On any given Sunday

Ahoy-hoy,

The last few weekends have seen myself and the indomnitable ter-Minh-ator (above) mosey out north from Helsinki , past fields of snow and pine trees, to a frozen lake whose name escapes me just now, for a spot of cross country skiing.

Minh said it well earlier, it's like swimming - it's not hard on the body, but it's bloody hard work. We reckon we came up a little short of 10km in an hour, which isn't bad for my third time on skiis.

Today was one of those days when Helsinki really is one of the nicest places on earth to be. Vast blue skies and fresh powdery snow reflecting the light, pleasant temperatures (minus two in the sunshine isn't as cold as it sounds), blessed sun, and a large flat expanse only sparsly littered with fellow skiers or skaters lending itself to a strange feeling, like solitude and solidarity all at once.

That and I didn't fall over today, not even once - yay for me - so I was feeling quite accomplished, swaggering a little maybe, on the way back to the car, when we came across a bunch of tiny Finnish kids taboggoning down a slope. Except tabogganing doesn't do it justice. The slope was very bumpy, and the maniacs were being launched a foot or two in the air with each and every jump on the way down - a considerable distance when you're only two feet tall. Respect.

Not for the agoraphobic (taken last week, when it was a bit overcast).

Seeing families out there all skiing together on a Sunday strengthens my gut feeling that Finns in general are just more active than we Irish slobs.

And now I have to stop procrastinating and tidy my room.

technorati tags: skiing, helsinki