Winter joke.

Everyone has heard one of those “aha-ha-ha” long jokes about how tolerant Finns are toward low temperature. Well. I’m now one of them. The day the mean daily temperature jumped up from -18°C to mere -2°C felt like summer…

… sadly, now the temperature has been just above zero for over a week, and the lack of not only sun but any kind of “real” weather is draining our energy. Slush, rain, wind and grey emptiness is what Finland has to offer these days.

Still life on a random building site.

Today, however, while having been to Matosaari, the sky opened and I laughed stupidly at about 5 minutes of sunshine. It was heavenly, it was needed and deserved I dare to say…

… and some more impressions from the trip to Matosaari:

I was quite active today and made it to the Kansallisarkisto (National Archives) in Helsinki centre. I had been wanting to visit the spot for months, and finally I collected the courage.

It was not information I was after but first, a little statue of the Wisdom Mouse which was supposed to be located somewhere around the Archives’ main building. Found it.

Extra points to those who recognise the building at which the mouse is looking.

The second reason was to find and awe at the old research hall in the main building. It was better than in the photographs. Any photographs.

I have to say that the guy who questioned my stay in the hall was really friendly, understanding and shared my passion for quirky buildings. Thank you, Mr Unknown, for letting me stay, climb around and take all those pictures.