FLASHBACK #63: Suomenlinna With The Japanese Colleague

I had arrived back from South Africa just a week ago, when I received news that my Japanese colleague - who I had been working quite alot with on a number of projects - would be in Helsinki at the beginning of March. When she arrived, we hugged and clicked instantly. She was in her early 40s, petit and very Japanese, exhibiting the traits of clamness and rationality in all that she did. She was a breath of fresh air, she truly was.

I assumed she had a full program, but in true Finnish style, our visitor from overseas had been left high and dry with no company for the evening. I offered to take her to Suomenlinna, the sea fortress just off the coast of Helsinki. A UNESCO world heritage site, it's main use is now as a picturesque picnic spot. However, it was -10°C outside so, for us, it would serve as a coffee and donuts site!

Just after work, we took the ferry from the nearby market square; the fifteen minute journey required us to sit indoors - rather than on the upper deck - because of the bitter cold. Quite smoothly, the vessel glided over the sheet of ice that was now the harbour of Helsinki. We passed a couple of nearby islands before Suomenlinna, built in 1748 to protect again Russian expansionism, came into view.

We arrived around 5pm, with just enough sunlight for us to get to the far side of the main island; once there, we sat on rocks, poured the hot coffee and downed the donuts while a huge Viking cruise ship, no doubt bound for Stockholm, passed within feet of the island; it was an impressive sight and my Japanese colleague's face beamed with delight.

We made our way slowly back through the island, passing many homes of the 900-or-so permanent residents of Suomenlinna. 80 hectares in size, the islands are easy to navigate. We passed the centre of the 'town', with it's impressive cathedral and solitary store in the square, which sold foodstuffs, domestic products as well as an assortment of Suomenlinna postcards.

As we waited for our ferry back to the mainland, we huddled close together on one of the benches near the jetty. There were just a handful of visitors on this very cold day and, by now, daylight was quickly receeding. It was a wonderfully clear early evening and, to the West, the sun's disc emitted a nice warm, orange glow. Lovely, I thought, just lovely!