Austria Trip - Finland (Helsinki Vantaa Airport)

We got onto our flight for Finland and the first thing I noticed was the super-friendly staff. While the entire trip was booked through Finnair, our first leg was American Airlines. This flight that we were now on  was actually a Finnair plane, run by Finnish staff. They even looked Scandinavian! Each flight attendant had blond hair.

The second thing I noticed when I sat down. There was more leg room!!! This might not seem like a huge deal to you, but to me it was nothing but pure luxury. Thank you, Lord! I sat there relaxing immediately. Finnair plays some nebulous sounding relaxing music as you get on that accompanies a slideshow on the TV monitors. Pictures of Finland were scrolling, the music was playing and I was already starting to nod.

We took off and started into the flight. I was already falling asleep when one of the flight attendants asked Taigen and me if we would like to go to an empty row and spread out for comfort. Would we?!?!? This was a blessing. We hadn't asked at all. This dumbfounded us, but of course we accepted. I was able to sleep immediately following the yummy meal until almost touchdown in Finland. That sleep was much needed and felt so good.

In Finland, the airport was clean and pretty quiet. It was very easy to find our way around. We had to go through customs and I got my first official stamp in the passport. Even the customs agent was friendly! Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is a major hub for those continuing their travel to Asia (specifically to the Orient). I loved listening to all of the different languages and really enjoyed reading...or attempting to read the Finnish language. So many vowels! Some languages you can somewhat make out what is being said, but here, I didn't have a clue. Thankfully, they marked things in English as well so we could still find our way.

We got to our gate and tried again, unsuccessfully to connect to the free wi-fi to let our folks back home know we were alive and kicking (though...a with a little less energy). I brushed my hair and pulled it back in clips and also brushed my teeth. I freshened up my make-up so that we wouldn't scare the Hudsons when we arrived.

Only one more leg of this trip!