Thaw set in

A reasonably early start in Tampere to drop the bag that stays in Finland in my office. Thence to the station to await our train, and take a coffee in the cafe where Mr A's spectacles spent Christmas and New Year. On arrival in Helsinki, we dropped our bags and headed out to meet DJ, a new contact (made via twitter), who is a Scotsman in Finland. A funky guy. I introduced him via email to RB.

Afterwards, we headed out towards Regatta by tram, and enjoyed a korvapuusti by the sea. The state of the ice is very different to this time last year. Exactly a year ago, we walked across the ice on Taivallahti to Seurasaari, on a bitterly cold day. In fact, this week last year was the coldest of the winter we were there - although none of the days of that week were anything like as chilly as the worst of our January experience in Tampere. Unless there is another sharp freeze, it would seem that ice walking is over for the year in Helsinki, and probably throughout southern Finland.

That wasn't quite the end of the day for me. Back at the hotel, I had a meeting with people from the Academy, and then dinner with the majority of my fellow reviewers. A tiring day, and no energy to blip in the evening. I felt I needed sleep, as there was definitely more to come in the week.