WHILE the arrival of takatalvi has predictably come along to take the wind out of the sails of springtime celebrations, nonetheless it’s soon time to dust off your neglected bike from your basement storage and gets to enjoying the multitude of bike tracks that weave their way around the country. Finns love to cycle, and in the Capital Region alone there are around 1,000 kilometres of well-maintained cycling paths intersecting the city. In fact, when entering even the most remote of cities, towns and villages around the country one can find a well maintained path for two-wheelers alongside the road leading in and out of town.

Some folks who live in Orange County refer to it as The Bubble, for a few reasons. One of the main reasons is political; Orange County is the most conservative place in liberal California. Another is wealth; the area is one of the wealthiest counties in the USA. The last reason is geographical: Orange County is built in the middle of a desert. All of our water is imported through an aqueduct. All of our trees, grass, and flowers are imported, too. Everything green is planted by human hands; the natural landscape is brown and dry, an easily forgotten detail.

Stool-fueled transport is a thing of the present.

MUCH like the classic film Back to the Future, wherein the DeLorean is fueled by banana peels and trash at one stage, currently hundreds of Finnish motorists are finding their “1.21 jigawatts” from human excrement as the source of their propelling force.

Dieting fads are bordering on the ridiculous.

Notice how with every change of season or at the end of a major holiday the buzz is all about the latest dieting trend? Every new diet would promise to finally unlock the secret to losing 10 kilograms a week (impossible) while living on food item X combined with food item Y (yeah right) resulting in that slim physique you’ve always dreamed about! Yeah, right. Meanwhile, long queues form outside the latest fast food restaurant to hit our shores and we wonder why we’re all getting fatter. But have no fear!

Located in south-eastern Spain, Cartagena is a small city with a long history. It was founded more than 3,000 years ago and since then it has been an important spot for trade and the navy due to its strategic position in the Mediterranean.