Hot Monday in Central PA. Drove to State College and caught a quick 4PM flight to Philly.

Took shuttle to another terminal for my next flight: destination Zurich, Switzerland. It was scheduled to take 8 hours but we got there in 7:15. Nice surprise was they still offered free beer on this flight, so I had a Sam Adams and a Heineken 🙂 Watched the classic film Citizen Kane. Couldn’t sleep though, too uncomfortable 🙁

Security in Zurich was a bit of a hassle. They had me empty my backpack so they could re-scan some things.

The last flight of this journey was nice (Finnair). Was able to get a little shuteye before arriving in Helsinki around 2:30PM Tuesday.

Was hoping to meet my cousin Antti at the airport but he was stuck at work downtown without a car. Had lunch at the airport Burger King, then took a bus to Hamina.

Arrived in Hamina around 7:15PM. My aunt Terttu, cousins Ernö and Maraike, and Maraike’s son Alexander picked me up at the bus station. They all live in Germany but are spending their summer vacation in Finland, too.

We stopped at an R-Kioski so I could buy a prepaid Internet SIM card, then drove to our final destination of Alapihlaja.

I got unpacked and changed clothes, then walked over to Terttu’s cottage for a cookout. We would up staying up late drinking and playing dice.

Ernö and I walked Terttu over to the old family home where she is staying, then walked back to our respective cottages around 1 or 2AM.

I had been up almost 36 hours with about an hour’s sleep, so I was wiped out. Zzzzzzzz…sweet dreams 🙂

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