helsinki 10 july - maustetytöt

Now things really start winding down in a big way. I feel like I have been away for two years (it's been two weeks today). See selfie below. 

Now I had almost forgotten I had the option of doing this but it bubbled up into my conscious mind on, probably, Thursday that Maustetytöt were playing somewhere in Helsinki on this day. I really wasn't sure where it was happening or what kind of event it was, and as is the wont of the Finns, it seems to be a really IYKYK kind of event, but it transpired ultimately that it was a summer festival (they like those kind of things - the youngs, I mean) at the big iceskating hall area. I managed to crack the cabal and the non-Finnish speakers' cocoon and got a ticket. 

I am tempted to say 'everything else on the bill was shit' but that's actually just a reflex - I wouldn't have a clue. The acts before and after Maustetytöt were definitely both shit, but I thought about it later - I mean if the organisers had one thing I liked on the bill, they probably had some others. But it was a hot, stupid day and I was nervous about being there in the first place and I wasn't in the mood to be overly experimental. So I just went for the one thing. This (above) is getting through security.

Very simple set up, two stages, everyone was at one stage. And I could see Maustetytöt setting up at this stage. They were actually lugging their gear. There were a few old people hanging around at the stage already. They regarded me suspiciously, fair enough.

Soundchecking. We've all done it.

It's not fair to take people's pictures when they haven't said you could, but luckily for me, en osaa puhua suomea so maybe I can basically do whatever I want and no-one can tell me not to. My en osaa puhua suomeaness also saved me when a, presumably, very drunk woman tried to inveigle me and the man standing next to me in some kind of tryst. I saw her putting her hands in his etc and I think she was probably talking to me too but when it came down to it I didn't understand anything she said so I was fairly impervious. I got the sense that he and maybe some other people admired my complete lack of engagement with her, but that might be projecting. They might have guessed I had no idea what was going on, although if I en osaa puhua suomea then what was I doing at a concert by a band that only puhua suomea? Well you may ask. 

The show was really simple, very basic, straightforward, no bells nor whistles. It was mainly hits and it was really, really good in that completely understated, no showpersonship way that I would have expected.  

So I did take a lot of photos but really they're all basically the same! 

They played for precisely an hour and then as soon as they finished someone else came on at the other stage. Whoever they were, they were insanely bad (even if they were meant to be, um, knowing or ironic or something - ?). Weird, weird context. 

I got out fast.

Tell you one weird thing though. I was really concerned I would look like an old creep there, and be like the oldest person there by 200%. But there were plenty of people there older than me - ! Not even joking. 

I don't know how old that friendly woman who I mentioned above might have seemed, I didn't look at her. 

july 3-4: helsinki/tampere

OK so the Helsinki Public Library is out of sight. Libraries, generally, rock and this one is superb. 

So after that, and noting that there is a sign saying a lot of ordinary people don't like to be photographed (my bad) I went to the Sen restaurant again - the Vegan Vietnamese restaurant in Jätkäsaari. It's just really good!!! Sorry! 

Like the last time (which I probs didn't tell you about) there were no other customers there, but the woman who runs it and her kids were there, the kids doing homework I guess. Food was excellent, and it overall just seemed super wholesome. 

Move on to this morning: here's a hare I saw out the window of the airbnb this morning at... god knows what time. Oh, the time was recorded on the photograph. 7:44 am. 

It's really nice to see a hare looking quite unafraid but always leaving you in no doubt that it's unafraid because if there was any threat it could outrun anything you can set after it. 

So many times in the past week I have passed a cafe called Morton which was always closed, but this morning as I was en route to the station to go to Tampere I was late enough in the day to find it open. So I tried it out. Not disappointed. Staff delightful, food excellent. There's just that little problem of why can't I ever get a decent coffee that's not in a thimble, but as someone said (I can't remember who but not a Melbournite),. 'well, you're from Melbourne', like that explained it. And actually it does. 

Wonderful place. 

Thence to my spiritual home (yuck, I hate myself for feeling this way, perhaps that's part of it) Tampere. What a divine city. Look at this...

I had to not buy this fucking amzing painting of these ridiculous women skiiers. I love it though. So Tampere. As is...

This...! 

So, this is where I'm staying today and tomorrow, and it looks good from the outside but wow...

It's heaven inside. More soon. 

helsinki 3 july

Not every day can be totally scintillating. I visited the Helsinki Public Library too but the pictures won't load so I will wait till later. 

helsinki 2 july 2026

This morning I noticed there was actually a cafe of some description across the park from this airbnb so I went there and asked for a double espresso - the only kind of coffee I can drink in a non-coffee country like this. The girl behind the counter (no doubt actually a woman behind the counter but no doubt closer to the age of 0 than I am to the age of 100, so 'girl' seems appropriate somehow) pointed to the coffee machine, which looked perfectly fine to me, and said that she couldn't make a double espresso, only an espresso. So I stupidly got an Americano, I really don't know why. 

After that I had to remedy with a real double espresso from a chain. Then even though I have vowed no more pastries, the devil made me get a pulla. So silly.

Other things from today: 

'Waiter. One red-green Helsinki and the cheapest triple sec in the house, thank you!' Yeah I don't get it either. 

So I went to the Workers museum with Steve and Franziska (however while I was there I left my phone in my bag hence no pictures - I got a brochure I'll show you later). Before I went there though I went to a nearby flea market and saw:

I looked at a lot of CDs, none of them seemed particularly exciting. 

How much would you pay for a racist licorice tin? This was priced at €100.

Old friend

1 july helsinki

Remarkable. As is the national library...

The conference had a 'mobile workshop' i.e. field trip visiting Puu-Käpylä - I couldn't resist that. Even though I've been there many times before, including earlier in the week! 

On the way back I dropped into this place, which provided me a very valuable service insofar as I selected a bunch of curious looking things and was queuing at the counter and the guy behind the counter was just talking, talking (obviously I have no idea what about) to a customer, with at least one other person waiting besides me, and his tone was so much that of Comic Book Guy, I was able to talk myself out of buying anything, put it all back and left. 

Current mood:

But this willl pass...