The craft

It's been a grey old day here in Helsinki. Actually, it wasn't grey at all at around 5.45am when I got up to go to the bathroom. The sun was streaming through the windows on the east side of the flat. But by the time we properly emerged it was already very grey, and soon raining. Luckily it eased off when we wanted to walk the usual parades, around lunchtime, and we took our accustomed stroll past the Sibelius monument and down to the sea shore near Regatta (see extra). And equally luckily our favourite cafe was not mobbed, so coffee and korvapuusti were taken. But rather than blip Regatta, I went with a picture taken near there, which shows the first craft I've seen out on the water this year (if you discount the boat). As we predicted, the marinas are filling up quickly now.

Apart from that, we've been basically confined to barracks, catching up with laundry, replenishing the refrigerator, and generally relaxing after a very hectic, but enjoyable, week away.

What I haven't managed to do is any photo editing. I've got a whole album of Budapest photos to sort out, plus a few more for my current flickr album on Helsinki's slow move to spring. As 30 April / 1 May (Walpurgis Night, or Vappu) marks the official shift into spring, I'll be opening a new album as of tomorrow, to cover the last 7 weeks of our stay here.