Blue Wings Curiosity issue October 2016 by Finnair_BlueWings

CURIOSITY ISSUE TRENDS, DESTINATIONS AND INSIGHTS FOR TRAVELLERS

OCTOBER 2016

Your personal copy

BUILDING BLING IN

CHONGQING RUN LIKE A

LOCAL TOP 5

QUIRKY LONDON

On the tasty trail of

Swiss cheese

This is not rocket science

...itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s print meeting digital. Together they can be an effective solution for targeting your customer or just having fun. This magazine cover is printed on LumiSilk by Stora Enso. Check out our full sustainable selection at www.storaenso.com/paper

EDITORIAL BY ARJA SUOMINEN SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY WWW.FINNAIR.COM

FOKUS MEDIA FINLAND CONTENT DESIGNER Amanda Soila VISUAL DESIGNER Sirpa Ärmänen SUB-EDITOR Shelly Nyqvist VISUAL ASSISTANT Iris Mark ENGLISH EDITING Silja Kudel REPROGRAPHICS Faktor Oy ON THE COVER Laure Rousseau by Ville Palonen BEHIND THIS ISSUE Daniel Allen, Kati Heikinheimo, Mark Fletcher, Simon Fry, Laura Iisalo, Sinimaaria Kangas, Silja K udel, Mirva Lempiäinen, Matt Mitchell, Ville Palonen, Laura Palotie, Katja Pantzar, Anu Piippo, Johannes Soila, Wif Stenger, and Fran Weaver SUBMISSIONS bluewings@fokusmedia.fi BLUE WINGS ONLINE www.issuu.com/headofficefinland EDITORIAL OFFICES Hämeentie 153 C, 00560 Helsinki, Finland, tel. +358 40 630 8253, firstname.lastname@fokusmedia.fi ADVERTISING SALES Jaana Lindvall-Harki tel. +358 40 582 1416 PUBLISHER Fokus Media Finland Oy PRINTED BY Punamusta, Joensuu, Finland 2016 PAPER UPM Valor 61g Cover paper Stora Enso LumiArt 200g CIRCULATION 45,000 ISSN-0358-7703

In search of new experiences

he theme of this month’s issue of Blue Wings is curiosity, a wonderful quality that inspires travel to new places in search of new experiences. At Finnair, we’re continually expanding our flight network of close to 100 destinations around the world. For summer 2017, we’ve just announced non-stop routes to dynamic destinations from Reykjavik, the capital of awe-inspiring Iceland, to San Francisco, a global tech hub and picturesque City by the Bay on the West Coast of America. Here in Finland, we’re gearing up for 2017 when Finland will be celebrating 100

years of independence (suomifinland100. fi/eng) with a range of exciting events from concerts to workshops and exhibitions. For help planning your next Nordic trip – whether for the centenary or otherwise – Visit Finland (in cooperation with Finnair) recently launched the Stopover concept, which offers customised travel packages for passengers looking to explore Helsinki and other parts of Finland such as Lapland on their way to Europe or Asia. Wishing you an inspiring journey, Arja Suominen

3 October tips EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Arja Suominen arja.suominen@finnair.com FINNAIR HEAD OFFICE Tietotie 9 A, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, 1053 Finnair, Finland, tel. +358 (0)9 818 81, Postal address: P. O. Box 15, 01053 Finnair, Finland CUSTOMER FEEDBACK www.finnair.com/feedback or by mail: Customer Relations, SL/403, FI-01053 FINNAIR. www.finnair.com, www.finnair.fi www.finnairgroup.com

Helsinki’s new Allas Sea Pool offers outdoor swimming and indoor saunas right in the heart of the city (just off Market Square) with an unparalleled view of the harbour. allasseapool.fi/en

Finnair’s mobile app has won a coveted Red Dot Award in the Communications Design category. The app allows travellers to book flights, check-in, and track their Finnair Plus points. finnair.com

The real Santa Claus lives in Finnish Lapland, and there’s plenty of time to write to Father Christmas for those who want a reply before the holidays. kampanja.posti.fi/joulupukinpaaposti/eng

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

COZY 1964 A v a i l a b l e a t F I N N A I R P L U S S H O P. C O M

WAKE UP! AND SWEET DREAMS.

Hästens makes top-quality hand-made beds using natural materials. Every detail in the beds is carefully designed – and has been since 1852. Don’t settle for anything less. We invite you to test one to ensure that you wake up in the bed of your dreams.

HÄSTENS STORE HELSINKI, Mannerheimintie 8, tel. +358 20 780 1370, hastens.com

IN THIS ISSUE The Appenzell region in Switzerland is famous for its cheeses.

CURIOSITY 2016 32 32 DESTINATION CULINARY COOL OF SWITZERLAND The art of cheesemaking lives on in Appenzell

LIFESTYLE LESSER-KNOWN LONDON

A visit to five of the British capital’s quirkier attractions

DESTINATION BEYOND SUPERTALL IN CHONGQING Architecture redefined in the “Chicago of the Yangtze”

DESTINATION A WRITER’S FRENCHTOWN

Elizabeth Gilbert’s charming New Jersey community

LIFESTYLE RUN THIS WAY

Join the urban running boom in three cities

DESTINATION AFOOT IN LOFOTEN

Take a spectacular tour of the Norwegian archipelago

DESTINATION LEADING THE WAY IN NEPAL Explore the Himalayas with female-only trek guides

Discover an usual side of London.

A tale of educational adventure on the open seas

TAKEOFF STARTERS NEWS

VR thrillercoasters.......................12

BUSINESS

Slush goes Asia..............................14

Stay on track while travelling.

LIFESTYLE SAILING INTO THE WORLD

Happy Birthday A350................. 11

DESIGN

Fab Finnish fashion......................16

FOOD & DRINK

Piping hot — bread.......................18

WELLBEING

DESTINATION

Helsinki boutiques........................22

WORLD

October events..............................24

FINLAND

Foraging for food..........................26

MAKERS

Sustainable design with Outi Korpilaakso...........................28

TRAVEL TRENDS

The curious traveller...................29

Where’s the beef?........................20 OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

IN THIS ISSUE

Snow-capped peaks of Nepal

The rocky road of Turkey’s Lycian Way

A site for sore eyes in Chongqing

REGULARS

Stefan Nilsson..........................................42 Alexander Stubb.....................................52 Finland in figures.................................... 98

FLY FINNAIR

Tips for takeoff........................................ 80 Inflight wellbeing.................................... 81 Entertainment.......................................... 82 Shopping..................................................... 83

Shanghai, p. 14 Helsinki, p. 22 Switzerland, p. 32 London, p. 40 Chongqing, p. 44 New Jersey, p. 50

Sustainability............................................. 84 Border crossings..................................... 85 Helsinki Airport ....................................... 86 Maps and destinations......................... 88 Fleet.............................................................. 92 Finnair Plus................................................ 94 8 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

Check this month’s inflight shopping offers on page 83

Barcelona, p. 55 New York City, p. 56 Singapore, p. 57 Norway, p. 60 Nepal, p. 67 Turkey, p. 70

Tietoturvariskejä tulostuksessa? Suojaa tietosi käyttämällä maailman turvallisimpia tulostimia. Varmista liiketoiminnan tarpeita vastaava tietoturva ja asiakirjojen suojaus nopeudesta, korkeasta tulostuslaadusta ja energiatehokkuudesta tinkimättä. Suorituskykyinen ja uusimmalla tekniikalla varustettu HP-tulostin yhdessä JetIntelligence-tekniikalla varustettujen HP-värien kanssa varmistaa, että tulostusjälkesi on laadukasta jokaisella tulostuskerralla.

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NUKU HYVIN TÄSTÄ LÄHTIEN.

Jo vuodesta 1947 lähtien, Jensen on kehittänyt vuoteiden ominaisuuksia käyttämällä aina uusimpia menetelmiä ja kaikkein moderneimpia materiaaleja. Optimaaliseen nukkumismukavuuteen pyrkiminen on tuottanut myös innovaatioita – kuten entistäkin paremman ja myötäilevämmän Jensen Aloy 2.0 -jousitusjärjestelmän. Kuvan Nordic Seamless on ainutlaatuinen runkopatjavuode. Siinä on kaksi erillistä runkoa, mutta yhtenäinen joustinpatja ja verhoilu, jolloin nukkujien väliin ei jää rakoja eikä reunoja. Hyvää yötä, www.vepsalainen.com

TAKEOFF

NEWS / BUSINESS / DESIGN / FOOD AND DRINK / WELLBEING / DESTINATION / WORLD / HELSINKI

A350 XWB

Happy Birthday! TEXT BY AMANDA SOILA PHOTO BY AIRBUS

LAST OCTOBER we first caught glimpse of Finnair’s A350 XWB aircraft gracing the skies before landing at its new home base at Helsinki Airport. Since then, the next generation aircraft and its five siblings have kept busy. They have flown to 17 countries on three continents, carried a total of 534,000 passengers, and covered 15,356,000 kilometres in distance. That’s one impressive year of milestones! See page 93 for more momentous stats.

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

TAKEOFF NEWS

STAY CONNECTED ONBOARD By 2018, all Finnair Airbus aircraft will offer Wi-Fi connections. Until then, stay connected onboard Finnair’s A350 via Nordic Sky.

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY MIRVA LEMPIÄINEN

VR rides immerse visitors in the experience mentally and physically.

From hostel to poshtel

For decades, youth hostels were ranked as fit only for penniless backpackers. But just as boutique hotels have become the ‘it’ thing, so have boutique hostels. These new-generation hostels are actually poshtels, offering trendy dorms and private rooms combined with a fun, social atmosphere.

Virtual rides, real fun THEME PARK VISITORS will surely have noticed that many rollercoasters and other rides now feature wall-size simulator screens with 3D/4D HD technology. Some amusement parks are taking the virtual boom a step further by having patrons wear individual virtual reality (VR) headsets while on rides. Immersed in their private world, thrill-seekers feel like they are really in a video game. One great place to experience full digital immersion is UK-based Galactica. Launched in March at the Alton Towers theme park, the rollercoaster takes you on a virtual space journey via wireless VR headset. The American theme park chain Six Flags has also added a VR component to nine of its rollercoasters, including Super-

man the Ride at Six Flags New England and the Ninja at Six Flags St. Louis. These VR upgrades have breathed new life into rides that are up to 15 years old. Even haunted houses will never be the same again with the arrival of VR technology. A scary example is the UK-based Thorpe Park’s new Ghost Train, opened in July. While everyone on this interactive terror ride boards an old Victorian train carriage together, each visitor enjoys a slightly different horror story through their VR headsets. If old-school rollercoasters and ghost rides are more your thing, hurry up: virtual zombies are coming soon to a ride near you.

Rockabye! If your inflatable travel pillow leaves you feeling groggy, it might be time to ‘upgrade to sleeping class’ by investing in a FaceCradle Travel Pillow, a product that recently received more than one million euros in Kickstarter funding. The new pillow has five comfort modes ranging from snoozing to table naps. The deep sleep mode is ingenious: you attach the pillow’s straps to your seat and put your head through a massage-table style hole. Your weight rests on the pillow as if in a reversed hammock. facecradle.me

12 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

altontowers.com

THE BRITISH hostel chain Generator has been at the cutting edge of the transformation. Its vision is to “bring affordable luxury and awe-inspiring social experiences” to patrons in its dozen European locations. generatorhostels.com/en

FREEHAND is a poshtel chain in the US. Its Miami and Chicago outlets offer “innovative design, an award-winning food and beverage program, and easy access to the best local culture.” thefreehand.com FINLAND will see its first boutique hostel opening in the form of the crowd-funded Myö Hostel. Besides having stylish décor and fun social events, Myö also has a beautiful ideology: it will offer work to people with developmental disabilities. mesenaatti.me/myohostel

TAKEOFF BUSINESS

THE SLUSH FLIGHT Finnair offers two exclusive direct flights with the A350 for the HEL-SFO-HEL and SFO-HEL-SFO routes. Reserve now: Nov 28 – Dec 2.

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY MARK FLETCHER JOHANNES SOILA

The Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Centre hosts the first ever Slush Shanghai event on October 31.

Get a (cool) room

SHANGHAI

Slush for all seasons IN NOVEMBER Helsinki hosts the wildly popular start-up event Slush, which has grown from a 300-person gathering into a mega-jamboree of over 15,000 start-up pitchers, investors, and media reps from all over the world – all this in the course of only eight years. Asia has been taking notice and within the last year, a number of Slush partner events have been popping up in places like Tokyo, Singapore and, come October 31, Shanghai has its turn. Slush Shanghai, held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Centre, offers a bridge between the Nordic and Chinese start-up worlds. It is a forum for networking, collaborating, and continuing to build what Slush Shanghai CEO Chen Wang describes as a “relationship of mutual respect” between these two very different regions. 14 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

“The Nordic region enjoys a great reputation in China regarding technology, innovation, design, and education,” she says. “The Nordic countries also symbolise a harmonious lifestyle, for which China has great admiration.” What then is the appeal of bringing Slush to China? “Slush is a spirit to dream, dare, and do. We want to build a global start-up community, and China is a critical part of this global vision,” says Wang. More than 5,000 attendees are expected at the inaugural Slush Shanghai event, rounded off by 400 volunteers working behind the scenes. “Many of our dedicated volunteers even postponed their studies to join Slush fulltime. It has truly become a global movement,” says Wang. shanghai.slush.org

What if you could swap sterile board rooms into stunningly designed meeting spaces? Helsinki-based Huone (‘Room’ in Finnish), “the world’s first events hotel” has been doing exactly that for four years. As of February 2017, they open their Singapore premises as the next step in a global vision to expand to all of the world’s top meeting cities. Malaysian-born CEO Evon Söderlund initially planned to import the Japanese Karaoke Box concept to Finland, but whilst doing so, she identified a lack of smaller meeting spaces that didn’t look like mundane conference rooms. Since then Huone’s mission has been to provide memorable experiences by way of impressively designed meeting rooms, each with a unique theme, from wine to vintage or electro room. huone.fi/en

EARRINGS: Noble 33,Louise 37,RING: Carlie: 69,BRACELET: Cone 99,NECKLACE: Fermi 109,-

TAKEOFF DESIGN

AND THE WINNER IS... The Finnair mobile app wins a Red Dot award! Download the app and use it to check in, get flight alerts, and store your boarding passes.

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY SILJA KUDEL EEVA SUUTARI

STARTUP FASHION

Dream weavers

FASHION

Reinventing the scarf SELLING FIVE million silk scarves is a momentous feat for a Finnish brand – especially when your top market happens to be China, the home of silk. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Marja Kurki Ltd. has achieved the fashion equivalent of shipping sand to the Sahara. What began 40 years ago as a onewoman startup has evolved into a successful international design house specialising in scarves, bags, wallets, and millinery. “My mother was a fearless entrepreneur. She boldly ventured beyond Finland to conquer the international market,” says the current CEO Tapani Kurki.

If the classic silk scarf ever had a stuffy reputation, this was cast off by the Marja Kurki anniversary fashion show late this summer. Salome’s Dance of the Seven Veils pales in comparison to the colourful extravaganza of scarves that floated down the runway in fresh guises from skimpy halter tops to flowing asymmetrical robes. Marja Kurki accessories are sold in 60 shop-in-shops in China and alongside top labels in major Korean department stores. The Flagship Store is found on Helsinki’s North Esplanade.

She says it with flowers

“Flowers are nature’s way of saying ‘I love you’,” says Laura Väinölä, Finland’s Young Designer of the Year 2016. This message radiates from her imaginative floral stylings for fashion shoots, interiors, and window displays. Besides getting passionate with plants, Väinölä is also creative director of Duotone design agency. floraandlaura.com

16 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

LAURA IISALO

BREAKTHROUGH DESIGNER

marjakurki.fi/en

News from the Finnish textile industry has been bleak of late. But one bold local hero is hiring rather than firing. The looms are busy again at Nanso Group’s former textile mill in Nokia. Production was relaunched in August by a gutsy entrant, Nokian Neulomo, proprietors of the largest certified organic clothing factory in the Nordic countries. Demand for locally produced textiles is skyrocketing, yet it is virtually impossible to find 100 per cent Finnish-made fashion in high street stores. “We absolutely believe that there is sufficient demand for our textiles and also for our own ethically conscious fashion label, Neulomo,” says CEO Vesa Moisio. “We make relaxed, but stylish clothing for ‘ordinary’ Finnish women of all ages, sizes, and figures,” sums up Moisio. The mill also produces textiles for brands including Tauko, Papu, and Uhana, with 50 more on the waiting list. “Next year we will launch our B2B business internationally.” After a successful pre-sales period in its Weecos.com webstore, the Neulomo brand will be launched in Prisma hypermarkets across Finland, “taking the business to the next level,” says Moisio. “There seems to be huge market demand for a truly Finnish clothing brand. We are honoured to fill this need,” he adds. neulomo.com

TAKEOFF FOOD & DRINK

MEALS DESIGNED FOR YOU You can eat healthy in the air! Simply pre-order a tasty meal 24 hours in advance of your Finnair flight. See the menu selection from finnair.com.

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY ANU PIIPPO

WINES

A mason jar with sourdough bread starter

Autumn reds As the days grow shorter, we gravitate towards hearty comfort foods such as game, which not only is delicious and ecological, but also pairs well with good wine. Fog Head Reserve Pinot Noir 2013 A bottle of fruity Pinot Noir is an excellent choice with a light meat such as chicken or pork. Californian Fog Head also pairs beautifully with game bird. Sold in Alko stores in Finland. Origin: Monterey, USA Price: €14.95

CULINARY TRENDS

Breaking bread BREAD IS NOW piping hot – both at home and in restaurants. This essential element of Finnish cuisine is baked with great passion, and we’re not talking about quick and easy rolls. Every perfect loaf starts with a great mother dough, or sourdough starter to give it extra taste and a lovely texture. No added yeast is required, as the natural fermentation process takes care of making the dough rise. Among those who have caught the bread bug is Michelin-awarded Finnish chef Markus Aremo. Aside from serving the top-notch loaves in his new Helsinki restaurant Regina, he has also set up a bread starter community called ‘Juurihotelli’ (Finnish for ‘bread starter hotel’) on Facebook and the internet. Aremo’s sourdough starters are currently sold in five retail stores.

Inside Fazer

“Baking bread is an excellent way to relax and do something with your hands, and it lets you show your personality,” says Aremo. “When you buy a bread starter from our retailers, you get a recipe you can fine-tune as you like. A jar of bread starter also makes an excellent gift.” Aremo hopes to see Juurihotelli play at least a small part in the revival of Finnish bread culture by making it as easy as possible to bake quality bread at home. If your mother dough dies on you, you can always purchase a new one for just a few euros. “This autumn we will also sell seasonal starters for a limited period of time,” says Aremo.

FAZER IS KNOWN for its confectionary, bakery, biscuits, and grain products. To celebrate its 125th anniversary, the family-owned company has opened a visitor centre in Vantaa right next to its headquarters. The centre houses a café, shop, exhibitions, and meeting venue designed and built solely for hosting guests. visitfazer.com

18 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

juurihotelli.fi

Peter Lehmann Portrait Cabernet 2012 Barossa Valley in South Australia is home to this elegant, earthy red wine with hints of fig and eucalyptus. Try it with cheese or meat, particularly game or lamb. Sold in Alko stores in Finland. Origin: Barossa Valley, Australia Price: €14.97 La Roncaia Merlot 2012 The estate of La Roncaia in the north-eastern corner of Italy is the maker of this aromatic wine made solely from Merlot grapes, which pairs well with red meat or savoury first courses. Sold on Finnair flights in business class and online at: preordershop. com. Origin: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy Price: €25.90

www.kia.fi

Täysin uusi

Kia Optima Sportswagon Odotettu edustusluokan farmari täynnä tilaa ja teknologiaa.

Ensiesittelyssä la 8.-su 9.10.

Mallisto alk. 30.990 € Tilaa, teknologiaa ja tyyliä. Kia-mallisto o n vihdoin laajentunut isolla farmarilla. Uudessa Optima Sportswagonissa korostuvat edistynyt teknologia, mukavuus ja innovaatiot. Se on täynnä tuoretta ajattelua – ja runsaasti tilaa. Urheilullinen profiili ja suorituskyky sekä tyylikäs sisustus viimeistelevät ajonautintosi. Tervetuloa viikonloppunäyttelyyn!

Kia Optima SW -mallisto alk. autoveroton hinta 25.770,62 € + arvioitu autovero 5.219,38 € + toimituskulut 600 € = kokonaishinta 31.590 €. Vapaa autoetu alk. 650 €/kk, käyttöetu 485 €/kk. CO2-päästöt alk. 113 g/km, EU-yhd. kulutus alk. 4,4 l/100 km. Kia-takuu 7 vuotta tai 150 000 km, kolme ensimmäistä vuotta ilman kilometrirajaa. Kia 24h tiepalvelu vuodeksi veloituksetta. Kuvan auto erikoisvarustein.

TAKEOFF WELLBEING COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY KATI HEIKINHEIMO

NEW ONBOARD Check out Finnair’s selection of wellbeing, skincare, and spa treatment products from the Finnair Shop. If you pre-order, your purchases will be waiting for you on your next flight.

Traveller pick-me-ups STAY IN MINT CONDITION Air conditioning, dehydration, and sleep deprivation are common ailments among travellers. An instant solution for a fresher look and feel is a floral spray made of organic plant extracts. Our favourite pick for people on the go is peppermint water for tired or stressed skin. Dabba Floral Waters (€16.50, Ruohonjuuri)

One of many suggested recipes by Verso Food: Härkis flatbread

dabba.lv/en

MUSCLES LOVE MAGNESIUM

Make mine meatless THE WORLDWIDE vegetarian trend keeps sprouting a tasty line-up of ethical, meat-free protein alternatives. A recent Finnish innovation called ‘pulled oats,’ a mouth-watering alternative to pulled pork, is made of oats and beans. The product has been so popular in Finland that consumers literally race to supermarkets to lay their hands on limited batches of this coveted veggie staple. Due to massive demand, Gold&Green, the startup behind this innovation, recently sold a 51 per cent stake of its business to Paulig, a major player in the Finnish food industry. Paulig’s size brings more muscle to upgrade production and ensure a successful launch on the international market. Another new Finnish protein innovation is Härkis, a fava bean delicacy surprisingly similar to minced meat – and every bit as convenient and versatile as its animal-based cousin. Dried fava bean has an unbeatable protein consistency, surpassing that of meat, fish, or eggs. Turning it into a marketable supermar20 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

ket item was challenging, however. “The product is a result of systematic research. It took us three years to come up with the right production technology. Finally, at the end of last year, we came up with a method and recipe that give the raw material the right texture and taste,” says Tarja Ollila, CEO of Verso Food Oy, producer of Härkis and other fava bean products. A third Finnish launch seen this year is milk-based Mífu by Valio, a practical, ready-to-use alternative for lactovegetarians. And even good old tofu has been taken to the next level: Sweden has seen its own veggie protein frenzy with the launch of Oumph!, a series of meatylooking and tasting soy-based products. All these new protein options have a significant feature in common: they have been developed on a ‘taste first’ basis. Sound nutrition and ethics are super, but consumers also demand great flavour and usability from veggie novelties. As a result, being healthy has never been so delicious.

Goodbye cramps and aches! Prevent and cure sore muscles with magnesium spray, which allows the mineral to be absorbed locally. Frequent travellers, athletes, and insomniacs can all benefit from this Nordic range of award-winning magnesium products. Magnesium sprays (€29.90, Sokos) nordichealthsprays.fi/en

AT EASE WITH ALOE Uncomfortable underwear is an absolute no-no for travellers. Aloe fibre is the perfect choice for happy skin: it absorbs moisture and has antibacterial qualities. The soft, breathable material retains its magic wash after wash. Aloe undergarments (from €14) sukkapuoti.fi

hard working nation

WORK WEAR FOR PEOPLE

who work hard

WHETHER IT IS FOR CONSTRUCTION, TRANSPORTATION, MANUFACTURING OR FORESTRY, DIMEX KNOWS HOW TO DESIGN AND PRODUCE WORKWEAR FOR JOBS THAT DON’T ALLOW FOR COMPROMISES. PROFESSIONAL WORKWEAR KNOW-HOW IS HIGHLY APPRECIATED AMONGST THE WORKERS OF THESE INDUSTRIES.

imex is a Finnish family business that has been providing workwear fit for northern conditions for over 30 years. The underlying principles for the products have always been functionality, safety, durability, comfort and good design. “Product development with the end users, testing and feedback, as well as proactive service are essential. Customers tend to stay with us“ says CEO Jukka Krogerus. Dimex sells its products mostly through retailers. However, custom-made collections are also designed for larger clients.

Social Media success Chairman of the Board Tuire Krogerus says that Instagram and Facebook have enabled a more active dialogue with the end users. “We have found a Dimex community out there, our own tribe. We have a really good atmosphere. Our core value, the Dimex attitude, really resonates with our followers.” Vice President Riitta Krogerus believes that in addition to great products you need a

strong company culture. “Reliable deliveries, a solution- oriented approach, working together as a family business, and quick decision making are key for the customers and make us a good partner.”

Controlled Growth Dimex Ltd employs a total of 24 people in Leppävirta, Tampere, and Tallinn. This year’s projected revenue is 12.5 million euros; a million of which is growth. Approximately 200 people produce Dimex products in the Baltic countries daily. “We have increased our market share in Finland in a controlled manner. Our exports to Benelux, Iceland, Russia and the Baltic countries are growing, and new markets are being opened in Central and Western Europe”, says Marketing Director and co-owner Petteri Tirkkonen. “A well planned succession of the next generation has been highly important to us. The shift from one entrepreneur generation to PRODUCED BY CALCUS.COM

the next began ten years ago. I will step down at the end of December 2017 and Tuire, Petteri and Riitta will continue from there on out”, states Jukka Krogerus. “We are unbelievably proud and enthusiastic about Dimex. We want to be the best workwear brand and a partner to our customers, now and in the future”, Tuire Krogerus concludes. ●

Tuire Krogerus, Jukka Krogerus, Petteri Tirkkonen and Riitta Krogerus are the driving force and provide the power behind a quick-paced family business in a highly competitive market.

TAKEOFF DESTINATION TEXT BY KATJA PANTZAR PHOTOS BY NOMEN NESCIO AND KATJA PANTZAR

FLY NORRA Nordic Regional Airlines (Norra) operates many domestic and European routes for Finnair. All flights operated by Norra have a Finnair flight number, which means more Finnair Plus points for you.

Nomen Nescio founders Niina and Timo Leskelä

HOOD eco-collective specialises in up-cycled products

Newly opened Nomen Nescio on Fredrikinkatu

TWO OF A KIND

Helsinki’s tiny boutiques GOOD THINGS come in small packages, especially when it comes to sustainable clothing and accessories. These two Helsinki boutiques are just under 30 square metres. Newly opened Nomen Nescio on Fredrikinkatu showcases the unisex label by Niina Leskelä and Timo Leskelä. “The idea is that our clothing line provides the basic pillars for a wardrobe in various shades of black for men and women,” says Niina, who designs the line with her husband Timo. “These are wellmade contemporary classics that transition from day to evening, season to season, and year to year.” Made from quality fabrics such as linens and pure wools, the permanent col22 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

lection comprises 36 items ranging from t-shirts and sweaters to blazers, cardigans, and trench coats. With retailers in Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Rovaniemi, and points further afield such as Seoul, Nomen Nescio (the name means ‘an anonymous or unnamed person’) is currently expanding to Asian markets including Japan. About 15 minutes away in the Kallio neighbourhood, the HOOD eco-collective houses several up-cycled product lines. Founder Goa von Zweygbergk, a sculptor and textile and clothing designer, refashions fabrics into clothing and accessories under her Defender label. Men’s dress shirts become women’s

short sleeve blouses and up-cycled prints transform into lightweight turbans that have found a following among creatives including award-winning photojournalist Meeri Koutaniemi. Tiia Huotari’s charming teepees are made from recycled quality fabrics and former bicycle inner tubes. The durable, colourful tents come in a range of sizes suitable for kids of all ages. Nomen Nescio Fredrikinkatu 24 nomennescio.fi Hood Kolmas linja 12 defender.fi

TÄMÄ ON DOMINIKAANISEN TASAVALLAN MAINOS

Tästä syystä yhä useampi valitsee loman

Dominikaanisessa tasavallassa

Suomalaiset ovat löytäneet uuden, ainutlaatuisen matkakohteen. Dominikaaninen tasavalta on Karibian täydellisin matkakohde. Näistä syistä yhä useampi matkustaa sinne.

li 400 km vitivalkeita rantoja. Maailmanluokan hotelleja joka lompakolle ja joka makuun. Monipuolista luontoa – ja upeita maisemia. Ei ole vaikea ymmärtää, miksi Dominikaaninen tasavalta vilahtelee monien lomasuunnitelmissa – se on maa, jossa todella on kaikki. Maan itäosassa sijaitseva Punta Cana on kohteista suosituin pitkälti korkean tasonsa ansiosta. Useimmat suuret hotellit sijaitsevat täällä, missä vitivalkoiset rannat kohtaavat kirkkaansinisen veden ja koralliriutat luoden lähes postikorttimaisen maiseman. Muutakin kuin aurinkoa ja uimista

kaipaavalle sopivat Puerto Platassa sijaitsevan Cabareten rannat. Lämpimän vetensä ja vesiurheiluun täydellisten tuuliensa ansiosta alue on tullut tunnetuksi leijalautailun ja surffauksen mekkana. Dominikaaninen tasavalta on kuitenkin paljon muutakin kuin rantoja. Maa on saanut esimerkiksi vuoden Traveler’s Choice Awards -tunnustuksen: miljoonat TripAdvisor-käyttäjät äänestivät Punta Canan matkakohteeksi, jossa ei pidä jättää käymättä. Golfturistit ovat jo kauan sitten löytäneet maan luonnonkauniit kentät, joista monet ovat maailman kuuluisimpien golfkenttäarkkitehtien suunnittelemia. Siksi ei

olekaan yllättävää, että maassa pelataan myös PGA Tour ja että maa palkitaan vuodesta toiseen Karibian parhaana golfkohteena. Tammikuun ja maaliskuun välisenä aikana suosittua tekemistä ovat valasretket. Tuolloin jopa 5 000 valasta vaeltaa lisääntymään Samananlahdelle maan koillisosaan. Tutkimusten mukaan Dominikaaninen tasavalta on kaikista edullisimpia matkakohteita. Tänne kannattaa matkustaa, jos haluaa mahdollisimman paljon Karibiaa rahojensa vastineeksi. Hintaindeksi on itse asiassa lähes puolet Pohjoismaiden tasosta ■

TAKEOFF WORLD

EASIER LOG IN Now you can access the Finnair mobile app with your Finnair Plus member ID or by using your booking reference number and surname. Go to finnair.com to learn more. VANN BOUVER

CALENDAR

October events JEFF BARTLETT

OCT 14–23

JASPER. Autumn nights are perfect for stargazing, which is the main activity at the Jasper Dark Sky Festival in Canada. There will also be space talks, an outdoor concert by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and an evening with George Takei of Star Trek.

BRUSSELS

Art in action ALL MONTH

jasperdarksky.travel CIMA MOTOR

OCT 20–23 CHONGQING. The 14th China International Motorcycle Expo is the largest exhibition of its kind in Asia, attracting 130 motorcycle clubs and over 5,000 of their members. An interactive ‘Motorcycle Experience Zone’ features off-road racing, stunt shows, and test riding. cimamotor.com

OCT 31 NEW YORK. The world’s largest gathering of zombies, superheroes, and ghosts is back to haunt us. Up to 60,000 people will take part in New York City’s 43rd Annual Village Halloween Parade that features 53 bands, hundreds of puppets, impressive outfits, and lots of dancers. halloween-nyc.com

24 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

Art lovers, be sure to visit Place Jourdan any time before mid-November to see French visual artist Guillaume Bottazzi working on a giant canvas. After he is finished, his 16-metre tall and 7-metre wide pink art piece will become a permanent fixture. Also don’t miss Bottazzi’s ‘Free Creations’ exhibition on view at the Artiscope Gallery, October 3–29. guillaume.bottazzi.org

ISTOCK

NAGOYA

Salty ‘n’ sweet OCT 1 – NOV 13

The sixth annual Nagoyameshi Expo, a massive eating festival, highlights the special salty-sweet foods of Nagoya, such as spicy chicken wings. Delicacies can be tasted at nearly 300 participating restaurants. There will also be performances by local music groups. Meal tickets are available at tourist centres including Oasis 21 and major hotels. nagoyameshi-expo.com

MINÄ OLEN DUSTIN.

Minna Londén Kääntäjä ja tuotevalikoimavastaava

1 200

200 000

brändiä

IT-tuotetta

100

ITammattilaista Suomessa

Uusi IT-peluri on saapunut kaupunkiin. 200 000 IT-tuotetta, 1200 brändiä ja 100 000 yritysasiakasta. Me olemme yksi johtavista IT-tuotteiden sekä niihin liittyvien ratkaisuiden ja palveluiden jälleenmyyjistä Ruotsissa, Tanskassa, Norjassa ja nyt myös Suomessa. Verkkokaupassamme vierailee 2 000 000 kävijää kuukausittain ja Suomessa 100 IT-asiantuntijaa tarjoavat näkemystä, joka tukee liiketoimintaasi. Tervetuloa Dustinille.

MINÄ OLEN DUSTIN. ME OLEMME DUSTIN. LUE LISÄÄ MEISTÄ JA TARJONNASTAMME: DUSTIN.FI

5 000

toimitusta päivittäin

TAKEOFF FINLAND

WILDS OF LAPLAND CALLING Finnair will offer more flights to Kittilä, Ivalo, and Kuusamo during the 2017 spring ski season. Go to finnair.com for the timetable.

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY LAURA IISALO LAURA IISALO

Romany Schillemans, Elmo Luoma-aho, Jouni Rahikainen, and Juho Ekegren enjoy using foraged and local ingredients.

HELSINKI

October events UNTIL OCT 23 THE ‘ANIMAL FARM’ exhibition featuring Swedish artist Roland Persson and Germany’s Marlon Wobst is a study in power: who dominates whom, and what happens if the characters in the works are looking at us? helsinkicontemporary.com ROLAND PERSSON

FROM OCT 28 UNTIL FEB 2

WILD HELSINKI

From forest to fork Foraged ingredients are transformed into decadent delicacies in the hands of local chefs and wild herb enthusiasts.

aantafelwithmaannos.com

26 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

LOCALLY FOUND For Annika Hannus, Anna Nyman, and Pauliina Toivanen, setting up Helsinki Wildfoods means cherishing the local wilderness and its offerings. Apart from hosting foraging walks, workshops, and events, the three-woman enterprise gathers and packages wild foods currently sold by over a dozen retailers in Helsinki. helsinkiwildfoods.com

EETU AHANEN

FINE AND WILD Dutch-Finnish foodie duo Romany Schillemans and Juho Ekegren have joined forces with Elmo Luoma-aho and Jouni Rahikainen to create a relaxed fine dining pop-up in their catering kitchen in the Kalasatama industrial district. Guests are served a full course menu of locally produced and foraged ingredients such as birch, wild mushrooms, game, spruce shoots, and Douglas fir. “We thought it would be amazing to do a ‘last supper’ together before this space is demolished to make space for new buildings,” explains Schillemans. Dinner is served from October 13 through November 27 every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 5 pm. Reservations recommended.

NATURE PRESERVED Run by chefs Toni Kostian and Lauri Kähkönen, Grön features a plant-based menu that changes constantly to embrace fresh, seasonal ingredients. The heroes of the October menu are wild sorrel, lichen, rose petals and flowers, wild mushrooms, berries, and pine. To preserve and bring out the fresh flavours, the duo uses traditional techniques such as fermenting and drying. restaurantgron.com

THE ATENEUM museum features the world-famous Italian modern artist Amedeo Modigliani, offering a glimpse into his works and bohemian life in Montparnasse, Paris. Known for his elegant portraits, Modigliani rose to fame posthumously after his tragic death at the age of 35. ateneum.fi

OCT 29

HELSINKI SAUNA DAY celebrates Finland’s most cherished tradition by opening the doors to private saunas for everyone to enjoy. Participating venues are listed on the website and can be booked in advance. helsinkisaunaday.fi Events subject to change.

”A company’s most important asset is their people.” Mauri Laurila, NCC Property Development

Encouraging innovation through working space “A company’s most important asset is their people,” says Mauri Laurila of NCC Property Development. “Businesses have to prioritise the well-being of their staff to make them effective and encourage their innovativeness.” NCC is developing the Mondo Business Park in Vantaa, Finland with the well-being of people in mind. Instead of focusing on the old cubicle-based floor plans, or even open office layouts, they are creating a home for activity-based offices. “The modern office is modelled on activities,” Laurila explains. “You need quiet for some activities and you need to collaborate for others. There are no fixed work stations. You move around based upon your activity.” The whole point of such a layout is to nurture a more dynamic and inspiring work environment. People from different departments come into contact with each other. Ideas and laughs are

TEXT BY DAVID J. CORD PHOTOS BY NCC, ERIK MÅRTENSSON

shared. With improved well-being and job satisfaction productivity and creativity goes up.

“It is going to be a taller than neighbouring buildings, be very visible and offer great views,” Laurila says.

Centre of the greater Helsinki region

Future office

Mondo is located in Aviapolis, a thriving region near the airport. The area offers space for a variety of uses, from residential to commercial. The popular Jumbo shopping mall is 1.5 kilometres away and there are great connections to the airport or to downtown. “Aviapolis is next to the major Ring Road and has ample parking,” Laurila continues. “Buses stop right beside Mondo and the commuter rail line from the airport terminal has the next stop only 200 meters away.” Mondo is being constructed close to the centre of Aviapolis high on a substantial outcropping of bedrock nestled among a growth of Finland’s famous pine trees.

Mondo has been designed not just as a modern workplace, but as a future workplace. NCC’s planners wanted it to offer long-term flexibility for tenants. “As tenants grow they are able to expand floor to floor through the complex to the neighbouring property, so their area is still connected,” Laurila explains. “In the future we are looking at coworking space as well. We want to create a place so when a tenant sees it they never want to leave.” In Mondo, the whole world is within your reach. Read more about offices of the future ncc.group/mondo

TAKEOFF MAKERS OF FINLAND TEXT AND PHOTO BY LAURA IISALO

Elegant activism Four years ago, Outi Korpilaakso was working as a designer – until she was forced to take a break due to burnout. The hiatus gave her time to rethink her relationship with the fashion industry. “I felt conflicted. It was hard to justify producing more clothing when there’s already too much in this world,” she explains. So Korpilaakso started researching ethical production and took a course in entrepreneurship, where she met communications expert Anniina Mustalahti. Together with Tiina Kosonen, the trio founded the ethical fashion label Lovia. “Things aren’t always black and white. It takes a lot of thought and research to decide the most ecological way forward,” she says. For Lovia, sustainability starts with the materials. In addition to using surplus and organic leathers, the brand is a pioneer in using wild Finnish reindeer, elk, and deerskin supplied by local hunters. The design is based on what’s available. “Traditionally it’s the other way around, but we find ways to utilise materials that would otherwise go to waste,” Korpilaakso explains. The label’s new focus is on jewellery and bags. Inspired by Finnish folklore, mythology, and nature, Korpilaakso aims to create timeless, long-lasting, and elegant products. Already established in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Zurich, Lovia plans to expand to Asia. “Fashion needs more activism,” she says. loviacollection.com Lovia designer and co-founder Outi Korpilaakso sketching in her Helsinki-based studio.

28 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

FASHION ONBOARD Finnair partners with top Finnish designers. So keep an eye out for all the great fashion deals onboard Finnair’s A350 aircraft via the Nordic Sky Wi-Fi portal.

In this series we meet the bright young talents of Nordic design.

FED UP OF THINNING HAIR?

Oxford-rooted hair regimen can boost your self-conﬁdence Seasonal hair loss isn’t a myth, and for many people it’s a real problem. Around this time of year, a greater proportion of hair follicles will enter the telogen, or resting, phase of its life cycle, leading to increased levels of hair loss. To address the problem of thinning hair or a receding hairline, Dr Thomas Whitfield and the Oxford Biolabs team of scientists developed the naturally-based, scientifically-tested TRX2 Molecular Food Supplement for Hair. BW: Dr Whitfield, what gave you the inspiration to begin developing a solution for hair loss? TW: The idea of creating TRX2 hit me when I was in Oxford, researching the process of hair loss. I better understood the causes and effects and, ultimately, the urgency of the issue for many – I’ve always wanted to find a solution for people who have a genuine need. BW: What is the general mechanism of your flagship product? TW: Unlike some products, TRX2 has a credible scientific background and an essential formula that helps to stimulate potassium

ion channels in hair follicles. We’ve only used naturally-based ingredients in the formulation ensuring there are no harmful side-effects to our regimen. Moreover, three of the key ingredients in TRX2 – selenium, zinc, and biotin – are officially recognised by the European Commission as contributing to the maintenance of normal, healthy hair. BW: Is TRX2 perceived well and favoured by consumers? TW: Yes, we’re proud of our products, because they are easy-to- use and suitable for men and women of all ages. They are sourced and manufactured in the European Union, from where we ship worldwide, and have been sold in more than 100 countries. BW: Is TRX2 efficient on its own? TW: Yes, it is efficient on its own. And additionally, we have recently introduced an advanced TRX2 topical range of foam and lotion to complement our TRX2 capsules. We are working on a shampoo, conditioner and thickening cream as a further support line.

INTRODUCTORY OFFER Order via www.tiny.cc/TRX2-Finn and use the coupon code Finn to receive 5% discount.

+44 800 808 52 51

TRAVEL TRENDS

BUZZWORD OF THE MOMENT Floga – pre-flight yoga classes in a designated airport lounge for those about to embark on a long-haul journey to help travellers stretch and relax before their flight.

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY KATJA PANTZAR ILLUSTRATION BY ISTOCK

3 unusual places to stay

UNDERWATER Watch tropical fish swim by in the azure waters at the submerged guestroom with wraparound glass walls at Manta Resort Pemba in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

themantaresort.com

The benefits of an inquiring mind “Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own.” That was the main takeaway of a TED talk by award-winning filmmaker and deep sea explorer James Cameron, whose blockbusters such as Aliens and Avatar journey to other realities. Indeed, there’s an extensive body of research that charts the psychological, social, emotional, and health benefits of being interested and engaged in the world. In the travel sector, the “Curious Traveller” is the key target market of the Leading Hotels of the World, a collection of unique luxury hotels that includes Helsinki’s Hotel Kämp. According to LHW’s 2016 global study, “travel is key to the Curious Traveller, an affluent individual who, above all else, values exploration and discovery.” Some 79 per cent of respondents felt travel was an essential part of life, while 78 per cent 30 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

expressed interest in exploring a destination’s hidden gems. “When they travel they seek culture, cuisine, and connection with locals. They buck trends and look for ‘what’s next’ over brand names. And when it comes to making memories and having a story to tell, they will spend more,” sums up the report. More than half of respondents – 54 per cent – look for unique and different travel adventures while only 32 per cent look for the hottest or trendiest spots. Cultural immersion is key – 68 per cent of survey respondents said they think it’s important to immerse in a destination and learn about its culture: history, architecture, food, and people. For the survey, more than 1,500 highend travellers in the US, Japan, and Germany between the ages of 25 and 64 were interviewed during September 2015. As for the Curious Traveller’s top destination, 70 per cent chose Europe.

I N A MONASTERY Sleep in a historic cave dwelling complete with Ottomanstyle rugs and antiques at the Gamirasu Cave Hotel in Turkey’s Cappadocia, the honeycombed subterranean city that’s perfect for exploring.

gamirasu.com

TENTING IN LUXURY Try glamping “glamourous camping“ at Japan’s Hoshinoya Fuji in the foothills of Mount Fuji, one of the Wonders of the World.

hoshinoyafuji.com Source: Exsus luxury tailor-made travel

NEW LIFE FOR VENERABLE PROPERTIES TEXT BY DAVID J. CORD

liel Saarinen is one of Finland’s most famous architects. He built the Finnish National Museum and Helsinki’s railway station. He worked in Europe and across the American Midwest. It is rare for his buildings to come on the market, but now there are two available. “These are prestige properties,” says Mauri Sahi, Director of Senate Properties. “They are in great locations and have fantastic histories.” Senate Properties, better known as Senaatti, manages the real estate assets of the State of Finland. More and more of these buildings are no longer needed. “The government wants to use these properties more efficiently,” Sahi explains. “If they are no longer needed our job is to develop or sell them. Sometimes we have these very prominent properties come on the market.”

HISTORICAL BUILDINGS Two of these properties now for sale were designed by Eliel Saarinen. The famous Marble Palace in Helsinki’s exclusive Kaivopuisto district opened in 1918. Designed in the Classic style, it has been used as a private residence as well as a court house. One year later Saarinen completed the Munkkiniemi Training Centre, which has over 7,000 square meters and

sits on a leafy street two blocks from the sea. The building has housed Finland’s Air Force and Customs. “This could be developed for high-end flats, a hotel or assisted living facilities,” Sahi suggests. Another significant property for sale is Vuorikatu 24 in central Helsinki. Formerly home of the Meteorological Institute, the 8,500 square meter building is near the railway station and offers an exclusive view of the Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden.

HELSINKI HIGH-RISE But Senate Properties does more than sell properties no longer used by the State. They have teamed up with the City of Helsinki to develop the Central Pasila Tower Area, right next to downtown. Organisers expect towers at least fifteen stories tall and about 200,000 square metres of space to be developed. “Helsinki High-rise is a competition to design and construct residential, office and commercial space,” Sahi says. “Bids should be coming in during 2017. We are really excited to see how this develops.”

www.senaatti.fi

DESTINATION SWITZERLAND

Say

cheese

If artisanal cheese is the new culinary cool, then Switzerland has been über-trendy for the past 900 years. Local cheesemaking traditions are hipper than ever – only the robots are new. TEXT BY SILJA KUDEL PHOTOS BY VILLE PALONEN

32 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

A robot normally handles the 35 kg wheels of Gruyère AOP at Fredéric Pasquier’s Fribourg cheesery.

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

It’s 6:00 am and local farmers from within a 4 km radius begin delivering raw milk on trailers to the Näff dairy in Appenzell.

“To be honest, we’re very old-fashioned. We want to preserve our cheeses exactly as they are for our grandchildren,” says Laure Rousseau, who works for the Gruyère AOP organisation.

t’s 3:00 am and Matthias Näff wakes up to prepare the morning’s whey cultures before the first tanks of milk begin arriving at 6:00 am. Eleven local farmers supply raw milk to the artisan cheesery run by Matthias and his father Ernst in the German-speaking canton of Appenzell in north-east Switzerland. “There are three of us who work here full-time, which is roughly average for a Swiss cheese dairy. There’s no such thing as a cheese factory in Switzerland,” says Näff, offering a sample of Appenzeller, a hard, pungent cheese with a distinctly nutty flavour. Prepared to a recipe unchanged for seven centuries, Appenzeller’s spicy tanginess is accented by the 21-herb brine wash that is rubbed on the rind as the cheese matures. “We have no idea what’s in the brine. It’s delivered by a local producer. Only two people in the world know the secret recipe,” reveals Näff. LABOUR OF LOVE After the raw milk is pumped into copper vats, Näff adds the starter cultures and rennet – a natural ingredient extracted from calf stomach – and the curdling begins. As the milk is heated, it gradually forms a grainy, dense mass. “All the cheeses made in this region are basically artisan cheeses. Everything that’s super-trendy these days – local artisanal food, traceability, and sustainability – has been part of our heritage for centuries,” says Näff, who made his first ‘freestyle’ cheese at the age of 12.

34 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

He describes cheese-making as a calling that requires fastidiousness and absolute dedication. “Many Swiss cheesemakers work seven days a week for decades without a holiday,” says Näff. FARM TO FORK An identical routine is repeated every morning by Fredéric Pasquier, who runs a cheesery in the village of Gruyères in French-speaking Fribourg. Pasquier’s pride and joy is Gruyère AOP (Appellation d’Origine Protegée), an earthy, complex cheese produced in the region since 1115. Judging by his near-fanatical scrubbing and constant quality checks, he takes much pride in the AOP mark, which indicates a high-quality product with deep-rooted regional origins. Kissing his two boys as they leave for school, he dips his hand into the yellowish curd and kneads the mass to check its texture. It’s thumbs-up: time to pump the contents of the vats into round moulds. Each mould is marked with the inscription ‘Le Gruyère AOP’ and the number of the dairy. “Each wheel can be traced to the very cow the milk came from,” reveals Pasquier. ROBOTS IN THE CELLAR Although Gruyère is an artisanal cheese, creative experimentation is a definite no-no. “People often ask ‘Why don’t you add nuts or herbs?’ With AOP products, you follow strict conventions. You don’t innovate,” says straight-faced Pasquier. “But the cheese reacts differently every day

FONDUE ME

Fondue is the easiest, most sociable of foods, which many Swiss families enjoy at least once a week. If friends drop by after hours, no panic. You can pick up a fondue kit from an automat. These unusual vending machines are found next door to many cheese dairies in Switzerland. Day-old bread is best for dipping in your fondue, as fresh bread crumbles easily. According to local tradition, men who drop their bread in the pot have to run around the house naked. Women have to kiss every man at the table.

The stronger Appenzeller cheeses are aged 10 months. OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

CHEESELOVER’S CHECKLIST PEEK IN THE CAULDRON See cauldron-made cheese prepared over a fire in an 18th century alpine chalet. Hike up to the 2,002 metre summit of Le Moléson or take a cable car from Plan-Francey. Open May to September, advance booking advised. Frogramerie d’alpage, Moléson moleson.ch/en

HOUSE OF GRUYÈRE Not all cheesemakers welcome impromptu visits from hordes of tourists, but you can discover the secrets of Gruyère AOP at this modern demonstration dairy. Your ticket includes free samples. La Maison du Gruyère lamaisondugruyere.ch

HIKE UP AN APPETITE Combine a workout with a day of cheese-tasting by hiking from dairy to dairy in the fresh mountain air. Two itineraries are available. Ask for a route map from the Maison du Gruyère. Sentier des Fromageries myswitzerland.com/en/cheesedairy-and-nature-trail-throughgreyerzerland.html

FOND OF FONDUE? It would be a sin to visit Gruyères without tucking into a local fondue. The moitié-moitié (Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois melted together in a pot) at Des Remparts is highly recommended. remparts-resto.com

ALIEN ABDUCTION No cheesy trip to Switzerland would be complete without a visit to this museum dedicated to local-boydone-good H.R. Giger, Oscar winner for his design work on the film Alien. If you fancy drinking cocktails in the belly of an extra-terrestrial, visit the outrageous Giger Bar next door. Musée HR Giger hrgigermuseum.com

36 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

Jean-Louis Roche is ranked by his peers as one of the region’s top Alpage producers.

depending on the humidity and what the cows have been eating, which keeps my job interesting,” says Pasquier. Meanwhile, down in the cellar, a robot turns and washes the heavy wheels of cheese with a steady rat-atat rhythm. Curing lasts from three to ten months; the longer the curing period, the tastier the cheese. Pasquier gently picks up a wheel and taps its belly as if handling a precious heirloom. With thousands of aromatic beauties resting on ceiling-high wooden shelves – each wheel worth 600 euros – there’s a small fortune tucked away in Pasquier’s unassuming cellar.

Each wheel can be traced to the very cow the milk came from.

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS You’ll find no robots in the rustic chalet where JeanLouis Roche stirs a large cauldron of curd over a crackling fire, 1,291 metres above Gruyères. Roche is one of 52 local producers who hand-make Gruyère Alpage using milk from cows that graze on wild flowers and grasses in alpine pastures, giving the cheese its inimitable flavour. Impervious to the postcard-perfect view unfolding from his window, Roche works in a state of extreme

TOP 4 SWISS CHEESES • APPENZELLER® acquires its spicy taste from a top-secret herbal brine. This gourmet cheese is produced according to a 700-year-old recipe in a strictly delimited area. • EMMENTALER AOP, ‘the king of Swiss cheeses’, takes its name from the Emme Valley. It comes in varying degrees of maturity from mild to highly aromatic cave-aged cheese matured over 12 months. • LE GRUYÈRE AOP is a subtle hard cheese with a dark rind and dense texture, not to be confused with French Gruyère. The French and the Swiss have battled bitterly over the right to use the famed name.

ZR H

• VACHERIN FRIBOURGEOIS AOP is a sophisticated cheese with a pleasant aroma and flavour – perfect for thick, creamy fondue.

Fin nai Zu r ric h t flies to w ic finn air e dail .co m y.

LUT eMBA [ Yksilöllinen valinta ] Vaihtoehtoiset teemaopinnot alkamassa Innovaatiojohtaminen 25/11/2016 alkaen Lahdessa Hankintojen johtaminen 3/2017 alkaen Lahdessa Tietojohtaminen 3/2017 alkaen Lahdessa Teemaopinnot valittavana myös erillisinä asiantuntijaohjelmina.

LISÄTIETOJA:

LUT Täydennyskoulutus

Asiakkuuspäällikkö Sari Valkeapää sari.valkeapaa@lut.fi

lut.fi/mba

Rohkeat ajattelevat toisin. Ole yksi meistä.

Jean-Louis Roche’s 40 cows graze on a variety of fresh alpine flowers that add complexity to his cheeses.

concentration, stoking the fire to keep the cauldron at a steady temperature. With Alpage cheeses fetching up to 700 euros per wheel, even the tiniest slip can be costly. Raising his head briefly, Roche notes that their special flavour is the sum of complex details: “Even the smoky firewood adds character.” COW PARADE Every spring Roche leads his herd of 40 cows to graze in the mountains, where they each yield 20 litres of milk a day. In October they return to the village in a colourful seven-hour procession, with cheesemakers kitted out in traditional garb and cows wearing huge floral garlands and cowbells the size of watermelons. “The prettiest cows march first in line. It’s a great photo opportunity,” chuckles Roche. “But in truth this is a hard life. Producing Alpage cheese is very labourintensive, with only old-fashioned pulleys to lift the 25 kilogram wheels of cheese. My day begins with milking at five and I finish at nightfall.” Like his colleagues in the valley, Roche honours local traditions with near-religious fervour, which ironically makes his cheeses trendier than ever. They are 100 per cent authentic, artisanal, and traceable – a gift from heaven for hipster foodies. Roche adds, “We’re known in Switzerland as tough cops for quality. We want to preserve our cheeses exactly the way our ancestors made them. That’s the way we like it.” l 38 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

WHAT PUTS THE HOLES IN SWISS CHEESE? Scientists have finally figured out this long-standing mystery. The answer is barn dirt, or “microscopically small hay particles,” reports the Swiss government agricultural institute. This also explains why the iconic holes are disappearing. With the advent of automated milking machines, fewer flecks of hay find their way into the raw milk, which is becoming ‘too clean.’

BEHIND THE SCENES

Silja Kudel is a writer from Sydney whose travels in Switzerland cured her former aversion to smelly cheeses.

Ville Palonen

has been photographing food and wine features in Chile, South Africa, and Luxembourg. The highlight of his trip to Switzerland was visiting an Alpage, a traditional mountain dairy.

THE MOST INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING FIRM IN FINLAND Wide-ranging expertise and a good service attitude have made Rantalainen Finland’s leading accounting firm for companies with international operations.

There is no financial administration question in the world that Rantalainen’s international team won’t solve. From left: Matti Salonen, Joakim Lindfors, Hanna Ala-Sippola, Anna Piiroinen, Tanya Tapaila, Simon Prätorius and Carmelo Holguin. Image: Paula Lehto

ervice Manager Joakim Lindfors, who heads up Rantalainen’s international unit in Vantaa, exudes a certain calm cheerfulness. That, and patience, are necessary, because serving international customers is a process of constant tailoring and compromising between the legal duties in Finland and customers’ internal reporting. It is not uncommon for Lindfors and his subordinates to receive a 100-page manual from abroad on how to handle a customer’s accounting. “We create a reporting model that fulfils both the customer’s needs and the demands of Finnish legislation. In practice, we act as a link between the customer’s requirements and the Finnish tax authority,” Lindfors says.

A ONE-STOP SHOP Rantalainen Accounting Services Ltd. is the third-largest chain of accounting firms in Finland and the largest family company in the industry, with over 500 employees. The company serves both foreign companies establishing themselves in Finland and Finnish companies seeking to enter the international market. Rantalainen’s clients operating in Finland have parent companies in Asia, Israel, the United States, Spain, Russia, Estonia, Croatia, Serbia, Germany and

the Scandinavian countries, just to name a few. Outside of Finland, Rantalainen serves customers itself as well as in cooperation with its partners in Russia, Estonia and Sweden. For example, its subsidiary in St. Petersburg offers financial administration and legal services for foreign companies establishing themselves or broadening their operations in Russia in cooperation with the Finnish legal office MK-Law Ltd. The idea is that Rantalainen’s customers in Finland can also handle financial administration for their companies in Russia and Estonia while still dealing with a Finnish company. “If desired, the customer can receive all the necessary consulting and financial reporting regarding its international operations in its preferred language and in Finland, adapted to suit the IFRS or FAS system,” says Jussi Ala-Risku, Business Director at Rantalainen. Rantalainen is part of the Geneva Group International (GGI) network of experts, which enables the company to arrange financial administration services for its customers in 120 different countries. In addition to Finnish and Swedish, Rantalainen’s international unit has employees who speak German, Russian, Estonian and Spanish as their mother tongue, as well as English, Italian, Portuguese, Danish and Norwegian as second languages. The unit employs experts with degrees in financial administration from Russia, Estonia, Germany, Spain and the Dominican Republic, in addition to Finland.

TOP5

Quirky London

MAY THE FORTS BE WITH YOU The Thames Estuary’s Redsand Forts were installed 12 kilometres out at sea in 1943 to defend London from aerial and waterborne attack during the Second World War, shooting down 22 planes, 30 flying bombs, and being instrumental in the loss of one U-boat. Used since for pirate radio, The Prodigy’s 2009 ‘Invaders Must Die’ music video, and Red Bull cliff diving, their future may be as a luxury hotel, spa, and museum. The 72-tonne charter vessel X-Pilot runs trips to the forts throughout the year. operationredsandforts.com x-pilot.co.uk

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Forget Big Ben and Buckingham Palace; London’s lesser-known attractions are just as interesting – and come with in-the-know kudos. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY SIMON FRY

WALK THE LINE Opened in May 2015, The Line is a three-mile art trail running from the O2 Arena in North Greenwich to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. Roughly following the Greenwich Meridian (marked by a milepost at the arena’s rear), the trail crosses the Thames via the Emirates Air Line cable car and features works by artists such as Damien Hirst and Antony Gormley. Taking in winding waterways, the route takes about three hours to complete: just try following it without singing the Johnny Cash song. the-line.org

HIDE AND SLIDE Britain’s largest public artwork – the 114.5 metre-tall ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture – hides the world’s longest and tallest tunnel slide. Standing beside West Ham United’s London Stadium in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the slide is 178 metres long and takes 40 seconds to ride at 25 km/h. Visitors enjoy a 30-kilometre view from the top before looping 12 times around the sculpture on a mat. Riders wear head-protection and elbow pads and there are lockers onsite. arcelormittalorbit.com

GOING UNDERGROUND London Underground’s history is brought to life by a fascinating walking (and riding) tour recommended by leading UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph. In two hours you’ll discover how Queen Victoria coined the term ‘Tube,’ three possible explanations for the name ‘Piccadilly,’ and which line is the snobbiest! You’ll also spot distinctive oxblood tiles and the abandoned British Museum station, be told how the Underground became a brand (thanks, in part, to its iconic map), and where its ghosts live. insider-london.co.uk

HO CHI MINH’S HOTELS Many may be unaware that the founder of modern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, lived in London as a young man and worked in two of its hotels. A plaque on what is now the New Zealand High Commission, at New Zealand House, 80 Haymarket (off Pall Mall) marks the site of the former Carlton Hotel, which was bombed in the Second World War. Ho Chi Minh worked there (allegedly, as a pastry chef) in 1913. Before that, he spent time, possibly as a coal-shoveller, at the present Drayton Court Hotel in Ealing. draytoncourtlondon.co.uk

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

EUROPEAN VOICES BY STEFAN NILSSON

Curiosity conquers

uriosity killed the cat, or so tectural projects, encouraging visitors to take pictures and post them on Instagram they say. This proverb makes being inquisitive sound like a with the hashtag #includeme. The red fignegative thing, but as a trend ures represented refugees, and the figurine hunter, curiosity is a virtue. project was intended to raise awareness The world is constantly changing, and it’s we are facing in sheltering them. Which important to stay in touch with these should we prioritise: fancy architecture or changes. Only curiosity can keep me up to social housing? speed. But it’s not only trend hunters who Curiosity was also the keynote of a proneed curiosity to forge ahead. ject launched during the London Design Festival. In September last year, British There are numerous examples of companies trying to foster curiosity among co- designer Faye Toogood was invited to workers. One classic case is Google urging exhibit at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. She wanted to engage and surits employees to find new web email soluprise the visitors by tions as an alternahanding them a ‘magic’ tive to programs like coat and map and sendOutlook. Google CURIOSITY COMES FROM ing them on a scavenofficially wrote: WANTING TO EXPLORE. ger hunt. Thanks to the “We encourage our foam coats with maps employees, in addisewn into their lining, tion to their reguthe most dull part of the museum became lar projects, to spend 20 per cent of their the most exciting. Along the halls of the time working on what they think will most benefit Google.” In 2004 Google museum, they discovered more coats in the form of sculptures inspired by Toolaunched Gmail, a concept enagood’s ten favourite museum pieces. bling connection with YouTube, But what next? Schools, too, are placchecking emails, and countless ing emphasis on curiosity. At Japan’s Aichi other tricks – all brainstormed University of Technology, they use virtual by employees who were asked reality and other technology to educate to spend time on creative, people on the aftermath of tsunamis and new projects on top of their other natural disasters. And we are bound daily tasks. to see a lot more curiosity-driven advances The Swedish archiin technology, from voice-controlled TV tect studio Codesign is to augmented reality, as in Pokémon Go. similarly fostering curiBut don’t be fooled by the tech hype: osity with what they call curiosity comes from wanting to explore CoRS (Codesign Research Studio). Besides designmore –technology is just the tool. ing houses, apartments, and Curiosity is good. Be more curious. offices, they encourage coAnd courageous. l workers to drive debate on what constitutes good living or working Stefan Nilsson is a Stockholm-based trend conditions. Such debate isn’t neceshunter and gallerist. Best known for his blog sarily directly good for business, but Trendstefan, he is also the owner of Designgaltalking about how we live on a larger public scale is certainly good for society. leriet and head of the Designbloggarna blog network. Check out his YouTube channel At this year’s Venice architectural bienTrendstefan TV as well as his Instagram nale, they invited co-workers to place account: @trendstefan small red plastic figurines in their archi-

42 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

CELEBRATING THE ONE-YEAR

ANNIVERSARY OF A350 OPERATIONS

Finnair is the first European airline to fly the A350 XWB aircraft that substantially raises the bar for passenger comfort and environmental performance. Experience a new sense of flying at A350.finnair.com

Finnair ﬂies to all major cities in Asia and over 60 destinations in Europe.

DESTINATION CHONGQING

Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

METAMORPOLIS 44 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

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Chongqing architecture goes beyond supertall buildings and neon lights to reveal an evolutionary cityscape. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY DANIEL ALLEN

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

The Chongqing skyline towers above the Jialing River at sunset.

y late afternoon the twin towers of the Sheraton Hotel in Chongqing have become a blinding testament to the city’s newfound wealth and power. As their golden glass reflects the sun’s low orb, passersby don sunglasses to counter the glare. A steady stream of SUVs and luxury sedans pull up outside, unloading well-heeled residents eager to sample the all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. Love it or hate it, the architectural bling of the Sheraton Chongqing demands attention. While the golden tower sits at the more extreme end of this south-west Chinese city’s slew of ostentatious new structures, it typifies a trend. Chongqing is here and it wants the world to notice. Once described as the “biggest city you’ve never heard of,” Chongqing is slowly raising its profile, just as its skyline seems to inch taller every week. While “Chicago on the Yangtze,” one of the newer mantras being bandied around, is still fanciful, the city’s built environment is today showing signs of a slow maturation. “A large and continuous building frenzy does not always result in the best quality,” says professor Will Alsop, director of London-based architectural firm aLL Design, which also has an office in Chongqing. “Now we have grown more used to Chongqing’s sense of importance, however, the quality is coming,” he says.

ATYPICAL METROPOLIS By 2030, one in every eight people on the planet will live in a Chinese city. Nowhere is China’s urban transformation more evident than in Chongqing, the largest city on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, with an estimated popula46 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

The bold architecture of the Sheraton Chongqing

HIP HOTELS

With a growing focus on cutting edge architecture, Chongqing boasts a burgeoning range of chic accommodation.

DOUBLETREE BY HILTON CHONGQING NORTH Stylish décor, English-speaking staff, and a great location make this is one of Chongqing’s most popular high-end hotels. chongqingnorth.doubletree.com

SHERATON CHONGQING Overlooking the Yangtze, this opulent hotel’s distinctive golden towers means you’ll never have trouble finding your way home in the evening. starwoodhotels.com

Matthew Priestman of Pristman Architects

Creatives at work at the CQubed Hub

tion of anywhere between 10 and 15 million people. Chongqing is not your typical Chinese megalopolis. Unlike sprawling, pancake-flat places like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, this is an ultra high-density city, shoehorned between rivers and mountain peaks. Constricted by geography, an ever-growing collection of soaring office and apartment blocks now sprout from its rust-coloured soil. Chongqing’s demanding topography also means building under and over numerous natural obstacles:

The city is home to some of the longest bridges in the world, which in most western cities would be lauded for their sheer scale. Here they are simply ways to drive to and from the office or shopping mall. But times are changing. In the past, entire neighbourhoods in Chongqing would be demolished to make way for new projects, with residents shifted en mass to alternative locations. As China’s economy has slowed, though, the city’s developers have become more tempered. “The economic downturn is a good thing for Chongqing architecture,” says Matthew Priestman, founder of architectural firm Priestman Architects, which has offices in the city, as well as in London and Hong Kong. “In an increasingly demand-led environment, businesspeople are being forced to think more carefully about what will sell. It’s also more and more expensive to move people, so new redevelopment models are cropping up,” says Priestman. INDUSTRIAL EXPERIMENTS With its long history of manufacturing (think armaments, iron and steel, cars, and more recently electronics), Chongqing has more than its fair share of industrial buildings, many of which are rundown and derelict. The regeneration of these sites is now part of the city’s architectural metamorphosis. On land close to Chongqing’s Eling Park, high above the Jialing River, sits Testbed II, a collection of partially renovated and derelict factory buildings gradually being transformed by Will Alsop’s aLL Design. The masterplan for the site includes apartments, a hotel, an artistic enclave, shop, and office space, and caters to a new generation of Chinese demanding a more relaxed and flexible workplace interspersed with other distractions. “The Testbed II project is one of the first in Chongqing to halt the rot of knocking everything down and building new,” says Allsop. “The working environment OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

A new road and rail bridge over the Jialing River

is particularly suited to young, digitally creative people and businesses who don’t want their offices to resemble other offices.” INFORMAL OFFICES Over at the CQubed Hub, north across the Jialing River in Chongqing’s Jiangbei District, a rethink of the work environment is also evident. With a design by Priestman Architects, the two-storey, collaborative space is housed within a period piece wooden building. It boasts open plan offices, exposed pipes, naked light bulbs, and even a de rigueur hipster fixie, perched on a second floor landing. Home to a design-led venture capital firm and two other startups, CQubed is a world away from the anodyne cubicles that still typify most commercial offices in China. “We wanted to create a space which encouraged interaction and innovation,” explains Matthew Priestman. “Chongqing actually has quite an informal, liberalised work environment, so this kind of set up really caters to that.” In Chongqing today, supertall buildings and gaudy neon obviously still catch the eye. But digging deeper, some of the city’s more progressive, small scale architecture and interior design highlights the way in which the urban landscape, and people’s attitude towards it, is evolving. “You can’t take your eyes off architecture in Chongqing,” says Will Allsop. “To work here and to witness the evolution taking place is fascinating. It’s like a colossal experiment.” l 48 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

Old factory buildings at the Testbed II site

BEHIND THE SCENES

Daniel Allen

Writer and photographer Daniel Allen has lived all over the world, but is currently based in London and St. Petersburg. His work has featured in numerous publications, including The Sunday Times, The Guardian, and National Geographic Traveller. daniel-allen.net

attractive employers 2016

Wärtsilä is in the midst of a digital revolution. From running the ships or total fleet and power plants to their maintenance, ever more information is being gathered and analyzed.

CHANGING the world in a changing world

THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION IS OFTEN SPOKEN ABOUT, BUT INSTEAD OF MERE TALK DIGITALIZATION IS TAKING HOLD OF JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING AND IT’S A WAY OF LIFE.

ärtsilä leads the way in a changing world. Having a history of over 180 years, the company wants to be in business for at least the following 180 years. And the speed of change is gathering momentum. “Some of the trends that we have found to characterize the current change include,” according to Mr. Mikael Simelius, Vice President of Marketing from Wärtsilä’s Marine Solutions, “greener actions and options, digitalization in terms of sharing information of and even a new possible business model.” Also, Simelius foresees that upcoming legislation is going to be even harder than to-

day on emissions. Therefore, the future might include new forms of powering that rely on resources we have not yet seen.

Digitalization changes the whole society, not only industry Digitalization changes and has already changed the way we do business, we interact and run the world. Already now we can see changes from the convention – AirBnB, Über, unmanned cars, just to mention some recent developments. Just about everything produces data that can be analyzed for even better results, but it’s also the small data that needs to be understood to get the PRODUCED BY CALCUS.COM

big picture, the reasons behind the behaviors. One does not always think that such areas as transportation and power generation rely heavily on digital information, but they do – and even more so in the not so distant future. “The change, which is already happening, creates also new opportunities for us”, says Simelius. Exciting and changing times call for extraordinary people. Simelius knows that companies like Wärtsilä can offer interesting opportunities to people with different backgrounds, also other than technically oriented individuals, who are all needed in shaping the future. ●

DESTINATION FRENCHTOWN

A WRITER’S JERSEY HIDEAWAY

TEXT BY WIF STENGER PHOTOS BY SINIMAARIA KANGAS

lizabeth Gilbert lived in some of the planet’s most colourful places before writing the bestseller Eat Pray Love. Then she and José Nunes – the main male character in the book – settled in an unlikely spot: Frenchtown, a quiet borough in New Jersey. Gilbert and Nunes recently parted ways after selling Two Buttons, their Asian antiques store in the village, but Gilbert still lives there, close to the river. “I love the big, old Delaware River that never stops moving – a wonderful metaphor for letting things go,” she says. A narrow steel bridge spans the clear, shallow river, which is popular for fishing, kayaking, and inner-tubing. Close by are several cafés where Gilbert likes to write, as well as galleries, studios, and the Book Garden bookshop. “We strive to be part of this eclectic community, which is populated with many artists – including writers,” says the store’s proprietor Robert Rando. “As popular as Elizabeth has become, if you run

into her, she’s just ‘one of the guys’, a pleasure to speak with and a neighbour who adds to the ambiance of the town,” notes Rando. Adding to that ambiance is the Farmers’ Market on Sundays, which features live music and children’s activities. There’s also a bike shop, a toy store, and the whimsical Minette’s Candies. “I love Frenchtown because it’s built on the scale of a human body,” says Gilbert. “Everything’s in easy walking distance. Almost every house has a small porch, where people sit and talk to their neighbours. Every business is owned by someone who actually lives here,” she says. That includes its eccentric Victorian houses and old industrial buildings, many now being repurposed. Gilbert isn’t worried about overdevelopment, though. “The town fathers – and mothers – are aware of what a treasure this place is, and have rules in place to keep it from growing too fast. I trust the town to only attract people who relish this wonderful place.” l frenchtownboro.com

ARTYARD

BOOK GARDEN

THE FRENCHTOWN INN

Elizabeth Gilbert’s and José Nunes’ store, Two Buttons, has been taken over by the ArtYard artists’ collective, who are installing a 238-seat theatre and cinema, shop, art gallery, and studios. Gilbert hopes this project will “bring more life into the community.” The Lovin’ Oven café serves in the same building. artyard.org

This cosy wooden house is perfect for whiling away an afternoon, browsing new and used titles. The shop promotes local authors, hosts writing workshops, readings, book clubs and kids’ activities, and runs a radio theatre programme. Help yourself to coffee in the kitchen and don’t miss the rare book collection. bookgarden.biz

This former train station from 1838 has been a family-operated restaurant for two decades. The food is mostly local, as is the art on the dining room’s exposedbrick walls. The Bar & Grill and front porch offer folksier eating, drinking, and people-watching. You may want to reserve a table in advance. frenchtowninn.com

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The Book Garden carries an eclectic array of new and used books, including works by homegrown authors. OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

EUROPEAN VOICES BY ALEXANDER STUBB

Three golden rules for apps

he multitude of mobile applihad to second-guess your running discations available have probably tance and stop to measure your heart rate? changed your life – and likely I use Suunto Movescount, Wattbike powerfor the better. app, Strava, and Sports Tracker to monitor Android and iOS users have my own health and exercise activities. And more than 4 million applications available to when I do sports I often listen to Spotify or them. The most popular are games – which my AccuRadio application. comprise one quarter of all apps. Then There are, however, a few golden rules come business (10 per cent), education (9 that you should keep in mind with health per cent), lifestyle (9 per cent), and enterand sports apps. tainment (6 per cent). Other popular apps Rule number one: An app is a good servinclude travel (4 per cent), books (3 per ant, but a bad master. The apps that take cent), health and fitmeasurements ness (3 per cent), and automatically – music (2.5 per cent). AS WITH MOST THINGS IN LIFE, without you havJust have a look at ing to manually APPS SHOULD BE USED IN your smart phone and enter the info – MODERATION. count the number are usually the of things that best. Steps, heart you used to do beat, or sleep differently. Let’s start with the obvicycles are fun to look at when you do not ous for someone on a Finnair flight: need to be worrying about them all the travel. time. A number of travel apps will Rule number two: What you measure is sort out your whole itinerary from what you get. If you start recording daily flights to accommodation and steps you are most likely to take a few extra ground travel. If you’re like me, you ones during the day. We have a tendency to haven’t done a physical check-in or want to be good at what we are interested in seen a printed boarding card for a and studies show that it takes, on average, while. 66 days to create a good – or bad – habit. When I travel I often use Uber for Rule number three: Gamification works. taxi services, Airbnb for accommodaMany of the health apps use challenges to tions and Yelp! for restaurant recomkeep you motivated. Getting to the next mendations. No need for phone calls, Yel- Pokémon Go level is a good way to get you low Pages, or cash and they’re all easy and off the couch. efficient to use. The point with apps, as with most things, The same goes for general transport. is to use them in moderation. They are useTop range cars such as Tesla are now ful tools for making life easier, but if you connected to applications that give you start using them as a substitute for common all the necessary data. Parking is eassense, you just might get lost. Remember ier if you use an app. Public transport that the next time you use a navigation app schedules are all handily available on on your run to a health store. l your smart phone. A navigation app will tell you the fastest and cheapest Alexander Stubb, the former prime minister of Finland, has been writing columns for Blue way from point A to B. Wings since 2005. Please send your app How about sports and health? recommendations to @alexstubb. Remember the time when you

52 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

INTRODUCING ECONOMY

COMFORT Make your trip comﬁer with more legroom

FOR US, A GREAT TRIP IS ABOUT PEACE OF MIND. THAT’S WHY WE CREATED ECONOMY COMFORT Enjoy priority boarding and exiting, get a seat in the front of the Economy cabin with up to 8-13 cm more legroom, a special headrest and noise-cancelling headphones, and relax using the privacy enhancing products in your personal amenity kit. Start tailoring your flight experience and select your Economy Comfort seat for your next long-haul flight at finnair.com

FINNAIR PLUS BE ACTIVE and win Finnair Plus points. The more you run, the more points you can win: ten million points are available! Start by linking your Suunto Movescount & Finnair Plus accounts. Learn more at finnair.com/beactive

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Barcelonaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s city centre, packed with parks and architectural wonders is made for exploring. GETTY IMAGES

54 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

City runners’ secrets Running is a great way to keep fit while travelling – and discover new sides of iconic places. Local runners from three cities share their top tips.

BARCELONA

TEXT BY MATT MITCHELL

ON GAUDI’S DOORSTEP BARCELONA boasts a number of distinctive running experiences, all within its city limits. There are wild and mountainous routes around Mt. Tibidabo that lead through well-packed trails to the top of Barcelona’s highest hill, home to one of the oldest amusement parks in the world. There are also easily accessible and serene stretches of paths along the Mediterranean Sea and Barcelona beach. And the city centre itself, packed with parks and unique architectural wonders like Gaudi’s Sagrada Família, is almost made for exploring by running. PEP CUBERES

Jes Bonet cruises through Barcelona.

Jes Bonet, a life-long runner and former national cross-country champion, is the founder of ‘Run4You,’ an accessible, community-driven running group. Barcelona offers running weather year-round, and Bonet has made the most of this, exploring every part of her city. To her, “running is the ultimate expression of freedom,” and her chosen route embodies that sense of adventure.

ROUTE MONTJUÏC For Bonet, the iconic hill of Montjuïc is one of the best places to get away, despite being only a few metres off the busiest streets. “This garden is the city’s lungs. It offers some of the best panoramic views of Barcelona,” she says. The route runs through the botanical gardens and the ‘Magic Fountain’ built in 1929 during the Great Universal Exhibition. It continues past the National Palace, a neo-Baroque pavilion turned Art Museum, and to the top of Montjuïc Castle, which provides commanding 360-degree views of the city, the sea, and the surrounding hills. The descent heads back down by the Olympic Stadium. In all, it covers 8.4 km, a 300-metre climb, and all sorts of wonders.

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

MATT MITCHELL

New York has over 1,700 city parks which provide ample opportunity for running.

NEW YORK

A QUICK TASTE OF THE BIG APPLE NEW YORK is a runner’s city. Despite its frenetic pace and concrete jungles, NYC also has many pockets of peace, including over 1,700 city parks which provide ample opportunity for memorable running experiences. All five boroughs have running destinations including Flushing to Meadows Corona Park in Queens and Prosies ly. fl ir ai a d n pect Park in Brooklyn, which are well worth Fin York m the commute. Manhattan is packed with o w c Ne nair. options including Hudson River Park, the fin longest waterfront park in the US. The park also offers a host of other fun activities along the speedy shoreline, including kayaking, ice skating, a golf driving range, and even sailing lessons.

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Regardless of your chosen route, making your time matter is a must in busy NYC. Avid runner Gene Gurkoff has created an app that makes those miles count. Through Charity Miles, socially-conscious corporate and brand sponsors donate to the charity of your choice based on the miles you move. “It is inspiring to see how the Charity Miles community has grown. One of my favourite parts of the app is how it acts as an instigator for getting together to simply move in the city we love.”

ROUTE CENTRAL PARK One of Gurkoff’s must-run routes is Central Park. With routes from 2.5 km to a full loop of almost 10 km, there are countless options. The main running path is a paved road dotted with water fountains, and even vendors selling sports drinks. People from all walks of life, tourists, and elite runners bring a unique energy to the park. A popular running destination, the park is almost always busy, but rarely crowded, especially in the big hills at the northern end. The short loop passes the famed Bethesda Fountain, Strawberry Fields, and Tavern on the Green.

CHECK OUT more running routes on Finnair.com. Suunto has created must-see running routes for selected Finnair destinations such as Helsinki, New York, and Paris. finnair.com/fi/gb/destinations Gene Gurkoff makes his miles matter in NYC. 56 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

SINGAPORE RUNSOCIETY

Singapore’s residents are active in mass participation running events.

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SINGAPORE

BETTER TOGETHER FIRST-TIMERS in Singapore will be surprised at just how diverse the city’s running opportunities are. The city hosted more than 100 running events in 2015, from road marathons, trail races, and vertical marathons to fun runs, with distances ranging from 5 km to 100 km. This tiny island-city also has plenty of parks and running trails that literally wrap around and connect the island together. Despite its small size, it has one of the most active populations in mass participation running events.

“Running in Singapore is so friendly that anyone can run anywhere in public anytime with peace of mind,” says Aidan Huang, Editor-In-Chief at RunSociety magazine, an online resource for runners of all levels in the Southeast Asian city. There is openness to running in Singapore that makes you feel safe enough to explore anywhere. Routes are consistently well-lit and maintained.

ROUTE GARDENS BY THE BAY One of the routes that inspire the peace of mind so typical of Singapore’s running scene is Gardens by the Bay. Popular amongst runners and visitors, Gardens by the Bay is a newly created nature park built on reclaimed land in 2012.

The park was designed to be the nation’s premier outdoor recreation space. It is a unique mix of pristine pathways that lead to rare, unobstructed views of the city skyline, along with massive conservatories highlighting the gardens of different climates. One of the most fascinating parts of the park are its ‘supertrees’ which reach up to 50 metres. These amalgams of exotic plants work as engines for the gardens and host a light and music show in the evenings. Start at Marina Barrage and run along Marina Bay, through the park over the winding Helix Bridge. Take in the iconic Marina Bay Sands and you’ll feel like you have experienced the heart of Singapore in a mere 5 km! l

SUUNTO CLOCKS UP THE MILES The Finnish sports technology brand Suunto — celebrating its 80th anniversary this year — recently added new features to Suunto Movescount, its online activity-tracking and analysis portal. The Suunto sports community discovers and plans its new favourite routes based on millions of moves shared by members all over the world while the heatmaps show the most popular tracks. Each route (including the ones mentioned in this story) can be exported to a compatible Suunto watch to get navigation guidance during your training. movescount.com

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

be privilegedċ be oneċ Introducing new oneworld benefitsċ Finnair Plus Platinum and Gold members both now enjoy additional baggage allowances on all oneworld airlines ġ and their baggage also receives priority handling from aircraft to carouselċ Learn more at oneworldċcom/benefits

member of

be connected Welcome to oneworldČ an alliance of the worldĚs leading airlines committed to providing the highest level of service and convenience across more than āČĀĀĀ destinations worldwideċ Whenever Finnair canĚt take you to your final destinationČ we encourage you to travel with our oneworld partner airlinesċ Enjoy an array of special privileges and rewards ģ which include earning and redeeming Finnair Plus points on all oneworld airlines andČ for Finnair Plus Platinum and Gold membersČ access to some ćĆĀ premium airport loungesċ

oneworld alliance members

be recognised As a oneworld travellerČ satisfaction awaits you around the globeċ Your Finnair Plus status is recognised across all member airlinesċ And you are entitled to a range of benefitsČ which are provided according to the following oneworld tier levelsČ no matter which cabin class you are flying inč

*Access to preferred or preġreserved seating is in accordance with the individual policy of the oneworld member airline operating the flightċ First and business class checkġin desks and lounges are not available at all airportsċ Fast track is not available at all airportsċ Priority baggage handling is not available on flights operated by British Airwaysċ Extra baggage allowance benefits differ for Sapphire and Emerald level membersċ oneworld benefits are available only to passengers on scheduled flights that are both marketed and operated by a oneworld member airline (marketed means that there must be a oneworld member airlineĚs flight number on your ticket)ċ airberlinČ American AirlinesČ British AirwaysČ Cathay PacificČ FinnairČ IberiaČ Japan AirlinesČ LATAM AirlinesČ Malaysia AirlinesČ QantasČ Qatar AirwaysČ Royal JordanianČ SĈ AirlinesČ SriLankan Airlines and oneworld are trademarks of their respective companiesċ LATAM Airlines (Paraguay) is currently not a part of oneworldċ Some limitations and exceptions may applyċ For more informationČ visit wwwċoneworldċcom/benefitsċ

be global Roundġtheġworld travel is easyČ flexible and affordable with oneworld Explorerċ Fares are based on the number of continents you visit or pass throughČ and class of travelċ Select your routeČ plan your stopoversČ even adjust your itineraryċ oneworld Explorer means ultimate flexibility and valueċ

To bookČ or to discover more multiġcontinent and singleġcontinent optionsČ visit wwwċoneworldċcom/flights

DESTINATION LOFOTEN

NORWAYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ADVENTURE ISLANDS 60 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

Lofoten’s spectacular fjords are on top of the world geographically – they also boast some amazing fishing and whale watching. TEXT AND PHOTOS VILLE PALONEN

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Passengers on a whale safari ready to snap a photo of a sperm whale.

here’s a cautious nibble at the end of my line. Something is taking the bait I’ve dropped to the bottom, more than 40 metres below. I wait patiently until the nibble turns into a tug, and then yank as hard as I can. My rod bends: it’s a fish! The tug-ofwar is tough but brief. After a few minutes, my opponent surrenders. I pull the cod to the surface. The hook, barely lodged in its lip, is stretched beyond its J-shape. “That’s a fine cod, about 8 kilos,” says Børge Iversen, the captain of our fishing boat, congratulating me as he lifts the creature onto the deck.

VIKING TRADITIONS We are in Ballstad on the south coast of the Lofoten Islands. The people of Lofoten have always lived from the sea, and Iversen, 57, is no exception, having worked as a professional fisherman for more than four decades. “Fishing is an old tradition from the Viking era,” he says proudly. Cod is Lofoten’s mainstay. The busiest fishing season is from January to April, when shoals of arctic cod migrate from the north. The catch is dried on massive outdoor platforms, and in early summer the stockfish is exported mainly to Italy, Spain, and Portugal, where dried cod is a traditional delicacy. Recreational anglers travel to northern Norway’s waters all the way from central Europe. Lofoten and the neighbouring Vesterålen archipelago have several well-equipped fishing camps, but even a novice can catch a fresh dinner by joining a tour run by a local fishing operator.

Captain Børge Iversen guts the day’s catch.

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Fin nai r fl Os i lo f es to tim ou r es ad finn a y. air .co m

MS Richard With proudly bears the name of Hurtigrutenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founder.

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Above: This is actually a normalsized catch: a 4-kg pollack. Left: Cod heads are dried late in the summer and exported to Nigeria and other Western African countries, where they are used in traditional dishes.

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Iversen and his wife run a rørby – a guesthouse with traditional fisherman’s cabins – organising threehour fishing trips during the summer months. Iversen’s boat, MV Asgrund, departs twice a day and has room for a dozen passengers. On the way back, the captain guts our catch – two large boxes full of cod and coalfish – and throws the entrails to screeching seagulls that follow the boat. After we reach the shore, Iversen fillets the fish and hands a full plastic bag to each participant. Dinner tonight will be fresh cod. THE LEGENDARY HURTIGRUTEN It’s hard to enjoy the view when you’re expecting to shipwreck at any moment. Trollfjord is praised as one of the natural wonders of Lofoten, but the biggest wonder of all is how a gigantic cruise ship could possibly squeeze into such an impossibly narrow fjord – and sail back out after a U-turn. The rocky cliffs seem to tower above only a few metres away, but it’s not as scary as it looks: our ship is about 20 metres wide and Trollfjord a generous 100 metres at its narrowest point. In any case, sailing into the dramatic fjord is exciting and without doubt one of the highlights of the cruise. Our ship, MS Richard With, is 122 metres long and carries more than 600 passengers. It is named after Captain Richard With, who established the Hurtigruten, the Norwegian coastal express, back in 1893. Dubbed “the world’s most beautiful sea voyage,” Hurtigruten stretches from southern Bergen to Kirkenes in the far north-eastern corner of Norway.

At its narrowest, Trollfjord is 100 metres. Sailing into this dramatic fjord is without doubt one of the highlights of the cruise.

Some passengers spend their entire holiday aboard the cruise ship, but you can also hop on for a shorter ride. We have opted for a round-the-clock mini-cruise across Lofoten. Along the way, we marvel at the magnificent landscapes: sharp, rugged mountains jutting up from the sea, narrow fjords, and countless small islands. A convenient place to end a short voyage along the Hurtigruten is the neighbouring Vesterålen archipelago, where a whole new marine adventure awaits: a whale safari. WHALES AHOY! The swell rocks our boat wildly. A young boy buries his face in a sickness bag while other passengers hold on for dear life as the relentless rain whips at their waterproofs. A monotonous clicking echoes from the boat’s loudspeakers. It sounds like someone walking on a wooden floor in high heels, but it’s in fact the sound of a sperm whale. Somewhere beneath the boat this giant is ascending towards the surface. Our whale safari has set off from Andenes, a small town on the northernmost tip of Vesterålen’s largest island, Andøya. There isn’t much to see in town, but tourists are everywhere: Andenes is a famous hotspot for whale watching. The reason is Bleik Canyon, an underwater depression near the coast. It’s the deepest spot around Vesterålen, and sperm whales favour hunting grounds at least 500 metres deep. Hvalsafari AS (Whalesafari Andenes) runs daily

LOFOTEN TRAVEL TIPS HOW TO GET THERE Finnair flies to Oslo, where you can catch a connecting flight to Lofoten. The most convenient way to explore the Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands is to rent a car or camper van.

HURTIGRUTEN CRUISES The Hurtigruten seaway runs along the Norwegian coast from Bergen to Kirkenes. You can take along a bike or car, and with a cabin ticket you’ll get a hearty buffet breakfast. hurtigruten.com

WHEN TO GO The best time to visit is from June to August. Even during the summer months, prepare for rain and cool temperatures +12 degrees Celsius is considered a warm day.

FISHING TRIPS Many rørby guesthouses rent small boats, but the easiest way to try fishing is to join a group tour (3h/€60).

WHERE TO STAY Larger towns have hotels, while smaller villages offer guesthouses called rørby (€100/night). There are several campsites (2-person tent €15/night) equipped with hot showers and laundry facilities.

WHALE SAFARIS Hvalsafari AS, located in Andenes, runs a visitor centre and organises daily whale safaris. The trip includes a tour of the whale museum and a three-hour boat trip.

rorbuer.info

whalesafari.no

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A passenger enjoying the midnight sun and Lofoten’s scenery.

whale safaris by boat with capacity for about 80 passengers. On the way out to the open sea, you can spot pilot whales and sometimes even killer whales, but everybody who comes to Andenes has one thing in mind: to see a real, live sperm whale, the largest toothed predator in the world. Spotting a 15-metre creature in the vast Norwegian Sea is easier said than done. A few years ago there were 20 to 30 individuals around Bleik Canyon, but recently numbers have dropped dramatically. Nobody knows why, but one thing is certain: spotting a sperm whale is no longer a sure bet. Suddenly the clicking from the loudspeakers – connected to an underwater listening device called a hydrophone – stops. The boat makes a sharp turn and spins towards a dark shape near the surface. A spray of water rises into the air. It’s a whale! Sperm whales dive down to a depth of two kilometers and stay underwater for half an hour. Between dives, they rest on the surface for 5 to 10 minutes: We have plenty of time to watch this giant. The captain positions our boat behind the whale, only a few dozen metres away, and the crowd rushes to the gunwale with their cameras ready. After a few minutes comes the climax. The whale blows one more time, and for a brief moment – not more than five seconds – its tail rises majestically above the surface. Then the giant of the sea disappears. l 66 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

Passengers on a whale safari can spot pilot whales and sometimes even killer whales.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Ville Palonen has been writing and photographing travel features in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Whenever possible, Palonen goes fishing. His most memorable catches include cod in Lofoten and an electric eel in the Amazon.

DESTINATION NEPAL

SCALING THE PEAKS Three Nepalese sisters are taking adventure tourism to new heights. TEXT AND PHOTOS BY FRAN WEAVER

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Trekking guides Muna Gurung (left) and Shistri Adhikari enjoy splendid views taking in Dhaulaghiri – the 7th highest mountain in the world.

verlooked by snowcapped mountains rising to over 8,000 metres, the lakeside town of Pokhara, 200 kilometres west of the Nepali capital Kathmandu, is the gateway to the Annapurna Himalayas. This accessible region’s valleys and villages can be comfortably explored on “teahouse treks”. During these trips hikers can enjoy local food and cosy lodgings in guest houses run by villagers, and hire knowledgeable guides to gain insights into local culture while discovering lush hillside jungles and stunning vistas of the high Himalayas. Most trekking guides are young men, since women in rural Nepal have traditionally had few opportunities outside the home. But the Pokhara-based firm 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking has pioneered the training of young women – partly to meet demand from female trekkers, but also to give disadvantaged local women and girls new skills and opportunities. “We combine practical skill-training

68 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

programmes with gainful employment to empower women through adventure tourism, aiming to encourage our Nepali sisters to become independent, decisionmaking women,” explains Lucky Karki Chhetri, one of the three sisters who founded the firm in 1994. The 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking company is a responsible and fair trade social enterprise run together with the internationally funded organisation Empowering Women of Nepal. Chhetri explains that young women from all over Nepal can come to Pokhara for free training on subjects i ncluding English, health and safety, cross-cultural communication, nature conservation, leadership, and women’s rights and empowerment. “We feel our training has been successful because very many trainees have gone on to further studies, to employment in tourism with 3 Sisters or other firms, or even to start their own businesses,” says Chhetri. The firm’s profits are utilised to benefit local communities and support emergency

relief work. Nepal is still slowly recovering from a devastating earthquake that struck in April 2015, killing more than 8,500 people and leaving half a million homeless. Damage to the country’s infrastructure and historic attractions subsequently discouraged many potential travellers, but tourism is beginning to pick up again. “Nepalese people know that tourism is a vital industry for employment and welfare so they are anxiously waiting for the tourists to come back,” explains Chhetri. Visitors to Nepal invariably enjoy a warm welcome, and by favouring socially responsible local travel operators they can increase the benefits tourism brings to the people who live in this uniquely beautiful country. l 3sistersadventuretrek.com HOW TO GET THERE The easiest connections to Kathmandu are through Finnair destination Delhi, from where several airlines fly regularly to Kathmandu.

Yrityksesi mainos tähän? Ota yhteyttä p. 09 122 987 60.

Ainutlaatuiset ja kestävät kalustetassut 100% villasta

Klikkaa heti

Trekkers head up towards Himalayan high spots through the lush forests of the foothills.

www.soposoitteeseen pa365. f

herkkuruokia vaivattomasti!

HYVÄ TERVEYS ON KAIKKEA MUUTA KUIN PIKKU JUTTU. Hikes towards Annapurna start near Pokhara, in fertile valleys dotted with rice fields and vegetable gardens.

sanomakauppa.ﬁ/hyvaterveys

t y n t e u l a n a j a a l i T uin k n a m enem an! koska Trailside teahouses run by local families provide Himalayan hikers with tasty food and sheltered lodgings.

HIMALAYAN SUNRISE One of the most memorable high spots for teahouse-trekkers exploring the Annapurna region is reached after a short, but strenuous pre-dawn hike up Poon Hill from the village of Ghorepani. This lofty vantage point, 3,210 metres above sea level, offers literally breath-taking views as the rising sun illuminates the snow-covered peaks of two magnificent mountain ranges. The summits of the Annapurna massif to the north and Dhaulagiri to the west are both among the world’s ten highest peaks.

Tiesitkö, että tilaajanamme voit lukea monia muitakin Sanoman aikakauslehtiä digitaalisesti? 15 rakastettua lehteämme ovat luettavissasi mak sutta, kunhan sinulla on voimassa oleva tilaus jostakin paperisesta aikakauslehdestämme. Mene osoitteeseen digilehdet.fi. Mielenkiintoisia lukuhetkiä!

digilehdet.fi Etu on voimassa toistaiseksi. Pidätämme oikeuden muutoksiin.

Tilaukset osoitteesta www.silentsocks.fi

SAILING AWAY FROM

safe harbour Many people merely dream of travelling around the world, but the Meretniemi family from Finland is fulfilling their ambition by sailing to 75 countries in 75 months. TEXT BY KATJA PANTZAR PHOTOS BY KATJA PANTZAR AND TUOMO MERETNIEMI

n the turquoise waters off Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast, Tuomo Meretniemi stands on the deck of Panacea, his Swan 57 yacht. The 45-year-old exudes a boyish enthusiasm that belies his age – his optimism and sense of adventure bring to mind someone far younger who has not yet become resigned to the self-imposed, limiting roles that many adults take on. The Finnish native is at ease chatting with a group of visiting travel bloggers as he is doing flips into the water with the 20-something Instagrammers. Meretniemi’s exuberance stems largely from the fact that he’s realising his lifelong dream of sailing around the world – 75 countries in 75 months from 2016 to 2022 – with his wife Riikka Meretniemi, 43, and their three children Aarre, 8, Kerttu, 6, and Martta, 3. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than the ones you did do. Explore. Dream. Discover,’” he says quot-

70 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

ing American writer Mark Twain’s much-cited prescription about the benefits of leaving it all behind. But this is is not a six-year holiday for the Meretniemi family. Sail for Good, the official name of their expedition, is an innovative and carefully planned foray into exploring and developing the possibilities of digital schooling. Finland is, after all, a world leader in technology and education. “I think my kids are learning much more from experiencing the world first-hand than they would from sitting in a classroom,” says Meretniemi. That means everything from hands-on lessons about the fragility of the ecosystem and the importance of taking care of it, for example, by seeing the effects of rubbish such as plastic washed up on a remote Mediterranean beach and then helping to clean it up. “Watching dolphins swim in the waters beside the boat and experiencing different cultures in ports around the world can’t be duplicated in the classroom,” he adds.

The Meretniemi family is sailing around the world onboard the Panacea, a Swan 57 yacht.

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Fi sea nnair s off on An tal al flig ers ya ht (Ga and A s to lan zip ya finn a air sa) .co m

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BOAT-SCHOOLING AS A TEST-BED Meretniemi and his wife have brushed up on their teaching qualifications to ensure they follow the national curriculum of the much-lauded Finnish school system for each of their children and regularly check-in with tutors. “This is really a lab for experimenting with new ways of digital learning methods,” says Meretniemi, who is a strategist, start-up founder, and investor. Riikka, who worked for Neste Oil for 18 years in a range of business roles, most recently held the position of ICT project manager. It’s a serious business opportunity, as well. Sail for Good has partnered up with more than 20 companies to create a unique “Learning as a service” product that offers a range of solutions for schools to digitalise their operations. “There are many parts of the world where children don’t have access to education because there is no school nearby or they lack resources,” says Meretniemi. “This issue can be addressed with the right digital learning tools.” The companies involved in the project share a focus on different areas of digital education from software to hardware, content, serious gaming, and telecommunications. They range from Finnish companies such as Sanoma Pro, a leading learning solutions provider and NatureGate, creator of species identification apps, to CLANED, a Helsinki-based education technology startup developing a personal learning platform, and Chinese multinational Lenovo, a leading

The Meretniemi family: Parents Tuomo and Riikka and their three children Kerttu, Aarre, and Martta.

72 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

A gullet plies the waters of southern Turkey’s Kekova Bay.

“I think my kids are learning much more from experiencing the world first-hand than they would from sitting in a classroom,” says Tuomo Meretniemi. laptop producer crafting leading-edge solutions for students, teachers, and schools. LIFELONG SAILORS Tuomo and Riikka Meretniemi, who met as teenagers, have been sailing together for more than 25 years. When Tuomo was an exchange student in the US in the late 1980s, his teacher asked him to write down his life goals. The first one read: “To sail around the world.” Fast forward to the early 2010s when Meretniemi was a managing director and CEO with Aurinkomatkat (Suntours), Finnair’s travel agency and tour operator. Though the job entailed travel, much of it was from boardroom to boardroom. Meretniemi’s boyhood dream began to haunt him and as he discussed it with his wife, they realised it was simply a question of figuring out the practicalities. “We decided that the right time was now, as the kids are young enough and not too tied down to their schools, friends, and hobbies,” he says.

THE JOURNEY IN REAL TIME The six-year Sail for Good trip around the world – 75 countries in 75 months – began in June 2016 in the south of Turkey, where the Phoenicians and Lycians sailed thousands of years ago. During October 2016 they are sailing in Corsica, France, and crossing over to the Balearic Islands in Spain, where friends will join them in Palma de Mallorca. Then the Panacea heads to Morocco, Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea Bissau – their Atlantic crossing starts from Cape Verde Islands. The journey can be followed at: sailforgood.org

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On the Lycian coast, Kaputas Beach is popular with the locals.

THE X LYCIAN COAST

Renowned for its majestic waters and beaches, Turkey boasts a network of nature treks that are far less known. The Lycian Way (Likya Yolu), which opened in 1999 largely due to the diligence and vision of Briton Kate Clow, is Turkey’s first long-distance trekking route. Named one of the world’s top ten most beautiful long-distance hikes by the Sunday Times, it’s about 510 kilometres from end to end. It’s also possible to do sections of the hike in short day trips of 8 to 10 kilometres in lieu of completing the entire walk. The rocky Mediterranean coastline features ancient ruins, forests, beaches, pine and strawberry trees, and the fragrant scent of wild oregano. Ancient sites worth seeing include the Byzantine castle at Simena in the Demre District of Antalya Province and the village perched on a Lycian necropolis, which is partially submerged under water. In the Middle Ages, the castle was used to fight off pirates. And in spots out at sea such as Kekova Bay, there’s a former pirates cave where robbers of the high seas hid themselves and their treasures. The natural cave is popular with divers for its phosphorescence, soft corals, and fish. The Lycian Way’s trekking season runs from February to May and September to November, as the heat is too intense during the hot summer months. It’s advisable to take a hat, sunscreen, and lots of water. Other options include hiring a Turkish boat – a gullet – for a day or longer – and combining sea cruising with smaller hikes. lycianturkey.com

74 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than the ones you did do.” -Mark Twain In spring 2014, Meretniemi resigned from his job and the family house was sold. They had been searching for the right boat, which they found parked in Finike, Turkey. Though the boat, which had originally been built by the famous Nautor shipyard in Pietarsaari, Finland, in the early 1980s, needed some work, it was perfectly suited to their needs. Fittingly, its name Panacea means “a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases.” After two years of preparation, in June 2016, they lifted anchor from Finike in Turkey and set sail.

The Byzantine castle at Simena dates back to the Middle Ages.

Kekova Bay’s hidden cave was once used by pirates. Navigation tools on board the Panacea.

Hiking the Lycian Way route near Kas.

Five months into the trip, Meretniemi says the biggest surprise has been the intensity. “It really is a fulltime job to keep up with maintenance of the boat, provisioning, documenting the adventure, dealing with authorities, and playing with and schooling the kids,” he says. Meretniemi says the most important personal lesson for him has been learning to slow down: “The most trouble arises when you’re in a hurry. Remember to take your time. There’s no point in rushing things,” he says. l

BEHIND THE SCENES

Katja Pantzar

Raised in Canada and based in Finland, writer and editor Katja Pantzar is currently working on a new book, 100 things to do in Helsinki (Siltala), which will be published in 2017.

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FINNAIR NEWS

ONLINE BOOKING MADE EASY Need more time to decide? Hold my Booking guarantees your flight price for up to 72 hours. Go to finnair.com for more information.

COMPILED BY KATJA PANTZAR ISTOCK

THINGS TO DO

3 x Helsinki Stop overs this month VISIT FINLNAD

Helsinki Sauna Day on October 29 opens up private saunas to the public for anyone to enjoy. helsinkisaunaday.fi AKU PÖLLÄNEN

NEW DESTINATIONS

Awestruck by Iceland

Juha Järvinen, Finnair’s Chief Commercial Officer. Running from April 11 to October 28, Finnair’s Reykjavik route will complement pre-existing codeshare services operated by partner Icelandair and offer one of the fastest connections between Asia and Iceland. In addition to Reykjavik, Mediterranean destinations Corfu, Menorca, and Ibiza join the summer 2017 destination list. Additional flights will also be added for the UK and Ireland. finnair.com

Linnanmäki Amusement Park

celebrates its Carnival of Light from October 8–22 with a series of illuminating events and activities. linnanmaki.fi MARITA HAUKEMAA

REYKJAVIK, the dynamic capital of Iceland, is one of four new short-haul routes joining the summer 2017 roster. Finnair will fly four times a week to Reykjavik, which offers easy daytrip access to Iceland’s spectacular natural sights ranging from the popular Blue Lagoon to the Golden Circle route that highlights the Gullfoss falls, the geothermally active Haukadalur valley, and the famous Geysir geyser. “Reykjavik is a fantastic tourist destination and we are pleased to be able to offer this exciting route to our customers,” says

WORLD CITIZEN

Supporting women’s rights FINNAIR, a signatory to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, is participating in the EU-CELAC Summit, which takes place in the Dominican Republic on October 25. EU-CELAC summits bring together European, Latin American, and Caribbean leaders to strengthen relations between both regions.

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The October Summit includes an event on women, peace, and security, with the aim of kick-starting bi-regional discussion in order to foster cooperation nationally, regionally, and internationally. A roundtable will focus on women in peace processes and peace keeping. ec.europa.eu

Helsinki Baltic Herring Market,

held annually since 1743, runs from October 2–8 and offers a taste of the Archipelago to visitors from around the world. stadinsilakkamarkkinat.fi/en

AITOJA PAIKALLISIA HETKIÄ JA AUTENTTISIA ELÄMYKSIÄ Löydä salaisia rantoja, viihdy pienissä ravintoloissa ja yövy paikallisten pitämissä tunnelmallisissa hotelleissa. Tutustu Paikalliseen tapaan -lomakokoelmaan aurinkomatkat.ﬁ/lomakokoelmat

FINNAIR NEWS

@ YOUR SERVICE Have a question about your Finnair flight? Send a tweet to @FinnairHelps, the official Finnair customer service account.

COMPILED BY KATJA PANTZAR

Finnair crew tips Flight attendant Jussi Jouppi shares his favourite vegetarian restaurants in Europe.

VEGGIE FRIENDLY EATING

Top 3 cafés

Helsinki: Not just a café and restaurant, Roots Helsinki is also a yoga studio. Located in the trendy Kallio district, Roots serves pure vegan breakfasts and lunches, as well as smoothies and freshly squeezed juices. It’s the perfect place to nourish your body and soul. rootshelsinki.fi

NEW ROUTES

San Francisco joins the summer schedule A NEW seasonal route from Helsinki to the City by the Bay opens June 2017. San Francisco, known for its iconic Golden Gate Bridge and the start-up and global tech headquarter-heavy Silicon Valley, will be Finnair’s fourth US destination, joining New York, Chicago, and Miami. Three weekly trans-Atlantic flights will operate from June 1 to September 30.

Finnair will also increase capacity to Spain, opening a new route to Alicante with up to four weekly flights between March 26 and October 27. The number of flights to Malaga will be boosted with two additional weekly flights between June and July, bring the total up to 11 flights a week. finnair.com F ind us on Facebook Badge

RE-TWEET OF THIS MONTH

Visit Finland@OurFinland The best season for Northern Lights is on right now! twitter.com/Finnair

C MYK / .ai

FEELFINNAIR ON INSTAGRAM

How the Finnair cabin crew gets ready for work! #Regram @miraiho instagram.com/feelfinnair

78 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

Copenhagen: With a beautiful pastel-coloured interior, Thé à la Menthe also sells many of the home décor items on display. As well as delicious Moroccan food, their mint tea is definitely worth a try. thealamente-kobenhavn.dk

Drawn to the skies Read how Finnair blogger Tomi Tervo became a pilot. facebook.com/finnair

Ljubljana: Though not purely vegetarian, Bazilika Bistro does have a daily changing menu of soups, quiches, and other vegetarian dishes. Remember to leave some space for dessert – their cakes are divine! bazilika.si

FLY FINNAIR

Your complete guide to travelling with us

WELCOME ABOARD We want you to enjoy your flight. This guide contains all the information you need for stress-free travelling. We have even included tips for inflight wellbeing and entertainment. So sit back, relax and enjoy your travel experience.

In this guide 80 81 82 83 84 85 88 92 94 98

TIPS FOR TAKEOFF INFLIGHT WELLBEING ENTERTAINMENT SHOPPING SUSTAINABILITY HELSINKI AIRPORT MAPS FLEET FINNAIR PLUS FINLAND IN FIGURES

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FLY FINNAIR TIPS FOR TAKEOFF

FINNAIR in a nutshell

Established in 1923, Finnair is one of the world’s oldest operating airlines. Finnair’s route network includes 17 destinations in Asia, 3 in North America and some 74 in Europe. In 2015, Finnair carried 10.3 million passengers. More than 1.6 million passengers fly between Asia and Helsinki each year.

TRAVEL TIPS MARIKA PAULI Manager, Ancillary Business “Still thinking about that flight? Well Finnair has introduced Hold my Booking, which allows you more time to decide. With the Hold my Booking option, your flight booking is placed on hold with a price guarantee for 72 hours. If you decide to complete your purchase within that time, no extra costs are incurred. When you book your flights, just choose the Hold my Booking payment option. If you do not complete your payment within 72 hours, the booking will automatically expire and a holding fee will be charged.” Go to finnair.com for more information.”

SAFETY

YOUR FAVOURITE TRAVEL APP DOWNLOAD FINNAIR’S app on your mobile and enjoy an even smoother travel experience. Check-in, get flight alerts, and store your boarding passes all in one place. As a Finnair Plus member, you can view your profile and points balance, and even purchase services such as extra bags or an Economy Comfort seat. You can access the app with your Finnair Plus member ID or by using your booking reference number and surname. Learn more from finnair.com.

80 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

SAFER JOURNEY SAFETY INFORMATION is presented by the cabin crew at the start of each flight. This information is also listed on the safety instruction card in your seat pocket. Safety belts must remain fastened when the “Fasten safety belt” sign is on. For safety reasons we recommend keeping them fastened even when the sign has been switched off. Handheld devices can be used throughout the flight (including takeoff and landing) in airplane-mode. Laptops and larger devices must be stowed away during takeoff and landing, but can be used when the “Fasten safety belt” sign has been switched off.

FLY FINNAIR INFLIGHT WELLBEING

FOOD AND DRINK

EAT WELL

Business class passengers on long-haul flights can enjoy Signature menus prepared by chefs from top restaurants. The menus offer passengers a taste of Nordic flavours.

Foods to fuel on European flights FANCY A SNACK ONBOARD? Then take a look at the Sky Bistro menu card in your seat pocket. For a small fee, you can choose from a tasty selection of food and beverage options combining the best of Europe and Asia. Coffee, tea, water, and Finnair’s signature blueberry juice are always served free of charge on all Finnair flights.

WELLBEING

MINDFULNESS

INFLIGHT EXERCISES

Sit back and relax

These moves keep you fit while flying. Hold each movement for a few seconds and repeat five times per side.

Mindfulness instructor Aleksi Litovaara's exercises will help you feel calm and rested during your flight.

BE AWARE: The basic idea of mindfulness is that you have arrived. The aircraft is already taking you where you need to be so just sit back and relax. Watch, listen, and feel your present environment.

CIRCLES

LIFT

RAISE

LOWER

Lift one foot and draw circles with your toes. Reverse direction.

Lift one knee up and then lower your foot back down to the floor.

Keep heels on the floor and lift your toes upwards, then release.

Keep toes on the floor and lift your heels upwards, then release.

TACKLE ANXIETY: If you experience nervousness or restlessness, try holding an object in your hand. It will help bring your attention to that simple physical sensation instead of getting caught up in your own thoughts.

3 SHRUG

NOD

ROTATE

TURN

Lift your shoulders up towards your ears and release.

Lower your chin slowly towards your chest and lift back up again.

Gently rotate your head from side to side. Keep your shoulders relaxed.

Slowly lower your left ear to your left shoulder and then back up again.

THINK POSITIVE: This is a good moment to choose nice words towards yourself and other passengers — if only in your mind. You can also ask yourself: what do I need right now? It may well be reading a book or getting some rest instead of working on your computer. aleksilitovaara.com

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

FLY FINNAIR ENTERTAINMENT

BE ENTERTAINED AND CONNECTED

WHAT’S PLAYING

Experience the Nordic Sky entertainment system and the Nordic Sky Wi-Fi portal onboard Finnair A350 XWB aircraft.

ON SCREEN

THE NORDIC SKY inflight entertainment system is available onboard Finnair A350 flights. Not only will you stay entertained with a wide range of movies and TV series, you can also stay up to date on what’s happening during your flight, from when dinner is served to updated arrival information. With the Nordic Sky Wi-Fi portal, you can enjoy a host of fantastic services via your own mobile device. You can use the portal free of charge to access finnair.com and Finnair services such as destination information, customer care, and pre-order shopping. Speaking of shopping, Finnair has teamed up with top Finnish designers. You can now purchase items from Minna Parikka, Makia, and IvanaHelsinki during your flight via the Nordic Sky Wi-Fi portal. Here’s how to get started: 1. Turn your device to flight mode and enable Wi-Fi. 2. Join the Wi-Fi network “Nordic Sky”. 3. Open the browser of your choice. 4. Start exploring.

Want to know more about your destination? Nordic Sky offers travel tips to make your landing even easier.

PICK OF THE MONTH Action

STAR TREK BEYOND The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy.

82 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

Latest films and TV series

MOVIE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE. After he reconnects with an awkward pal from high school, a mild-mannered accountant is lured into the world of espionage. MOVIE FINDING DORY. The friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish begins a search for her long-lost parents. MOVIE INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE. Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, Earth is faced with a new extra-solar threat.

TV SERIES LAST MAN ON EARTH. Almost 2 years after a virus wiped out most of the human race, Phil Miller wishes for some company. TV SERIES YOU’RE THE WORST. This sitcom centres on two toxic, self-destructive people who fall in love and attempt a relationship.

RADIO SOUNDS OF CHINA. Sit back, relax, and immerse yourself in the beautiful sounds of China.

PLUG IN!

Most Airbus A340 aircraft and all Airbus A330 aircraft are equipped with an electricity socket, which you will find under your seat. On the Airbus A350 aircraft, you will find a USB port located in the seatback monitor in Economy class and directly from the seat in Business class.

FLY FINNAIR INFLIGHT SHOPPING

POPPY INSPIRATION

MARIMEKKO RUUTU UNIKKO, CUSHION COVER Available in pre-order shopping catalogue €29

PRE-ORDER before your next flight

Marimekko designs are an integral part of the Finnair travel experience — both inside and outside of the aircraft. Shop for your favourties via the Nordic Sky Wi-Fi portal onboard the A350.

MARIMEKKO MINI RUUTU UNIKKO, POT HOLDER Available in pre-order shopping catalogue €17

FINNAIR CARRIES a wide selection of cosmetics, fragrances, gift items, confectionary, and jewellery, all of which can be purchased before your flight. On most Intercontinental flights and flights to and from destinations outside the EU, wine and spirits are available for purchase. You also earn Finnair Plus points with every purchase.

MARIMEKKO ANNIVERSARY UNIKKO, POUCH HALF Available in pre-order shopping catalogue €16 MARIMEKKO MINI RUUTU UNIKKO, OVEN MITT Available in pre-order shopping catalogue €16

PRE-ORDER

for stress-free shopping MARIMEKKO ANNIVERSARY UNIKKO, APRON Available in pre-order shopping catalogue €35

Ordering in advance is always a good idea. You can save up to 60 per cent compared to city prices. There’s no minimum order and your purchase will be waiting at your seat on your next flight! www.finnairshop.com

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

FLY FINNAIR SUSTAINABILITY

JUSSI VIERIMAA

BETTER PLANET A few examples of Finnair’s societal involvement in action: THE UNITED NATIONS Global Compact is a corporate responsibility initiative aiming to make human rights, fair labour standards, environmental responsibility, and anti-corruption core parts of the participating companies’ operations. Finnair has been a member since 2013. The airline also signed the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles in 2011.

FINNAIR has received 6 of 13 forthcoming Airbus A350 aircraft, which cut back on fuel consumption and emissions by 25 per cent.

POWERFUL PINK BREAST CANCER is the second most common cancer, with 1.7 million cases diagnosed each year. In Finland nearly 5,000 women are diagnosed yearly. Since 2011 Finnair has taken part in the Cancer Foundation’s annual Pink Ribbon Campaign. The airline’s airport staff and inflight personnel don pink ribbons through this month; the 2016 edition is designed by Michael Monroe, a legend of Finnish rock music. “This is an opportunity to raise awareness among our employees and customers,” says Kati Ihamäki, Finnair’s director of corporate sustainability. “The fact that the majority of Finnair’s staff is

WORK WITH US

DO GOOD Finnair makes it even easier to donate to charity. Passengers can now make a donation to UNICEF Finland when they book their flights on the Finnair website. Donations are possible in sums of five, ten, or twenty euros. Finnair also collaborates with many other environmental and humanitarian organisations.

84 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

women makes this collaboration particularly important for us.” Frequent flyers can support the initiative by donating Finnair Plus points in increments ranging from 1,000 to 20,000 points at finnairplusshop.com. These donations help pay for flights for cancer counselling professionals. In 2015 the Pink Ribbon campaign raised a record 1.4 million euros in Finland. In light of recent budget cuts in research funding, the Cancer Foundation is emphasising the importance of private donations.

FINNAIR was one of the first airlines in the world to receive an IATA Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) certification; this environmental management system is a set of processes and practices that enable an airline to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency.

THE AIRLINE supports the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) goal of zero emissions trading scheme. Finnair is dedicated to reducing its carbon dioxide emission revenue as much as 20 per cent per tonne-kilometre from 2009 to 2017. Another ambitious goal is to reduce the total amount of de-icing fluids by 40 per cent from 2006 to the end of 2016.

allaboutcancer.fi

Members of Finnair Plus can onate points to the following d charities at finnairplusshop.com: • The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation • The Association of Friends of the University Children’s Hospitals • The Cancer Society of Finland • The Finnish Red Cross • UNICEF Finland • The Baltic Sea Action Group • Hope • WAU ry

FINNAIR CONDUCTS an annual employee well-being survey, participates in campaigns promoting equal opportunities at the workplace, and places a strong focus on occupational safety and continuous training.

IN 2015 FINNAIR joined the Climate Leadership Council, an initiative bringing together leading Finnish businesses to combat climate change and foster business eco-technologies. The airline is also included on the CDP’s (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) 2015 Nordic Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), which comprises organisations that have scored within the top 10 per cent in the region in their efforts to disclose carbon emissions and energy data.

FLY FINNAIR HELSINKI AIRPORT

HAPPY LANDINGS Arriving and departing Helsinki Airport

PASSENGERS at Helsinki Airport can use the 30 automated border control gates. Fifteen of these are located in the departure hall. The Finnish Border Guard’s automated border control helps serve growing passenger volumes at Helsinki Airport. EU, EEA, Japanese, and Swiss nationals with biometric passports can take advantage of the automated border control gates. Other foreign nationals, who are exempt from the visa requirement and hold a biometric passport, may also use the automated border control upon departure. This service is available for Australian, Canadian, Japanese, New Zealand, South Korean, and U.S. citizens. The automated border control is monitored by a border guard ensuring secure border crossings. Please note that passengers travelling with an infant, baggage trolley or wheelchair must use the manual border control lane.

AUTOMATED BORDER CONTROL Place your passport with the info page face down on the reader. Please wait while your passport is being read for biographical and biometric data. When the scan is complete, the gate will open. ヘルシンキ・ヴァンター空港シェンゲンエリアでは、入出国審査の際に自動化ゲートをご利用頂けます。対象となるのはICパスポートをお持ちのお客様です。

대한민국 전자여권을 소지한 승객께서는 유럽에서 한국으로 입국 시, 헬싱키 공항에서 자동출국심사 서비스를 이용 하실 수 있습니다.

① パスポートの顔写真ページを読み取ります。該当ページを読み取り機の上に置いて下さい。個人情報と生体認証データを読み取ります。

우선, 전자여권의 사진 페이지를 인식장치에 올려주시기를 바랍니다. 이 과정에서 여권정보가 시스템에 자동 인식됩니다.

② ゲートが開いたら中に入り、右を向いて下さい。パスポートの顔写真と照合します。バックパック・帽子・眼鏡などは外して下さい。足跡マークの上に立って画面を正面からまっすぐに見て下さい。 ③ 二番目のゲートが開いたら、入国審査官のカウンターにお進み下さい。パスポートを確認した後、入国または出国スタンプを押印致します。シェンゲンエリア居住許可証をお持ちの方は、入国審査官にご提示下さい。

finnair.com/jp

첫 번째 게이트가 열리면 안으로 들어가 오른쪽에 위치한 카메라로 안면인증을 거치게 됩니다. 이후 마지막 게이트에서 출입국관리 직원의 출국확인도장을 받으시면 됩니다. 보다 간편하고 빠른 본 자동시스템의 많은 이용 바랍니다. 대한민국 전자여권은? 2008년 8월 25일 이후 발급된 여권으로 표지 하단부에 전자칩과 안테나가 내장 되어 있는 여권입니다.

finnair.com/kr

Enter through the gate and turn right. Please remove your backpack if you’re wearing one and stand on the footprints on the floor. Remove your glasses and hat. Stand still and look directly at the screen keeping your face visible. The camera will compare your facial image with the biometric feature scanned from your passport. Wait until the second gate opens. The border check for EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals is completed when the gate opens. Other foreign nationals must move towards the border guard, who will check your entry stamp and mark your passport with an exit stamp.

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

FLY FINNAIR HELSINKI AIRPORT

WELCOME TO HELSINKI AIRPORT HOW TO TRANSFER Check your gate and departure time on the airport monitors. All Finnair and Nordic Regional Airlines (Norra) departures are located in the same terminal. If you do not have a boarding pass for your connecting flight, please contact the transfer service desk. Most passengers transferring from non-EU countries to EU countries must go through security and passport control. Please note that liquids are restricted in carry-on baggage. If your baggage has not been checked through to your final destination, collect it from the baggage claim area and go to check-in and security control. AUTOMATED BORDER CHECKS are available to passengers with biometric passports. The service is available for Australian, Canadian, EEA, EU, Japanese, New Zealand, South Korean, Swiss, and U.S. citizens. See more information on page 85.

34 35

SHOP

32a

31a-e 30

31x 31

Security control

SHOP

Border control

SHOP

NON-SCHENGEN AREA

Bo con

TRANSFER SERVICE 3

2ND FLOOR 36

FINNAIR LOUNGE FINNAIR PREMIUM LOUNGE BUS GATES

NONSCHENGEN TRANSFER AREA

Border control

FINNAIR TRANSFER SERVICE desks in Helsinki Airport T2 terminal are ready to help you with any inquiries related to your connection flights.

2ND FLOOR

37a-d

GROUND FLOOR

TRANSFER SERVICE

BUS CONNECTION The Finnair City Bus to the Helsinki Railway Station leaves from Terminal 2 every 20 minutes, stopping also at Terminal 1. Travel time is about 30 minutes. Price: €6.30

CHECKING IN Checking in to your Finnair flight is easy. You can save time by checking in at a self-service kiosk at the airport, online 36 hours before departure, or by text message. For flights to the US, online check-in opens 24 hours before departure.

TRAIN CONNECTION The Ring Rail Line connects Helsinki Airport to downtown Helsinki. There is direct access from the corridor between T1 and T2 terminals to the train station by two lifts and three escalators.

FLIGHT DISRUPTIONS In case a flight is delayed or cancelled, Finnair will make every effort to keep you updated. Please make sure that you have provided Finnair with your email address and phone number.

86 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

SHOP

SERVICES AND FACILITIES SHOP SHOPPING Receive special offers for airport services when you show your Finnair Plus card. You will recognise our partners by the Finnair Plus symbol. Helsinki Airport features more than 30 shops and boutiques and various restaurants and cafés.

WIRELESS INTERNET Helsinki Airport offers free Wi-Fi throughout the airport. CHILDREN Children’s playrooms offer videos, microwave ovens, and baby care facilities. NON-SMOKING Smoking at Helsinki Airport is prohibited outside of designated smoking rooms.

SHOP

FLY FINNAIR HELSINKI AIRPORT WALKING TIME GATE 24–30: 7 MIN

T2 29

LOST AND FOUND Restaurant & Deli Fly Inn

26 SHOP

SCHENGEN AREA

SHOP

GATE AREA

Security check

25 TRANSFER SERVICE 2

SHOP

23 SHOP

FINNAIR LOUNGE

Security

order ntrol

CHECK-IN 240–270

SHOP

FINNAIR check CHECK-IN/ SERVICE DESKS 201–232

GROCERY

INQUIRIES Lentäjäntie 1 (next to T2, street level) Open Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00 and Sat 09:00–15:00 Tel 0600 41006 (1,97€/min + local network charge)

3RD FLOOR

PHARMACY TOURIST INFO

1ST FLOOR

SHOP

19 18 17 16

TRANSFER SERVICE 1

CHECK-IN 101–114

GROUND FLOOR

Security check

BAGGAGE STORAGE

13 LOUNGE FINNISH SAUNA EXPERIENCE Get a little steamy and enjoy a real Finnish sauna. The sauna is open every day from early morning until midnight in the Finnair Lounge in the non-Schengen terminal between gates 36 and 37. Anyone can access the lounge for only €48 unless travelling in Business Class or holding a Finnair Plus top-tier loyalty programme card, which automatically entitles you to lounge service.

GATE AREA

2ND FLOOR

SHOP

1ST FLOOR OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

FLY FINNAIR FLIGHTS WITHIN EUROPE KARTAT Great Circle Estimated FROM HELSINKI AMSTERDAM ALANYA/GAZIPASA ALICANTE ARRECIFE ATHENS BARCELONA BERGEN BERLIN BIARRITZ BILLUND BRUSSELS BUDAPEST CATANIA CHANIA COPENHAGEN CORFU DALAMAN DUBLIN DUBROVNIK DÜSSELDORF EDINBURGH EILAT EKATERINBURG FRANKFURT FUERTEVENTURA FUNCHAL GDANSK GENEVA GOTHENBURG HAMBURG HERAKLION IBIZA INNSBRUCK KAZAN KOS KRAKOW LAS PALMAS LISBON LJUBLJANA LONDON MADRID MALAGA MALTA MANCHESTER MENORCA MILAN MINSK MOSCOW MUNICH MYTILENE NAPLES NICE OSLO PALMA DE MALLORCA PAPHOS PARIS PISA PRAGUE

Distances km

1525 02:35 2722 03:45 3034 04:25 4518 05:55 2490 03:40 2632 03:55 1112 03:30 1123 02:00 2581 03:45 1060 01:50 1651 02:40 1481 02:20 2636 03:45 2756 03:50 895 01:40 2329 03:25 2639 03:40 2030 03:10 2027 03:00 1512 02:25 1717 02:40 3457 04:45 2098 03:05 1543 02:35 4578 06:05 4310 05:45 768 02:00 1994 03:00 785 01:25 1172 02:00 2777 03:55 2897 04:00 1701 02:35 1521 02:30 2620 03:45 1186 02:00 4700 06:10 3369 04:50 1713 02:40 1863 03:10 2950 04:25 3357 04:35 2822 04:15 1817 03:00 2688 04:05 1953 03:05 740 01:25 876 01:40 1577 02:30 1471 03:35 2283 03:25 2202 03:25 766 01:30 2777 04:00 2898 04:00 1900 03:05 2093 03:20 1322 02:10

TÄHÄN KARTTA

8 WINGS 88BLUE BLUE WINGSDECEMBER OCTOBER 2014 2016

Great Circle Estimated Distances Flight km Times

Flight Times PREVEZA PULA REYKJAVIK RHODES RIGA RIMINI ROME SALZBURG SAMARA SANTORINI SKIATHOS SPLIT STOCKHOLM ST. PETERSBURG TALLINN TARTU TEL AVIV TENERIFE NORTE TENERIFE SUR VARNA VENICE VERONA VIENNA VILNIUS VISBY WARSAW ZAKYNTHOS ZÜRICH

2397 03:25 1865 02:55 2429 3:50 2668 03:45 382 00:55 1993 03:00 2235 03:25 1592 02:30 1698 02:35 2660 03:40 2353 03:30 1956 02:55 400 01:00 301 01:00 101 00:30 245 00:50 3230 04:25 4691 06:10 4745 06:10 1911 02:55 1847 02:55 1903 02:55 1462 02:30 633 01:15 481 01:25 940 01:40 2526 03:55 1781 02:45

SCHEDULED DESTINATIONS LEISURE DESTINATIONS PARTNER-OPERATED CODE-SHARE OR MARKETING DESTINATIONS SEASONAL ROUTE EW SCHEDULED N SEASONAL ROUTE NEW SCHEDULED DESTINATION IN 2016

Atl Oc antic ean

DOMESTIC FLIGHTS New

FROM HELSINKI IVALO JOENSUU JYVÄSKYLÄ KAJAANI MARIEHAMN KEMI/TORNIO KITTILÄ KOKKOLA/PIETARSAARI KUOPIO KUUSAMO OULU ROVANIEMI TAMPERE TURKU VAASA

quay

931 01:35 360 01:00 235 00:50 464 01:20 282 00:55 609 01:35 823 01:25 391 01:10 335 01:00 667 01:15 514 01:05 697 01:20 143 00:35 150 00:35 348 00:55

Bay of B isca ya

Arct ic

Ocea n

FLY FINNAIR IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Nor weg ian S ea

Nort

h Sea

on-D

tov-

Ros

Heraklion

Medit erranea n Sea DECEMBER 2014BLUE BLUE WINGS89 8 OCTOBER 2016 WINGS

rctic

Arctic Ocean

FLY FINNAIR FLIGHTS INTERCONTINENTAL Circle Estimated KARTAT Great Distances Flight FROM HELSINKI

GREENLAND

Times

BANGKOK 7912 09:45 BEIJING 6325 07:55 CHICAGO 7139 09:15 CHONGQING 6736 08:40 DELHI 5229 06:50 DUBAI 4537 05:55 FUKUOKA 8060 09:30 GOA via Dubai 6739 10:15 GUANGZHOU 7693 09:30 HAVANNA 8718 12:05 HÔ CHI MINH CITY (Saigon) 8510 10:50 HONG KONG 7821 09:35 KRABI 8350 10:20 MIAMI 8342 11:10 NAGOYA 7780 09:40 NEW YORK 6626 08:45 OSAKA 7751 09:30 PHUKET 8312 10:05 PUERTO PLATA 8417 11:15 SAN FRANCISCO 8724 10:45 SEOUL 7050 08:40 SHANGHAI 7410 09:05 SINGAPORE 9272 11:30 TOKYO 7849 09:45 XIAN 6421 07:50

Atlantic Ocean

Havanna

FINNAIR PLUS members earn Plus points from travelling on any scheduled flight with a oneworld airline. The oneworld alliance flies to more than 1,000 destinations.

Pacific Ocean

Ocea n Atlantic Ocean

8 BLUE WINGS DECEMBER 2014

Arctic Ocean

FLY FINNAIR IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Agadir

Taiwan

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

DECEMBER 2014 BLUE WINGS 8

FLY FINNAIR FLEET

AIRBUS A350-900 Number 6+ 13 on order Seating capacity 297 Length 66.8 m Wingspan 64.75 m Cruising speed 903 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 13,000 m AIRBUS A340-300 Number 2 Seating capacity 257 Length 63.6 m Wingspan 60.3 m Cruising speed 870 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 12,500 m AIRBUS A330-300 Number 8 Seating capacity 289/263 Length 63.6 m Wingspan 60.3 m Cruising speed 870 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 12,600 m AIRBUS A321 (ER) Number 11 Seating capacity 196–209 Length 44.5 m Wingspan 34.1 m Cruising speed 840 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 11,900 m AIRBUS A320 Number 10 Seating capacity 165 Length 37.6 m Wingspan 34.1 m Cruising speed 840 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 11,900 m AIRBUS A319 Number 9 Seating capacity 138 Length 33.8 m Wingspan 34.1 m Cruising speed 840 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 11,900 m EMBRAER 190 Operated by Norra Number 12 Seating capacity 100 Length 36.2 m Wingspan 28.7 m Cruising speed 850 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 12,300 m

92 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

FLY FINNAIR FLEET A350

HAPPY BIRTHDAY A350 XWB! Finnair is the first European airline to fly the A350 XWB aircraft. October marks the one year aniversary with the A350 fleet. Enjoy this recap of our “baby’s” first year!

CELEBRATING THE 1ST ANNIVERSARY OF

#A350FINNAIR FINNAIR SAW SIX A350’S IN OPERATION.

383 x

FINNAIR HAS FLOWN 15,356,000 KM WITH ITS A350 FLEET, WHICH EQUALS FLYING AROUND THE GLOBE 383 TIMES.

FINNAIR HAS CARRIED A TOTAL OF 534,000 PASSENGERS AND 28,000 TONNES OF CARGO WITH THE A350’S.

. FINNAIR HAS FLOWN TO 17 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES ON 3 CONTINENTS.

FOLLOW THE STORY ▶a350.finnair.com ▶on Twitter #A350Finnair ▶on Instagram @feelfinnair

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY YOU HAVE ENJOYED THE FLIGHTS!

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

LOADFACTOR

FUN FACT The full LED cabin lighting system of the A350 XWB offers 16.7 million different colours and an infinite number of combinations. Now that’s beautiful!

FINNAIR’S A350’S FLY ON AVERAGE 14 H PER DAY.

14.3

9.7

FINNAIR’S A350 operates routes to the following long-haul destinations: Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai; and Singapore starting October 2016. More destinations to come!

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

FINNAIR PLUS RENEWED FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM

JOIN NOW

A world of benefits for frequent flyers

THE FINNAIR PLUS PROGRAM allows you to earn both tier points and award points when travelling with Finnair or a oneworld airline and from services provided by Finnair Plus partners. As a Finnair Plus member you get instant access to valuable benefits including:

· A head start on special flight sales · Exclusive members prices on offers · Earn and use points on Finnair, oneworld, and partner airline flights · Earn and use points on numerous worldwide partner services

RENEWED FINNAIR PLUS With our latest changes, it’s easier to reach tier membership. You can also enjoy simpler ways of earning and using points for Finnair flights. Read more about the changes: finnair.com/plus

DID YOU KNOW? JOIN FOR FREE by filling in the Finnair Plus form attached to this magazine or online at finnair.com/plus

NEW WAYS TO USE POINTS AS A FINNAIR PLUS MEMBER you can use your Finnair Plus award points for additional Finnair services such as seat selection, meals, and extra baggage payments online. The number of points you pay depends on your flight and the chosen service. You can pay for additional services at the time you book your reservation, or later through the Manage Booking tab. finnair.com/plus

94 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

FINNAIR PLUS RENEWED FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM

FINNAIR PLUS MEMBERSHIP

FINNAIR PLUS TIERS AND BENEFITS JUNIOR Children aged 2–17 can join the Finnair Plus Junior program. The points earned can be spent on award flights as well as for fun reward items. BASIC · Flights awards · Additional baggage charges with points · Extra services for flights with points · Partner service purchases with points · Waiting list priority based on tier SILVER · One extra bag (max. 23 kg) free of charge · Finnair lounge access* · Priority Lane · 10% points bonus · 10% discount on F innair tax-free purchases outside of the EU * Chargeable from August 1, 2016

All tier benefits are valid on Finnair flights (AY operated and AY marketed)

GOLD · Special baggage free of charge · Travel class upgrades · Finnair and oneworld Business Class and Frequent Flyer lounge access + 1 guest · Priority Lane · 15% points bonus · 10% discount on Finnair tax-free purchases outside of the EU PLATINUM · Gold card giveaway · Special baggage free of charge · Travel class upgrades · Travel upgrades for family members · Finnair and oneworld Business and First Class and Frequent Flyer lounge access + 1 guest · Priority Lane · Points do not expire during tracking period · 25% points bonus · 10% discount on Finnair tax-free purchases outside of the EU

Remember to keep your Finnair Plus card with you at all times to make sure you don’t miss out on opportunities to earn points!

EQUIVALENT ONEWORLD TIERS Finnair Plus oneworld Basic --Silver Ruby Gold Sapphire Platinum Emerald

OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

FINNAIR PLUS NEWS THIS MONTH

TIPS FROM FINNAIR’S CUSTOMER LOYALTY TEAM Ruusa Koskelainen, Head of Customer Communication and Engagement

FINNAIR PLUS SERVES YOU BETTER YOU SPOKE and we listened. Finnair Plus

recently renewed the interest categories so that we can send messages and benefits relevant to your own personal interests. Wellbeing, Food & Drink, and Home & Decoration are just some of the new interest areas.

Log into your Finnair Plus profile and check that all information is correct. Update your profile

by October 31 to automatically participate in an award point draw of 100,000 Finnair Plus points! finnair.com/plus

PARTNER BENEFITS This year’s Pink Ribbon is designed by Finnish rock music legend Michael Monroe.

2. CULINARY DELIGHTS Spend time with that special person and enjoy a tasty dinner at one of the many Finnair Plus partner restaurants. Use your points to purchase a gift voucher. 3. RETAIL THERAPY Renew your wardrobe with this season’s fashion picks from Zalando. Browse through the wide selection and enjoy easy online shopping. Use your points to redeem a gift voucher to the Zalando webstore.

THINK PINK: DONATE POINTS

DOUBLE POINTS WHEN YOU FLY

OCTOBER is Pink Ribbon month. Finnair is an active partner in the Pink Ribbon campaign that supports breast cancer research and patient counselling in Finland. Finnair Plus members can help the cause by donating Finnair Plus points in increments from 1,000 to 20,000 points.

EARN double Finnair Plus award points when you fly across the Atlantic with Finnair, American Airlines, British Airways, or Iberia between now and January 31, 2017. Book your flights and enjoy a more rewarding global travel experience between Europe and North America (including Mexico).

finnairplusshop.com

finnair.com/plus

96 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

1. PURE BLISS Pamper yourself with a luxurious treatment at Helsinki Day Spa. Use your points to purchase a gift voucher.

finnairplusshop.com

FINNAIR PLUS TOP PICKS THIS MONTH

USE YOUR POINTS WISELY FOR THIS SEASON’S BEST! NOW YOU CAN FIND Finnair gift cards, partner services, and award vouchers as well as Finnair PlusShop brands all under the same roof. To order, simply login using your frequent flyer number, place your order and pay with Finnair Plus points, money, or a combination of both. Shop for the always affordable 1,000 Point Special Offers and your Plus points can be worth hundreds of euros! finnairplusshop.com

TOP 5 PARTNER SERVICES THIS MONTH 1. REWARD NIGHT in Scandic Hotels €47 + 10,000p 2. ABBA MUSEUM admission in Stockholm €20 + 2,000p 3. FARANG restaurant voucher in Helsinki from €40 + 2,000p 4. LOCALTAPIOLA award voucher from €27 + 1,000p 5. EXPRESSBUS award voucher from €16 + 1,000p Gift vouchers can be redeemed with points or a combination of money and points.

1 ,000 POINTS SPECIAL OFFERS

LATEST TREND FROM STOCKHOLM! BOSE® QUIETCOMFORT® 35 WIRELESS HEADPHONES Black or silver €430 Member offer €385 + 1,000p

STUTTERHEIM STOCKHOLM RAIN COAT 3 colour options €225 Member offer €169 + 1,000p

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OCTOBER 2016

BLUE WINGS

FINLAND IN FIGURES

POPULATION As of July 2016, Finland’s population registered at 5,495,830 persons. This is an increase of 8,522 since January.

FINLAND

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE

IN FIGURES

Employed persons by industry, 2nd quarter 2016 (per cent of total)

AREA • 390,906 sq. kilometres, of which 9% is fresh water; land area is 303, 892 sq. kilometres. There are 188,000 lakes. 6% of the land is under cultivation. Forests (mainly pine and spruce) cover 68% of the country. GOVERNMENT • Sovereign parliamentary republic since 1917. • The president is elected ever y six years. The current president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö took office in March 2012. The 200 members of Parliament are elected for fouryear terms. • Finland has been a member of the European Union since January 1995. ECONOMY • GDP 2015: 207 billion euros, the annual change in volume 0.5% • Annual inflation rate as of February 2016: -0.1% • Currency: Euro

Construction and energy 8%

Miscellaneous services

13%

35%

Manufacturing

14% 4% Agriculture

10%

16%

Financial and business servces

Trade and hotel

Transport and communications

GDP

46%

Other manufactured goods

23%

Forest products

17%

Food prod. and textiles

14%

Nominal

Adjusted for Purchasing Power Standard

67.400 46.800 45.400 39.600 38.200 37.000 32.800 28.700

46.900 35.500 35.400 31.600 31.200 35.900 30.300 28.700

Foreign trade 2015 exports by products by activity: 53.829 MEUR (per cent of total) Forest industry products

21.5%

Other industries

19.5%

Chemical industry products

18.8%

Metals and metal products

14.7%

Machinery and equipment

13.5%

Electronics

12.1%

*preliminary

MONTHLY TEMPERATURES IN HELSINKI 2015

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Mean˚C -0.9 0.9 2.4 5.3 9.3 13.3 16.4 17.5 13.7 6.4 5.6 3.3 Max˚C 6.0 8.3 11.1 13.2 17.1 21.9 26.9 24.6 18.9 17.2 13.4 10.5 Min˚C -14.0 -7.2 -7.5 -1.1 1.2 6.8 10.3 9.6 6.0 -3.4 -4.2 -7.1

More information: finland.fi, goodnewsfromfinland.com, findicator.fi

98 BLUE WINGS OCTOBER 2016

Metal and engineering products

EXPORTS BY PRODUCTS

Gross domestic product per capita 2015* (EUR)

Norway Denmark Sweden UK Finland Germany France EU28

Manufacturing

Source: Statistics Finland

POPULATION • 5.5 million • Life expectanc y: men 78.2 and women 83.9 years • Average household size: 2.1 persons • L anguages: 89% speak Finnish; 5.3% Swedish; 1.3% Russian • Religion: 74% Lutheran; 1% Orthodox; 24% census register or unknown • 81% of the population aged 25 to 64 have completed upper secondary or tertiary education and 37% have university or other tertiary qualifications.

BVLGARI.COM MLI KO 6 2 44 6 1 •8 80 9 6 2 4 1 8 8 HELSINKI • A E K SNAKNAT T EUR I4N•K 0A9T U W W W. O S K - L I N D RO O S . F I

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