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FINLAND: Travel + Helsinki (night one!)
I am extremely tired, so I'm going to try and do as much as possible in a short amount of time judging by my recollections. Needless to say, we're here now -- after a few mishaps, which I will go into in detail a little later. Let's just separate these by airport, shall we?
Minneapolis
( departing approx. 3:30pm, January 4 )
When they said that the airport security line was going to be short? They lied. We waited for almost forty-five minutes to get through security, which was a pain in the butt. The flight they had us on for Chicago didn't actually give us seats on the plane, either. So for the first time that I can remember, we had to watch the screen for our name to appear in the "cleared" list. THANKFULLY we appeared rather quickly, and got our seats -- but we didn't get to sit together. Oh well, at least it was only around an hour.
Chicago
( departing approx. 7:30pm, January 4 )
Two of our wacky mishaps actually happened within one airport. First of all, to get to the international terminal of the Chicago O'Hare airport, you must exit security, walk to a train, ride said train all the way across the airport, and then go through security again. On the other side of the international security line, there is almost no food. Sure, there's a bar -- not very helpful when you're 19 and a little dehydrated -- and there's also some snack places. I settled for some Doritos and a few M&Ms (a very tasty meal, if I do say so myself). Getting to the terminal was actually the problem; we had no idea where we were going, and finally had to ask a security guard if she could direct us to where we needed to go. This airport either needs better signage for the international terminal, or we are just blind!
The next mishap was a wee bit harrowing, at least for us. We took Swiss Airlines across the ocean -- flying into Helsinki was an impossibility, as apparently no international airlines fly directly into the city from the United States. Or at least, they don't if you want it to be within a reasonable price range. So to Zurich it was. Unfortunately for us -- and this is mere speculation -- one of the flight attendants simply didn't like us. Maybe it was the way we looked: Aperture Science t-shirt and respectable white blouse, that gave us away as being really easy to con. She approached us and told us that our carry-ons were "too bulky" -- a lie if I've ever heard one, as mine is under the standard flight requirements and Zae's wasn't much bigger. She also snagged a man's next to us, and toted all three of the carry-ons to the back of the plane, where we were told that we'd meet up with them in Helsinki. Needless to say, two teenagers toting around laptops, a few books each, armloads of medication, one Scalemate, and a pair of earrings in addition to their purses looked a little silly. But even though I'm still kind of irritated that they took our luggage -- mind you, when we got into the plane the overhead compartments were huge and would've provided ample room for our tiny carry-ons -- I'm glad that I made the decision to save the laptop. By the time we picked the bags up in Helsinki, they were soaked!
Swiss Airlines: Chicago to Zurich
There's not much to report here, other than that the flight was long (seven hours!) and also there were some interesting movies in the companion screen that sits in the front of your seat. I just wish that the person in front of me hadn't leaned their seat back so far that they were practically sitting in my lasagna. But the swiss chocolate definitely made up for it, and thankfully the lady that stole our luggage wasn't actually aboard the flight.
I sat aisle. Zae sat middle. (I think I lucked out.)
Zurich
( departing approx. 3:00pm, January 5 )
Couldn't buy anything in this airport, as apparently Switzerland doesn't take the Euro and that's all we had. So, my stomach grumbling, we sat and waited for our flight to arrive. It was a very stylish airport -- we got to explore a lot of it, because we had to leave the airport, get a new set of tickets, and then check back in. Thankfully the Swiss know how to handle security; they told me exactly what to take out of my bag (or my lack of one, thanks to the Chicago debacle) and the lady even asked about my reading material.
(For those who want to know, I'm reading the series A Song of Ice and Fire on this trip. I'm currently on Feast for Crows. It was in my arms for the entirely of our travels through Europe, until we reclaimed our bags.)
FINALLY we got on our Blue 1 flight, where there were so many Finnish people that it was pretty obvious where we were going. If you've never heard the Finnish language spoken, let's just say that it's very complex. I personally have no idea what anyone is saying -- it just sounds like a lot of eloquent letters being thrown at me. But thankfully a lot of people here in Finland seem to speak English -- if you can get them to talk in the first place. They're very quiet around other people. We found that out when we landed in...
HELSINKI
SO. We had a vague idea that we needed to reach the city center to get to our hotel -- the Hotel GLO, which is this very posh place close to the train station. Zae and I decided to opt out of the more expensive airport hotel shuttle -- which would've taken us right there -- and decided to take the local bus instead. Cheaper, and we'd be able to walk from the train station right to the hotel. Right? No. Each of us picked a direction to set out from the train station, after we arrived by bus, and each of us were wrong. Eventually, we had to hire a cab to take us to our hotel, which as it turns out, was only about three blocks away and would've been a very easy walk. Had we known where we were going, of course. Mostly we just wandered around in the cold (it's really cold), wondering where the hell we were going and why in the world Finns don't label their streets with names.
But we're here now. I am lounging on my (single) bed, contemplating some food or maybe a shower -- possibly both, if I have the time. Which I do; I'm on vacation now! Technically Winter Term, but it's all a vacation to me. Let's just hope that the small bit of sunlight we get tomorrow will be worth it. I haven't seen the city of Helsinki by day yet -- Finland gets dark around 5pm, and doesn't get light again until around 10am the next morning. So we'll see. (Aave called it the Land of Dark and Silence. Since she lives here, she's probably right.)
Hello from Finland!
Minneapolis
( departing approx. 3:30pm, January 4 )
When they said that the airport security line was going to be short? They lied. We waited for almost forty-five minutes to get through security, which was a pain in the butt. The flight they had us on for Chicago didn't actually give us seats on the plane, either. So for the first time that I can remember, we had to watch the screen for our name to appear in the "cleared" list. THANKFULLY we appeared rather quickly, and got our seats -- but we didn't get to sit together. Oh well, at least it was only around an hour.
Chicago
( departing approx. 7:30pm, January 4 )
Two of our wacky mishaps actually happened within one airport. First of all, to get to the international terminal of the Chicago O'Hare airport, you must exit security, walk to a train, ride said train all the way across the airport, and then go through security again. On the other side of the international security line, there is almost no food. Sure, there's a bar -- not very helpful when you're 19 and a little dehydrated -- and there's also some snack places. I settled for some Doritos and a few M&Ms (a very tasty meal, if I do say so myself). Getting to the terminal was actually the problem; we had no idea where we were going, and finally had to ask a security guard if she could direct us to where we needed to go. This airport either needs better signage for the international terminal, or we are just blind!
The next mishap was a wee bit harrowing, at least for us. We took Swiss Airlines across the ocean -- flying into Helsinki was an impossibility, as apparently no international airlines fly directly into the city from the United States. Or at least, they don't if you want it to be within a reasonable price range. So to Zurich it was. Unfortunately for us -- and this is mere speculation -- one of the flight attendants simply didn't like us. Maybe it was the way we looked: Aperture Science t-shirt and respectable white blouse, that gave us away as being really easy to con. She approached us and told us that our carry-ons were "too bulky" -- a lie if I've ever heard one, as mine is under the standard flight requirements and Zae's wasn't much bigger. She also snagged a man's next to us, and toted all three of the carry-ons to the back of the plane, where we were told that we'd meet up with them in Helsinki. Needless to say, two teenagers toting around laptops, a few books each, armloads of medication, one Scalemate, and a pair of earrings in addition to their purses looked a little silly. But even though I'm still kind of irritated that they took our luggage -- mind you, when we got into the plane the overhead compartments were huge and would've provided ample room for our tiny carry-ons -- I'm glad that I made the decision to save the laptop. By the time we picked the bags up in Helsinki, they were soaked!
Swiss Airlines: Chicago to Zurich
There's not much to report here, other than that the flight was long (seven hours!) and also there were some interesting movies in the companion screen that sits in the front of your seat. I just wish that the person in front of me hadn't leaned their seat back so far that they were practically sitting in my lasagna. But the swiss chocolate definitely made up for it, and thankfully the lady that stole our luggage wasn't actually aboard the flight.
I sat aisle. Zae sat middle. (I think I lucked out.)
Zurich
( departing approx. 3:00pm, January 5 )
Couldn't buy anything in this airport, as apparently Switzerland doesn't take the Euro and that's all we had. So, my stomach grumbling, we sat and waited for our flight to arrive. It was a very stylish airport -- we got to explore a lot of it, because we had to leave the airport, get a new set of tickets, and then check back in. Thankfully the Swiss know how to handle security; they told me exactly what to take out of my bag (or my lack of one, thanks to the Chicago debacle) and the lady even asked about my reading material.
(For those who want to know, I'm reading the series A Song of Ice and Fire on this trip. I'm currently on Feast for Crows. It was in my arms for the entirely of our travels through Europe, until we reclaimed our bags.)
FINALLY we got on our Blue 1 flight, where there were so many Finnish people that it was pretty obvious where we were going. If you've never heard the Finnish language spoken, let's just say that it's very complex. I personally have no idea what anyone is saying -- it just sounds like a lot of eloquent letters being thrown at me. But thankfully a lot of people here in Finland seem to speak English -- if you can get them to talk in the first place. They're very quiet around other people. We found that out when we landed in...
HELSINKI
SO. We had a vague idea that we needed to reach the city center to get to our hotel -- the Hotel GLO, which is this very posh place close to the train station. Zae and I decided to opt out of the more expensive airport hotel shuttle -- which would've taken us right there -- and decided to take the local bus instead. Cheaper, and we'd be able to walk from the train station right to the hotel. Right? No. Each of us picked a direction to set out from the train station, after we arrived by bus, and each of us were wrong. Eventually, we had to hire a cab to take us to our hotel, which as it turns out, was only about three blocks away and would've been a very easy walk. Had we known where we were going, of course. Mostly we just wandered around in the cold (it's really cold), wondering where the hell we were going and why in the world Finns don't label their streets with names.
But we're here now. I am lounging on my (single) bed, contemplating some food or maybe a shower -- possibly both, if I have the time. Which I do; I'm on vacation now! Technically Winter Term, but it's all a vacation to me. Let's just hope that the small bit of sunlight we get tomorrow will be worth it. I haven't seen the city of Helsinki by day yet -- Finland gets dark around 5pm, and doesn't get light again until around 10am the next morning. So we'll see. (Aave called it the Land of Dark and Silence. Since she lives here, she's probably right.)
Hello from Finland!
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nuhuh ms. we have three different A's all with funny symbols
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å is swedish
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Language = 8 letters
Kieli = 5 letters