Small town wonders

There are certain things that make living in Helsinki very nice compared to smaller places. You can get curry paste and mangos in your tiny local shop, there are lots of nice bars to choose from & you can get out of Finland quicker than from anywhere else in the country. Then again, small towns do have that something that you just can't get in Helsinki.

I came to Joensuu for Easter yesterday. I was in a slight panic: my not-so-reliable contact lens dealer hadn't sent me my new lenses and it was starting to look like I'd have to spend most of the weekend blind as a bat as I only had a couple of pairs left. I was desperately trying to call every optician in Joensuu from the train trying to get an appointment as no-one'd sell me contact lenses without checking my eyes first. No luck. When I finally got to Joensuu I thought might as well try my luck at my old opticians (they had last checked my sight in 1995). As they're not allowed to sell contacts without an appointment they gave me a few pairs for free! Somehow I don't see this happening in Helsinki. Just to avoid a mad rush of people begging for free contact lenses I won't mention the name of the shop.

This morning I went for a run. Couldn't decide where to go as there's still quite a bit of snow left on the best running bits of town here in the western part of Siberia, as we like to call it so I went running right in the centre. That's something I'd never ever do in Helsinki - go run in my ever-so-trendy (not!) running outfit around Stockmann's or so. But here it's perfectly ok. Nobody paid any particular attention to me in my very old tracksters & silly hat. Also, what makes running here so nice is the fact that cars always stop & let you cross the road. People walking in front of cars like sheep makes it impossibly horrible driving here but it's ever so nice for pedestrians.

Tthe centre of Joensuu in the picture - lots of perfect places for picnics by the river in the summer but it's not quite that warm yet.

Picture: http://www.joensuu.fi