Friday, August 29

Today Irma celebrates another trip round the sun and I have promised to take her for a celebratory meal. We go to Wanha Mylly in Herttoniemi and we arrive to find the restuarant completely empty. Apparently large crowds will arrive soon, but the staff decide that they can squeeze us in. By the time we leave one man will have arrived: a very large man but not a one-man crowd.

Rain pours down outside and I start with the morel soup and Irma starts with a salmon terrine, and then we both have the aubergine burgers that we both liked so much when we came last time with Silva.

At some point between courses I photograph the cosy-feeling room and imagine the crowds coming later.

For the record, I also bought Irma some orchids; a small set of Lego flowers in case I couldn’t get the real ones; and some perfume, handmade by Shamal and sold in small quantities by Muttaqi who used to form part of the Make Some Noise gang when Irma ran Migrant Youth Helsinki.