Three quarters

Hello there! I’ve been silent for quite some time, much longer than I expected. Moving away from the big country house was a true ordeal but we made it and have recovered. I always knew it is very easy for me to forget any kinds of hardships and the stressful removal was no exception. What I didn’t anticipate was how quickly we would feel totally at home in the new surroundings.

The country house was an ideal place to live as long as we drove to the office daily. Each night you felt like you were returning to the peace and quiet of your holiday home. But when we no longer had a job we started to grow increasingly reluctant to spend the three quarters of an hour to get to downtown Helsinki where all the action was. Now, it will take us three quarters of a minute to get from our apartment to the street level and we are in downtown Turku. That’s what I call progress!

And how about the town itself? Turku is the oldest town in Finland founded almost 800 years ago. It is the cradle of our civilisation and the site of many important historical events. Turku Cathedral, tho oldest church in our country believed to be inaugurated in 1300, is the seat of the Archbishop. Turku is a lovely and lively university town by the sea divided by the river Aura, a town big enough to satisfy your cultural appetite in plenty but small enough for you to explore most of the places on foot. We are loving it!

We moved here two months ago and we’ve already attended a concert in the Turku Castle – also dating from the 13th century – and another one in a brewery restaurant that used to be a school building, found a film club showing quality movies, gone to the theatre, visited several exhibitions, not to mention the many free concerts and other events we’ve either known about beforehand or happened to pass by. There are lots of interesting things going on here all the time.

The river flows just two blocks away from where we live. In the summer season, it is like a magnet drawing people to the many terrace and boat restaurants by the riverside or simply to have a seat or to enjoy a picnic on the riverbank. We couldn’t keep ourselves away from there even if we tried although many of our daily promenades take us to the walkways and paths a bit further away from the paved riverfront.

We’ve watched cherry trees blooming, tulips budding and nature slowly turning green. Proper summer with higher temperatures hasn’t reached us yet but we are getting there. We’ll be witnessing each moment from our new base only three quarters of a minute away from many of the things we’ve found ourselves longing for at this stage in life. There is all the time in the world to fine-tune the apartment later.

Under my maple

Regular visitors must have seen there is something out of the ordinary going on in here. No travel stories, practically nothing but home-related little posts in ages.

I didn’t plan to do so but I have clearly started bidding public farewell to this place I’ve called home for twelve years now gradually turning it into an adorable nest that I love but must let go perhaps already in a few months’ time.

There is one more thing in the garden I absolutely have to pay tribute to. It is the old maple, a most hugable tree and my favourite living thing on our plot. I’ve been praising it before but I want to do that once more while it is still ours. It is such an apt symbol for this little hill surrounded by fields and a delight to look at whatever the season.

It has taken me years to accept that we must give this place up and move on. Now that the garden is almost leafless and I’ve prepared myself to take my leave from the maple even, I suppose my blogging eyes will turn to the house. Whether this amateur’s camera will manage to produce anything presentable with the interior remains to be seen.

One thing is certain. We’ll have to find one fabulous residence where to relocate from here for me to have any chance of driving away without great sadness. At a time like this it is comforting to know I’m an optimist and an adapter by nature.

Happy retirement

Earlier this week, I was pleased to attend the retirement party of an ex-colleague of mine. I left the workplace more than 10 year ago but being such a special and close-knit community – a scientific society with only a few dozen employees – there were quite a number of us present who had changed jobs or retired ages ago. And she always was such a popular and well-thought-of co-worker it’s no wonder there were many who wanted to meet her on her special day.

She made her complete career in publishing so a personalized publication was compiled for her as the farewell present. Because I have always thought very highly of her, with very good reason I might add, as soon as I saw the invitation upon our arrival from Italy I decided to attend even if I knew I didn’t have the time to scribble anything in time to be included. Let this post be my contribution.

The newly retired is lively, bright and active, to put it briefly a colourful person, both externally and internally. She is a talented professional, resourceful and hard-working, full of energy and enthusiasm. She has the kind of honesty you do not often see. A constructive kind of outspokenness you just have to admire with a hint of envy at the back of your mind: I wish I dared speak my mind like that!

But even more than that I value and admire her for some of her other personal qualities. Such as her boldness. She is the one who will enter any new adventure fearlessly, the one who will lead the way to any unknown territory. She is the one who will cope in any situation and take the most of it without a trace of timidity in her. She is the one by whose side you will want to stay if you are in a strange place and uncertain about what you should do next.

And her joie de vivre. There will never be a dull moment in her company. Her table will always be the one with no empty seats, the one with the loudest and longest merry-making. At her table, there must always be something delicious to eat and drink. Conversion will be lively, witty and noisy. The topics may be anything between heaven and earth. There will be much laughter, there may even be some singing and dancing. But whatever there is, when sitting at her table you will truly feel smitten by the joy of life. Everyone should be blessed with at least one friend like that.

Dear M, may the sun continue shining upon you and your loved ones just as, I’m sure, your charisma will keep on glowing on those who are fortunate to know you. Because of people like you the world is a better place – and so much more fun!

I took the above photos sitting at a table in an outdoor restaurant by the square in Vernazza (Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy) a couple of weeks ago. I knew there had to be a reason for my overwhelming fascination for that particular spot on Earth at that particular moment. The below collage shows how it was at the retirement party in Helsinki. (More on Vernazza here.)