The next few days for me will be public holidays.

Tomorrow is the feast of the Epiphany, a holiday in Finland.

Then on Saturday I will be in Russia, when it will be a public holiday for Christmas.

On the subject of festivals, this year, 2017, is the centenary of the independence of Finland.

From the 12th century, Finland was part of Sweden. Then in 1809 it was given to Russia. At the time of the revolution in Russia in 1917, Finland finally became an independent country.

It seems that for all this time, the desire for independence was kept alive in Finland by their language and a culture distinct from the countries which ruled them.

Good on the Finns, but the same logic applies to many other people who want independence…

– Kurds in Turkey, Iraq and maybe other countries as well.

– Catalans in Spain 

– Basques in France and Spain 

– Quebecois in Canada

– Mohinga in Myanmar 

And on and on it goes, even including Australian aborigines who want to be recognised as separate from the rest of Australia.

When will this fragmentation ever end?

There is a festival called Lux Helsinki which runs during the Christmas period.

I think it is similar to Vivid Sydney, but 20 degrees colder.

They were just starting it, by blocking roads and illuminating the cathedral at 5pm when it is already dark, but people were still working in the city.

What I saw was the simple beginning of the show, but it’s getting very cold and I didn’t want to stay longer to see the full show. Clearly I’m a wimp, because there were several couples going to Lux, pushing a well rugged up infant in a stroller…..”this is what -20C feels like, young fella”.

You have to be tough if you want to be Miss Helsinki in January…

I’m not sure what the temperature is here in Helsinki. It’s certainly cold, but walking around the streets is still possible. Plenty of people are shopping here.

When the plane landed at 6am, the pilot said the temperature was -8C.

But later, when I was having a falafel for lunch, the man in the shop told me that his phone app said it was -15C, but feels like -30C, with wind chill factor included.

I’m wearing a jumper, coat and overcoat, which seems to keep me warm. I have looked at coats in the shops, they are all having sales, with 30% reductions, because they are getting ready to sell summer clothes. I’m surprised that hardly any of the coats I have seen are really thick, they are about the same as the one I have.

From my observation, the women, both young and old, wear warmer clothes than the men here. Women often wear a hat as well as a warm hood attached to their jacket and also a scarf. Men often have a thin scarf and no hat. I thought women could withstand pain better than men!

I did have to buy another scarf to keep my neck warm.