Saturday, November 12

 

 

Irma drove me to the airport where I waited until Bryan Alexander appeared through the security gates. We caught the P train to Pasila and then walked to his hotel; something that Reittiopas sugggested and I would not otherwise have even considered.

Monica has booked Bryan into the hotel Ava and he has checked in and unpacked, while I waited downstairs. Now we begin a journey into the city to explore and keep him awake long enough to sleep through the night and abolish possible jetlag. I can see a new VW Beetle covered in snow and decide that this can serve as my monthly automobile photograph. Bryan watches while I try to find a suitable angle from which to take the photograph.

Monica has said yesterday that she and her husband could meet us in the centre for a beer. This enables me to show Bryan how to use trams and metros and to begin to map the city in his head. I get him a travelcard and we take the tram and metro to Rautatientori where will will wander around looking at the centre.

We will go to the secondhand bookshop near Torni, which will lead me to suggest having a drink at the top of Torni in order to see the view over Helsinki. We will find Susanna Pääsonen there and spend twenty minutes talking to her while she waits for her date to arrive.

We will then walk to Kaisäniemi and meet Monica and Tatu in Kaisla where we will spend an hour or so. I will take Bryan home to make sure he knows where to find his hotel. We will stop for a quick meal at The Royal Nepal in Sturenkatu, before I return home to recount the day’s events to Irma.