Day Five European Championships, New Helsinki and the Sinebrychoff Collection

Day 5 had no morning session, so time to potter around parts of Helsinki I hadn't visited, basically the west of the city.

This contains some of the best most modern architecture in the city. Now I really do like modern modern architecture, ie post 80s stuff rather than the excrescences of the 60s and 70s. My main objections to modern architecture are cheapness masquerading as "honesty," and context. So much, particularly in the UK is just impolite to its surroundings. Look at the sixties stuff that went up around St Pauls and you will see what I mean.

But not so in Western Helsinki where there is little in the way of old buildings so the opportunity was taken to put up bold, striking shapes.

At the far end of my walk was an arts centre called the Cable Factory (because it used to be....), which included a museum with a modern design exhibition - huge and largely empty - a dream for small boys who could actually get into fork lift trucks and snow-mobiles. Nice new tram in the place - you get very used to trams in Helsinki, although the city is so small really that I gave up my travel pass and just walked everywhere.

 There was also a gallery of modern photography in a very industrial setting.

And before getting to the stadium I also ventured into the Sinebrychoff Museum, the so-called Museum of Foreign Art. It was built up by one rich industrialist, so part of it is set out as his lovely luxurious 19th century home and the rest is morelike a public art gallery in nature. Very definitely worth a visit, both for the ambiance and the quality of the art.





As for the final day of the athletics, well in stark contrast to the day before, a sunny evening.

Highlights. A very fine run from Jo Pavey in the women's 10,000m to add another silver to our collection.

The men's long jump was quite riveting. Great effort from JJ Jegede who was in the medals for much of the competition, but then the German, Bayer, the favourite, finally got his act together and launched a big jump. Definitely a major contender for London. And poor JJ dropped tantalisingly to 4th.

And we finsished with all the relays. Naturally no British medals in the 4x100m, the women, in novel fashion getting disqualified in the heats for running outside their lane rather than dropping the baton, the men more traditionally not getting the baton between first and second man in teh final. The Dutch and French however made for a good contest.

The British men's 4 x 400m couldn't quite get gold, but there are plenty of better quarter-milers to come in at the Olympics. I live in hope.