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Grand breakfast in the morning: eggs, salmon, tea and fresh pressed carrot juice (Jari drinks fresh carrot juice every morning, healthy guy). Then i meet Jari´s car, a 26 year old red Saab, who´s name is somewhere between "submarine" and "can not". We travel to west Helsinki, visit the old Nokia cable factory, now a place for smaller companies and artists; the rehearsal room of "Avanti" symphony orchestra is here as well as a huge concert venue in the old cable room. I learn that Nokia produced copper cables as well as tractor tyres and rubber boots before they changed to mobile phones (obviously a good decision, by the way).

Jari´s "submarine" crosses a bridge and we enter Lautasaari (saari = island) which was just a green island beside Helsinki with a number of little huts in the forest - until appartement houses were built in the 1980ies and 90ies and it became a part of the city. Some huts are left in the rests of forest at the south end of Lautasaari, so tradition and "civilisation" meet face to face.

We walk to the beach, observed by obviously hungry squirrels who don´t like to be photographed. On the way back to Helsinki centre Jari shows me the north-western outskirts, but we don´t have much time: it´s about to meet the rest of Waltari in the "Nosturi" rehearsal place, tonight will be Pekka´s and Marjukka´s birthday party.

Janne, Sami and Kärtsy are already in the rehearsal room, the band starts to remember old songs, some of them they´ve not been playing for about 8 years - and I take photos, off course. Waltari are sharing the room with four other bands, by the way; one of them is 69 eyes.

After one hour rehearsing it´s time for lunch in the Nosturi restaurant. Afterwards Jari, Kärtsy and me go to town to find some nice birthday presents for Pekka and Marjukka.

proceed > evening+party