[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 25 November 2025].
grand entrances
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 19 November 2025].
I discovered some grand and ornate entrances whilst wandering the streets of Helsinki in September.
The first photograph is of the Pohjola Insurance building on Aleksanterinkatu. Pohjola translates to 'North' in English. The building also originally housed another insurance company, Kullervo, and is made of fire-resistant stone. Nordea has owned the building since 1972.
In researching the building, I learned that Kullervo was a hero in Finnish and Estonian mythology, said to be able to control fire.
My eye caught the following sentence in the Wikipedia article about Kullervo, and I chuckled at who it describes well in the world right now: "He showed great potential, but being raised badly, he became an ignorant, implacable, immoral and vengeful man."
The second photograph is of an entrance to the Lundqvist building, also on Aleksanterinkatu, a former department store that now houses a Lyonnaise restaurant, Bouchon Carême, on the first floor.
The figures flanking the entrance are of Spinning and Hunting, designed by the Finnish artist Robert Stigell. I believe the ground floor was occupied by an ecologically-minded fashion boutique, Glasshouse Helsinki, until about 2022 (based on their final Instagram posts). I didn't notice what occupied it now.
The third photograph is of Salama House, also on Aleksanterinkatu. From my quick research, it appears that the insurance company it was named after no longer exists, and Wörks Agency now occupies it. They commissioned photographer Angel Gil to document the building's interior.
pretty fly for a white guy
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 November 2025].
When I photographed these fun guys on a grave in Hietaniemen hautausmaa (Hietaniemi Cemetery) in Helsinki, I honestly thought they were artificial.
I probably couldn't have got much closer, as the graves were quite close together, but if I'd realised they were natural, I probably would have tried.
Having viewed them, zoomed in, I'm sure they're real. There's no artificial appearance to the stem of the mature fly agaric mushroom in the front.
So, perhaps not my most artistic photograph, but some pretty impressive specimens captured in pixels for a Fungi Friday.
angel, impatiens, elephant's ears
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 3 November 2025].
As mentioned in a previous post, the tammerkoski on a slow day, I developed large blisters on my pinky toes during my first day wandering around Tampere with Pia.
As a consequence of that and us indulging in a much-needed lie-in (well, not that late a lie-in for either of us, really!), we had to forego our planned walk in the forest by the lake with Max.
I had hoped to see some of the beautiful natural landscapes Tampere has to offer, which I'd seen from photos and videos Pia has shared from her walks. I guess that gives me a reason to return to Tampere ;)
So, on my third day in Finland (my second and last half day in Tampere before heading back to Helsinki), Pia took me to Kalevankankaan hautausmaa (Kalevankangas Cemetery) for a quick wander with my camera before my train departed, and she went to collect her children.
The cemetery is extremely well-maintained, as is Hietaniemen hautausmaa (Hietaniemi Cemetery), which I visited on my last day in Helsinki.
There's a lovely natural parkland feel to the cemetery, without it falling into the 'managed neglect' of many of London's cemeteries (which I also love), and all the colours were beautifully saturated after the morning's rain.
Notably, few (if any) plastic flowers adorned the graves. There were live plants in and around the graves, which I believe are predominantly maintained by the cemetery groundskeepers.
It was a lovely way to spend our morning together, except for the mild panic attack I had, which led us to scarper to the station without locating Pia's favourite grave. Though I guess that's yet another reason to return to Tampere!
a mushroom village near pauligin huvila
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 31 October 2025].
I found this mushroom village under a tree by Pauligin huvila (formerly known as Villa Humlevik), a grand house built for master baker Gustav Ulrik Sandberg and his wife Ulrika Charlotta, with construction beginning in 1873.
The building was undergoing further updates when I detoured to take a look at it between visits to Hietaniemen hautausmaa (Hietaniemi Cemetery) and the Sibelius-monumentti (Sibelius Monument) (and to rest my blistered feet).
I have photos to share of all three in future posts. I'll share more information about them then.
For now, here are some fun guys.
the tammerkoski on a slow day
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 October 2025].
My brain can barely process that it was already a month ago that I was in Finland.
Correction: it seems like it shouldn't be a month ago, but simultaneously, it already feels like a year.
A day before I returned, I started coming down with a head cold. By the time I boarded the plane in Helsinki to return to London, my nose was dripping like a tap.
I felt much worse than most colds would usually hit me the day after I returned, but we were migrating our CMS to a very tight deadline in my day job, and I had to battle through. So I did.
I ended up taking one sick day after the contract with our previous web agency ended, because I was still struggling, and I woke up with a fierce headache. I'm still a bit sniffly and coughing on and off, even now.
Alongside feeling poorly, my day job being hectic and putting out fires related to that, I've been working on a website for a former manager of mine, around my day job, pet-sitting and life.
I'm pleased to announce that it went live on Sunday evening!
It was a collaboration, with Julia bringing the logo she'd previously commissioned, drafting the content and providing an idea of the style, imagery and colour scheme she wanted. I worked with her to bring that vision to life, providing technical expertise and advice, and my design sensibilities. I also designed business cards and a service explainer for her (digital and print).
She was very patient with me, as I was working on the site around my day job, pet-sitting, and life. I would have liked to have published it earlier, but in any case, her overwhelming emotion when I finally hit publish was such a lovely thing to share.
If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen some (but not yet all!) of my mobile photos from Helsinki and Tampere. Life has delayed me from sharing all my pictures so far, with most of them shared as 'latergrams'.
I had a lovely time in Finland, despite developing blisters on my pinky toes from new trainers and falling ill towards the end.
I had wonderful hosts in Tampere with Pia and her four-legged friends. Pia performed exceptional tour guide duties, including taking me to a local cemetery and introducing me to leipäjuusto (bread cheese) and its delicious accompaniment, lakkahillo (cloudberry jam) (which I had unknowingly savoured the first night in Helsinki with my cheese board dessert). I might also have guzzled large quantities of blueberry juice alongside the cheese and jam.
I've just seen the additional methods of serving leipäjussto in the Wikipedia article, so you know I have to buy some to experiment further, barring the coffee options (I don't drink coffee).
We enjoyed the option in the third bullet point: served as diamond-shaped pieces, roughly 5 to 7 cm long and a little less wide, with cloudberry jelly, the cheese briefly heated in the microwave to make it slightly runny.
I found a jar of lakkahillo in a boutique market near my hotel in Helsinki on my last day, which I carefully wrapped and stowed in my suitcase for the journey home. I devoured it in two sittings with blue Stilton because I hadn't got around to seeking out bread cheese locally. I will have to source more, though it seems somewhat elusive. I really should have bought multiple jars in Helsinki!
I took these photos from Palatsinraitin silta (Palatsinraitti Bridge), which crosses the Tammerkoski (Tammer Rapids), during my walk with Pia. In the first, fourth and fifth photos, you can see the Museokeskus Vapriikki. We didn't visit the museum during my stay. However, when searching for information about the building and a link to the museum, I discovered they currently have an exhibition about Manserock.
In addition to asking Pia to introduce me to local (non-animal) delicacies during my stay, I enquired about bands she might recommend from the Manserock movement, as I read about it in the Tampere article on Wikipedia.
Consequently, I listened to and enjoyed the sounds of Aknepop by Eppu Normaali and Raswaa Koneeseen by Popeda while researching things to see and do in Tampere on my first night in Helsinki.