100 flags for 100 years

Yeah. It's a flag day on steroids today. #Finland100 or #Suomi100, and a public holiday to boot.

We had a quiet morning at home, as I had to stay around to do a work related skype at lunchtime. I used some of the time to write another blogpost. Then we hopped on a Number 8 tram in the direction of Jätkäsaari, and wandered back towards Eira to meet D and KK at Pizza Alfons. It was a new place for them, and I think they really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we wandered onwards towards Esplanadi, which was thronging with people. D and KK disappeared off towards Kamppi, interested in seeing whether they could spot any of the threatened demonstrations and counter demonstrations. I did a bit of Christmas shopping (not really into that sort of thing) in the markets, and then we headed back home. In fact, the Tram 2 wasn't running as it should do, and instead it followed the route of the Tram 4, so we had to walk back along Hesperiankatu. At that point, we came across the anti-fascist demonstration, and we were stopped from crossing Runerberginkatu by a thin blue line of polis. No sign of the fascists though, and eventually they let us through so we could get home. Not before time, as we were both getting rather cold standing outside. I think we both regretted missing off the thermal layer today.

Anyway, it was fun to see a bit of what makes the Finns tick on one of their big days.