and it all sounded like nothing you can imagine! I didn;t find any recordings, so you have to believe me! A magical evening!
Many years ago, when Boris first moved to Finland, he told me he liked nothing more than feeling the warmth the moment he stepped through the building’s front door. In Russia, the hallways were never heated; it used to be still cold until you entered your apartment (I do not know whether it changed later, or whether it became the norm for newer constructions/remodeling).
It is not always the case in the US either, and I agree with Boris that that’s a distinct Finnish thing. But it’s more than that. Somehow, any public space, whether it’s a shopping mall, a library, or a train station, feels incredibly warm and welcoming, especially in the cold weather. I don’t know any other place in the world where I would feel this good, even when it’s cold, dark, and rainy. Just step inside any place, and you feel it.
I arrived in Helsinki on Saturday and planned to meet with my friend Natasha on Sunday. Just a day before my arrival she asked me whether I would be interested in a mushroom-picking. to which I replied with an enthusiastic “yes” – it was my first opportunity in thirty years!
The kind of mushrooms we were going to forage presented a little challenge, because they were trumpet chanterelles, which I never picked in my life, and you need a eye for each mushroom specie to be an efficient forager, but eventually I figured it out.
I saw a surprising number of butter mushrooms around (they should have been gone by that time of the year), but since those were the maushrooms I used to go for as a child, I could spot them right away. Unfortunately, all except for one I picked were too old and I ended up throwing them away after they got home, but we cooked what was left :).
There were also some russulas, some too old, but some still healthy and perfectly eatable, and some other mushrooms I was unsure about, possibly white and black milk-caps, but since I was not sure, we prefereed not to experiment. And there were lingonberries – all over the place! I already bought a box in a grocery store, but the ones staight from the stems – they were bigger and sweeter than the ones from the store, and I couldn’t stop munching on them!
Over two hours in the forest. Almost severn pounds of trumpet chanterelles. Breath-taking views. Slightly wet feet. Priceless :).
Lena is the best host ever, and one of the things she planned for two of us was biking at the crack of dawn on Sunday! We had to drive to the bike path, and Lena had to fit two bikes into her car, but the experience was totally worth it! She also researched the path in advance, so that we wouldn’t have to wonder where to go in the places when the path suddenly disappears.
On Friday, we got up at 5 AM in order to catch the 6:30 AM train to Narva. This time, we didn’t mess up with the buses, and took the right one, and didn’t even miss the stop, and were at the cemetery at 10:15 AM.
The weather on both Thursday and Friday was much better than forecasted. On Thursday, it was just sunny with no rain. On Friday, the rain was starting and stopping, but it was still light enough that we could walk around for a while, and we took shelter at a bus stop for only the last 30 minutes.
I was sure I would find the grave immediately, but I got lost again, and after wandering “somewhere close,” I asked a lady tending another grave if she could help me. The lady looked at the photo on my phone, but couldn’t recognize it, so I kept moving in circles, until she suddenly called me: Woman, woman! Here it is! I realized I completely forgot this way of addressing strangers (woman, girl, man, etc.).
Anyway, I found it. And now that the lot is cleaned up, I see that more repairs are needed, so we’ll have to figure out what we are going to do with it)/
Same as last time, Boris and I walked from the cemetery towards the village center, and passed the wood where I used to go berry-picking.
Once again, we stopped by the house where I spent three summers of my childhood. This time, however, it looked like there was a massive construction in progress, so I suspect that next time I visit, this house won’t be there anymore. Well, I am glad I had a chance to see it!
We had an extra hour and a half in Narva, and the rain stopped again, so we walked to the fortress (the view is so breathtaking that I can’t stop looking!)
Another 3-hour train ride to Tallinn, walking under the pouring rain to the ferry terminal, and a two-hour ride to Helsinki (this time, comfortably sitting in the cafe).
Boris believes that as long as someone remembers a person who passed away, this person is not completely gone. For him, that’s the reason to take care of this grave and keep visiting it. I do not hold this belief, but still, somehow, it’s important for me not to abandon it after I found it.
It was supposed to rain both days we were going to spend in Estonia, and I couldn’t be happier with the weather forecast going wrong! In fact, there was not a drop of rain the entire time we were in Tallinn, except for a time when we were walking to the ferry on Friday evening. We were so sure that it would be raining that we didn’t even have any plans for the good weather, so after disembarking, we stood for a while trying to figure out what to do :).
Roterman keeps offering something new each time we walk through it
