9-22-2013 Take off and Landing

9-22-2013 Take off!   And landing!

LAT Post

     Well it was a very long boring sit in an airplane seat day,,,with five courses of airplane food to boot!!  we made it thru the twelve hours with little or no hassles, we mostly all failed the detectors tests for whatever reasons and had to go thru pat downs.  For Linda it was her bracelet.   Viking picked us up at the airport and the hotel was about a half an hour into town.  The weather is gray, overcast and drizzly,,cool but not cold, one might say delightful as i had to wear my coat.  Our good friends from Jersey were all checked in when we got here ,,and after unpacking we all met in the bar.We spent time catching up and planning out adventures for tomorrow,  We decided to walk to "The Hard Rock Cafe" and have a small bite of non airline food,  The people here are very nice and helpful.  We decided for our free day  pn Monday to set up a private (6 person) tour of the city.  So after meeting for breakfast we will-meet our guide at 10 for the three hour tour of the city.  My head hit the pillow last night at 7:20 and Linda reported I was peacefully snoring at 7:22.  The time difference here is Helsinki is 10 hours ahead of Portland time...boy can that screw you up!!!

LMR Post

     Left Portland at 1:40PM for flight to Amsterdam.  It was fine with lots of food, including three meals and snacks.  Schipol Airport is huge - had to go along ways to make our connection to Helsinki,  Both flights were totally packed.
     Arrived in Helsinki and met up with Ruth and Vince (that we met on our London trip), took a walk to the Hard Rock Cafe for evening appetizers,  Had a leisurely stroll back to the hotel, looking at the buildings downtown.  It did rain hard on our way to the Hard Rock we all got drenched and looked like drowned rats...pictures will back me up.
     Tomorrow night we are going to a restaurant that my mom went to in 1981. I brought the menu (with her notes written on it) so we could take it with us to dinner. I am going to ask that they honor the prices listed,  I don't expect to have much luck!
     Tomorrow in the morning we are having a three hour tour of the city - including Sibelius and Saarinen and more.