Passacaglia and Fugue

It's time for an end-of-the-year post. Lots of things happened in 2024.

At last we got rid of the Tories, although Starmer seems almost as tone-deaf as his predecessor (in either government or party dimensions). It's true, of course, that things can't be fixed overnight, but he doesn't seem to do "hope" particularly well. Locally, the Tories lost the seat to Labour, with a disappointing Lib Dem result, although recently I reflected that perhaps we had taken some votes from the Tories, which would have been important in the final result. I suspect there are quite a few places where the margin of victory wasn't particularly high, and as a result the parliamentary landslide is shallow. Reform are emboldened by Trump's victory in the US and the Tories seem determined to track them rather than attract voters by returning to more central ground. I have the feeling this won't end well.

Given my post from last year, I should observe that since November we've been connected with full fibre. So far, so good. It turns out, in a repeat performance of digging up the roads, Virgin Media is also an option now. It seems everyone apart from BT/Openreach think it's worth laying fibre here. There might be regulatory reasons for that.

A friend, who is a few years older, retired early from their job, precipitated by changes to USS. It was bound to start happening at some point, but nonetheless it was a psychological jolt. For me, work has been a mixed bag and there are definitely some things I don't like about it. Over the holiday period I have been researching, planning and playing what-ifs with spreadsheets. I can't quite access my SIPP yet, but it's getting close enough that I think it's worth contacting Pension Wise in the new year, probably following up with real financial advice. Things would be a lot easier if I thought there were benign economic waters ahead in the next four years.

Anyway, here are some highlights from my year:

• Fiction - The Assassin of Verona, by Benet Brandreth


• Non-fiction - You're Him, Aren't You?, by Paul Darrow


• Music - Henry Wood's orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition at the Proms


• Film, TV and Theatre - Ludwig (unblogged)


• Museums, Exhibitions and Visits - Yoshida at Dulwich Picture Gallery


• Food and Drink - Kinnie Spritz at Aaron's Kitchen in Valetta

Honourable mentions for
The Devil's Flute Murders (fiction); The Subterranean Railway (non-fiction); The Britten Sinfonia and the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble at the Barbican, and Jonathan Scott's Organ Recital and two Kanneh-Masons at the Proms (music); One Life and Moonflower Murders (film, TV and theatre); MUZA in Valetta, the Tarxien Temples and the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum (exhibitions and visits).

We agreed last year, that this year we would holiday in northern Europe, ideally in a location reachable by Eurostar. So it was inevitable that instead we would spend a week in Malta.

Monday 2nd: Our flight departs from Heathrow Terminal 4. We arrive at our usual parking provider, only to be told we have in fact booked the "Meet and Greet" service, and need to go to the terminal instead. Fortunately we have allowed plenty of time. I feel they could have accepted the car there anyway, as it is probably stored in the same place for the week. I always find Heathrow a bit of a nightmare, but once we are through security everything progresses smoothly. It is a 3 1/2 hour flight. The first bus from the airport terminal is already pretty full and we can't get on, not helped by another bus occupying the expected space and a French party usurping any semblance of a queue. Anyhow, once we arrive in Valetta it's fairly straightforward to find our hotel - just as well, given the heat and humidity. We explore a little of Valetta, including the Upper and Lower Barrakka gardens. There seem to be a plethora of commemorative stones erected by military colleagues to the fallen over the centuries, and more recent memorials expressing solidarity with the people of the Hungarian and Czechoslovakian uprisings in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Grand Harbour from Valetta

Tuesday 3rd: We begin at St John's Co-Cathedral. For some time there is concern about R's camera lens; it turns out that the contrast between the aggressive air conditioning in the hotel and the ambient conditions has caused some condensation, which take a while to clear. We move on to the Grand Master's Palace, and then the National Library. In the afternoon we visit the National Community Art Museum, which turns out to be larger and more impressive than might be expected. There are echoes of futurism and/or fascism in some of Antonio Sciortino's sculptures inspired by Charles Lindbergh. In contrast, the Archaeological museum is larger on the map and although interesting, it takes less time.

Futurism at MUZA, Valetta

Wednesday 4th: We take a trip on the fast ferry to Gozo. The Internet was not entirely clear about this, as vehicle ferry services were more prominent and require pre-booking, but the passenger ferry was quite straightforward. We visit the cathedral and citadella museums in the complex at Victoria / Rabat.

Cathedral and Citadella complex at Victoria / Rabat, Gozo

Thursday 5th: We take the bus to Mdina / Rabat. The Domus Romana is just across the road from the bus stop, and it's our first encounter with Sir Themisocles Zammit, surely a name one could not make up. It's not a huge site, but it is interesting nonetheless. We move on to St Paul's Catacombs, Cathedral, Palazzo Falson, Casa Gourgion (an interesting museum although I can't do justice to the animated TV screens in Old Master picture frames), and the Wignacourt Museum.

Mosaic at the Domus Romana, Mdina / Rabat


Boat in St Paul's Catacombs, Rabat

Friday 6th: The St Catherine's Monastery and Garden is a calm place to start the day. Later we're using the buses again, first to Mosta for the Rotunda, based on the Pantheon, and in the afternoon to the temples at Tarxien. Finally, with advance planning we have tickets to visit the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum at the end of the day. The audio guide is mandatory and has some irritating sound effects, but it doesn't detract from the visit, and has the honesty to say that we just don't know a lot of what went on at these truly ancient remains.

Mosta Rotunda


Tarxien Temples

7th: We begin our final day with the ferry to the Three Cities. In practice we have noticed that all of Malta is pretty much a continuum of settlement, and the naming is somewhat arbitrary. We visit the Inquisitor's Museum and admire the view across the Grand Harbour in the reverse direction, to Valetta. On our return we take in Casa Rocca Piccola. Ramiro Calì's painting Electricity fuses ancient and modern in its own curious way.

Valetta from The Three Cities


Electricity

Then it's back to the airport, and the return flight is straightforward, and although there is heavy traffic at Terminal 4 we're home at a civilised hour. Overnight the thunder in the UK reminds me of the regular gun battery firing in Valetta.

The Maltese were friendly and helpful; perhaps an advantage of English being an official language. The food was always served in generous portions - the quality varied but Aaron's Kitchen and Ambrosia were both particularly good. We discovered Kinnie and - by extension - Kinnie Spritz. If we had stayed longer, there were other things we could have done, but the heat and humidity really did discourage over-exertion.

After some debate and negotiation, we decided on Seville for a summer holiday location this year. The late positioning of the Max Richter Prom was awkward for scheduling, but frankly going to southern Europe earlier in the summer would have been madness.

Thurs 7th: After breakfast, we head off to Gatwick. Fortunately I did print my boarding pass as I struggle to get the self-service bag drop to accept my phone; later I find the auto-rotate setting which I think may have been causing the PDF to flip as I turned the phone upside-down. Everything else accepts the phone version, although my phone also needs to have the magic wand waved over it at security. The flight and arrival seem fairly straightforward, but it is early evening and so there isn't much to do other than adjust to the habit of eating late.

Fri 8th: We begin with the Alcazar at Seville. It is the first of a handful of destinations where the requirement to book specific time-slots is apparent, but we are only postponed by about an hour, so there is time for a bit of wandering around. The venue is impressive and the tiling is ubiquitous. Later in the afternoon we reach the monumental Plaza de España, built for one of the trade fairs that has been hosted in the city over the years. (This one was held months before the Wall Street crash of 1929). I notice that there is frequently an aroma of brackish water around the city.

Inside the Seville Alcázar

Pomegranate tile at the Plaza de España

Sat 9th: We visit a few palaces, including that of the Countess of Lebrija. The ground floor is mostly covered with Roman mosaics lifted from nearby archaeological sites in the nineteenth century. I shall think of her as the mosaic-stealing Countess of Lebrija from now on. We have pre-booked for the Cathedral and the timing works quite well. In the afternoon we cross the river to the Triana district, where the old ceramic factory is disappointingly closed but the contemporary art museum is actually quite good. The site of the 1992 Expo is another graveyard to industrial development, with occasional business parks and lots of fenced-off wilderness, hampering our return to the city centre in the heat. We are finding that Seville is a bit bigger than it looked on the map, but the central district is mostly no-go for public transport, so there's nothing for it but a lot of walking.

The Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija

Sun 10th: We catch a bus to Italica, north-west of the city. Apparently this was one of the largest cities in the Roman world. The site is quite large and what is visible is well-presented, but it seems there has been a lot of earlier removal (see above) or areas that remain unexcavated, or under the present-day settlement of Santiponce. In the afternoon we are back in Seville and see some of the city walls and other bits and pieces, but it is really too hot to do very much. We try a craft beer place quite close to our hotel, and rather like it.

Mosaic of the Planets, Italica

Mon 11th: An early start to catch the train to Granada. We have pre-booked for the Alhambra, but our timing is askew; access to the overall site is for the day, but we miss our slot for the Nasrid palaces. It's quite a hike from the train station, by whichever route; and the signage inside the complex is intermittent. So there's a bit of a downer, but the rest of the site is pleasant, and we also get to see a few other places in Granada later in the day. We find that sangria is available in cans at the station cafe. The aircon doesn't seem to be working on the return train, I have insect bites and a heat rash, and the taxi driver won't take card payments, so it hasn't been the best of days.

The Alhambra

Garden in the Generalife

Tues 12th: After a long day yesterday, we take it easy. The Museo de Bellas Artes is free to EU citizens, but we have to pay €3 as a Brexit benefit. The Archivo de Indias is an impressive building, but it is only a building; if you want to see artifacts, the Museum of the Americas in Madrid is the place to go.

Archivo de Indias

Wed 13th: The train to Cordoba is a shorter trip and leaves at a more civilised hour. We have timed our visit to the Mosque-Cathedral quite well, despite a nervous several minutes while Renfe delay the train shortly after departure. It's an interesting space and shows the heritage of being under various "management" over the years. Is it coincidence that the Christian sections are much lighter, with the dark wooden roof beams removed? I suspect not. After lunch we visit the Alcázar, and the Roman bridge. Again it is bakingly hot, but the return train is also at a civilised hour and has working aircon this time.

Mosque or Cathedral? - or maybe both

Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos

Thurs 14th: Although the train bookings were a little awkward, we've managed to get tickets to Cadíz, and it turns out to be a very welcome trip. The sea air is fresh and the heat feels more manageable. We get to see a few sights, decide to give up on the eating late thing and have paella and sangria in the late afternoon, leaving plenty of time to catch the return train.

Cadíz shoreline

Parque Genovés

Fri 15th: The last day of the holiday is a bit fragmented, but we find a few things that didn't have listings in the Rough Guide, such as the Palacio de las Dueñas. The main archaeological museum has a long-term closure, but we find some impressive excavations at the Antiquarium under the Setas de Sevilla.

House of Bacchus, Antiquarium

Getting to the airport in good time, check-in is straightforward, but it transpires our flight is going to be delayed. Information is minimal, and Seville Airport is quite small; in fact it's the only time I have seen multiple flights listed with the same gate number, as there are few gates in the non-Schengen area. So there's a bit of a pile-up of passengers and little information. It turns out that there are more air traffic control problems at Gatwick, and it's nearly midnight before we have even taken off. Of course, this means the baggage handlers at Gatwick have mostly gone home and it does seem to take a while for our luggage to return. To cap it all, there's an overnight closure on the M25 and the diversion is poorly signposted (and Google Maps offers a contradictory route). It is 4am by the time we get home, rather more mañana than we had intended. It was a mostly successful holiday, but I think we did leave things a bit to chance; it turns out that Spanish culture is sometimes more regimented than one might expect.

In some ways a more normal year; in others a truly abnormal one. We took a holiday in the UK in late spring, and ventured abroad at the end of August; we are both mostly working from home with semi-regular trips into the office. The Elizabeth line is open and the Proms are back.

I gather doctors have stopped asking "Who is the Prime Minister?" as a quick check for dementia. Younger people have had their present trashed by the Truss/Kwarteng budget, with a rapid increase in interest rates; older people have had their future trashed by the same, with a crash of bonds and gilts, so-called "safer" investments. One of these is visible to all; the other may go unnoticed by many who do not watch over their pension funds. Internationally, Putin discovered that there is a limit to how much of a blind eye the West will turn to his periodic reconstruction of the USSR, hardly before time and at great cost to all. If any good can come out of this, it is that we will really scale back our use of fossil fuels, but that seems far from certain.

Still, here are some highlights from my year:

• Fiction - A Long Petal of the Sea, by Isabel Allende


• Non-fiction - Electronic Dreams - How 1980s Britain Learned to Love the Computer, by Tom Lean


• Music - Mahler 2 conducted by Sir Simon Rattle at the Proms


• Film and Theatre - none


• Museums, Exhibitions and Visits - the remains of Pompeii


• Food and Drink - Mussels at The Belgian Cafe in Eastbourne

Honourable mentions for The Sense of an Ending, The Cambridge Murders, and The Honjin Murders (fiction); The Mythical Man-Month, The Man from the Future, The Story of Crossrail and Thenford (non-fiction); the Theremin concerto, Aurora Orchestra and Ukraine Freedom Orchestra, all at the Proms (music); and Das Rheingold which doesn't quite fit into film and theatre.

It is not looking particularly good for 2023. Perhaps we should enjoy stability instead of the chaos of 2022. Anyone who isn't a politician seems to have noticed that Brexit is a disaster - Keir Starmer, I'm looking at you. We need proportional representation over House of Lords reform, and we need membership of the single market (at least) over the gibberish of "making Brexit work". A change of government would be lovely even though it would only be a signal for a change in direction. The country is well and truly broken and I don't see anyone with the ability to start setting it right.

We received an email last week from J, asking whether we were interested in going to see Das Rheingold at the weekend. It would have been churlish not to take advantage of the absence of industrial action on the railways. Besides, I skipped the prelude to the Ring at the Proms cycle of 2004-7, so this one I had not seen.

R went in to London earlier and met up with J at the Tate; I arrived separately, but we had distributed the PDF tickets to avoid any difficulty. In fact the only difficulty was the slow pace of entry; apparently the requirements for bag searches had only become apparent late on, and so the queue trickled in to Freemasons' Hall. It was an impressive venue combining modernism and mysticism; and felt quite an appropriate environment for the performance.

The orchestral forces of Regents Opera were reduced in number, but felt right for the venue, and at times were joined by the Willis organ in the hall. The soloists all performed well in an unusual central space, with seating along the two sides of the hall rather like the House of Commons. Props were minimal, with the audience left to their imagination. Although the style of the performance was abstract and timeless, the plot does lend itself to a contemporary interpretation, with Wotan's unfunded infrastructure spending leading to an emergency mini-budget: the Rheingold, stolen by Alberich from the watchful Rhinemaidens and forged into the powerful Ring, must be stolen again and used to repay the giants for the building of Valhalla. Of course Wagner takes rather longer to tell the tale. The performance itself ran to time, but had started late and therefore finished correspondingly late.

Afterwards we went to a nearby Moroccan restaurant, Bab Mansour. The food was good but the choice rather limited, as a number of items on the menu were unavailable, presumably more a hazard of Sunday evening than a Brexit benefit. We were fortunate in catching a train home just before a half-hour drought of departures from Paddington.

This time last year I see I was predicting my covid vaccination would be in 2022, so there have been some positive things this year (with thanks to NHS and rather less to NHS Digital, who corrupted my record when the site crashed the day my age group became eligible for jabs). Here are my other highlights.

• Fiction - The Echo Maker, by Richard Powers


• Non-fiction - How Britain Ends, by Gavin Esler


• Music - none


• Film and Theatre - none


• Museums, Exhibitions and Visits - an unblogged visit to Thenford Arboretum and Gardens


• Food and Drink - an unblogged trip to Twickenham to see rosamicula and strange_complex

Honourable mentions for The Thursday Murder Club (fiction); The Battle for Spain, Last Hope Island and Seasons in the Sun (non-fiction); The Aurora Orchestra at the Proms (music); I was pleased with my attempt at moules marinière over the Easter weekend (food).

In these parts any sense of a return to the old normality has distinctly stalled. I feel quite settled with a generic working-from-home framework. Work is not perfect, but I acknowledge some economic privilege in that I feel I am now working to make my retirement comfortable rather than to pay the bills; my fear is that the "easy" choice of inflating our collective covid debts away will erode my pension. I would dearly love to be able to go about at leisure in my free time, but no amount of Johnsonian bluster encourages me to "live with" the virus. It seems as a nation we are just prepared to accept hundreds of deaths daily, with no end in sight. Hundreds is, obviously, better than the thousand or more we experienced almost a year ago, but we did get it rather lower before "freedom" day. Ho hum. I believe many of us - one way or another - are now endowed with what ought to be a surfeit of antibodies, yet the universe it producing better and better virus variants. Yay.

At the end of 2018 I noted it hadn't been a brilliant year. Well, the same goes for 2019, possibly in spades, and it doesn't look great for 2020 either. But in between, there have been highlights: here are mine.

• Fiction - The Bedlam Stacks, by Natasha Pulley


• Non-fiction - SPQR, by Mary Beard


• Music - Olivier Latry's organ recital at the Proms


• Film and Theatre - First Man


• Museums and Exhibitions - Cutting Edge at Dulwich Picture Gallery


• Food and Drink - Pelikan in Stockholm

Honourable mentions for A Vineyard in Andalusia and An English Murder (fiction); 4th Rock from the Sun and The Invention of Air (non-fiction); Canzionere Grecanico Salentino and Queen Victoria's piano (music); Skansen in Stockholm, the Gustavianum in Uppsala (museums and exhibitions).

Perhaps hibernation for the duration would be the best option.

Fri 7th: I have spent the past day and a half off work with a cold, and although it is clearing, I still feel a bit under the weather. It's an early start and I am surprised by roadworks on the M4, which impose a 50mph speed limit for almost all of the journey to Heathrow. Fortunately we've allowed plenty of time. The self-service bag drop is an innovation and proves counterintuitive, as no peeling is required before fixing the baggage labels. As with all self-service options these days, staff are on hand to assist, perhaps a little patronisingly. The flight is smooth and the transfer to the hotel works as expected, with the small hiccup that the ticket machines for the Arlanda Express are reluctant to accept some cards. Once settled, we take advantage of the good weather to go for a walk around the old town, Gamla Stan.

Sat 8th: The forecast suggests a few good days, but less good by midweek, so we go to Drottningholm Palace. As well as the palace itself, we see the Chinese pavilion, the entertaining Guards' "tent", and the Palace Theatre.

Sun 9th: We visit the Royal Palace; after lunch we catch the popular Changing of the Guard ceremony. They do like military bands in Sweden. In the afternoon we wander around Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen, before taking in the Modernamuseet and ArkDes.

Mon 10th: Another good day, and, especially as many museums are closed, we head to the open-air Skansen park. In some ways it reminds me of Beamish open-air museum, and there is some common intent, but Skansen is older, more varied (taking in architectural examples from all over the country, including from Finnish and Sami communities), and incorporates an extensive Nordic animals section. I have mixed feelings about zoos, but this seems to work quite well as an educational as well as an entertaining experience. We see owls, bears, boar, moose, seals, reindeer and wolves, as well as domesticated animals.

Tues 11th: The weather is more cloudy, and we take a day trip to Uppsala, where we see the Linnaeus museum and the Gustavianum museum, with its impressive Augsburg cabinet and anatomical theatre.

Wed 12th: We're looking to get round the indoor options, so it's the Historiska museet in the morning, which proves quite interesting (especially the prehistory sections), and the Nationalmuseum (which is an art gallery) in the afternoon. Although there's the obligatory Canalettos, it contains mostly lesser-known artists. A couple of interesting Akseli Gallen-Kallela pieces appear in the later rooms.

Thurs 13th: Weather-wise, this is the worst day by far. We start at the Vasamuseet, which houses the recovered wreck of the seventeenth century Vasa. I was anticipating something more dumbed-down and interactive, but it's much more impressive. In contrast, in the afternoon we visit the Nordiska museet, which isn't bad but is underwhelming in comparison, not really using its space all that well. Finally we explore the Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde museum; there's a temporary exhibition of paintings from Grez-sur-Loing and some intereating contemporary photography, but overall it's quite a small museum.

Fri 14th: The weather is indifferent and we start with a morning tour of the Stadshus, before heading on to Vaxholm, where we see the interesting Hembygdsgårds museum (in a couple of rooms attached to the cafe) before going on to the castle and defensive works. As we exit the castle exhibition, the weather has improved substantially and it's bright sunshine again.

Sat 15th: It's a time-filling last day, so we begin at the Rosendals Trädgård, before moving on to the well-stocked Medelhavsmuseet and finally the Strindberg Museum, before heading off to the airport. The flight departs slightly late yet arrives early, but there's an inordinate wait for the baggage to arrive, and in the end we're quite late back.

Overall, public transport was good and cheap; visitor attractions were priced comparably with London, and food and drink was expensive. We managed some good budget meals (Georgian, Swedish and Mexican); though not among the cheaper options, Pelikan and Magnus Ladulas were particularly good.

The end is nigh for 2018. The only thing that prevents a simple "Good riddance!" is the prospect of 2019 - let's face it, we're not going to be off to a great start given the political disarray prior to Christmas. Still, there have been some high points, so here's the best of the year for me:

• Fiction - Vindolanda, by Adrian Goldsworthy


• Non-Fiction - Machine, Platform, Crowd, by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson


• Music - The Budapest Festival Orchestra at the Proms


• Film and Theatre - Loving Vincent


• Museums and Exhibitions - The Course of Empire at the National Gallery

Other highlights: (fiction) Two Cousins of Azov; (non-fiction) Come to Finland!; (music) the Tango Prom and the Estonian Festival Orchestra; (film) The Post; (museums and exhibitions) Goscinny at the Jewish Museum, the Ateneum in Helsinki, and the Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga.

No Food and Drink award this year, but special mentions for O'ver and Belgo Centraal, both in London.

It would appear that I predicted my demise at work in 2017's end-of-year post; disappointingly, that proved to be correct. So far, the new job has disappointed (and the Crossrail debacle doesn't help); there is scope for it to pick up in the New Year, but we shall have to wait and see. I don't think it would be good to move too quickly in the current circumstances. If there's no deal, then we shall all be "enjoying" our new "freedom" and blue passports from April; but, provided somebody does something at Westminster, it seems likely that things will drag on for some time yet.

After looking through the guidebooks, we decided we couldn't fit all three Baltic states into a single holiday, so we opted for a trip to Rīga and Tallin. The logistics were straightforward but not trivial, and we ended up with flights to/from Gatwick instead of our more usual Heathrow.

Fri 8th: We get up at ridiculous-o'clock. Fortunately the roads are running smoothly and the directions to Purple Parking are clear, and we get there by 7am. Check-in/bag-drop with Air Baltic is straightforward, as we can use the business queue (a quirk of having the temerity to pre-purchase hold baggage). Normally I don't pay much attention to the aircraft itself, but I do notice the Bombardier CS300 seems particularly new and shiny, and the airline magazine informs me it is also significantly more fuel-efficient. However, it does seem unusually warm, unlike most aircraft which seem somewhat over-chilled. The flight is smooth and on-time, and although there are at least two stag parties on board it's an orderly affair. Transfer by bus into central Rīga works as advertised and it's a short walk to the hotel. We take a walk around the town, taking in the Alexander Nevsky orthodox cathedral, the Art Nouveau district, parks, squares, and the old Zeppelin hangars which now form the central markets, which are closed by the time we get there.

Sat 9th: Overnight, the power has blipped at least three times, and each time it comes back on, all lights in the room come on, which is irritating to say the least. But after a decent breakfast we're off to the Art Nouveau museum and the cathedral. In the afternoon we visit the House of the Black Heads - a guildhall whose name derives from St Mauritius, though the house is a complete post-WW2 (and indeed, post-Soviet) reconstruction.

Sun 10th: We take in the Rīga Bourse art museum, and later the Latvian National Museum of Art (which turns out to be free on that day) and the Metzendorff House.

Mon 11th: We have a short morning to fill, so we visit the Synagogue (again, largely reconstructed) and the interior of the central market, before catching our bus to Tallinn. It's a four-hour trip (with a short pause in Pärnu) and the Latvian A1 isn't the best of roads - a single carriageway, though it's so straight it could have been built by the Romans. The transfer between Tallinn International Bus Station and the hotel is the one bit of the trip I hadn't researched properly, and we muddle around without actually paying for the tram ride, because it seems everything is electronic and online. (Fortunately, we don't claim back the outstanding balance on the card we buy for the rest of the holiday, so my conscience is clear). We wander around in the late afternoon and early evening in part of the Old Town. It's obviously picturesque, though I have a sense the tourism element is hammed up and over-done, with medieval-themed restaurants all around the town square.

Tues 12th: It's raining - the one bad weather day in our holiday - so, having sorted out a public transport card (which it seems must be paid for by card, not cash) we head off to the Kadriorg district and the Kumu art museum. By the afternoon the clouds have cleared and it's dry to walk across to the Kadriorg palace. We also see Peter the Great's house and the Russalka memorial.

Wed 13th: We find we are waking up very early, due to the long hours of daylight, and the absence of any climate control in the hotel room, so before museums open we check out the ferry terminal, which is a 10-minute walk from the hotel, before booking ferry tickets for a trip to Helsinki later in the week. Back in the Old Town we take in the Kiek in de Kök Museum and Bastion Tunnels. An afternoon walk around the west side of the Old Town walls seems much quieter than the centre.

Thurs 14th: Out to the Kalamaja district and the Seaplane Museum. The Suur Tõll icebreaker is particularly interesting. Like all museums of this type, it is plagued by small people, but for the most part we avoid them.

Fri 15th: Another early start. We looked at the times and decided the 07:00 ferry to Helsinki was the one to catch. Check-in and boarding is straightforward, and we've booked breakfast on board. We get a good view of the archipelago and Suomenlinna fort as we approach Helsinki. Once we've disembarked it's about half an hour walk into the city centre, where we visit the cathedral, the impressive University Library, the Railway Station, and other attractions.

Most of the afternoon is taken up in the Ateneum and National Museum. The return ferry departs at 20:30 and we've booked the all-you-can-eat buffet, which turns out also to be all-you-can-drink, but the wine isn't so good that you want more than a couple of glasses anyway.

Sat 16th: It turns out we misread the opening times of the architecture museum, so our morning is filled by the Estonian History Museum at the Great Guild Hall instead. This proves to be more interesting and less interactive than the guide book had suggested.

We're very early at Tallinn airport, but it was always going to be a difficult day to fill; it gives us time to stock up on essentials such as canned bear meat, elk salami, and lingonberry jam. The return flight is smooth and we're home at a reasonable hour.