And what's going on in Helsinki? (1/5)

Occasionally I get the urge to just be away. Somewhere I imagine it to be wonderfully beautiful. Not to do anything special, but to just be there and enjoy it.

And this time it should be Helsinki.

Arrival / Saturday 02.12.23

I'm not entirely sure how, but I arrived in Helsinki.

The last thing I remember was chaos, pure chaos and then suddenly everything was so simple.

We were just saying goodnight and going to our beds (or I went to my girlfriend's sofa, who was taking me to the airport at 3:30) when I opened my GMX account one last time.

As always, haphazard. Not just me, but also the airline when they emailed me at 10pm that my flight was canceled.

"We apologize, your flight from Hamburg to Munich is canceled"

Great, now what? How about a replacement?

Lufthansa referred me to their chat bot.

I did it, it didn't help. Something between technical problems and “our chatbot “Elisa” needs maintenance just like our aircraft” – couldn’t be ignored.

So what do you do then? Exactly! Call the call center.

(Do you know the music of Lavandia? Connoisseurs, know Lavandia. And for everyone else: Pokemon, the first editions on the Game Boy Color, a certain world with great background music - take a look on YouTube.)

Anyway, I got hold of waiting spot 136 and enjoyed the Lavandia music.

Nice thing. At the same time, I constantly tried to ask good Elisa about solutions. The lady didn't want to have anything to do with it at first.

When I reached waiting spot 17, Elisa finally gave me alternatives.

Originally I would have flown from Hamburg to Munich and from there to Helsinki. Which in and of itself is a logistical hindrance, but since the fun cost €100 less than flying directly and the travel time was only promised for 5 hours, I decided to go for it.

My new travel plan looked like this: By plane from Hamburg to Frankfurt (Main) at 11:00 a.m. and then on at 9:20 p.m. Estimated arrival: 01:00 Helsinki time.

Okay, let's turn a 5 hour trip into a 13 hour one.

Of course, my Airbnb was already booked and check-in was arranged. I then had to ask the good guy to change plans in the middle of the night.

Luckily he agreed and a check-in the next day suits him too.

So I set the alarm for 7:30 a.m., so I'll even get a little sleep. Puppy cake. My girlfriend's heater sounds sporadically, like a jackhammer, then you have to jerk the valve briefly and then it stops.

So, no sleep after all.

Got up on time, checked emails – flight from Hamburg canceled.

Alternative: to Frankfurt at 12 p.m., otherwise the same plan.

You won't see whether the plane is going until it takes off.

As we all know, hope dies last. So I pushed my girlfriend out of bed, she drove me to the airport (thanks again at this point) and we said that she might have to pick me up again soon.

I quickly pulled out my iPhone, opened my wallet and realized that I hadn't yet received a boarding pass for the new flight. No problem, it's quick.

Think. Due to technical problems, online check-in is not possible, please go to the service desk.

I'm not sure how many flights were affected by this Heck Meck, but it was because air traffic to, from and via Munich was closed due to snow. A corresponding number of people were standing at the service counter.

So I joined in and enjoyed the best company with all the other desperate, hopeful people who came from everywhere and had to go everywhere.

At the same time, of course, I continued to try to use my phone to check in. After all, it has worked numerous times in this life and lo and behold, I was just called to the counter when I received my boarding pass from Elisa.

My companions cheered me (or perhaps themselves, because they were one queue position closer to their dream of the service counter) and I rushed to the security check.

In keeping with my haste, my plane has just announced a 40 minute delay. So it was possible to get there on time. I pushed aside the thought that this could be an initial indication that this plane could also fail. Also successfully pushed out of reality, because there was a delay of more than 40 minutes, but this flight connection worked.

And because my airline probably had a guilty conscience, they gave me a €15 voucher for food at each airport. (Good boys)

So I still had enough time to stock up on cheese rolls, yoghurt and cola and start the first section to Frankfurt.

Welcome to Frankfurt, what the hell am I doing with my time now?

Downtown? No thanks. I've done it once in my life. Suddenly there was a spontaneous riot from quite a few people who smashed shop windows.

That's why I took a walk through Frankfurt and spontaneously looked for a nail salon that was open and had time. True to the motto: "Life is not perfect but your nails can be"

The fourth one I visited turned out to be the same. The girls didn't speak a word of German, but they did a great job.

The time passed pretty well and I made my way back to the airport in good time.

At the airport I found a relaxed corner with a table, chair, socket and no people so I could concentrate on new input.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a woman walking around my table. I smiled at her, a little irritated, but then ignored her again. She came around the table and excused herself because she was “just following along.” Only then did I see that she was walking through the airport with her cat on a leash, who stubbornly led the way.

We laughed together for a moment and I was allowed to take a photo of her with her sweetheart.

A decision still needed to be made as to where I would spend the night once I arrived in Helsinki. Thinking about it, I had procrastinated until I could make sure I would even get there. Shortly before departure I dared to make a decision.

I decided to stay overnight in one of the far too expensive, far too luxurious airport hotels in Helsinki because I was just far too tired to make a better decision.

The flight to Helsinki went great. The entire row of seats I was sitting in was just as tired as me and we hung symmetrically asleep with our heads on the table and were only woken up again when Lufthansa handed out chocolate. So everything was fine again and everything went according to plan. At 2:30 a.m. I finally had a fresh shower and was lying in a super comfortable bed.