There’s loads of historic novels about Julius Caesar, William the Conqueror, Hernán Cortés, Francis Drake or Alexander the Great, but this is the first time I read a series of books about Genghis Khan, his progeny and the creation of the Mongol Empire. The style is riveting, the story very dramatic and the writer even clarifies in the appendices where he takes creative liberty with historical facts (after all, it’s a novel, not a chronicle).
Go read this now before it becomes a Hollywood movie.
Visited Turku for a friend’s wedding, and the weather was excellent. The rest of the pictures here, a selection below.
The team behind Café de Nopal has done it again. Now with a much larger space, a fixed menu and an alcohol sales license this place is always packed with food lovers, including the occasional Mexican resident in Helsinki.
Unfortunately it’s not open during lunch time and bookings are still difficult to get, but hey, you can’t have everything.
If you are a parent, you have most probably encountered the huge need babies and toddlers have for routine, structured, predictable days. We share most of the activities together with my wife, but I usually take care of the end-of-day routines. Furthermore, I’ve taken to mark each step by singing a different song.
I use TuneIn for listening to internet radio stations. Since most Mexican stations play the national anthem at midnight local time, I will usually sing it when I’m preparing him to go to daycare at 8 a.m. Finnish time. Think of it as a small scale “honores a la bandera”.
If I’m around when he takes his mid-day nap, I’ll sing him this:
To brush his teeth then we’ll come with this:
When it’s time to go to bed it’s the turn of “La familia Telerín”:
Putting his pajamas will be to the tune of “Juan Pestañas”
And in case that was not enough and he can’t sleep, then stronger measures are needed
Funnily enough, if by any chance I miss or mix any of the songs, he will be very, very annoyed. I just hope he doesn’t grow up thinking life is an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical or a Pedro Infante movie. 🙂
Visited Tallinn for a short break during Easter weekend. Unlike Helsinki across the Gulf of Finland, the weather there was still wintry. A summary in pictures below, the rest in the usual place.
This is where the first Japanese picture was filmed in Finland was shot. A beautiful, heartwarming movie about friendship, food and cultural encounters, I wholeheartedly recommend it for a slow day.
The proper Mexican food invasion in Helsinki continues. After Café de Nopal opened at the end of 2010, a separate team set up Pueblo in Eerikinkatu 25 during 2011.
I know some of the Mexican staff personally. Their tortillas are excellent and they have my favourite beers on offer, but the food is sometimes a little too salty for me (I cook without salt, so that might be the problem). Regardless, it is very nice to have an alternative open during lunchtime in the heart of the city.
I read somewhere that the Helsinki ice hockey derby between HIFK & Jokerit is the most fiercely contested in the Nordic countries. Even if I don’t cheer for either team, as a neutral it was nice to attend a match with a nice atmosphere and chanting, not only clapping.
