Blogs from Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland, Europe - page 31

I finally made it to a netcafe but its not cheap in Norway, nope, not at all but I need to get this journal done because time is unravelling so fast on this trip that there is almost no time to keep getting these journals done, I worked out there's 3 more after this one but maybe ill have to do 2 from home and that doesnt sound like a travel journal at all, just a regular journal. So I better get started or ill never get it done. I didnt check my email for 6 days and had quite a few replies to get through but now all distractions have ended and I may continue here unheeded. This journal will cover my brief Swedish encounter with the awesome capital Stockholm and then a rather cheap ... read more

So after a fun time at Heathrow, i.e. a 4 hour wait and then being told if we don't run we'll miss our flight, we blagged an upgrade to Club Class and finally arrived in Mockba (for those not in the know that's Moscow!). At Moscow airport we were so pleased to see 3 of our bags turn up within 5 minutes of arriving at the baggage collection... However after another hour's wait Sam's main bag had still not turned up (Claire was gutted but Sam was delighted at free shopping thanks to travel insurance), so we visited the fancy department store called rym (aka GUM) but as this store was on Red Square £100 didn't actually go very far!! Red Square was exactly as we had both always imagined it (except Claire was annoyed because ... read more

Lähtöön on enää 24 päivää. Sitä ennen pitäisi vielä tehdä 17 päivää (174 tuntia ja 45 minuuttia) töitä, käydä serkun häissä Mikkelissä, pakata kamat kasaan kämpästä, muuttaa, hoitaa matkavakuutus, käydä verotoimistossa, tavata ystäviä, käydä brunssilla, mennä K-extra Perkkaan avajaisiin, viettää viikonloppu vanhempien luona, käydä vaihtamassa rahaa, hommata matkashekkejä, miettiä mitä ottaa reissuun mukaan, pakata rinkka... Tässähän voisi alkaa suorastaan pukata stressiä. Käytiin eilen Katjan kanssa Thaimaan konsulaatissa jättämässä viisumianomukset. Todellisuudessa emme edes tarvitsisi viisumeita Thaimaahan, mutta koska meillä ei ole mitään dokumenttia millä osoittaa, että aiomme poistua maasta ennen kuin 30 päivän viisumivapaa aika menee umpeen, niin lentoyhtiömme ei ole halukas ottamaan meitä siivilleen ilman viisumia. Viisumi keikan yhteydessä käytiin myös url=http://www.... read more

Hello Everyone! Four countries in seven days, that is less than two days per country, but we had “somewhat” of a plan set out to try and conquer Scandinavia in this short time. This was going to be a real challenge for us though because it’s very expensive in this region of Europe and we, of course, are attempting to be serious budget travelers. Well, after 12 train rides, one bus, four ferry rides (two of which were very frustrating), and zero nights in a hotel/hostel, we conquered Scandinavia and had a great time, so without further ado, the story goes a little something like this…hit it! We were last in the lovely land of Lübeck, Germany which is very close to Denmark so that was convenient for us! We were a bit confused though because ... read more

Not writing this until St. Pete, because I never found time to find an internet cafe until now. No problem taking the morning train to Helsinki. We made it a leisurely morning. Amy went to a designer store for large fashions just down from our hotel, and then we hit the road. At the train station in Helsinki, the first thing we did was buy our train tickets to St. Petersburg. No problem. Caught the tram to our hotel. Made a slick move that slipped and took an extra five minutes to catch the tram (matters with heavy luggage). The hotel we booked (Hilton) was nice. On a small river (many in Helsinki) and close to town/tram line. Spent the rest of the day exploring Helsinki. A pretty town. Nice market by the water where the ... read more