Flight from Berlin to Helsinki was to take off at noon, but knew I shouldn’t cut things close-- too many things could go wrong. Had great free breakfast at the hostel again, as soon as the dining room opened, this time at 7:00am-- must have left the hostel by 8:00am. Would need to catch a bus after reaching the correct “S” station.
Got to what I thought was the bus stop for special bus to Berlin’s Tegel airport by 9:00am. Long story short-- I waited for half an hour at the wrong place. Finally saw some bus drivers taking a smoking break and asked them where bus stop was. They told me I was on the wrong street and showed me where to go-- down the street and “links” (left)! Hadn’t taken a Berlin bus before, so I asked for help at the bus stop and one nice man helped me out.
Finally got to the airline ticket counter by 10:00am, later than I wanted but too early to check in, as it turned out, because snotty Swissair gals were still checking in people for an earlier flight. My flight was on Finnair-- they shared same counter at this small airport. There was a long line waiting to check in, but I felt I needed to ask someone to make sure I was in correct line.
Asked a young lady with bright red hair and she confirmed I was in correct line. A 60-ish Canadian couple from Winnipeg spoke up and offered to help me also. I got in line behind them and we shared our travel stories. They said they had relatives in Berlin and Helsinki. Two days later I ran into them at the Helsinki train station.
Went through security check. They wanted to see my shaving cream gel and I messed up the stuff in my backpack in the process of finding it. Flight to Helsinki was uneventful but totally packed. Was only a 1.5 hour trip, so it wasn’t bad at all.
Finnair stewardesses were very nice, but one had a problem opening a box of tomato juice, spilling some on herself and the floor. She told me she was “having a bad day”. I replied that it could have been worse-- she could have splattered me too! Arrived Helsinki-- it was sprinkling-- what’s new? At the airport I found the proper bus specified by the hotel and tried to buy a 24 hour pass.
Instructions were available in English, but it was not easy or cheap-- $14, but good for all modes of mass transport in the Helsinki area. Asked a man on the bus if he knew where the train station was. He said he was going there, so I got off with him. From there, I needed to walk briefly to the main bus station or take the subway.
I chose the subway, arriving at the bus station with no idea where the buses were. Naturally, I went upstairs to street level, saw nothing, then asked a lady. She said to go back underground-- that’s the area from which they leave! They must have 75 to 100 different waiting areas for all the different routes-- all with modern electronic signs. There was a vast city down there, as there were in many of the subway systems I visited in other cities.
Found the waiting area for my bus to Hotel Matinlahti, but had no idea where to get off once I was on it. Asked a young lady going somewhere else. She was familiar with the hotel, but could not describe where to get off. She quite sensibly just told me to simply ask the bus driver.
Got on the bus. The driver understood English and let me off at the correct spot after maybe a 20-30 minute drive, which included a stretch on a freeway. Located in the suburb of Espoo, Hotel Matinlahti was not visible from the road the bus was on. Had to walk almost half a mile on a small paved path through a wooded area that had many unidentified buildings, wondering if I had missed it.
Needed to get there before 6:00pm, the deadline for checking in, and I arrived with only 15 minutes to spare. Think it was a great hotel! Room had a phone, TV, heated towel rack(!), quite a bit of room to hang clothes, shower only-- nice & clean-- also a free internet room in the lobby, which was available each time I wanted to use it even though it only consisted of a single laptop computer.
There were several meeting rooms and it looked like it was used a lot by businesses to have “retreats”. The price was very reasonable and front desk staff very laid back and helpful, as opposed to the Austrians and Germans. They gave me discount coupons for dinner at the hotel both nights-- 5 euros each! I decided to eat there the first night, since there was no practical alternative.
The prices were high, but helped by the coupon. Was determined to try some fish dish, but they only had two listed. One of them was salmon (which I’m not too fond of) so I had the other one. It was not clear what I was ordering, but that was nothing new! It turned out to be some kind of very small fish, maybe 40-50, deep fried, on a bed of mashed potatoes, with a salad. Had a Finnish beer. Was not impressed by the fish, but beer was fine!
Back in the room, I “washed” a whole bunch of clothes in my wash basin and hung them all around the bathroom, but mostly on the heated towel rack, which did a wonderful job as a dryer! Had to close shades, since it did not get dark until very late. Slept eight hours for the first time since starting vacation.
--END 9 JULY--
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