Colourful corals, tropical fish and giant clams all feature in a new Fiji display at the Sea Life London Aquarium.

To celebrate the launch, there’s a host of family-friendly events over the Easter holidays, including an Easter trail, face painting, competitions and South Pacific themed talks.

The aquarium is sponsoring a special Marine Protected Area in Fiji, which will help to ensure the long-term protection of the area’s beautiful coral reefs and marine life.

We’re on the look-out for more Fijian culture for our World in London series. Let us know your recommendations in the comments below.

Finnish blogger Aapo Markkanen, a London-based mobile industry analyst and sauna enthusiast joins in with our World in London challenge, to talk about the joys of having a Finnish sauna in London.

In the old days, the sauna linked both ends of life in a rather profound manner, functioning both as a birthing room to bring new people into this world as well as a tranquil retreat for the elderly who sensed they didn’t have much time left here. Modernity understandably phased out that side of the sauna culture, but for many of us Finns it still adds something reflective to the concept.

Today there are more saunas than households in Finland. While most are private, serving homes or summer cabins, there are also a plenty of public ones, operating normally as part of pools and various ice-swimming venues. Some are lavish and expensive, some others entirely improvised and ascetic. A sauna doesn’t basically require anything more than a stove (“kiuas”), water and enough of physical structure to contain the vapor heat (“löyly”) that results when these two meet, so with some extra skill and dedication one can be even built out of, say, snow and ice. 

London’s most (yet not exactly its only) authentic sauna is more of an underground thing, found in the basement of the Finnish Church in Rotherhithe, but its purpose is very much the same: to relax and cleanse you, physically and mentally. 

It’s available as communal sessions (at separate times for men and women) and on private booking, and what essentially sets it apart from gym saunas, for example, is that the kiuas is there for creating proper löyly rather than that frustrating bone-dry heat you experience elsewhere. The other main difference is that most of us enjoy our sauna fully naked, simply because it’s better that way. 

The etiquette is simple. Take a shower. Enter the sauna, and stay in there until you feel like going out. Take another shower, ideally cold, and then a break in the dressing room. Rehydrate yourself. Close your eyes and relax, or converse with others. Avoid topics touching on money and status. Don’t complain about the löyly, unless your complaint is about the lack of it. Repeat as many times as you like and the opening hours permit.

Do you have any other tips for enjoying Finnish culture in London? Let us know in the comments below…

In the first of our blogs about The World in London, we’ve asked Coralie, author of the fantastic Tea Time in Wonderland to tell us where to find the taste of France in London. Here’s a post to make your mouth water!

You know the French. They can discuss food for hours (to dip or not to dip a croissant in your cafe, that is the question). One of our favourite addictions is cheese. Cow, goats, ewe, soft or hard: we have an impressive collection of 400, each jealously defended by its region.

In France, the Sunday ritual is to walk to the market, visit the local cheesemonger, admire the cheese selection presented on a straw mat and choose the perfect one for the family lunch. Baguette, cheese and wine is one of our favourite meals – we are easy to please!

In London, we struggle with Cheddar and Stilton. We long for a wider range of textures. So we rush to La Cave a Fromage, in the heart of South Kensington. You will always find a French fellow admiring the display longingly from the outside, eyes twinkling with desire, hand already on the doorhandle…

Step in! I love the smell and wish I could bottle it – an instant reminder of holidays in sunny parts of France, of picnics on the lawn, it makes your mouth water in no time… So many varieties, colours, shapes, assortment of flavours! This is just like home. The staff is friendly and very patient: let them guide you with simple questions about your preferences in textures, strength of taste, aromas, letting you taste a selection… Freshness, excellence and tradition are the keywords here.

You get addicted from the first visit: there is always a new one to try, a flavour to discover, maybe lemony, peppery, or melting on your tongue. Most of us do not even leave the shop: it has a handful of tables on the side, also sells wine and bread and we just sit there in true heaven. Tasting events are regularly held in the evening, perfect for aperitif time! www.la-cave.co.uk

Read more from Coralie at Tea Time in Wonderland, or feel free to check out the French event she takes part in every month, as she explains:

l’apero-blog: the French-speaking bloggers (or those loving those blogs) meet in a pub and practise their French, exchange tips, visions of England, best addresses, and recipes (of course!). It is very merry indeed. Three hours are never enough, we are always asked to leave the pub as it is closing. And still, we linger on the pavement for another half an hour…

Do you have any more ideas about France in London? Let us know in the comments below!