A Cloudy Day in Helsinki

The flight from Chicago to Helsinki was smooth and uneventful.  Unfortunately, Susan and I weren´t able to keep our seat assignments and ended up sitting a few rows apart.  I sat next to Lief, a atheist mechanical engineer with strong beliefs in extra-terrestrial life and the benefits of racial profiling.  I was able to steer the conversation to geometry and computers but there were times when I just needed to get some sleep.  Lief really wanted to talk, so I got so little sleep on the long, long flight.  Susan didn´t get much sleep either because her seat was close to the only operational bathroom.

Upon arriving in the Helsinki Vantaa airport, we quickly realized two facts.  1.  There was little in the airport to preoccupy our time for the eight-hour layover.  2.  Finnish words seem to have a lot of extra vowels and consonants!  We found the number 615 bus from the airport into the Tikkurila railway station at the center of the city where we could walk around to all of the major sights.  Sadly, as the bus rolled its half-hour route into the city, we watched the slight rain grow into a steady rain shower.  Here we were, with a handful of hours in Helsinki for the first time and we were going to get drenched!  With some advice from a local, we ducked into a Everything´s A Euro shop and bought some brightly-colored children´s umbrellas.

The clouds above matched our sleepy stupor as we shambled through the streets of the city.  Now with some protection from the raindrops, we investigated the stark white Lutheran Cathedral (Tuomiokirkko) and ornately decorated Uspenski Russian Orthodox Cathedral.  Two delightful young tourist guides in rain ponchos answered our questions about the the layout of the streets and where would find some good seafood for lunch.  The harbor had a colorful farmer´s market with fruit and vegetables, wooden crafts, tablecloths, and mink furs.  We bought some delicious fruit at the market and then marched through the city down Korkeavuorenkatu street to find the Juuri cafe.  This was recommended by our Lonely Planet Helsinki book, and it offered some a Finnish spin on tapas (nicknamed ¨Suomi tapas¨ or ¨sapas¨)!  Unfortunately, the sapas were only available for supper, so we ordered two daily specials and sat down amidst the crowd at a simple wooden table.  Susan had a fish dish with a light cream sauce and baked potatoes and I had a smoked pork dish with a delectible fresh tomato sauce and some sort of bulgur as a side.  It was just so nice to sit and relax for while, all the while a light chatter of the Finnish language buzzing around us.

By 2pm it was time to make our way back to the airport to catch our flight to Madrid.  We were bolstered by the lunch but we were so ready for this leg to be over so that we could fall into our beds at the hotel in Madrid.  We caught the bus back through the neighborhoods of colorful apartments, went through the security check again, and dozed in comfortable chairs at gate 24 until our 5pm plane boarded.  Susan and were grateful for our time together in Helsinki but maybe more so to be able to sit together on the flight and snoozzzzzzzz...