Back from holidays

In the past 16 days, I have:

• travelled to the highest latitude so far (60°10'N Helsinki, Finland)
• travelled to the easternmost longitude so far (37°36'E Moscow, Russia)
• not obtained even a rudimentary knowledge of Finnish (beyond observing that they like placing i's and äs together, and that "katu" means "street")
• obtained a rudimentary knowledge of Russian (through necessity)
• eaten borshch and sampled gorgeous Georgian cuisine for the first time
• drunk more vodka than ever before, believing every bogus "theory" about its apparent health benefits
• become intimate with Russian bacteria in a way that is best left unexplained on a family weblog, or even on this one.