Zollamt

What a funky weekend we have had in Lappeenranta! I've just been blipping off my phone on very poor hotel wifi, after transferring photos from my camera to my phone wirelessly, so my blips have been a bit limited. But we are home (i.e. Helsinki) now, and so there's plenty of opportunity to write at greater length and record what a great weekend it was.

A whole six years ago, when we were still relative blipping newbies, Mr A and I signed up for the Worldwide Photowalk in Inveraray. For a variety of reasons, but notably the weather, it wasn't the best experience, and although Mr A has been getting emails about the Photowalk every year since then, it's never made sense to go back to Inveraray, which has always been our closest walk. But this time, of course, it was different.

A few months ago, we sussed out that the closest walk to Helsinki was in Lappeenranta, so we signed up. Having so much enjoyed our weekend away in Porvoo, we thought we would repeat the experience, so we booked a hotel for the weekend and set off on Friday afternoon on the train. In so many ways, the experience has outdone even the fun we had in Porvoo. As with Inveraray, we realised that the walk probably had a blip dimension (in particular via contact with Tuokuva), but to be honest we didn't realise quite how much. But that's evident from Jukkakos' blip of the day, which records how many active blippers there were there (as well as some inactive/former ones, I think). The Lappeenranta local photoclub, who provided the bulk of the walkers, were a really friendly bunch, and as is evident from Jukka's album on flickr, people were there taking photographs on mobile phones, on point-and-shoot cameras or on mirrorless cameras (like me), as well as using serious equipment. I thought Jukka did a good job of capturing the walk as a social as well as a photographic occasion. In addition, there were also a couple of people from the local newspaper - a reporter and a photographer who is also a member of the club. In that context, our presence at the walk practically qualified us as celebrities, as you can see from this report. Mr A even made it into the headline! My photos of the walk have made it into this album. For the record, I mainly used my 22mm prime lens that day.

So if it had just been the walk, then it would have been a satisfactory weekend, but it was so much more than that. It was a fascinating, scenic and historical town, which made wandering around a huge pleasure. A room with a view at the hotel. Great food and drink, at a couple of restaurants, an epic cafe, and a winebar with the strongest stout (9 per cent) I have ever tasted.

Sadly this morning it rained, but that didn't stop us making a repeat visit to the cafe, for more treats (where we met Tuokova again as well, as it is his wife's cafe). We've walked up and down the front quite a few times, and one thing that struck us was the customs building. Lappeenranta is a port of entry into the EU, from the Saima canal (which is a sight we've heard about but haven't yet seen, so there's a good reason to go back). And what's more it's a port of entry from Russia. There are good reasons to go to Lappeenranta so that you can take a visa free canal cruise into Russia - I'm working on Mr A for next spring. So today it's not about the best picture, by any means, but about a curiosity that struck me (as anyone who knows me will know that I'm fascinated by (a) EU related curios and (b) anything to do with borders.

And one of the things that I will take away from this weekend is how far and widespread the tentacles of blip are, and what pleasure we can derive from being a part of this community.