Travel Challenges and a Day in Helsinki

We plan, God laughs. Yiddish proverb

We have been looking forward to our European vacation for a long time, but have been concerned about all the flight cancellations we’ve heard and read about in the news recently. We purchased our tickets in February, and there was one change to our itinerary since then. The morning of departure, we found out that our flights had been changed again, for a third time. Here’s how it played out.

We originally booked a nonstop flight from Seattle to Helsinki, which included a 30 minute puddle-jumper from Portland to Seattle. With the 9.5 hour flight to Helsinki, we would be traveling for about 16 hours total, allowing for travel time to the airport, etc. About six weeks ago, the flight to Helsinki was cancelled, and we were rebooked on a flight to Chicago then to Helsinki; adding a few additional hours to our total travel time. Tuesday morning, just a few hours before heading to the airport, we found out that due to mechanical problems, we were now booked on this crazy route; Portland to Dallas; Dallas to Heathrow; Heathrow to Helsinki, with a very tight connection at Heathrow. Thankfully we didn’t have to change terminals, but we waited on the tarmac for close to an hour before we took off, thus making our total travel time about 28 hours.

It takes real planning to organize this kind of chaos. Mel Odom

We finally arrived in Helsinki, and checked into our hotel in the city center around midnight on Wednesday; much later than we had hoped to arrive. Needless to say, we haven’t had as much time to explore this friendly, welcoming city, but I have managed to take a few photos.

In our jet-lagged haze, we wandered through the area near our hotel, taking in the feel of the city.

Old Market Hall dates back to 1889, and is the oldest market in Helsinki with a variety of restaurants, shops and a wide selection of items for sale.

Helsinki Cathedral is not far from our hotel, but was closed yesterday due to the Ascension Day holiday. We’ll visit later today.

We’re looking forward to exploring this lovely city more today, now that we’re a little more rested.

Interestingly, we’ve had only a few travel challenges and disruptions in our decades of traveling. Here’s hoping the rest of our trip will fall into place a little smoother.

Check out theTravelsketcher’s post to learn more about our experience getting here, and a special event for his eldest son.

As always, I would love to hear from you, so leave a message if you’d like.

The adventure begins!

Tricia