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Travels My First Week Of Travel. Well I picked an odd time to leave Sydney on Friday 6/06/03 at 3.30 in the afternoon. This meant that most of my friends couldn't be there to see me off. I was prepared for this however and I had everyone over the night before. Luckily for me D. came to the airport to see me off with some handy gifts and a big smile (I don't think she had been home yet!) and I am so thankful for her company as I was thinking of not getting on the plane. The trip to Helsinki took almost 30 hours and was pretty exhausting. The stopovers were pretty brief though and as Mum is a member of the Qantas Club we were quite comfortable. My hat goes off to the Qantas Club actually, free booze and food, lounges, photocopiers and even showers if you need them. Really handy for when you are on a long haul. The good thing about the time we left is that we arrived in Finland in the middle of the afternoon. We transferred to the "Hoteli Matinlathi" by bus and we were unpacked and settled by about 8 PM Finnish time. We decided to get some dinner and walked up to the little shopping village close to the Hotel, firstly we collected some supplies for the next day then relaxed with a beer and a Pizza at a little Pizzeria. We turned in at about 10 pm and both got up around 5 am the next day. Actually we have both been getting up really early and trying to get the most out of each day. The next day, Sunday to us (somewhere we lost a day I am hoping to catch up with it on my way back from the states!) we took a look around Helsinki and the weather was beautiful! Of course Mum has been here before so easily took me to the nice buildings (not that you can miss the churches!) and she was able to give me an idea about the influences of Russia, Sweden and the Baltic/Germanic countries on the architecture and design of the city. We took heaps of photos, had a couple of beers, some lunch and checked out the markets at the harbour. We also booked a trip to Lapland to see the midnight sun and stay in a log cabin with a private Sauna. I am really looking forward to it, mainly because there is a Huskie farm with over 250 dogs and pups and I can't wait to see them! On the way back to the hotel (which is about 1/2 an hour out of town) we found the only Internet café in Helsinki (from what I can tell) and made a bit of contact with home as well as finding out where the gay bars are! We made our way to the hotel, had a couple of sandwiches for dinner (we are sure living it up!) and turned in around 10 PM. Monday was my fist day on my own, and I ended up retracing my steps to take some low res. Pics for the internet (I am still learning my cameras functions!), I also visited "Mann's Street Club" which reminded me of the Imperial hotels front bar, only on the first floor of a larger building! I luckily made it in for "Crazy Hours" when the beer is EU$1.50 rather than 4.50 or even 5 Euro everywhere else. I got pretty plastered and sloped back to the Hotel around 8 PM. Tuesday saw Mum and I go shopping. She is not all that good at it but as I told her it was a good chance for us to catch up on the girly stuff we missed out on because I came-out so late! However, after a few hours of traipsing around Helsinki I found the cheap shoe store I had spotted the day before and Mum fulfilled her desire for comfortable shoes. We split up in the afternoon after a lovely walk down Mannerhiem St and a good hours rest in the afternoon sun outside Helsinki's Museum of contemporary art. We had a look at its bookstore, but we both decided that we were a bit tired to enjoy the actual Museum. Mum went off to a meeting and I went off to "Crazy Hours," and my 20 Euro went a LONG way and finally some Finn's talked to me. After the cheap beer they started Karaoke and I did it for the first time - I murdered "Killing Me Softly" and decided that next time I do Karaoke I am getting MUCH, MUCH, MUCH drunker first! I ended up getting home at about 11 PM, though the sun was still up. Today is Wednesday 11th and we have moved hotel, we are now at the Radisson SAS at Espo, and it is much nicer than the last place, though pretty much the same sized room, just better appointed, a bit closer to the city and right-next-door to the conference centre Dippoli (I think it may also be part of a University but 5 am not sure). I am volunteering on the conference for a few reasons; firstly - I think Mum could use the help; secondly - everyone here speaks English; thirdly they will feed me and finally if I am busy I can't spend any money and I get free internet access! Well that is pretty much my first week on the road so just another 25 weeks to go! |
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Copyright 2003 Shane Manusu
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