On Friday I flew back from Bavaria (Germany) to Helsinki. That afternoon a colleague and I hang out for an hour in Greding, a city South of Nuremberg. The temperatures were at 23 degrees Celsius and I got afraid of returning to Finland and having to put on several layers of clothes again.

Pah! There was no disappointment after the return – the sun was out most of Saturday and all this Sunday long. Everywhere people were roaming around, some of the runners and cyclists even left their jackets at home. The temperature went up to 11 degrees Celsius and the ice is melting, giving us back the sea.

For the first time I was at the graveyard in Hietaniemi, a wonderful place for walking. One of the statues on a grave impressed me – a naked woman reading in a book. Beautiful and daring.

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On Friday evening Sari and I took a train to Hanko, where friends have a flat which we were allowed to use over the Easter days. When I said that I would go to Hanko during that time, most of the Finns that I talked to were asking "What do you want there?" and predicted that we will only see ice and snow. I was not too afraid of that, knowing that Finish people usually exaggerate when they talk about the disadvantages of their beautiful country.

In December 2002 I brought my car to Finland (that is part of a longer story, that I will tell at another time) and arrived one night with the ferry from Rostock to Hanko. That time it was snowing and I just took the road to Helsinki, without seeing anything. In 2004 I came back, but only for a two hour visit and also did not see much of the Southernmost Finish city.

What I missed all this time is the Western part of the Beach and town, where one can find many beautiful wooden houses, which all have different colours that brighten up any grey the Winter might hold. Many of these houses were built around 1890, when Hanko started serving as a place for recreation, mostly for Russian nobles. Finland at that time was a Grand Duchy under Russia.

The Hanko water tower looms high over the city. It is very different from other water towers in Finland and serves the city as a landmark.

Also the Germans left their &ndash as usual belligerent &ndash footprints in Hanko, when Imperial German troops landed in 1918 to support the so-called Finish "white" guards against the Finish socialist and communist "red" guards during the Finish civil-war.

Walking along the beach in Hanko is a special experience during spring time. The sun was shining, the sand on the beach looked inviting and the sea was still frozen. We walked to the "House of Four Winds", which is opend as a cafe in during warmer days.

Although the city center is not as outspoken as the villa-area it is worth a visit, as a small muesum with art of local artist Carl-Gustaf Lilius is located there.

We found Origo, a restaurant in a red wooden house at the harbor. Most of the restaurants are closed during this time of the year, but Origo just had opened on Wednesday for the upcoming summer season. The atmosphere in the restaurant is very special. The low wooden ceiling is held by a wooden structure and the side walls of the building are made of stones, on which candles are placed, from which wax drops down in beautiful shapes. The food is exceptionally good and should be accompanied by a bottle of wine, to make the evening a complete experience.

It is obvious that Hanko must be very beautiful during summer time, when the sunlight emphasizes the colors of the houses and nature. But that does not mean that the town would not be attractive in winter and spring as well. During our visit we met very few people on the streets or the beach, most of the time we walked by ourselves and sometimes even were able to catch some sun. All was quiet and relaxing &nadash; a very beautiful Easter vacation.

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Whenever I go home with Bus line 14 from my work I come along Pikku Huopalahti and find the whole area simply beautiful. During the last summer I went there often by bike on the way to the office, but did not take any pictures. The sea sends some water to the little bay, which on one side has a lot of colorful houses, that are all beautifully shaped. The area gives a quiet and at the same time modern impression. And that although it is located inbetween two of the busiest Helsinki streets. Still some people in city center might regard this part already as an outskirt.

The round McDonalds tower has it's own character, with the wodden structure in front of it, that is connected by a complex metal construction. Again modern without being pretentious or too flashy.

Still it is very cold these days, so I entered a bus at the next station instead of walking home. Taking the pictures took me less then 15 minutes. Huopalahti is one of the areas in Helsinki that shows that nature and modern architecture are very well integrated here and go peacefully side by side.

Don't expect to see too many sunsets over beautiful lakes when you open Lauri Erikssons "Suomi Pictures". Suomi is the finish word for Finland and this illustrated book collects all kinds of different impressions from the Nordic country.

A young guy standing at the urinal, a snow-covered remote building in the forest which is labeled as a "disco", a midsummer nights fire at the island of Seurasaari and a red plastic chair in front of a wooden house – Eriksson captures the slience and loneliness of the frozen lakes, apartment houses and cold city streets. She finds a way to make them look attractive and depressing at the same time.

She photographed many young Finish people who just look into the camera - some of them shy, some relaxed, others curious. Some are swimming in a lake or can been seen drunken at a party or laying naked at the floor of a small flat. The moments she caught seem uncomplicated and to allow the models to be themselves, without any posing.

It is all just now, it is nothing special and shows a lot more about Finland than any book that collects images of mooses, wooden saunas and lakes.

A look on Lauri Erikssons homepage gives a first impression about her works. It can be reached by clicking here.

Yesterday my new camera, a Canon PowerShot S2 IS finally arrived. German and Finish postal services seem not to work very well together, it took over 8 days until the parcel arrived here.

During the last two days I was out with a friend, who is on a visit in Helsinki and as far as I can judge it, I did not return completly sober to my home after these evenings. This caused that on my first walk with the new camera the day as well as I were hang over. I like grey days, they are so calm and without demand. The sky was resting heavily on the city and I just walked again along Töölönlahti, towards the main station.

Behind Finlandia Hall the way was bloked with water from the meldet ice and snow. My shoes and trousers became soaking wet as I decided that I was too tired to deviate from the route. The walk ended in the main station (Rautatienasema), where I took a bus back.

Click here for a slideshow of all pictures of this little walk. And click here for the song, of which the title of this entry is taken from.