Travels through Finland: Helsinki

I know, I know, I’ve been to Finland many times before — so much so that I’ve even started calling the same place by different names. But this time, there’s definitely something new to share. First of all, we flew into Helsinki instead of Tampere and actually took the time to sightsee. In fact, we did a bit too much sightseeing and ended up missing our train to Jyvaskyla. But that gave us another four hours in Helsinki, so we made the most of it.

We arrived at midday on Saturday, having taken an early morning flight out of London, and immediately caught the train to the centre. From there, we had an hour to walk around the centre before we had to make our way to Kuu — one of the most delicious restaurants in the capital. My Finnish friend joked that we should’ve gone to KuuKuu instead, which we were surprised to discover actually exists and is also considered a top culinary destination. Maybe next time.

But, first things first. We walked from the station to Helsinki Cathedral, where children and adults alike were sledding down the cathedral steps overlooking the city. I didn’t join in the fun, but my husband made the journey riding on his jacket. As we were on a tight schedule, we didn’t venture inside, but I’ve since learned a little about its history. The cathedral was constructed in the mid 19th century in honour of Tsar Nicolas I.

It’s interesting to learn about the Russian roots to much of Finnish history — after all, the country was part of the Russian Empire for just over a century. I’m reading Mikhail Zygar’s The Empire Must Die right now, and Helsinki was where all the revolutionaries lived in the early 1900s. The local authorities were sympathetic to the cause — mostly because it destabilised the occupying power — and Finns craved independence. It’s a shame to think that they were then betrayed, leading to the Winter War in 1939.

After a lovely late lunch at Kuu, we stopped by the the famous stone church, Temppeliaukio Church, which apparently has phenomenal acoustics. Unfortunately, the church entrance was unjustifiably expensive, there was no music, and there was a lot of tourists taking selfies. There wasn’t even a toilet, the search for which lead to the realisation that our train was leaving in 7 minutes. Which came as a surprise, considering we were a 15 minute walk away from the station.

We ran for it. And we made it, too. Problem was, in our panic, we confused the platforms and got on the wrong train — by the time we realised, ours had departed. Luckily, we were able to get free replacement tickets courtesy of the lovely lady working at the VR counter, but it did mean we had more time in the Finnish capital.

We ventured to the harbour, where we made a futile attempt to visit the sauna — apparently, the nice weather meant high demand, and the next available entry was too late. Instead, we walked up the hill to the Uspenski Cathedral, built around the same time as the Helsinki Cathedral. It’s the main cathedral of the Finnish Orthodox Church. We weren’t able to look inside as there was a service, but it was nice to see all the notes in Ukrainian, welcoming refugees and firmly separating the Finnish Orthodox Church from its Russian counterpart.

After the lovely walk, we got some coffee to warm us from the -16 degree weather and caught our train to Jyvaskyla. The rest of the short trip was spent with family, including the wonderful Nole. We enjoyed sauna, warmed ourselves by the fireplace, and even tried downhill skiing for the first time ever. It was a fantastic experience, one that I hope I’ll have many chances to repeat.

Review: My Neighbour Totoro

It’s been an unprecedented four days since I saw My Neighbour Totoro and I’m only posting my review now. What have I become? Looks like the cross country race last weekend was more of a priority to my marathon-training-addled mind. But here it is at last!

Part of the reason for the delay is that, well, there’s not too much to say. It was enjoyable, but not the mind-blowing experience I had long anticipated. And it was long indeed — I booked my tickets in the first half of 2023, so there was far too much time for anticipation (and expectation) to brew.

Hayao Miyazaki’s timeless magic didn’t fully unfold on the stage, leaning a bit towards the overly childish. It was charming nevertheless, but there’s something jarring about seeing real humans act as exaggerated, animated characters. It might’ve made more sense if I’d had a younger niece or nephew to bring along.

Still, credit where it’s due — the staging was spectacular. The Barbican stage opened up far deeper than it originally seemed, leaving us, perched in the budget-friendly nosebleed seats, with a great bird’s eye view of everything except the band positioned at the very back. Luckily we could hear them.

The character we were all eager to see — Totoro himself — did not disappoint. An animatronic marvel in furs, deftly manoeuvred by an actor, he was a true masterpiece. The catbus was less impressive, but understandably so.

Though I was familiar with the storyline, I was still engaged in the retelling. I giggled as they explored their new surroundings, laughed at their wonder, and cried as little Mei ran off to find her mother. So there you have it — not a must see, but undeniably a fantastic night out.

My Neighbour Totoro is at the Barbican Centre until 23 March.

Running the 23/24 Surrey League XC Race 3

Not to boast, but I had an amazing weekend. Not only did I run in race 3 of this season’s Surrey League cross country with the Sutton Runners at Oxshott Woods, but I saw My Neighbour Totoro at the Barbican and then had the most heavenly hot stone massage the next day. But when it came to choosing a topic for this post, I started reading back through last year’s cross country reports — from the 22/23 season’s race 3 and from this season’s race 1 — and the present choice became inevitable.

It was especially interesting to read last year’s report because of the striking parallel. I had written that I knew I could run 7.6km because I’d done 16km the weekend prior — it was precisely the same this year. I ran 7.8km at Oxshott after having done my first long run of the year at Richmond the weekend prior. Incidentally, it was exactly 16km. But there was a very special reason — one that goes contrary to another statement from last year’s post.

The reason I ran 16km last week was due to the fact that I won our team’s marathon ballot — I’m running the London Marathon in April! Quite funny, given that last year I had resolutely stated that I never want to run a marathon again. I guess the London experience was too much to resist. I may never run another marathon again, but I’m excited for London, especially that I’m raising money for the Ukraine Charity.

In terms of the cross country race itself, the experience was much dried than last year. But maybe wet weather spurs me on, because compared to last year’s 40:47 over 7.6km, I was a slower 41:54 over 7.84km. Last year, I came first out of the Sutton Runners women’s team, but I came in third this year. Clearly my teammates have been training! But in all honesty, I’m very happy with my performance, despite the slowdown. It was a tough race, with a lot of uphill sections, and I was running on tired legs. I had even contemplated calling the whole thing off, but I didn’t, and I had the strongest finish I’d ever had — overtaking three girls right at the finish line.

Last year, I proclaimed 2023 as my “year of running”, but either I need to extend it to this year or maybe there’s no such thing. Instead, it’s a “life of running” I want to cultivate.

Review: Paint in the Dark

I went to my first ever hen do this past weekend. It’s surprising I made it to 32 without having gone to one, but there you have it. It would seem most of my married friends, like me, opted to skip this part of the traditional pre-wedding ritual. That, or they just didn’t bother to invite me. Ouch.

Either way, this was my first. And I have to say, these things are expensive! Also fun. But expensive! It’s like my brain can’t quite comprehend how much I had to pay to have the fun that I did. And I did have fun — but, most importantly, the bride-to-be had fun, and it was wonderful to witness.

I’d skipped the first part of her three day extravaganza the night before due to not feeling well, so I was keen to make up for it. We met up at South Kensington (incidentally, right next door to the Accidentally Wes Anderson exhibition I keep seeing advertised everywhere) as a group of eleven.

The event promised two drinks over a 1.5 hour painting session overseen by a professional artist. There are plenty of good things to say, but I’ll start with my complaints. First, the drinks were very limited — especially as someone not drinking alcohol, my selection was pitiful. Also, the materials were very poor quality and there was a very limited paint selection. I’ve long observed that there’s a direct correlation between good quality equipment and success.

But the rest of it was pretty good. We could paint anything we wanted — the artist leading the session had a showcase of his works that we could copy if we were lacking inspiration, but otherwise we were free to choose a subject. We didn’t get any tips or anything from the artist, but he did wander around engaging attendees in conversation. And at the end, we got to walk away with the painting as a keepsake.

Our table was a particularly talented bunch, if I don’t say so myself. While I was a little lost in terms of where to begin and initially painted a sketch I’d done that same morning, I then got a little more inspired after a quick Google search and repainted the whole thing. It would’ve been better had I done the second painting to start, but I’m still pleased with how it turned out. And I’m even more impressed with the rest of the works!

We had a lot more planned for the rest of the evening, but the Paint in the Dark experience was definitely one of the weekend’s highlights. I probably wouldn’t do it again, but I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun group activity.

Travels through Scotland: Falls of Shin, John o’ Groats, Bone Caves

Happy New Year!

I’m back and raring to tell the world about the past few days spent in the Scottish wilderness. Well, almost wilderness. More of a tiny wooden cabin equipped with everything you could possibly need not too far from the NC500, but still wild enough that there’s no light pollution and trees all around.

We hadn’t planned on going anywhere for New Year’s, but then my husband floated the idea of Scotland and, well, I couldn’t resist. He’d tell you that recollections may differ as to whether it was him who proposed Scotland, but I can definitively say I was committed to staying in London. And I did get something akin to a confession. He mentioned that he’d originally thought to propose Lake District, but then decided it was too cold, too wet, too dark, and too far. And since Scotland’s clearly none of those, we decided to undertake a 14 hour drive.

We set off in the night and somehow managed to make it to the Falls of Shin the following morning. I don’t remember much, but there were copious amounts of coffee involved. And ice and snow. We even had to make a detour when the road we were meant to take was covered by several centimetres of snow and we could clearly see three or four cars frozen in place. Pun intended.

Our little hut was right by the Falls, which are famous for two things: the leaping salmon in the summers and the former site of the most Northern branch of Harrods. Then the visitor centre burned down a decade ago, and though it’s since been refurbished, it hasn’t found a new owner and remains closed. Makes for a lovely site to be alone with your thoughts, though!

Since we were not far from the NC500 — and, as I reasoned, we’d made it this far, what was another two hours? — we decided to visit the famous John o’ Groats. Named after a fifteenth century Dutchman, I’m told. We had the most amazing weather all the way until just shy of 15 minutes from the town — that’s when the heavens opened and a downpour of rain, hail, and ferocious winds battered the land.

Unfortunately, we’d decided to stop by Duncansby Stacks, and we weren’t about to let some tempest stop us. After managing to fight the wind to get the car door open, being pelted with frozen raindrops, and listening to the suffering dog howling as he went (no dogs were hurt in the making of this post), we briefly glimpsed the stacks in the distance and sped our way back to the safety of our trusty Ford Kuga.

Then, it was time for refreshments at John o’ Groats, where we took the obligatory photos to match our 2020 visit to Land’s End. I managed to get the dog to sit still long enough to snap a photo, and then we were speeding back to Achany.

The next day we decided to take it easy, which in our definition means going on a hike. We’d originally selected a 900m or so mountain, but luckily we spotted a sign directing to the Bone Caves en route and stopped. It was just what we needed — only a 4km loop, not too much elevation, and almost empty. It would’ve felt like cheating had it not been so beautiful.

The only other family we encountered while walking was carrying a tiny black dog — they’d found her abandoned and attempting to cross a river. I can’t imagine how callous you’d have to be to leave an elderly dog (we spoke to them later and they’d realised she was blind and nearly toothless) alone in the freezing conditions. Luckily, she found the couple who’d rescued her, and they confirmed they’d be taking her to the vet in the nearest town over.

We spent our last day walking more than 20km in the forests by the Falls of Shin. They were simply stunning — hues of red, orange, green, and gold topped with a scattering of white snow. It was the perfect end to the year, followed by an early night to face the long drive back home the following day. If this adventure has taught me anything, it’s the value in being able to disconnect — I had my phone switched off for nearly five days, and I’ve never felt so relaxed and ready to take on the world again. Here’s to 2024!