During my recent trip to Helsinki I decided to “Live Blog” the entire trip. With trips past I would typically wait to blog until I got home. Doing it that way gave me time to gather my thoughts and prepare a proper blog post with each installment of the trip report. Doing things that way works for me, but I also felt as though I lost a lot of detail along the way. For example, I would often skip the little frustrating details that popped up along the way. Likewise, I’d often forget to include details about how I was feeling at the time or what I was thinking. For that reason, I decided to “Live Blog” my trip to Helsinki.
I wrote the following post on Sunday morning from my hotel room in Helsinki, but I haven’t had a chance to post since then. So without further ado, welcome to another installment of my Mileage Run From Helsinki.
Finally Leaving Munich
After a surprisingly quick 5 hour layover in Munich it was time to board my flight to Helsinki. I left the lounge and made my way downstairs to the departure gate. Except, when I went downstairs I couldn’t find the departure gate. Our scheduled departure gate was D5 which isn’t in the main D Module of Terminal 1. Instead, the gate is down a narrow hallway that at first glance appears to be the end of the airport.
Once you find this hallway the gate desk is actually located about a quarter way down what appears to be the Jet-Bridge. It was one of the more unique gates I’ve ever departed from. As usual I approached the gate desk and requested a paper boarding card.
You may not know this about me, but I have a paper boarding card from every flight I’ve taken for the past 4 years. That’s right, before every flight I request a paper boarding card. I know this seems a bit weird, but I love being able to look back at each flight I take each year. I also think of the boarding cards as a souvenir which is perfect because they are small and fit in whatever book I’m pretending to read during any particular trip.
An Empty Business Class Flight To Helsinki
Since I couldn’t find the gate at first I was one of the last people to board the aircraft. I was flying in Business Class as I bought the flight as part of an incredible business class deal I booked earlier this year. Intra-Europe business class is just economy with the middle seat blocked and, in my opinion, it’s not worth buying on it’s own. However, I’ll happily fly intra-Europe business class when it’s part of a larger international itinerary.
Well, it seems I’m not the only one that doesn’t think intra-Europe business class is worth it. When the boarding door closed I was the only passenger in business class for the flight. That’s right, I had 5 rows of seats completely to myself. It was great, I could sit in whichever seat I wanted, whenever I wanted throughout the flight.
I ended up spending most of the flight in 3F as it was a window seat on the less sunny side of the plane. During the seat I experienced unprecedented personalized service. Halfway into the flight the flight attendants served a full in-flight meal which was delicious. I will most likely review this flight in detail over the coming days or weeks.
Arriving In Helsinki
Our flight landed in Helsinki at 10:30PM which coincided with sunset. The views of the airport under the setting sun were fantastic. After a short taxi we arrived at the gate and as I was the only passenger in business class, I was the first person off the plane.
From there it was a fairly long walk to the Helsinki Airport train station where I caught the P train into downtown Helsinki. The train costs just 5 Euro and takes just over 30 minutes. Because I was on one of the later trains the car filled up with somewhat disorderly teenagers as we got closer to downtown. After all, it was Saturday night!
From the downtown railway station it was just a 15 minute walk to my hotel. For this trip I opted to stay at the Raddison Blu Aleksanteri Hotel. I chose this hotel specifically because it is walking distance from the train and because it was among the least expensive hotels when booking.
I made it to my room in the hotel just after midnight. By this point I had been traveling for about 36 straight hours. I originally had grand plans of going out for dinner in Helsinki, but instead I took a shower and went to bed.
Final Thoughts
Well, here I am. I just woke up in Helsinki after about 5 hours of very restful sleep. I have about 5 hours to explore Helsinki before I have to catch a train back to the airport to catch my flight home. My plans, as always, are to walk aimlessly around the city. The only sites that I want to see are the Church in the Rock and the Helsinki Cathedral.
Besides that I will walk around as much as possible and see whatever I see. I personally like seeing a city this way because you never know what you’re going to find. Also, I love walking around a city a 7AM on a Sunday morning because you often have the streets to yourself.
Most likely my next post will be a photo album of sorts of my walk through Helsinki. I often take so many photos of a town that I never end up sharing. I typically don’t “review” a city because I never spend enough time there to really know what I’m talking about. However, I hope use to “Live Blog” series to tell and show you the readers (mom and dad) the city I’ve just visited.
