Past, current and upcoming events

British real ale presentation by Paul Whybrow

2010-01-29T22:20:00.001+02:00

After tasting sessions of many other beverages, it was finally time for us to learn about British real ale in an engaging lecture by our chair.

A sample of presenter's selection.

Tasting beer, a convivial pastime.

Real ale in a bottle = "bottle-conditioned selection"

Very select few, attentive participants.

David kindly gives appreciation to Paul, the presenter.

Christmas dinner at Tuorla

2009-12-21T22:36:00.020+02:00

A nice wintry evening for our festive Christmas meal at Tuorla Inn in Kaarina. A good crowd of 14 old and new members got together to enjoy a British-style meal with crackers and a taster of Christmas pudding, too.

Tasty food, a friendly atmosphere and lots of humour and laughter made it an occasion of Christmas cheer for everyone. With these pictures we want to wish all our members

A Merry Christmas

and

A Happy New Year!

As always, the rest of the photos can be seen in our web album.

Wine tasting in Tampere

2009-12-20T18:03:00.012+02:00

On a cold, cold Friday evening a small group of Turku Finn-Briters set off to visit the Tampere society for 'Wines for Christmas' tasting and Christmas party in the comfort of a nice minibus.

Along the road, our new British member David told us on organic wines with tasters of a Chiliean and Italian organic wine. It was very informative and certainly gave us food for thought about our carbon footprint.

In Tampere there was a good crowd to hear Gerald McAllister tell us about 7 different wines for the Christmas season. Among many other things we learned the 5 important s's of wine tasting: scrutinize, swirl, sniff, sip and spit/swallow.

The German sekt recommended to go with Christmas pudding was the ladies' favourite.

And some Tampere-Turku socialising got going as well - especially 'in the back row'!

A good time was had by all. Thank you Tampere society for inviting us, and providing all the wines and nibbles, too. Welcome to our beer tasting in January!

Some more photos can be seen in this web album.

Tea soirée at Café Art

2009-11-20T22:44:00.000+02:00

Pirkko Arstila, ex-newsreader and the founder of the Teen Ystävät society in Helsinki, gave a two-hour presentation on the world of tea in the lovely surroundings of Café Art, which also specialises in roasting its own coffee.

We sampled 5 teas -white, yellow, oolong, Pu Erh plus some green tea that opened up like a flower in the pot (or salad, as she said!) amidst informative and amusing stories about many more different types of tea. Most of the samples were kindly provided by Turun Tee ja Mauste in Kauppahalli.

At the end, talk went on with Java and Bancha tea and sandwiches or carrot cake, provided by Café Art and looking at all the fascinating types of tea on display - modest selection from chairperson and secretary's collection.

Even Turun Sanomat reported the event. (read from the link - in Finnish!)

You can see more pictures by clicking this link.

Welcome to this event!

2009-10-31T15:32:00.003+02:00

30th Anniversary Dinner of the Federation

2009-09-26T13:38:00.003+03:00

This festive occasion was celebrated in the beautiful historical dining hall of hotel Seurahuone in Helsinki.

Former branch chairperson, and current vice chairperson of the Federation, Mr Jukka Itäkylä
opened the proceedings.

Besides the many speeches and delicious food, guests were also entertained by The Part A Bois barbershop singing.

Federation autumn seminar

2009-09-25T17:28:00.001+03:00

Delicious smoked salmon provided courtesy of the British Embassy ahead of the seminar.

This year's theme was 'The Social Impact of Climate Change', and we heard both pessimistic and optimistic viewpoints from British, Danish and French researchers and Finnish Green Party MP, Oras Tynkkynen.

Here is the Ambassador opening the seminar.

4th smoke sauna evening

2009-09-14T14:39:00.008+03:00

Again we had a lovely September evening to enjoy the rustic surroundings of the Impivaara tradition yard in Paimio, which is part of the travel services of Tuorla, the countryside college of southwest Finland.

It was harvesting time for the local farmers.

Seven Finn-Briters attended this time - even two ladies. The sauna was burning hot, but nice and relaxing. Lots of good food was on offer, and, as before, the men stayed the night looking at the stars.

Preview pictures from UK trip

2009-08-22T16:27:00.008+03:00

The famous Carpet Gardens in Eastbourne (the chair's hometown)

Our group after their double-decker bus trip to Brighton

Chair and secretary along the Seven Sisters' walk

Traditional country pub investigations - the Tiger Inn, Jevington

The famed scrumptious cream tea and scones, courtesy of the branch

Fuller details and more pics to follow.

Summer meal at Samppalinna

2009-06-17T21:40:00.002+03:00

On a beautiful June evening 9 Finn-Briters got together at the picturesque Samppalinna restaurant to start the summer season with style.

Other than somebody getting two main courses and the waiter forgetting the starter, it was a nice event in even nicer company.

View all the photos HERE.

Nick Hennessey: "Moss and stones, skin and bones" visit

2009-05-09T19:48:00.006+03:00

Nick Hennessey returned to regale us with more renowned recitation. After last year's Kalevala, this time we had British and Irish folk tales with music and song, too.

Fifteen attentive listeners sat "spellbound" at stories about sons, fathers, butterflies, even sex transitions! What a rare treat for adults to listen to captivating stories.

More photos of the event here and more information about Nick on his website.

Europe Day society marketing

2009-05-09T19:44:00.004+03:00

Blustery day, trying to encourage new members to join up.

A musical evening by John Whibley, November 2008

2008-11-30T18:24:00.000+02:00

The former cellist of the Hallé orchestra in Manchester, and later the administrator of Manchester Camerata, Mr John Whibley, entertained nine of our members with CDs of classical music and interesting anecdotes of famous musicians, conductors and composers.

Currently, Mr Whibley runs a 'Holidays with music' company with his wife.

Nine members fully enjoyed the evening, once again at the library of St. Bridget's convent.

Talk by Gerald Steinmetz, October 2008

2008-10-30T19:21:00.001+02:00

Tour manager Gerald Steinmetz came to talk to us about The Grand Tour in Europe in the 18th/19th century.

Nine members came to listen to the stories at the library of St. Bridget's convent.

British Embassy autumn seminar, September 2008

2008-09-30T23:19:00.000+03:00

The annual Embassy autumn seminar this year was called "A United Kingdom - the Case of Scotland". Three members from our Turku Society travelled to Helsinki to attend it.

Smoke sauna, September 2008

2008-09-15T23:18:00.000+03:00

The annual autumn smoke sauna evening has already been established as a tradition with the Turku Finn-Brits. This year the venue was the traditional yard at Impivaara in Paimio, part of the travel services of Tuorla the Countryside College of Southwest Finland.

Four enthusiastic sauna-goers - two Finns and two Brits - enjoyed a beautiful evening with sauna and the accompanying snacks.

This time an overnight stay in the old barn was also arranged. Why not get the feel of the rustic ambiance by viewing the rest of the photos, too!

Cottage weekend in Korppoo, June 2008

2008-06-30T21:42:00.001+03:00

One of our members, Ulla-Brit Mattsson, kindly offered us the chance of kicking off the summer season at one of her family's rented cottages on a small island in Korppoo.

It was a real pity that most of our members were already busy with their summer holidays, so only the chair, secretary and their Japanese friend could enjoy this relaxing weekend on the island with only 5 cottages, and at the time, nobody else around.

Ulla-Brit and her husband Yngve showered us with their hospitality by kindly taking us to and fro in their boats.

In the evening, before sauna and the traditional sausages, we were even invited to Ulla-Brit's childhood island where we were treated to lovely snacks surrounded by the breath-taking archipelago scenery.

Do check all the island photos to be enticed to take up this opportunity if we are invited again another summer!

FinnBrit Players 'Murder, Mania and Misogyny'

2008-05-14T22:48:00.001+03:00

The FinnBrit Players offered a triple bill for only €6 at the Finnish-British Society in Helsinki on May 3, 4, 10 and 11.

The chair and secretary from the Turku branch went to see this interesting performance.

Flower arranging, April 2008

2008-04-30T21:09:00.000+03:00

Ms Marta Lopez de Mäkinen, from Tuorla Countryside college of Southwest Finland in Kaarina, shared her expertise in flower arranging.

A small group of lady members learned how to create beautiful bouquets, conveniently before important celebrations such as Mother's Day and school graduations.

All the photos from Tuorla can be viewed in our online album by clicking the link.

Fourth Irish whiskey tasting, April 2008

2008-04-15T20:52:00.001+03:00

The Irish whiskey ambassador introduced us to the secrets of Irish whiskey.

A dozen keen members and guests got also got the chance to taste the different types of 'water of life' or 'uisce beatha' as it is called in Gaelic.

All the photos from this event can be seen in our online Picasa album.

Nick Hennessey performance, March 2008

2008-03-30T20:37:00.000+03:00

The British storyteller and musician, Nick Hennessey, entertained us with his fascinating renditions of the Finnish National epic, Kalevala.

A good crowd of around 70 people gathered together at the beautiful hall of St. Bridget's convent for the evening - members together with Norssi and Kaarinan lukio students plus student exchange visitors all the way from Singapore!