Iceland, Wembley and Helsinki: a tale of a northern winter

[Austman]

Sadly I would not be getting this beast to Tallinn this trip.

Cheer up. That's either Silja Symphony or Serenade (they are twin ships). I know this from dozens of trips on them. They both do the Helsinki-Mariehamn-Stockholm route. But there are very similar beasts going to Tallinn!

You had a lovely sunny day in the latest photos!

 

[I love to travel]

That air bnb is scary. I don't mind cheap and cheerful but that looked unhygienic.

 

[Justinf]

After a massive walk and some great sightseeing my feelings of Heksinki is that is a very cool city. Felt completely safe and some lovely architecture. I would love to return some day.
Went out for a few beers that night and it was university initiation day in Helsinki.
It was awesome.
I plokned myself in a bar and groups of uni students who were about to start uni had to come in groups and perform tasks at various bars to earn points.
The bar I was at, the task was to pass around a 4XL T-shirt to all members of the group who had to actually put the shirt on. The team with the record time got more points.
It was so much fun watching these young adults come in and have fun. Perfectly behaved young people.
For what it's worth even though all the people in these videos are 18+, I did personally ask permission to film and publish to each and every one of them.

 

[Justinf]

 

[Justinf]

 

[Justinf]

That air bnb is scary. I don't mind cheap and cheerful but that looked unhygienic.

It was disgusting. I was trying to stay positive in my posts.

 

[Justinf]

Did you wear crampons?

Nope. You might need them for some of the glacier trips, but no need for me.
The tours have them for free if you want to wear them.

 

[Justinf]

With a 4pm flight back to London and an 11am check out from paradise, I had enough time to cart my luggage to the main train station,
It was a 15-minute walk but icey and slow going.
But once I got there, I was happy that I only had to pay 5 euros for the fare instead of a taxi or uber fare.
The train took about 30 minutes to arrive at Helsinki.
I had received another offer of an upgrade for 200 euros. But my aircraft being an A320, it wasn't worth it so I declined.
I enquired about an uprade at check in to see if it was cheaper than 200 euros but nope, it was the same.
Still, being Oneworld sapphire, I was entitled to use the Finnair lounge.
I tried again for the upgrade there and the attendant said to try at the gate as it might be cheaper.
The lounge was fairly ordinary I thought. Sterile and busy with no hot-food options.





Almost everything was self-serve except for wine and spirits. You could even pour your own beer.

After a while it was time to go to the gate.
I scanned in and got into the zoo pen.
I enquired about an upgrade at the service desk and the attendant said it would be 230 euros.
I said to her that the online upgrade was 200 euros.
She said either take it or leave it, so I left it.
After 10 minutes I was beckoned over by her and she said )in her own words, not mine) "I like your accent and you seem like a nice guy, let's see what we can do."
I was suddenly quite excited.
She punched a few keys on the keyboard and looked at a few things and said "We are overbooked for this flight, so let's upgrade you to business class for free."
WINNER
She then said "I will even put you in a row where there is nobody else".
DOUBLE WINNER
Sp I got my upgrade in the end for zero.
I thanked her profusely.
It was a bus from the gate to the aircraft.

 

[Justinf]

I'm not complaining about the free upgrade because it was great,
The J class on this bird had the middle seat blocked out.
Like I said, not complaining.
I got 30 minutes of free wifi too.
But it was your typical norm

 

[Justinf]

Take off was smooth.

And the ride started nicely.

No IFE on this A320. Was your stock, standard euro J product.
Once again though, not complaining althugh very glad I didn't fork out 200 euros for the upgrade. The A350 might have been worth it, but this wouldn;t,
Service on this 3 hour flight was superb.
Pretzels and a drink to start. in fact two drinks. The FA insisted I have beer and Champagne. Ok.



I was plied with a lot of alcohol. I thought it would be rude to refuse.
Meal was a chicken dish which was very edible.



I settled in to enjoy the rest of the flight.

 

[Justinf]

We landed at Heathrow on time around 5pm and immigration this time took less than 15 minutes.
I got quzzed quite a bit by British immigration, having to produce my flight back home tomorrow for proof, but made it out and got my luggage and into a cab.
Tonight I was staying at the Easyjet Hotel near Heathrow. I was excactly like the Ibis Budget hotels at Melbourne or SYdney.
Spartan but clean and perfectly fine for a night.
The White Swan pub about 300 metres down the lane was the place for me for dinner and a pint or two.

 

[Justinf]

The pub down the lane is really good.
I had a couple of pints and ordered a takeaway curry.
Unfortunatey I had bad heartburn and decided to make the short walk about 500 metres down the road to try and get some Zantac,
There's no way f sugarcoating this so I will just say it
When I got 50 metres from the shops, I was mugged at knifepoint.
They stole 125 pounds in notes and made me go to the ATM to withdraw more money/
They fleeced me of more than AUS$2000 but I escaped with my life and my health.
The cough thing was that my travel insurance will only fork out $500.
I didn't play hero with these guys. I did what they wanted.
One of them even give me a nick to show who was boss.
I went back to the room and to bed feeling pretty ordinary with all intent to report it to police the next day.
The ironic thing was that I had about 15 pounds in change when I was about to leave the pub, I saw an older couple trying to decide what to have for dinner so I offered them the change for their meal. They were rapt. And then I got mugged/
Oh well.

 

[Denali]

Holy cough. No way to sugar coat my response

 

[Justinf]

I'd booked the chauffeur service to pick me up at 8.25am the next morning.
I'm not sure if the chauffeaur had ever picked anyone up from a AUSS$50 a night hotel before, but hey.
I got a call at about 8.15am saying the driver would be five minutes late, maybe 10.
The driver picked me up at 8.30am and I was dropped at terminal 3 soon after.
I made a beeline to Heathrow police.
I didn't think there was any chance of catching these guys but I needed a statement for my travel insurance.

After getting statement it was into the QF lounge which I found large and sterile.



after half an hour I decided that I was really craving dumplings from the Cathay Pacific lounge, so I went there.
I had the best satay noodles ever.

 

[Justinf]

Boarding commenced for this long flight back home to Mebourne via Perth,
I was looking forward to trying out the J product on the Boeing 787.



It became obvious that this product is a fair step above the A380 J product but a step below the F product.
First impressions were favourable.

 

[Justinf]

London was turning on her typical winter charm.
11 degrees for a top temp and rain.



We pushed back a bit late. But once airborne the 787 experience very good.

 

[Justinf]

Lunch service was very decent.
I settled in to watch BlackkKklansman and loved it.

 

[Justinf]

I was really tired (and stressed) so I decided on sleep and slept for quite a long time.
When I woke with out 5 hours of the flight remaining, I was starving again so I ordered from the anytime menu.
I grabbed some pasta and some simosas and watched The Wife.





View attachment 154877

 

[Justinf]

I managed to grab some more sleep and Perth soon came in sight. Rottnest Island first.
But before that we had brunch, which I thought was an outstanding meal.

Landing in Perth was basic and it felt good to back on Aussie soil.

The transit lounge for J passengers is nice. I took the opportunity to have a shower.



After my shower, we had about an hour to kill before the final leg to Melbourne.
It was a lovely day in Perth about 27 degrees, and with an outside atrium, I took the chance to sit outside and have a few beers.
I had three Iron Jack lagers, which is a midstrength beer,
WHen I asked for a third I was told by the bar attendant, that I had already had three drinks in 45 minutes and "can I offer you a soda water?".
I already was nursing a soda water and politely pointed out the fact.
She said "I will not serve you any more alcohol, wait 10 minutes and see then."
Now I am all for RSA.
But I had not had a drink in 12 hours and had three midstrength beers.
I thought it took RSA a little too far and I never asked for another after 10 minutes anyway.
I was too embarrassed.
I don't want to get too uppety about this, but I felt it was way too harsh. Had I slammed down five shots in 15 minutes then yeah.
But I was drinking midstrength beer and had been mugged at knifepoint only hours prior. Still, she wasn't to know that.
Maybe I was being precious. I don't think so. I was made to feel like a drunk.
Back on the plane and the three hour flight to Melbourne.
The meal offerings was meagre but given the brunch service was ample and the fact that we had the chance to eat in the lounge (as well as booze on...Not), I guess we didn't need much to eat.
The offering was soup or a salad. I had some soup and then went to sleep for another hour or so.



I slept very well for the hour or so in my lay-flat bed.
Soon Melbourne came into sight.




We landed pretty much on time at 8.50pm.
Our luggage took an ice age to come through. At least 40 minutes.
I finally got home at 11.10pm and slept until 4pm the following day.
What a trip!
Loved 99% of it.
Thanks for reading. Next trip I am still deciding.
Once again thanks for following the journey with me.

 

[Daver6]

Welcome to WA. The nanny state.

That truly sucks about the mugging but other than a lighter wallet, glad to you that you're physically ok. Hopefully not too mentally scarred by the ordeal though.