This weekend, I was travelling to Finland, for a sad reason. My grandmother from my dad’s side had passed away, and I was supposed to attend here funeral. Well, she was over 90, and had lived through much (including a world war), so I think one could say her time had come…
I had booked my flight last-minute for obvious reasons, and had a changeover in Amsterdam, with only about 45 minutes between the flights. So I was a bit nervous about missing my connection (which was the last flight of the day). My fears were compounded when I saw that our flight landed in Amsterdam nearly 30 minutes late. The moment we landed, I sprinted towards the connecting gate – but alas, I was too late. As I arrived, I helplessly watched the Helsinki-bound flight taxi away from the gate. What’s worse, I soon found out that the first flight (of any airline) the next day would only arrive in Helsinki about two o’clock in the afternoon (which is when the funeral was supposed to take place – but in Varkaus). So clearly, I was going to miss the funeral.
After about two hours of messing about at the airport at various desks, I managed to get a hotel sorted out near the airport. Unfortunately, by now it was a bit too late for going into Amsterdam town centre. So I contented myself with having my free dinner (courtesy of KLM-Air France), and a couple of beers in the hotel bar, thinking about my grandmum, and the absurdity of my situation…
The next day, the flight to Finland went without drama, and I was met at the airport by Jani, who didn’t have anything planned, so invited me to hang out at his place for the day. After a quick stop at the local supermarket, where we acquired the necessary ingredients for a “lads’ afternoon” (beer & pizza), he took me down to his nice hows in the ‘burbs of Helsinki. We spent the afternoon chatting, catching up, having a couple of beers, and watching Jani’s military training videos (he spent one year in the XXX). We finished off the day by having dinner & catching a movie – “Drag me to Hell” by Sam Raimi. Great horror flick, in true traditional S. Raimi “Evil dead” style; made us both jump and laugh. And the ending is just so appropriate ;-). Jan then dropped me off to Tikkurila train station, from where I took the train back to Helsinki, observing the youth of today in Saturday evening action (is it my imagination or are they less drunk than young people were in my day and age – or is it just the presence of the security guards on the trains?). I stumbled back to my parents flat at Freda, quite tired after a long and weird day. My parents arrived quickly, and we chatted for a while about grandma, family affairs and the like…
On Sunday, Janne & Katja joined us for breakfast (which we had at 10:30, in true Turtiainen fashion), after which I headed out for a walk around town. It was nice to randomly wander around the streets of Helsinki; crossing Bulevardi & Sinebrychoffin puisto, I eventually ended up at the harbout by Hietaranta. From there, I headed back to my parent’s place, after a quick browse at the street market next to Hietalahden Kauppahalli. In spite of the fact that the Finnish summer” ain’t quite the same as on the Cote d’Azur (brr…), I rediscovered my love for Helsinki during this short walk. I finished my Helsinki visit with a coffee and cake at Café Ekberg on Bulveardi. Nice, if a wee bit pricey.
I knew from the start that the trip back would be a bit of a pain, due to a four hour changeover in Amsterdam. Since my flight was on time this time, I figured I should at least see a bit of Amsterdam, since I had the time. So I chucked my bag in a locker, and jumped on the first train into ‘Dam. I Spent the two hours I had walking around the streets, taking in the atmosphere, just checking out the place, basically. I think Amsterdam must be one of the best cities in the world for just hanging out. I really love the place, so it was nice to be back (last time I came was for Euro 2000 – when it was quite a bit more hectitc than this time around). After enjoying a pint of Heineken by a canal, it was time to catch the train back to the airport. Nice little detour.
I’m taking the same outbound flight to Finland in two weeks’ time, let’s hope I get lucky with the changeover that time….
I had booked my flight last-minute for obvious reasons, and had a changeover in Amsterdam, with only about 45 minutes between the flights. So I was a bit nervous about missing my connection (which was the last flight of the day). My fears were compounded when I saw that our flight landed in Amsterdam nearly 30 minutes late. The moment we landed, I sprinted towards the connecting gate – but alas, I was too late. As I arrived, I helplessly watched the Helsinki-bound flight taxi away from the gate. What’s worse, I soon found out that the first flight (of any airline) the next day would only arrive in Helsinki about two o’clock in the afternoon (which is when the funeral was supposed to take place – but in Varkaus). So clearly, I was going to miss the funeral.
After about two hours of messing about at the airport at various desks, I managed to get a hotel sorted out near the airport. Unfortunately, by now it was a bit too late for going into Amsterdam town centre. So I contented myself with having my free dinner (courtesy of KLM-Air France), and a couple of beers in the hotel bar, thinking about my grandmum, and the absurdity of my situation… The next day, the flight to Finland went without drama, and I was met at the airport by Jani, who didn’t have anything planned, so invited me to hang out at his place for the day. After a quick stop at the local supermarket, where we acquired the necessary ingredients for a “lads’ afternoon” (beer & pizza), he took me down to his nice hows in the ‘burbs of Helsinki. We spent the afternoon chatting, catching up, having a couple of beers, and watching Jani’s military training videos (he spent one year in the XXX). We finished off the day by having dinner & catching a movie – “Drag me to Hell” by Sam Raimi. Great horror flick, in true traditional S. Raimi “Evil dead” style; made us both jump and laugh. And the ending is just so appropriate ;-). Jan then dropped me off to Tikkurila train station, from where I took the train back to Helsinki, observing the youth of today in Saturday evening action (is it my imagination or are they less drunk than young people were in my day and age – or is it just the presence of the security guards on the trains?). I stumbled back to my parents flat at Freda, quite tired after a long and weird day. My parents arrived quickly, and we chatted for a while about grandma, family affairs and the like…
On Sunday, Janne & Katja joined us for breakfast (which we had at 10:30, in true Turtiainen fashion), after which I headed out for a walk around town. It was nice to randomly wander around the streets of Helsinki; crossing Bulevardi & Sinebrychoffin puisto, I eventually ended up at the harbout by Hietaranta. From there, I headed back to my parent’s place, after a quick browse at the street market next to Hietalahden Kauppahalli. In spite of the fact that the Finnish summer” ain’t quite the same as on the Cote d’Azur (brr…), I rediscovered my love for Helsinki during this short walk. I finished my Helsinki visit with a coffee and cake at Café Ekberg on Bulveardi. Nice, if a wee bit pricey.
I knew from the start that the trip back would be a bit of a pain, due to a four hour changeover in Amsterdam. Since my flight was on time this time, I figured I should at least see a bit of Amsterdam, since I had the time. So I chucked my bag in a locker, and jumped on the first train into ‘Dam. I Spent the two hours I had walking around the streets, taking in the atmosphere, just checking out the place, basically. I think Amsterdam must be one of the best cities in the world for just hanging out. I really love the place, so it was nice to be back (last time I came was for Euro 2000 – when it was quite a bit more hectitc than this time around). After enjoying a pint of Heineken by a canal, it was time to catch the train back to the airport. Nice little detour. I’m taking the same outbound flight to Finland in two weeks’ time, let’s hope I get lucky with the changeover that time….
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