I guess this is a warm evening

I’m in Helsinki tonight, at the Scandic Grand Marina.  While I guess I could have booked an onward flight to Tampere, my actual destination for this trip, I didn’t think it was a good idea; instead, I’m spending the night here, and will take the train to Tampere tomorrow.

The flight from Frankfurt was fine — in some ways, nicer than the transAtlantic trip, since I didn’t have anyone directly in front of me leaning his seat almost into my knees.  And I wasn’t frustrated by the lack of Internet connectivity because I knew there wasn’t going to be any.  I was impressed that Lufthansa fed me a full meal on a two-hour flight — I almost regretted having had a snack at Frankfurt Airport (which doesn’t seem to be overly endowed with good places to eat, at least not behind security in Terminal A).  They also had wine — I was surprised that it was a California wine, 2002 Blackstone Cabernet Sauvignon, which I’m pretty sure I’ve seen in Trader Joe’s.  I guess it’s more exotic on a flight from Frankfurt to Helsinki than it is at home!

I was in the hotel by 7, and was able to use the WiFi to call home.  Then I went out for a little walk — the temperature is about 1 degree Celsius, which I guess is quite warm for Finland in January.  I didn’t know where I was going to go, other than “downtown”, but I took my GPS (well, Diane’s) with me, and eventually found myself at a cache.  Unlike the one at Frankfurt Airport, this was a real cache, so I had to find the hidden object and log my find — this was tricky while wearing gloves, and I eventually had to take them off to deal with the pen. 

Then it was back to the hotel for a snack (I guess that’s my sixth meal of the day!).  I’m trying to decide if I should take a sauna or just call it a night — or go back out and take some pictures of Helsinki by night.  My mind would like to go do something active, but I think I’ll listen to my body’s call for sleep instead!

A long way to walk for a virtual cache

The rest of my flight was uneventful, if cramped.  I read all of Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders, along with a bunch of magazines — my jet lag routine calls for me to stay awake until bedtime in Helsinki, hours from now.  I’m not sure I brought enough reading material.

When I arrived here at Frankfurt, it took me almost 30 seconds to clear immigration (I’m sure it won’t be that fast when I return home).  Then I had to reclear security to enter the domestic/European gate area, where I am right now.

I took a hike before settling in to the Lufthansa lounge, though — all the way to Gate 42 to pick up my first German geocache (and the only one I’m likely to get for a long time).  Going there and back was nearly a 20 minute walk; that’s probably the only exercise I’m going to get today.

The Internet connectivity here is fairly expensive; 6 Euros for 30 minutes or 13 Euros for 2 hours.  I chose the shortest option, and have already checked my email (nothing exciting, which isn’t surprising since it’s a weekend).  My next posting should come from Helsinki.