Well, here I am, world! Not in Europe!
I'm having so much fun being not in Europe! I know all my friends back home want to share in the exciting adventures I'm not having, so I decided to create a travel blog! I'll try to update as often as I can, but you never really know when you'll have Internet access when you're not in Europe!
Day 1 - Not at THE AIRPORT/Not on THE FLIGHT
As most of you probably already know, I didn't arrive at the airport early yesterday morning. I'm not used to getting up at 5:00 am (<--- early)!
Not going through security is always SUCH a hassle. That authentic Vermont maple syrup in my carry-on really miffed those customs agents I didn't meet! APPARENTLY it's a BIG DEAL to "threaten the security of my fellow passengers." And how exactly am I supposed to do that with syrup, anyway? Get everyone sticky? Glue the exit doors shut? Gum up the control panel with sweet mapley goodness? *Sigh.* Whatever. Auntie Marguerite will be disappointed when I finally don't arrive in Amsterdam without her 75th birthday present. She'll have to settle for the 3 oz tube of Crest I didn't buy her in the souvenir shop I didn't go to.
So the trip got off on the wrong foot. Big deal. I'm not going to let it ruin the next six weeks. You know why? I've got perspective. While I was wheeling the suitcase I hadn't packed down the long terminal I wasn't in, it hit me: what an adventure I'm not starting! How exhilarating to not be on my way to EUROPE EUROPE EUROPE EUROPE EUROPE!
After not waiting around for what seemed like an eternity (I did not, however, eat the most DELICIOUS airport pretzel), I finally didn't board my NONSTOP flight to Helsinki! All I can say is: who knew the Atlantic Ocean was so big? Not this guy, that's who!
This flight I wasn't on was incredible. It was perhaps the most luxurious plane I've never flown on: leather seats, plenty of legroom, lanky blondes catering to my every whim -- not that my whims were particularly whimsical. There was even a lutefisk dinner, which was both a taste of Scandinavia and gentle on the tummy!
Seventeen hours later (but because of all those TIME ZONES it ends up working out to more like 24 hours), we were finally not landing. Wow. Not descending from the crystal-blue sky and not looking down at row after row of majestic snow-covered evergreens, I thought to myself, "What a beautiful country Finland probably is."
Even after a six-hour nap on the flight (I slept through the in-flight movie, which was, unironically, Are We There Yet? starring Ice Cube! I can't BELIEVE I MISSED IT!), I was still SOOOO ready to get the hostel I'm not staying at and get a good night's sleep.
Day 2 - Not in HELSINKI, FINLAND
The hostel was still a 2-hour bus ride away, but I was too excited to sleep on the bus. I was imagining all the fun I was going to squeeze in during my short time here not in Finland. Six weeks sounds like a long time, but if I'm going to see everything I plan to see here not in Europe, I have to run a really tight ship.
The hostel I'm not staying at is pretty nice, I have to say. I was expecting something a little dirtier and more rundown, but this place is in pretty good shape. I can only hope the rest of the places I'm not staying at are this well kept. The man who runs it says he's 78, but he doesn't look a day over 50.
Not much time to talk, so I'll hit the two big things I didn't see today.
1) The Esplanadi Park. It was just really nice to not be here, not taking in the resplendent foliage and not breathing in the crisp air. A bit chilly outside today, but this place is kaunis (Finnish for "beautiful" -- I'm picking up so much already from not being around the locals!).
2) The Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Apparently there's a youth hostel INSIDE OF IT? Wish I had known that before not having booked my stay with 78-going-on-51 guy. Anyway, the tower here has a great view over Helsinki -- I have some great pictures from when I wasn't up there (see below).
Of course, I also didn't wander around the downtown area (how could you not come here and not see the downtown?). Tomorrow it's not a quick pilgrimage up to Ainola (in Järvenpää, maybe 20 miles north of Helsinki), the residence and final resting place of Jean Sibelius, and then off to NOT STOCKHOLM!
You thought I'd forgotten, didn't you? It's picture time!
Packed and ready to go!
Me at the hostel!
FUN IN HELSINKI! Isn't the view fantastic from the top of the tower?
Okay, that's all for now. In future posts, I think I'm going to make a map of all the places I'm not going, and you'll definitely get to see more exciting pictures from my exotic travels!
