I recently took a day trip to Turku -- Finland's first capital. Though the journey was intended to be a day trip (and I did stay in Turku for only one day), due to transportation glitches, it felt more like a classic
road trip where you intend to be on the road for longer periods of time.
The morning began with a bit of a hiccup as Helsinki's typically wonderful journey planner suggested that I should leave my house at 8:14 to catch my 9 o'clock train. I'm usually out the door at this time anyway, so no big deal. But, I arrived nearly 30 minutes early and had nothing to do but stand around, wait, and think of all the things I could have done at home with this extra time.
Nine o'clock came around, we boarded the train, and it departed as scheduled. Yet, 30 minutes into the journey, the train came to an unexpected halt. The conductor makes an announcement in Finnish and I wait for my traveling companion to translate. Apparently, one of the train's attendants
(sidenote: what are they called? do they have a specific name like flight attendants?) has been summoned and will be walking through the cars to count the passengers. Not a good sign. After more lengthy announcements in Finnish and shortened versions in English, I learn that all of the passengers are getting off the train (in the middle of nowhere), will board a bus that will take us to another train station, and from there, we'll get on another train and continue the journey to Turku.
Once off the train, we stand around for a while -- a big group of confused passengers. Then, someone starts walking towards the road, and naturally, the large mass of people follow. However, in order to get to the road, you have to climb down a hill which made for a comical sight -- an entire train-full of people trying to climb down a steep hill, some with bikes, strollers, and suitcases. We get down the hill and board a couple of buses. After a 20 minute bus ride, we arrive at another train station and re-board. It was smooth sailing to Turku from there, despite being an hour late.
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| Passengers emerging from the woods |
Fast forward to the end of the day when we're heading back to Helsinki. We decided to take an earlier train back, which forced us to make a mad dash to the station. But, after power walking down Turku's streets, we realized that we would never make it to the train station now, especially since one of us now had a large suitcase (we picked up another traveling companion along the way and became a trio). We quickly hailed a taxi and zipped to the train station. On the morning train, I noticed that there were some private cabin which looked really nice. Since we were now three, we asked to be seated in one of those special cabins so we could talk and relax without disturbing other passengers.
Our request was granted, yet upon boarding the train and locating our private cabin, we found a man settled there -- an unexpected and somewhat unwelcome addition to our trio. For whatever reason, we did not ask the man to relocate -- perhaps its Finnish politeness or just our expectation that he would volunteer to leave. Yet, he did no such thing and so we endured a 2 hour ride back to Helsinki with a quirky man who offered chocolate to me (but only to me), showed us his photoshopped pictures, and upon departure thanked us for our "elegant and educated" English.
Types of transportation used between leaving mi casa and returning 16 hours later:
- 4 buses
- 3 trains
- 1 metro
- 1 taxi
I'm sitting in the Helsinki-Vantaa airport, waiting to board the first of three planes that will take me home. I'm still surprised that my summer in Suomi passed by so quickly. Though it was cold and rainy when I arrived in Helsinki in early June (and is now cold and rainy again), I was eager and excited to begin this Finnish adventure. 
Though I'm sad and in disbelief that I'll be leaving Finland in less than one week, this past weekend has definitely been one of the best so far. (Fo sho!) Perhaps it was because it started on Thursday night or because I primarily stayed in Helsinki. Either way, it's been a wonderful weekend -- filled with choir concerts, sightseeing, walking down someone else's memory lane, laughing on beer boats, adventures in transportation, tasty hummus, successful shopping, free samples of chocolate, inventing bluebarb muffins (blueberries & rhubarb), polishing off a bottle of wine, impromptu sleepovers, wandering the streets of Helsinki sans contacts and eyeglasses, and a long awaited trip to the zoo.
The morning began with a bit of a hiccup as Helsinki's typically wonderful journey planner suggested that I should leave my house at 8:14 to catch my 9 o'clock train. I'm usually out the door at this time anyway, so no big deal. But, I arrived nearly 30 minutes early and had nothing to do but stand around, wait, and think of all the things I could have done at home with this extra time. 
Once off the train, we stand around for a while -- a big group of confused passengers. Then, someone starts walking towards the road, and naturally, the large mass of people follow. However, in order to get to the road, you have to climb down a hill which made for a comical sight -- an entire train-full of people trying to climb down a steep hill, some with bikes, strollers, and suitcases. We get down the hill and board a couple of buses. After a 20 minute bus ride, we arrive at another train station and re-board. It was smooth sailing to Turku from there, despite being an hour late. 
