When the sun is setting, between dusk and darkness, there is a moment when the light turns blue. And the world stops for a heartbeat.
Since its founding, our company has been pretty diverse, even for a startup. I remember when we hit 45 employees, we had people of 19 nationalities living in 14 countries (and 49% women).
I love it, but it comes with its challenges. And, to be fair, any company culture benefits when colleagues occassionally meet face-to-face.
So once a year, we bring managers and a few experts together. We still keep it casual.
Good for business, tough on photography projects!
I have seen many world-famous churches with breathtaking decor on my travels – and yet there is none I like more than Tampere Catethdral.
When painting the church in 1904-07, Hugo Simberg (who just happens to be my favourite artist) broke all the norms. He painted a snake (the most evil of creatures) eating an apple in a prime spot on the ceiling, roses to symbolize earthly love, and – shock horror- 12 naked small boys (the apostles?) carrying the “Garland of Life”.
None of which you would call typical for its time.
My favourites, though, are the two more famous works on the walls: The Wounded Angel, lovingly carried by two peasant boys (note the factories in the background, placing the scene firmly in the industrial Tampere), and the Garden of Death. In the latter, the creatures of Death tenderly care for the delicate flowers, the souls of the departed.
This is so much more approachable and warm than the massive cathedrals in Europe built to inspire awe. Fits my small-scale view of life much better.
I grew up in Tampere, and any excuse to visit is a good excuse. I rarely do any sightseeing, but made an effort this trip… mostly for the photos.
Pyynikki observation tower gives you the iconic views over Tampere. Just as importantly, though, it has the best sugar-coated doughnuts (munkkis) in Finland.
As said before, I don’t drink coffee. I simply don’t like the taste.
Chai lattes are my guilty pleasure. A really good one is what I imagine great, fancy coffee feels like to a coffee lover. A treat for all the senses.
Unfortunately, a genuinely good chai latte is too rare in Finland.
My SLR has become temperamental, working only when it wants to. Therefore I don’t often carry it with me on random walks.
I regretted it bitterly as I stumbled upon a collection of perfect spider webs and the hunter on the prowl.
Then again, if I had been carrying my camera, it’ unlikely I would’ve have seen it. That’s how it seems to go.
There’s something special about a summer cottage sauna. Wood-heated, with water scooped from buckets to wash, it’s wonderfully old-fashioned and impractical. It smells like… summer.
My mum wants to build a modern sauna. We all understand it would be infinitely more practical – and object to it with our last breath.
Washing rugs on the summer cottage pier was fun as a child. Mum would throw buckets of water on my feet as I scrubbed as hard as I could. I still love the smell of Mäntysuopa (pine soap).
As we cleaned the wendy house today, the girls tried the traditional method of cleaning a rug.
Their comment was a dry, “Clearly kids in the old days had a different way of having fun”. Apparently, it was hard work.
In Finnish forests, the flowers tend to bloom early and only briefly. Season is short, so this time of the year, forest are mostly a sea of different greens.
Mushroom season is starting, tho, so it’s worth keeping your eyes on the ground!
There is a beautiful narrow strait just next to our summer cottage. It used to be a protected fish migration route, so no building and no fishing were allowed. I think the regulations have changed somewhat, but parts of the shoreline remain untouched.
As kids – maybe 14-17 years old – my brother and I would occassionally take the boat there for a swim. The strait is so sheltered from the wind that the water was always several degrees warmer than anywhere else.
When something is close to home, you rarely see it as anything special.
Pulkkilanharju is a narrow esker gormed during the Ice Age. It is surrounded by the open waters of lake Päijänne, with small green islands dotting the landscape. It is often listed as one of the most scenic drives in Finland.
But because it is so close to the summer cottage, years can pass without us visiting.
This year, we decided not only to drive across it, but also to walk the short nature trail in the national park. The girls insisted the terrain was so challenging they couldn’t possibly have finished the walk without the 1,5l of bilberries they ate along the way. It really wasn’t. But the bilberries were clearly excellent.
We finished the adventure with lunch and ice cream at Vääksy Lock. Another piece of Finland’s must-see scenery.
Blue Moment 