This is a day that reminds us that, when land transport is available, it is always preferable to air travel.
Our flight from Stockholm to Helsinki was due to leave at 12noon, so we were up early, breakfasted, packed, checked out and down at the local underground station at 9:15am. Then a 9:30am airport bus got us to the Stockholm Airport Terminal 5 at 10:30, so by 11:15am we were parked in the departure lounge waiting for the boarding call.
We had a few kronor left over so I tried to buy a bottle of scotch to soak up as the remainder. the conversation with the duty free salesman was illuminating.
Him, after looking at my boarding pass: "Is Helsinki your last stop in Europe?"
Me: "No, we're travelling on through Europe and finishing up in Budapest."
Him: "Is that in Europe?" [I wonder here is he was asking if Budapest was in a country in the European Union, or maybe he was confused by Brexit. Or maybe I'm just making allowances for him.]
Me: "Yes, in Hungary."
Him: "Well, I can't sell you this."
Me: "Why not?"
Him: "You can only buy this from the Swedish government."
Me: "Don't you represent the Swedish government."
Him: "No."
Which left me more than a little confused, unsatisfied with a lack of information, and without my bottle of Scotch. A typical traveller's lot.
The flight to Helsinki, which took an hour from take-off to disembarkation, was completely uninteresting. Exactly the way I like them. We arrived at the hotel at around 3pm, so most of the day had been taken up with what amounted to a 35 minute flight. Trains are best, with buses a distant second.
Check-in to the hotel,
and unpacking accomplished
we headed off for a walk to the tourist bureau and discovered what a fantastic looking place Helsinki really is. The architecture is an interesting mix of French and Russian/Soviet. And they seemed to have picked (or kept?) the best of both styles.
 |
| Esplanade - Helsinki |
 |
| Gothic columns on central railway station |
No comments:
Post a Comment