We arrived to Helsinki at 9 am without any particular adventures. We didn't have a ton of luggage but still it wasn't very pleasant to drag it around with us through out the city, so we put in the storage locker at the train station. It's always so adventurous trying to figure out these things in foreign countries (like where to get change and stuff like that). By the way, I definitely researched the availability of the lockers ahead of time.
The next part was us having to get our Covid tests done, 48 hours before departure. This was at the time when the US didn't let anyone in without a negative test (only later, in June 2022, they changed the rule for the US citizens). We had come prepared though--we had purchased four tests that were administered by us but with a person on the phone supervising. It was kind of crazy, but it worked. We found a big hotel, and just walked into the lobby like we belonged there. I mean, what else where we supposed to do? Then it took us almost an hour to get everything registered, administered and confirmed for four of us. Yes...it was a bit stressful, in case someone was positive for Covid. But thankfully, everyone was ok!
As we finished that, we headed to just a few last things in Helsinki we wanted to see. Like this Kamppi Chapel--literally the Chapel of Silence where people can hide from the hectic speed of life in the middle of the city.
Then we walked and walked and walked towards the Sibelius monument!
If you have no idea who that is, Sibelius is the most popular classical composer of Finland.
Inside the monument to Sibelius.
Getting really creative here-hahaha.
After the monument in the park, we walked over to the famous Regatta Cafe.
But first we had to check out these incredible public restrooms just set up on the side of the park.
That red building--is our destination. We were SO excited to finally reach it as we had been walking for a while by then.
I am sure during the warmer months this iconic, cozy, quirky place is a magnificent place to be. We really wanted to get food there but it didn't have very many choices AND it had very limited seating--basically everything was outside.
We were pretty cold, and hungry, so we decided to keep on walking to find some more substantial food.
Just a random picture of how they do things in apartments.
And I found just the place! Ramen to the rescue! In fact, ramen and any sort of hot noodle soup is very popular in Finland for obvious reasons--it can keep you warm and it fills you up.
We continued walking back to the traine station.
Once we got our luggage, we headed to the airport but not to catch a plane--that was the following morning--but to stay at the hotel next to the airport.
I have to tell you that we got super lucky with the hotel. It was an actual Hilton hotel, and because of my status with them, we got upgraded to a suite! And not only that, we were allowed to go to the executive lounge which had enough food to feed us dinner! Kids were in heaven:)). I am telling you, after staying at dozens of Hampton Inns and Tru hotels for tennis, I couldn't even believe that all those hotels belong to the same chain. Striking difference!!! Anyway, it was an awesome experience and I am glad we were so lucky!
BECAUSE!
We had a flight early in the morning. So we had the alarm for 4 am. I woke up and checked email messages quickly where I got an email from British Airways saying that our flight from London to Washington DC had been cancelled. It just said to call the number if you want to reschedule. It all got interesting really fast. We still managed to grab an INCREDIBLE breakfast to go (that opens at 3 am, just to be clear). I am sorry, but why can't we have better breakfasts like this in the US?? LIKE WHY???
We rushed to the airport (such a fortunate thing it was just a walk across the street through the hallways and not a car ride away!) as we knew the earlier we would get there, the sooner we could maybe get something figured out. The Finnair Rep tried and tried to figure out what happened and how to get us home and nothing...we just needed to be home for Robert's work. They couldn’t figure out what happened and why we suddenly had no flight. And this was already after they had rescheduled our flight unexpectedly two weeks before departure and extended our trip by half a day (forcing us to stay at this amazing hotel;). Finally, the lady found us tickets to go through London and then onto Charlotte and then Raleigh. She also let us send our suitcase for free.
So we departed for London, but then in London they told us we had two reservations--as the airline rebooked us automatically. WELL! They forgot to tell us! And even the Finnair rep hadn't found that record. In any case, we flew to Charlotte from London. And in Charlotte they again couldn't find our names on the reservations list...but we figured it all out at the end. And did not get stuck in Finland!
Just wanted to share what Helsinki airport looks like early in the morning.
And look at these comfy places to rest.
So after many adventures we headed home!
It was great to be back in the US...but not so great to see untaken care of bathrooms, walls and floors at the airport in Charlotte. Scandinavia just does it better...
Glad we made this epic trip happen! Wish Katya could have come with us, but it was also fun to go with just the boys. Till next adventure!
Lyana.
P.S. I am happy that I finished telling stories about our Finland adventures right around the year mark...yeah...sometimes it takes this long to get to my pictures and posts.
