It’s warm and sunny in Helsinki. The birches have small leaves, and the lawns are astonishingly green for the season. People have abandoned their dull winter wrappings for brighter summer dresses. The café terraces by the Esplanade Park near Helsinki’s famous market place are full of people enjoying the sunshine, sipping coffee, soft drinks or beer. From my window I can hear a band playing jazz in the park.
International Features
Articles from different nationalities
Spring Gossip
by Marianne Lindahl •
Spring has finally come to Almuñécar. The weather is like summer in Scandinavia. From our kitchen window we see a ‘vega’ that is greener than I can remember. Yellow, pink and white flowers and bushes are all over the place.
Football Euphoria
by Marianne Lindahl •
Last week, during my and Nils Öhrvall’s art exhibition at Casa de la Cultura in Almuñécar, a member of the culture house staff asked me from where I was. When he heard that I was from Finland, he said “Oh that’s the country playing against Spain in Gijon on March 22 in the World Cup qualifiers. Finland is not a big football country. I bet the game will end 6-0 for Spain”.
Estonian Swedes
by Marianne Lindahl •
At Los Nordicos last week we had the privilege to listen to an interesting lecture by historian Bengt Kummel, PhD, from Finland. The topic was “The dramatic circumstances around the transfer of Estonian Swedes to Sweden in 1944”. Dr. Kummel started by giving some historic data on the Swedish population of Estonia, a linguistic minority residing in the coastal areas and islands of what today is western and northern Estonia.
Flu Times
by Marianne Lindahl •
The winter cold has arrived to our tropical paradise. In this time of the year I sometimes wish I were nearer the North pole, feeling warm and cosy inside and avoiding to step outside unless absolutely necessary. In our old house on top of the hill in Taramay it is nearly as chilly inside as outside, in spite of some energy-devouring electric appliances. All kinds of influenza viruses are hitting the good people of Almuñécar.
A Difficult New Year
by Marianne Lindahl •
We are looking forward to a new year facing economic difficulties, especially in Europe. Even the Nordic countries, which so far have done quite well in this climate of global economic downturn, are heading towards difficult times.
Golf – A Humbling Game
by Marianne Lindahl •
Why do people play golf, when it’s so hard? One day you occasionally get a glimpse of greatness from hitting a long straight drive or sinking a long putt, only to fall into the deepest humiliation after a couple of air shots or topping the ball several times on the same fairway. Not to mention missing the hole with 1cm after three putts.
Living Happily With Less
by Marianne Lindahl •
Most of Europe is in crisis. In Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal people demonstrate against the draconian cost-cutting measures imposed by the EU on member countries in deep financial trouble.
Autumn Thoughts & Activities
by Marianne Lindahl •
Autumn has definitely reached our Nordic haunts, the leaves are turning red and yellow, the forest is full of mushrooms and the rain is pouring down. The time has come to pack our things and move southward towards dear old Almuñécar.
Culture in the Rain
by Marianne Lindahl •
During the rainy second week of July we paid a visit to Sweden to meet our dear friends and undertake a cultural trip to the beautiful landscape of Dalecarlia, this time with the main purpose of educating ourselves in the field of classical music. We arrived at our hotel in Tällberg in pouring rain, and thus did not see much of the beautiful landscape. It has been said that, “If you are visiting Sweden and the county of Dalecarlia without visiting Tällberg, it’s like attending a wedding without meeting the bride.”