Tag: helsinki

Valo Co-working

Each time I work from Valo in Helsinki, I like it even more (if it is possible :)). I’ve mentioned a couple of times that my only challenge with working there is the uncertainty about exactly when a room will be assigned to me on any given day. The standard reservation time is from 9 AM to 5 PM, and I rarely start working before that, but until my room is assigned, my key button doesn’t open the gym door, and I love using the opportunity to work out before work.

On Monday, I saw that the room had already been assigned at 6 AM, so I happily departed for Valo. When I saw Jarko at his usual place at the “catpatin deck”, he greeted me and said that he saw that I had reserved the rooms for three days, and he made sure that for all three days the rooms would be assigned starting from early morning, so that I would have time to go to the gym and have breakfast. I can’t even describe how touched I was!

There are very few people working at the beginning of July, and the entire staff at their main cafe is on vacation for six weeks. Lunch is being served in a smaller cafe, and breakfast time is extended until 11 AM, because most people are staying in the hotel rather than co-working 🙂

Biking In Helsinki

We are actively using the time of year (white nights) to go biking, even though I spend 10 hours a day at the co-working space, including daily workouts and meals.

On Saturday, we biked to Natasha’s place, and it appeared to be faster than taking a bus. On Sunday, we went for a very long bike ride, including a lunch break at IKEA (it started raining twice while we were biking, but we waited for the rain to calm down at the bus stop shelter). There was no biking on Monday, but then I biked to work on Tuesday (Boris escorted me both ways), and then we went for another bike ride after that to cross the new bridge, which is closed to any fossil-fueled traffic 😂.

On the way to Espoo
Lunch at IKEA
Biking to work
On the bridge
No cars allowed

Each time I bike in Helsinki, I feel incredibly jealous of the local cyclists who can bike literally from anywhere to anywhere using the safe biking lanes that are isolated from other traffic. To be clear, biking in the city during the rush hour still makes me uncomfortable, but I know that it’s mostly in my head. Other than that, looking at all the bike lanes, all the arrows, all the crossings … I totally get what Anna is trying to achieve! Even Milwaukee can’t be compared with Helsinki, and I do not even want to start talking about Chicago!

An Organ Concert At The Kallion Church

It was a super-fun concert, and if you look at the program and wonder how some of these pieces could possibly be performed on an organ, you are in your right to wonder! It was quite unexpected, and sometimes funny :).

The dress was bought for the occasion 😀

Biking In Helsinki In March

“Biking in Helsinki” is something I do regularly, but biking in March is unheard of. I can’t remember a March ever being so warm and sunny, and with all traces of snow gone. Since my flight was not until the afternoon, Boris and I went on a bike ride.

It was a very short ride by Boris’ standards, but a very nice one. Among other things, Boris showed me a bridge he was very excited about: it is open for every mode of transportation except cars :). Way to go, Helsinki!

Helsinki Music Center

On Friday evening, we went to one more concert. Once again, it was in the Helsinki Music Center, which I first visited last time, and loved it. This time, it was Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert was titled “I Want to Be Alive”, and that was the name of the piece which was performed after the intermission, and was composed by Daníel Bjarnason. OK, I know it sounds confusing, so let me say it again. Daníel Bjarnason was conducting, but the first part featured Wagner and Szymanowski, and in the second part, the orchestra performed the piece composed by Bjarnason, which was called “I Want to Be Alive.” And that’s also how the whole concert was called.

Once again, I love this venue!

Once again, sitting on the side when there is a soloist, is a bad idea. Boris said he remembered I said so, but he got the tickets on the side again, and it was a bad idea again/ The orchestra sounds great. The soloist when there is no orchestra, also sounds great. But not together. You have to face both the orchestra and the soloist to get a good sound.

And one more, completely unexpected! We saw Esa-Pekka Salonen in the foye!!! First I thought: no, it’s impossible; it’s just someone looking like him, because otherwise, there would be a big crowd around, and he is just talking with a couple of people. But later, when we passed by one more time, I realized that Finns were just being polite, because other people were turning their heads back after they passed this group :).

Below is some interesting art on display in the foye, and a sculpture in front of the Music Center.

An exhibit in the foye

… and yes, a million years ago, there was such a thing as an ice-cream after going to the movies, right?

VALO Pictures

By now, Jarco, who oversees all the technical side at Valo, is my good friend, and happily greeta me when I arrive. This time, he told me: now we have a proper app, and you can make reservations there, and you can also get your morning porrige for free. Do you like porrige?

Unfortunately, for some reason, I was unalbe to find the app in the App Store, which I reported to him later that day. Next day, when he saw me walking down for breakfast, he asked meL are you eating a proper breakfast today, or just porrige? That was, in fact, the day when I ate fruits and protein at home before heading to Valo, so I said – I was thinking just a porrige today. He said: OK, let’s go! He walked down to the cafeteria with me and told the cashier: she is booked for today, she just doesn’t have the app, can she have porrige?

That was very sweet, and although it looked like I could get the same porrige for free just showing my QR code, I was very thankful to him for taking care of me 🙂

And I can’t miss this opportunity to show VALO Works one more time. I never read the inside of the cards which are placed on the shelves in each room:

On Friday, I was in a corner room – the view from the window
Continue reading “VALO Pictures” →

Nordic PG Day

It was a good event, although I had a feeling it was too brief: not much time before or during the breaks. I was hoping to have more talks with the fellow organizers, friends, and sponsors, and I simply didn’t have enough time, especially because I only skipped one session; otherwise, I was actively listening.

My talk was very well received.

It turned out that Boris mentioned at the last Helsinki PUG that there would be an opportunity to have the Query Optimization signed by two of the three authors, and several people approached us with paper copies. 😀

I attended several incredibly interesting talks, and I am planning to follow up with some people because I want to explore more of what they are doing.

Three out of four PG DATA Org committee members presented at Nordic!

After the conference was over, those who didn’t leave to catch their flights went for drinks at the hotel bar. Boris and I wanted to take a couple of people whom we knew and who were in Helsinki for the first time, for one more round of Finnish authentic food, and we walked to the Konstan Möljä restaurant. Since my friend Zoya introduced us to this place, we’ve loved it! Our guests also liked it!

Walking Around On Tuesday Morning

Boris volunteered at Nordic, so he had to be there half an hour earlier than I did, and I used that half-hour for a short walk because I didn’t have gym that morning and expected to be inside for the whole day.

In Helsinki

This year, Nordic PG Day was in Helsinki, which is why I submitted the talk, and I would actually go even if my talk won’t be accepted:). However, it is still a very busy time because all the other days are working days.

I arrived on Sunday, and Boris and I went to the Baroque concert in the Old Church. They performed a Resurrection Story by Heinrich Schütz. It was very interesting, definitely something I had never heard before, so I count it as a positive experience, even though it was difficult to stay awake after the long flight 🙂

On Monday morning, I went to VALO co-working, and as always, it was very welcoming, and the way their environment is set up really helps to focus on work.

In the evening, we went to the speakers’ dinner at Zetor. I passed this place dozens of time, and never knew that it is considered a big touris attraction. I didn’t have time to take pictures of the interior, because I was talking to people all the time, so the pictures are from the restaurant website:)

I think we were sitting in this section

I took some pictures of the food we were served. The salmon soup was not the one I was expecting, so this was an experience rather than a success:

The raindeer meat was awesome, as well as the dessert.

Boris and I went back home at the first opportunity, and I do not know how people who went to the bar afterwards, could participate in the conference the next day – this remains a mystery!

On My Way To Helsinki

Actually, I already arrived and bought the most important thing: