greetings from by the river.

i have been silent and i have a selection of good reasons for it.

after working on average over 10 hours a day, the moments i have had to cherish for family and friends have been a precious few. in the meanwhile my dad turned 70, my best friend 35 and at some point we really needed to stick some seeds in some fertile soil.

but i am alive, have not forgotten about you, and am trying to sort my brain to write about something even vaguely interesting.

at the moment i am sitting by the river aura, in my old hometown, turku. i found a beautiful little wine bar that was opened only recently.

called e. ekblom, the name originates from the building's original owner, clocksmith elias ekblom. their restaurant upstairs is called "neuvola" (i.e. prenatal or child care unit) after the original use of the space, and continues the tradition of the city's rather peculiar restaurant naming policy: there is a bank, a pharmacy, a school and a toilet, all bars.

detail.

staff at work.

their site is flash-only which means i could not access it with my ipad or iphone. after i linked it, i realized it's only in finnish... but the address is there. wine is international, so just show up. the people are nice, trust me.

while i wait for my ride, i am enjoying few glasses of champagne (bubbles bubbles bubbles!) and a pretty little taster of herb marinated baltic herring.

baltic herring with herbs and cha cha cha.

turku is an amazing summer city and i recommend you pay e. ekblom a visit. charming.