Sunny day

  

This was the scene last night at about 11:50pm as I was going back to the hotel. Sunset is around midnight right now. Hence the pink spots on the clouds, I suppose.

We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant a few blocks from here, called Toripolliisi. I had the salmon soup to start, which was a slightly milky broth over large chunks of salmon and potato with dill and some other herbs. It was quite lovely. And then I (and most of the group) had the whitefish dinner, which was superb. The fish was fresh and simply cooked, two skin-on filets were draped over delicious sautéed mushrooms and caper and cream potatoes. We had a fancy dessert of a sliver of chocolate cake with a cream cheese icing, a few strawberry halves with a subtle herb on them, and a blueberry sauce topped with vanilla ice cream, and an unknown shot glass of a blueberry something. I thought it might be another sauce for dessert but most people drank it. It was creamy like a smoothie, and I did end up drinking part of it but I also drizzled it over the ice cream and the cake.

We then went to a pub nearby the hotel for a pint. I tried a different cider there – Crowmoor. It was quite mellow, and very nice. Most of my group were drinking Karhu beer.

  
However, this is the scene this morning. It is a warm and lovely day outside. 

  
Even the crosswalk is cobbled in the pattern.

  
And here’s a bit of lens flare looking into the sun.

I have a meeting this afternoon and then another dinner tonight. But for now, I’m back in my room with a chai latte (lactose-free – they are very good at that here) to practice my presentation. 

Good morning!

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Rainy Sunday

  

Oulu is rainy and chilly today. We walked to and from our meeting, though luckily the rain was light on our way to the meeting. Let’s just say my slacks are hanging to dry along with my jacket now. This is the view from my room.

I’ll try to get a picture later when I don’t need to protect my phone from wetness, but many of the streets and sidewalks are actually cobblestone. It’s lovely.

Oulu reminds me of Iceland in many ways. Bright practical buildings that hint of voluminous snowfalls and dark winters. A mix of old and new. As we were walking this morning , the breeze brought the scent of the sea to us. We weren’t paying attention to that on the way back.

Hopefully I’ll get to explore a bit later this week. The weather is supposed to clear up.

Travellin’

  

One more work trip to do before this work is complete. This time I’m off to Finland. We’re having an international group meeting and then running a session about all our work at the 16th International Congress on Circumpolar Health.

One thing I have come to realize is that patience is a powerful skill to have. Well, that and the ability to self-entertain.

I look at my fellow travellers and see people get so easily frustrated at a line not moving fast enough or that airport officials aren’t noticing them.

For example, the lady behind me at the security scan was “ready” to get going, but I needed to unpack my laptop for it to be scanned separately. So I was taking up valuable time, I suppose. Except that I flew through without trouble and her electronics had to be re-scanned separately because they weren’t able to see everything.

Also, it’s no skin off my nose to be pleasant to the officials. They are just at work. I appreciate it when I have a good day at work.

So, I’ll post when I can on this trip. I’ve never been to Finland before!