As I prepare to leave HEL for JFK via ZRH my thanks to all those who suggested wonderful itineraries ... i did take (mostly) your advice ... although the day I headed to Tallinn the seas were incredibly rough (for a novice sailor) and it was most definitely not a pretty site ... fortunately the skies cleared, the wind disappeared, the seas calmed and the return trip was uneventful.

HEL is incredibly beautiful, and I spent a couple of days walking around - have the blisters to prove it!- before I settled down for the conference I was there to attend.

The city council generously provided a reception for our 300 strong group, and the former hotel-cum-town hall is a truly magnificent building ...

So ... my thanks to you all and for the generosity of the many Finns I met who offered friendship and generosity of spirit to a foreign traveller who spoke only english ...