Past five days: beautiful lunar eclipse, working from a cellphone hotspot, family dinners, lots of sunshine, gardening, and this cottage all to myself.
(Loviisa, Finland; July 2019)
Tag Archives: Scandinavia
Walking meetings rock
The prettiest work meeting location. Lots of energy for performance indeed. Why do I not conduct walking meetings much more often? As my primary office (aside from home-office) is in London, I should really try to remember the beautiful little park we have across the street.
(I thought our Copenhagen office was in the middle of an industrial district – until my colleague showed me these meadows and cows.)
(Copenhagen, Denmark; June 2019)
Sightseeing at the cemetery
As with everything in society, there are cemeteries that are more trendy than others. Cemeteries that are elite and attract many notable people, and celebrities wishing to be notable. In the case of such cemeteries, to be cool one unfortunately has to be dead and buried. This is how it is at Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen: the list of poets, philosophers, American jazz musicians (?!) and scientists buried here is long. 
If you are into grave-sightseeing (really!), two notable graves on your list should be Hans Christian Andersen, the man behind the fairytales The Little Mermaid and The Emperor’s New Clothes; and Soren Kierkegaard, the man behind existentialism. 
If you are just into strolling and picnics, a basket of delicious goodies and lots of time is recommended. And no, it is not morbid to have a picnic here – people do it all the time. When the cemetery was first built, 250 years ago, it was so far from the city center that people probably made a picnic out of the trip anyway.
(Assistens Cemetery, Copenhagen, Denmark; June 2019)
At the ironworks
A weekend in Finland: summer sun, an idyllic little ironworks village, and bluegrass music. In the style of our family we arrived five minutes before the last gig ended. Oh well, we can still claim we attended the bluegrass festival at the ironworks. Even if it was mainly for a stroll and an ice cream in the sun.
(Strömfors, Finland; June 2019)
Bye Brande
For nearly a year these perfect picnic spots have been mine to explore while traipsing around the backs of my little home town. There never was a picnic, though, and I never saw anyone else on a picnic, either. Perhaps because of the shockingly high number of ticks in any grass around here: if I just sit in it for a while I can count the black dots crawling my legs.
And yet this lovely place never felt like home. I know nearly no-one outside of home, save for the taxi driver who takes me to the airport and back. And perhaps my next-door neighbors, although I never exchanged more than polite greetings with them. It is a difficult life for a natural extravert to have to leave the country (or take the train to its other coast) to be able to go to work or to meet with friends. And it has been a trying year overall. Somehow I find myself still here, now also with a Danish employment contract.
The boxes have been nearly packed and in a week’s time it is time to open the door in a new apartment in a proper town. Hopefully it is also time to open the door to new friends and hobbies nearby. 
(Brande, Denmark; June 2019)
Scilla
Spring in Helsinki means carpets of blue scilla. Someone must have started importing these plants from the Middle East and Caucasus, and now they claim their own space in every garden and park.
There is no better place to sit down for a glass of sparkling wine than in the middle of spring flowers.
(Helsinki, Finland; April 2019)
When everything is mud-licious
in Just-spring when the world is mud-luscious the littlelame balloonmanwhistles far and weeand eddieandbill comerunning from marbles andpiracies and it’sspringwhen the world is puddle-wonderfulthe queerold balloonman whistlesfar and weeand bettyandisbel come dancingfrom hop-scotch and jump-rope andit’sspringandthegoat-footedballoonMan whistlesfarandwee(e. e. cummings)
(Loviisa, Finland; April 2019)
Hello Helsinki (again)
Weird experience today: spending the night in a hotel in my home town, just 5 kms away from my own apartment.
(Helsinki, Finland; April 2019)
Hills in Denmark (really)
There are hills in Denmark. Really. It is not all flat. Only, the hills are hiding here on Jutland, far away from Copenhagen and Odense and where most visitors go.
The highest spot in Denmark is just short of 171 m tall, in Skanderborg. Probably far taller than the one we climbed today, in Silkeborg. But the view is just as magnificent.
(Silkeborg, Denmark; March 2019)
Snowdrops
Snowdrops are champions of spring. Although in most of Europe they flower in winter, before spring equinox. Apparently they are not supposed to be native of Denmark but that has not stopped them from taking over this little town.
Snowdrops are literally sweet: they are filled with sugar which acts like an antifreeze against cold snowy mornings. Should one taste a snowdrop? No, as it is a narcissus – and those are poisonous at least to us humans.
(Brande, Denmark; March 2019)
This blue marble 