Sloyd happens: Finland Finland Finland

I have been back to Helsinki this week for a short visit, I've visited here quite a bit over the last couple of years, and always like returning. It's a great compact city, easily walkable on foot when the weather suits, and equally easy to master and use the comprehensive public transport system when the weathers not so pleasant. I always enjoy the experience and challenges of travelling around a place where English is not the first language - but I must admit I'm glad most Finns, especially those in any service capacity, speak English as I can not get my tongue around any Finnish beyond hello (hei, terve or moi), cheers (kippas), thank you (kiitos), sorry (Anteeksi) and welcome (Tervetuloa). My menu reading of Finnish is reasonable, but it's fair to say that any meal or cocktail may include a surprise element, or at worst in no possible way resemble what I thought I had ordered - looking forward to sweet pastry and biting into something filled with cardamon has been a frequent disappointed.

As one of my favourite hobbies is sketching animals, Helsinki feeds that well with both a zoo and a Natural History Museum (unlike my current hometown of Birmingham UK which has neither). So I have spent many hours here at both.

This trip I took along my pastel pencils, I have no recollection of ever buying these or using them before, but they are various lengths which would suggest I have. I also splurged and bought a black Moleskin book a couple of weeks back for this purpose, the paper is not ideal, no tooth to it, but its an easy enough travel option for something other than white. These are the two sketches I completed in an afternoon at the museum.

Unfortunately it was just a constant drizzly day when I went to the zoo this time - so I didn't get any sketching done. So I thought I'd post a few sketches and pics from past visits.