7 August 2013

Wednesday

Arrived in Frankfurt about half an hour early, around 5:30AM. The airport wasn’t very crowded yet, so I was able to get thru passport control pretty quickly.

Walked to the new A terminal to wait for my flight to Helsinki, which was scheduled to depart around 9:30AM.

It was a foggy and rainy morning in Frankfurt. Our plane was coming from Warsaw, Poland and was delayed because of the weather. We wound up leaving around 11AM…I think LOL.

Got to Helsinki around 2PM. Picked up my bag and exited. My mom’s cousin Eeva was supposed to meet me but I didn’t see her. Gave her a call and she said her bus should be arriving momentarily.

I had tried to use my ATM at the airport but it didn’t work 🙁 Mild panic set in.

Eeva arrived and we took a bus to Itäkeskus in East Helsinki. Tried another Otto (ATM) and it worked 🙂 Showed Eeva my Finland postcard album and helped her find a new water thermometer at Clas Ohlson.

She got me on the right bus to Virojoki. The bus made a few stops, arriving on time around 6:50PM.

Our friend Leena picked me up in her new Mercedes, which she won in a raffle last December. We stopped at S Market so I could buy some groceries. She dropped me off at our family cottage around 7:30PM.

I unpacked a few things, had a bite to eat and washed up. Walked over to Leena’s around 8:30. Today was her birthday and I was invited over to help celebrate.

Enjoyed coffee and cake with Leena, her son Jorma, Jorma’s daughter Juuli and her boyfriend Rene. Sat outside on the steps awhile chatting, then walked back to our cottage.

Watched a little TV, checked email and turned in around 11:30PM. I’d slept less than an hour in the past 35 hours so I was pretty wiped out!