A brighter note

The week ended on a brighter note.  I went to see La Traviata at the opera festival and it was outstanding.  Well the singing was.  Jennifer Rowley who sang the part of Violetta could challenge Maria Callas without difficulty, Alfredo's father was self assured with a fine voice and Alfredo himself, very young, but what a future he has!  It was a modern interpretation and they had used that as an excuse to cut costs drastically.  The set and the production were appalling.  The opera was staged by Polish National Opera and they certainly have some fine soloists. But they were let down badly by the local Finnish production team.  Dirty plastic tarpaulins were draped over some  of the scenery in Act 2!  How they can ask nearly Euro 200 for seats beats me. (I got a return for Euro 50!)  Of course the 15th century castle it is staged in is a great attraction in itself but they don't do Verdi and Maria Piave's work justice which is the single most important thing.

Sunday promised some decent weather so I took off towards Lappeenranta.  Covered 40NM in a long day and reached Puumala, about halfway.  I've pretty much decided to head for Tallin in Estonia and then, possibly Riga in Latvia.  A longish voyage but achievable.  I've had enough of Finland for now.  As wonderful as it can be taking in the spectacular scenery and the grandeur of the surroundings it can be pretty boring sheltering from incessant rain in the cabin of the yacht whilst moored in a faceless marina.  That's what I've  done all day since I didn't fancy fighting the boisterous and wet conditions forecast for today.  As it turned out the wind didn't materialize for much of the day and I hope the present thunder and rain will give way to brighter weather tomorrow.  There's not a lot to see or do in Puumala!