Great minds

As I drove home from the pool this morning, I had my radio tuned to BBC Radio 3 and as often happens at that time in the morning (something about the playlists) there was an all time favourite playing: the finale of Sibelius 5th Symphony,

As I listened, I wasn’t driving home at all in my imagination, but standing in front of the Hotel Pribaltiskaya in Leningrad. It was 1987 and we had just arrived in Russia to begin what was to become one of our first adventures and an incredibly memorable journey. It was June, the White Nights season and we stood there on the edge of the Baltic listening to that very piece of music at midnight.

Wow.

“Sibelius 5th was on the radio this morning” I said to my Hero.

“Oooh. Hotel Pribaltiskaya, Leningrad”, he said.