Seat 2A

PART V: ADELAIDE and FIRST CLASS MEL-SIN-LHR
MILE 47080 - 58760
By Air: 11170 Miles
By Rail: 510 Miles

Photo Album Reference: ADELAIDE & TRAIN and BA 18 MEL-LHR


Originally, I had wanted to depart Tasmania out of Hobart. Beginning back in January, I’d been watching the Qantas and Travelocity sites waiting to see if the advertised $120.00 USD roundtrip fare might go down. Unfortunately, I was unaware that the Easter holiday fell during the same period that I was traveling both to and from Tasmania and by the time I finally gave up and decided to just pay the price and get the reservation taken care of, holiday travelers had grabbed up all those $120.00 r/t seats. I ended up buying a one way early morning special down to Hobart on Qantas for about $70.00 USD but on my return date of April 23rd, I could find nothing affordable out of either Hobart or Launceston. Time to widen the search.

Ah Ha! From Devonport, a northern coastal city better known for its ferry service to the mainland, I found a $60.00 USD midday departure on Regional Express Airlines, the airline formerly known as Kendell Airlines. This was great for not only did I score a good deal but I’d also get to add another airline to my collection of airlines flown, now totaling 106.


23 April
DPO-MEL Regional Express 584 Economy Class
SAAB 340 VH-KDI Seat 10C
100p – 215p Flight time: 1:04

The bus from Launceston pulled into Devonport at 11:50am. When I’d booked this flight a month ago, the departure time was listed as 1:45pm. As such, I decided to wander around Devonport a bit before grabbing a taxi out to the airport. Along the way, I stopped into an internet café and checked out the Regional Express website, mainly to see if the plane were on time. Well, imagine my surprise to discover that the plane was now scheduled to depart at 1:00pm, not 1:45. I looked at my watch. 12:20pm. Big time adrenaline rush! I hurried back to the bus terminal, reclaimed my pack and called a taxi. Thankfully, the taxi arrived within about two minutes and the airport was only about 6 miles out of town. I was deposited at the modest terminal building at 12:40pm and was happy to see a small line of passengers still checking in. In fact, another four people arrived after me and joined the line. In America we’d have been denied boarding and would likely be paying surcharges to get on the next available flight. In Devonport this day, we were checked in and wished a pleasant flight.

Despite the inbound flight’s having arrived on time at 12:40pm from Melbourne, we didn’t begin boarding until 1:10pm. The aircraft, a SAAB 340, still bore the livery of its predecessor, Kendell Airlines. Actually, since Kendell used to handle regional services for Ansett, the aircraft bore the Ansett livery and Kendell titles. I took a meaningless snapshot and headed for the gate. Interestingly, there was no security. No X-Ray, no metal detectors, nothing. A uniformed though unarmed airport security officer stood by the door as we boarded, however. As I entered the aircraft, I was surprised to see that each of the seats bore lambs wool seat covers. The aircraft offered 34 of these seats and each of them was full for this afternoon departure up to Melbourne.

Disciples of exacting detail will be pleased to know that at exactly 1:32pm, the pilot pushed the throttle forward and delivered a surge of fuel to his twin General Electric CT-7 turboprops. Both engines combined to deliver the power of 3,470 horses and after a 23 second gallop down the runway, we lifted into the clear Tasmanian sky. Whoa, Nellie!

Flight time was an hour up to Melbourne and a snack and beverages would be offered. There was only one flight attendant, an attractive gal dressed in black jeans and a blue button down REX shirt. She did a great job of getting all 34 of us fed and watered. The snack consisted of a chicken salad sandwich on a little hoagie roll, a Kit Kat bar and a container of water. Coffee and tea followed, though alcohol was available for those so inclined. Just prior to landing, a basket of mints was passed around. By American standards, this would have been considered quite a nice service for a one hour flight based upon the standards of ten years ago. By current Aussie standards, it seems par for the course. Here’s a big Good On Ya! to Qantas and REX. Let’s hope this style of service can continue a while longer!

I had an almost four hour layover at Melbourne. Unfortunately, my various US airline lounge memberships are of no use down here but I did find a Hudson’s Coffee kiosk that had an open table with a wall socket nearby, so I whiled away the hours over coffee and a big cookie while bringing this report up to date.


23 April
MEL-ADL Virgin Blue 185 Economy Class
737-7Q8 VH-VBB “Barossa Babe” Seat 12C
650p – 740p Flight time: :56

Finally, Virgin Blue have moved into Ansett’s old terminal. Check-in proceeded smoothly and I headed directly down to the gate to get a look at tonight’s aircraft, a 737-700, hopefully with winglets! Alas, the plane at the gate bore no winglets but under the cockpit was emblazoned an Akubra wearing busty blond trailing the Aussie flag. Her name made for a nice consolation prize, however. Tonight’s plane was dubbed the “Barossa Babe”, certainly an appropriate name for an Adelaide bound aircraft!

Despite the color blue in its title, Virgin Blue’s aircraft are painted predominantly red with a tail logo similar to the mainline fleet out of London. Inside the aircraft, the one class cabin sported dark blue leather seats and three lovely ladies to serve us. Given the name and the image of this airline, I can’t help but wonder if any guys work as FAs. No complaints with the ladies though – they did a fine job, even if it was somewhat less intensive in the service area than the more traditional airlines.

And what of Virgin Blue’s onboard service? It’s called you get what you pay for. In each seatback pocket is a menu detailing the food and beverage offerings. The following prices are in US Dollars. As meals go, you can purchase a cold breakfast (cereal and pastry) or a sandwich for $2.75. Wraps, which must be a bit larger, are also a wee bit dearer, coming in at $3.10. A can of coke will run you $1.25, a beer $3.10 and a cocktail $3.75. There are also a variety of snack items from chips to muffins to candy running anywhere from $1.25 to $2.25.

Souvenirs of your Virgin Blue flight are also available on each flight. These include items such as playing cards, lapel pins, a small day pack or a biography of Richard Branson. From my vantage point at exit row 12, the FAs didn’t sell much of anything in the way of food, drink or souvenirs. Maybe a dozen people seated forward of me bought anything at all and when it came to the souvenir cart, the FAs did pretty much a nonstop stroll through the first 12 rows. This may have been attributed to the time of day and the short length of flight, however.

We landed in Adelaide right on time and the luggage delivery was impressively expeditious. I had my pack within ten minutes of getting off the plane.

Overall, I think Virgin Blue offers a great product – one that quite possibly may represent the future of Australian domestic air transportation. For the time being, the fleet is young and modern, the employees are young and still excited to be working for a new airline, and the fares are probably the best Australia’s ever seen on average. My ticket cost me only $41.00 one way for the 400 mile flight between Melbourne and Adelaide. While Qantas may match this fare, their overhead and services will certainly impact their profit margin relative to that of Virgin Blue. The odds would suggest that within two or three years, their domestic Economy Class product will probably be a lot closer to that of Virgin Blue’s.


ADELAIDE

Wow! It’s hot in Adelaide! It was 20 degrees when we landed at 7:30pm compared to daytime highs in Tasmania of about 15. I caught the airport shuttle into town where the driver dropped me off right at the doorstep of the Adelaide Backpackers Inn. Across the street was a competing hostel and the driver warned me to be sure I went into the right hostel as the hostel employees tended to get a bit perturbed with errant entries. Hmm…

The night manager of my place was an elderly gent named Peter who was as a nice a person as you’d ever want to meet. It was hard to imagine him getting all that perturbed over anything, much less someone walking into the wrong hostel. Not that it would have mattered anyway, for tonight both hostels were completely booked.

After spending the past week in dormitory style accommodations, I’d purchased a single room ($25.00 USD) which consisted of a bed, a table and a dresser. The kitchen and lounge area were down the hall and a free, fix-yer-own breakfast of eggs, cereal and bread was available in the morning. As hostels go, this was a pretty good deal and everything would’ve been fine except for two problems. The building’s air conditioning had gone out earlier that afternoon and despite the cooler evening temperatures, the room was uncomfortably warm. Repairs could not be affected until morning. Worse, the walls were paper thin and I could clearly hear the folks in the lounge, the giggling gaggle of girls across the hall and the big guy snoring in the room next door. Arrrgh!

By 11:30pm, I’d made the decision to find a hotel room with guaranteed air conditioning and some peace and quiet. In the smaller Tasmanian hostels, neither of these problems were ever a concern and I’m sure that there were some quieter and cooler places in Adelaide as well but I knew that after this night, I deserved a treat. A coin operated internet kiosk was available in the lounge and I used it to book a room at the Parkside Motel, located just five blocks away. I’d done a search of discount hotel brokers and landed a room there for about $42.00 USD. Each room offered air conditioning, ensuite toilet and shower, coffee maker, a refrigerator and cable television. Satisfied, I headed back to my cubicle and was asleep by about 2:00am.

With only a day to spend in Adelaide, my original plan had been to take a day tour up to the Barossa Valley wineries. Years earlier, some friends and I had taken a tour of Washington’s Chateau St. Michele Winery but I didn’t have much appreciation for wines back then and remember admiring the beautiful grounds more so than any of the wines. Unfortunately, I woke up a bit late and by the time I’d gotten everything together and checked into the Parkside, it was 11:30am.

After enjoying a good half hour of blissful air conditioning, I headed back outside and walked up Pulteney Street towards the downtown district. Armed with a complimentary Adelaide Visitor’s Guide, my plan was to get a bit of lunch, then check out the South Australian Museum. It was described as offering over 3000 items, including the largest Aboriginal cultural display in existence. It sounded like a good way to spend the afternoon and was probably air conditioned to boot.

I like Adelaide. Years ago, it had a reputation amongst the backpacker set as a rather hot and boring place to go unless you were planning to retire. The Adelaide I strolled through had broad tree lined avenues and a multitude of parks, both large and small. I wandered down Angas Avenue past beautiful Victorian buildings and into an area offering all manner of restaurants and shops. I found a nice shady table at an outdoor café and had a decent Pad Thai for lunch. Afterwards, I headed back up Angas towards the museum.

In Victoria Square, I watched in amazement as a beautiful old trolley car eased to a stop and offloaded its passengers. When I say “old”, I don’t mean 1950s but rather 1929! These cars were beautifully maintained and fully functional antiques. I just had to take a ride on them! Wherever they went. As I stepped aboard, I was impressed by the beautiful wooden interior and leather seats. What a magnificent way to get about the city. Outside, the driver and conductors were enjoying a smoke break to I got off and took a few pictures of the cars from outside. No announcement was made signaling departure. When the crew had finished their smokes, they chatted for a moment, looked at their watches and headed back on board the train. I did too.

A conductor appeared at my seat and asked where I was going. Wherever this tram’s going, I replied. Roight. That’d be somewhere or another beach, he said. He had a broad accent and I couldn’t make out the name of our destination. Oh well. How long will it take to get there, I asked. Twenty six minutes, he replied. That’ll be $3.20.

Our destination turned out to be the seaside resort of Glenelg, an attractive town with a beautiful beach and pier and a long avenue full of shops and enticing restaurants. Looking at Glenelg and its beach as we arrived, I knew I wanted to spend some time here. The South Australia Museum would have to be seen on another day. As for Glenelg’s history, it was the place where South Australia was first declared a British colony in 1836. My ticket was good for three hours and I used up most of it ambling along the beach front, then up and down the main street and its shops. I’m generally not much of a shopper, which is to say I only go to stores when I need something. Still, I found a nice used book store and later found a CD of one of my favorite Irish groups, The Fureys, that before today I’d only had on cassette. A cappuccino and a delicious chocolate-raspberry pastry at a little waterfront café closed out my visit to Glenelg, a place I’m quite certain I’ll return to someday.

By the time I’d arrived back in Adelaide it was near 6:30pm and I was ready for food and grog. Earlier in the day, I’d walked past the Duke of Aberdeen Hotel. This was an attractive building that began life in 1850 as the Devon Arms and is one of the oldest hotels in Adelaide. Although it was completely refurbished in the 1980s and renamed the Duke of Aberdeen Hotel, many of its interior furnishings date back to its early years. At street level is the Cooper’s Ale House. Cooper’s is a local brewery that prides itself on producing organically made, additive free beer. The pub looked like a great place to enjoy dinner and a couple of beers. The bar is beautifully constructed of Jarrah wood, a wonderful deep reddish-brown wood that lent class and warmth to the main barroom.

Here’s hoping that greggwiggins gets a chance to visit this fine ale house and sample its brews for they are certainly worthy of his skills as a free lance writer. I particularly liked the Pale Ale, quaffing a couple of nice cold pints with my dinner.

I got back to the Parkside about 9:00pm, turned the air conditioner on full blast, dashed off a few postcards and enjoyed a restful night in my cool and quiet room.


25 April
Adelaide-Melbourne Great Southern Railways First Class
“The Overland” Car M Cabin 7
1010a-910p

Australia is a continent well suited to train travel. I say this not so much from an economic standpoint but rather from the perspective of comfort and convenience. Sure, one can jet about the continent far more affordably these days than in years past, but if you prefer to remain earthbound, the prospect of driving across Australia’s vast desert expanses pales in comparison to relaxing aboard the Ghan or the Indian Pacific as you cross the Nullabor or the Great Sandy Desert. This is especially true now that Great Southern Railways will take your car along for the ride for only $99.00 AUD more!

Over the years, I’ve ridden a few trains in Australia, including the Indian Pacific between Sydney and Perth and the Sunlander between Brisbane and Cairns. This would be my first journey aboard the Overland and given the historic nature of this train, I decided to shell out $90.00AUD extra and make the trip in First Class.

The Overland operated the first inter-capital rail service in Australia. It has been taking passengers by rail between Melbourne and Adelaide continually since 1887 and so far as I know is the oldest continually operating train in Australia. It was originally known as The Intercolonial Express, then the Melbourne Express, and finally settled on the Overland in 1936.

Perhaps even more remarkable, given Australian railroad history, is that the Overland also operated the first service between States without a break of gauge. Early on in Australian railroad history, each state determined its own unique track gauge. Needless to say, this made interstate rail commerce a difficult and time consuming operation. When opened in 1917, the Trans-Australian Railway offered coast to coast passenger services via Melbourne, and included about six train changes. It wasn’t until the completion of the east-west standard gauge project in 1970 that one could ride a single train from Sydney to Perth. The new direct service became known as the Indian Pacific.

In the late 1990s, the Overland was taken over by Great Southern Railways and a 1.1 million dollar improvement project was undertaken. Over time, the Overland’s rolling-stock had deteriorated to the point where most of the sleeping cars could not be used and even coach passengers were reluctant to ride the train. The cars were repaired, refurbished and their exteriors redone in an all new stainless steel livery. A lounge car was also added for sleeping car passengers.

Today, the Overland offers a comfortable and thankfully air conditioned service between Adelaide and Melbourne. Travelers can choose between Gold Kangaroo First Class and Red Kangaroo Economy Class services for the eleven hour, five hundred mile journey. My First Class ticket cost me $92.50 USD. Here’s the lowdown on the First Class amenities:

Gold Kangaroo Service

 Ensuite twin or single berths with lounge seating converting to sleeper accommodation at night.
 Cabins supplied with fresh sheets, pillows, doonas and fluffy towels.
 Champagne or orange juice welcome.
 Complimentary 2 course lunch and light dinner (daylight service) or breakfast (overnight service) in the Gold Kangaroo Lounge.
 Additional meals, snacks and beverages available for purchase from the Lounge. Video entertainment.
 Complimentary tea and coffee available 24 hours a day.
 Comfort controlled air conditioning.
 Complimentary on-board magazine.


The airport shuttle makes a stop at the Interstate Train Station on its way back out to the airport. The route is most circuitous however and if you’re at all in a hurry, I’d recommend a taxi. One benefit to riding the airport shuttle today was that we got to drive up King William Street as Adelaide was preparing for its big Anzac Day parade. Anzac Day is like our Veteran’s Day in the US and I was happy to see an absolutely huge turnout as people had situated themselves over a good mile long portion of the parade route. I spotted lots of older men, veterans of WWII and the Korean War, dressed in their old military uniforms, most of which appeared to still fit! After all the recent protests, it really was nice to see such a positive turnout in support of these folks who’d served in past conflicts. I wished I could have stayed another day.

There are two train stations serving Adelaide – one for local trains out to the suburbs and one for interstate departures. As we approached the downtown train station which serves the local trains, my eyes widened in anticipation and awe. What a magnificent building! It really was quite grand – the kind of place from which great train journeys begin. Alas, the driver informed me that this was actually the station from which commuter train journeys began. In fact, he continued, the main function of this great building now was as Adelaide’s casino. Casino! Yes, he said – that’s what funded much of the restoration to the building. He also claimed it was every bit as ornate inside as it was grand outside and I remember thinking that it wasn’t that many years ago that our grandest and most ornate buildings used to be cathedrals, courthouses and railroad stations. Now, more than a few of the latest ones are casinos. Hmmm…

The interstate train station, located in the suburb of Keswick, is quite modest by comparison. A low one story structure, I would describe it as architecturally bland but otherwise quite functional. This morning it was quite busy with both the eastbound Indian Pacific and the Overland departing within an hour of each other. The first thing I saw as I entered the building was the end of the Economy Class Baggage Check line. Thankfully, First Class had a separate line that was much smaller. As in two people. An announcement was made that the Overland would be running just a bit late but the agent making the announcement made it sound as if it would only be off by perhaps a half hour so I wasn’t too concerned.

I purchased a copy of the morning Australian (one of the few decent news sources in Australia. Quite a few of the papers are Fleet Street style tabloids offering little of real substance. In the US, you’d compare them to papers like the New York Post or Newsday.

The station was fairly basic inside. There were no lounge facilities for First Class travelers, but there was a fast food operation called The Ghan Grill and of course a gift shop. I considered purchasing a T-Shirt but the price was $30.00 AUD so I went over to the post card rack where some very attractive cards showing Australian trains were displayed. At $1.50 each however, their allure quickly vanished! I wandered over to the Ghan Grill and bought a reasonably priced coffee instead. I’d wanted to make a couple of phone calls but the only phone I saw had a waiting line. Ah well, Victoria Station it ain’t but what this station lacked in amenities, it made up for in setting, surrounded by lots of shady trees and gently rolling hills. I went out to Platform 1 and watched as the Indian Pacific prepared for its departure. I peered in through a window and took a look at the lounge and dining cars. Nice. Very nice. Much nicer than when I rode this train back in 1988. It had obviously been extensively refurbished. It is also very much more expensive now than when I rode it back in ’88. The current one way fare for a roomette is $1560.00 AUD or about $990.00 USD.

Over on Platform 2, the crews were hard at work getting the Overland prepared for its departure to Melbourne. Through the windows I could see workers cleaning and making up the bedrooms while up in the dining car and lounge, food and provisions were being loaded. Outside the car, four men were hard at work removing graffiti that some loser had sprayed along the stainless steel finish. Two cars down, a team of three women worked to clean each of the train’s windows. One would run a soapy sponge over the window, the next would squeegee it and the last one would wipe up any wet spots. Throughout this, they laughed and joked with one another while in the background a PA announcement implored people to please not attempt to board the train while it was being cleaned. An elderly couple immediately gathered their baggage and headed towards the train. All they’d heard was the word Board.

Boarding was finally announced at 10:50am, forty minutes after our scheduled departure. My car was named “Tantini”, an aboriginal word that means Sleeping”. Forty minutes later, at 11:32am, we pulled out of the station. I was wide awake!

My First Class accommodations were in what’s called a roomette. These are smaller than a compartment and well suited for single travelers. During the day they offer a wide (non reclining) seat and a big window. At night, a full sized bed folds down out of the wall. Other amenities included a fold out wash stand with hot and cold water, a fold out toilet, a vanity cabinet for toiletries, medicines and what not, a closet for coats and jackets and a compartment for shoes. In the old days, gentlemen could deposit their shoes in this compartment prior to retiring for the night and in the morning they’d find them nicely shined. Shower facilities were just down the hall at the end of the car. What I found interesting about the toilet facilities was that they’d not been modified to prevent liquid and solid waste from being deposited right along the railbed. A sign warned passengers not to use the toilets while the train was standing in the station.

The First Class lounge car was a real beauty. Named the “Kookabura Club Car”, it sported beautiful wooden walls and doors and was divided into small sections made up of wrap around couches and cocktail tables. In the middle of the car was a glass walled in area for smokers. One group of four puffed, drank and chortled their way through all but the meals while ensconced in this little room. Amazing! They looked to be having a marvelous time though and we waved to each other as I’d walk by. It would have been fun to join them if I still smoked but in that small room with all that smoke, I don’t believe I would have had to even light up to get my nicotine fix. As well, I would have smelled of smoke for days afterwards.

Lunch and dinner are included in the fare for First Class passengers. The luncheon menu is set – there are no choices. As well, there’s only one seating. If you want to eat, you’d best be headed for the dining cars when the call is made at 12:30pm. I was one of the last people to arrive in the diner and was led to the second car. There were plenty of open tables and I was invited to sit wherever I liked. By contrast, Amtrak and Via Rail find you a seat and as a single traveler, you’ll very rarely eat alone. Today however, two of the four seat tables were filled with couples who looked to be enjoying their own company so I took a table to myself and accepted a glass of “champagne” from my waiter. It’s a good thing there were no French Ministry of Wine officials onboard, for this “champagne” was a mediocre sparking wine at best. To even call it “champagne” was akin to blasphemy and in fact wrong as it was not grown in the Champagne district of France. It was sweet, bubbly and tasty in a wine cooler kind of way. Alas, I’m not a wine cooler kind of guy.

Luncheon was a grilled chicken breast with a baked ham and leek risotto. This was accompanied by a julienned vegetable salad served with aioli mayonnaise. Dessert was described as a seasonal fruit tart accompanied by a rosette of whipped cream. While the offerings were hardly gourmet, I thought the meal was pretty good.

The scenery between Adelaide and Melbourne is pretty though not spectacular. Leaving Adelaide, the train winds through the Adelaide Hills and crosses the Murray River right about lunchtime. After a brief stop in the town of Murray Bridge, the land flattens into sun baked savanna dotted with eucalyptus trees and bushes that made for pleasant viewing as I’d look up now and then from my reading, typing or conversation in the lounge. Over the eleven hour trip, I did a bit of each.

Australia being the sporting nation that it is, occasional announcements were also made updating us on the score of the AFL’s Essendon – Collinwood contest. I also noticed that there was an audio system in my roomette offering three channels of entertainment but even at maximum volume the sound was so low I couldn’t even make out what kind of music it was.

Dinner was served at 6:30pm and this time a menu was presented. Here are the selections:


Penang Chicken Curry with Rice
Malaysian style curry with lime leaves, lemon grass, water chestnuts and coconut milk

Vegetarian Shanghai Noodles
Stir-fried Hokkien noodles with Asian greens and soy sauce


A glass of wine was offered with dinner, followed by tea or coffee afterwards. Dessert was a small chocolate mint, a la Alaska Airlines’ luncheon service. My chicken curry was mild but tasty enough. Unfortunately, the rice was a little under cooked.

After dinner I bought a beer and took a seat in the lounge. For a good fifteen minutes I was the only one in there save those people passing through on their way back to their sleeper cars. At the entrance to the lounge were four different signs warning against drinking too much and the railroad’s right and responsibility not to serve drunks. I asked one of the train attendants, Felicity, about this and she said it’s really more of a problem amongst the Economy Class crowd but the signs are posted in all lounge and dining cars regardless. I remember back in 1984 when I was riding the Sunlander through Queensland up to Cairns. The lounge car only served alcohol from 11:00am to 1:00pm and again from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. Most intriguing was a prominently posted sign declaring that there was to be no card playing during the hours when liquor was served. In Rockhampton, the railway station restaurant had to stop alcohol sales one hour before the train was due to arrive. Times have since changed in Queensland and the restrictions have been relaxed some. Even so, it would seem that Australia’s railroads and drinkers have had a tenuous relationship over the years.

We eased into Melbourne’s Spencer Street Station at 10:20pm, about an hour and a half late. I got a hearty thanks and so long from my car attendant, who I saw when I boarded, then didn’t see again until I detrained. It turns out they were short staffed in the Economy Class lounge and his services were needed more there. Fair enough, as we really wanted for nothing in my car, anyway.

Overall, I would describe my ride aboard the Overland as pleasant. Would I ride it again? For the experience? Nah. It won’t likely get any better the second time around. This is not a glamour train like the Ghan or the Indian Pacific, nor is it intended to be. It delivers a good, basic service between Adelaide and Melbourne, and for the price paid, I felt I got a good deal. My next big Australian train journey will likely be aboard the Ghan between Adelaide and Darwin. The new extension between Alice Springs and Darwin should be completed and operational early next year.

Thankfully, Melbourne’s Skybus Airport Shuttle departed directly from the train station for the 25 minute ride out to Tullamarine where the airport is located. My hotel for the night was the Formule1 Hotel, located just a five minute walk from Qantas’ domestic terminal. Once you exit baggage claim, there are plenty of signs indicating where the hotel is and how far you are from it.

Formule1 is a discount hotel chain owned by Accor Hotels, the same people who also own America’s Motel 6. Unlike Motel 6, most of these Formule1 hotels look to be Kit Hotels, as in the entire building is modular and some assembly rather than construction was required to get the hotel up and running. The rooms are compact and efficient. Mine featured a queen sized bed with a single bed bunked above it. Also included were a well lit desk area, a quiet and very cool air conditioner, and a modular bathroom and shower unit tucked away into a corner. In the morning, a full continental breakfast was available in the lobby for only $6.00 AUD. If you’re arriving late or making an overnight connection at MEL and you don’t require or demand luxurious accommodations and a pretentious lobby, check out the Formule1. I’m sure they’ll leave the light on for you.


APRIL 26

This day has come all too soon. In the planning stages of this trip, I figured that having been to Australia and in particular Tasmania so many times before, twelve days would be sufficient for this visit. I was wrong. Like running across a good friend whom you haven’t seen in years while you’re both going elsewhere in a crowded airport, I found that nine days just wasn’t sufficient to properly reacquaint myself with Tasmania, pick up its rhythms and really become one with it again. Adelaide definitely demands a return visit of at least a week. As much as I look forward to reclaiming my suite for another twenty hours in BA’s fabulous First Class, I could easily do another month down here. Ah well, as I mentioned at the beginning of this report, this trip is more about going there than being there and I’ve got Finland, Russia and Estonia to look forward to so it’s not like I’m going back home to my factory job in Oklahoma. Still, I’ll keep this experience in mind when planning future excursions.

After a hot shower, a warm breakfast sandwich at the nearby McDonalds and a cool session in front of the air conditioner, I met up with fellow FTer rot8. In the finest traditions of true Aussie hospitality, Martin drove me into downtown Melbourne and gave me a brief walking tour of the Casino and Mall area across the Yarra River from the Central Business District. The last time I was in Melbourne, back in 1984, none of this was here. Melbourne’s a good looking city with a nice mix of classic and modern architecture. I particularly like cities with big rivers running through them and the Casino, shops and restaurants along the river were most attractively done indeed. We also had lunch and beers at a nice restaurant along the river walk before heading back to the airport. I enjoyed meeting Martin and I’ll look forward to when next our paths cross, hopefully at the MCG for a Collinwood game.


26 April
MEL-SIN British Airways 18 First Class
747-436 G-CIVD Seat 2A
415p-1015p Flight time: 7:03

Upon being dropped off at the airport, I cleaned up, changed clothes and presented myself at the First Class check in counter where I got my seat changed from 3A to 2A. By the time I’d cleared immigration and security, it was 3:20pm and I had very little time to get downstairs to the lounge pavilion and enjoy the pleasures of my membership, albeit temporary, in the Qantas Club.

The Melbourne Qantas Club is one of the finer First Class airline lounges that I have been in. It offers an excellent selection of food and beverages and I wasted no time in assembling a small plate of salmon, Caesar Salad, and sun dried tomatoes to go with an ice cold Boag’s Premium Lager. Later, I went over to the internet and transferred some articles about the Denver Bronco’s prospects in the upcoming draft to a floppy disc for reading later in the flight. I was just finishing up when the call came to board.

How many places have you been where upon entering you’re greeted with a flute of Krug and a plate of warmed mixed nuts? Welcome to 747 BA Place! Only five of us were sat up front for this flight up to Singapore and the flight attendants encouraged us to spread out. Very relaxed. Very comfortable. Would you care for some more champagne, perhaps? Oh, alright...

BA BAgs were distributed and you amenity kit fanatics will be thrilled to know that BA has introduced a new design for their bags. Gone are the compact zippered suitcase style bags, having been replaced by a large, fabric bag about 11x8x3½ with an historic photo of a Shorts Flying Boat taking off along the front of the bag. BA’s really getting a lot of mileage from its photo archives with old pictures cropping up everywhere from the BAgs to inside the airplanes to airport lounges. I find them all quite fascinating, depicting a time when flight was still magical for most. As for the BAgs, there’ve been a few changes. Every passenger, regardless of gender, now receives the same BAg. The contents include socks and eye shades, along with two pouches containing the following products:

Basics Pouch
Aroma Therapeutics Oxygen Mist
Carmex Lip Balm
Farmacia Natural Man Eye Gel
Aroma Therapeutics Sleep Enhancer

Teeth Pouch
Elgydium Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Farmacia Natural Mouthwash

The BAgs are presented with a small brochure that details all this. For additional items such as a shaving kit, face moisturizer or a fine wooden comb, just ask the crew.

It was a beautiful afternoon for flying and this particular segment between Melbourne and Singapore has become one of my favorite flights. Any of you who’ve read my FlyerTalk bio in Who We All Are may recall that my favorite inflight scenario is to be sitting in the nose of a 747, heading westbound into the sunset, whilst reclining with the “beverage of my choice” and awaiting a fine, seven course meal. BA 18 between Melbourne and Singapore delivers all of that with style and class that few can match.

As we climbed west-northwest to our assigned cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, I looked over the wine list and selected a glass of the Pinot Noir.

WINE LIST

Champagne
Krug Brut, Grande Cuvee

White Wines
Meursault, 2000, Louis Jadot
Chateau de Chantegrive, Cuvee Caroline, 2000, Graves Blanc
De Bortoli Yarra Valley Chardonnay, 1998

Red Wines
Chateau Desmirail, 1996, Grand Cru Classe Margaux
Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1996
Frei Brothers Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, 2000

Dessert Wine
Miranda Golden Botrytis, 1995
De Bortoli Nobel One Botrytis Semillon, 1996

Port
Warre’s, 1986, Reserve Tawny Port

** ** **

Here now, are the dinner selections:


Melbourne to Singapore

DINNER

Appetizers
Prosciutto with celeriac remoulade and marinated figs
Char-grilled asparagus with warm Hollandaise sauce

Soup
Chicken Consommé

Salad
Mixed Seasonal Salad
Served with extra virgin olive oil, crème fraiche with herbs or balsamic vinaigrette

Selection of warm breads

** ** **

MAIN COURSES

Loin of Lamb
Served with potato dauphinoise, roasted garlic and tarragon jus

Pan Fried Salmon
Presented with kiffler potatoes and braised baby leeks

Thai Green Chicken Curry
Served atop steamed jasmine rice

Vegetable and Walnuts Au Gratin
In a double cheese sauce

LIGHTER OPTIONS

Freshly Cooked Fusilli Pasta
Presented with your choice of sun dried tomato pesto or wild mushroom sauce
Served with freshly grated Grana Padano cheese

Cornish Pasties

** ** **

DESSERT

Warm Chocolate and Hazelnut Tart
Accompanied by Bailey’s Ice Cream

Peach and Raspberry Trifle
Presented with Sauternes jelly

Cheeseboard Selection
Capricorn, Mull of Kintyre, Gubbeen, Blue Wensleydale and Rustique Camembert Cheese

Fresh Fruit
Chocolates

** ** ** ** **

What a selection! What would YOU choose? I started with both the prosciutto and asparagus appetizers, both of which were delicious. The prosciutto in particular was an interesting presentation, not to mention combination with the celery and figs. We have chef Liam Tomlin to thank for this creation, which was as tasty as it was attractive. The Margaux made a nice accompaniment.

I had wanted to try out the consomme as it had been years since I’d eaten any but I was informed that unfortunately the FAs were unable to get the soup container open so I moved right along to my entrée selection, the Loin of lamb. Wow! I have rarely seen such beautiful presentation of a dish, either on the ground or in the air. Four thick slices of lamb loin were presented atop the potatoes Dauphinoise and then surrounded by whole roasted garlic and onions, all of this accompanied by a tasty tarragon jus, then sprinkled with parsley. Unfortunately, the lamb didn’t quite live up to the presentation as it was a bit overdone. Still, overall I found the meal pretty good and when the FA came by to clear my table and offer dessert, I handed her a nearly clean plate.

Ah, dessert. My favorite desserts are cakes, especially multi-layered cakes with a thin layer of fruit compote amongst the cake and frostings. Tonight’s dessert however will be remembered as one of the most scrumptious and delicious desserts that I have ever eaten. The chocolate hazelnut tart was served on the hot side of warm and went perfectly with an accompanying scoop of cold Bailey’s ice cream and a cup of decaf cappuccino.

After dinner, there were still four and a half hours left in the flight, during one of the nicest times of day to be winging about above our fair planet. I decided to take in a double feature for my viewing entertainment. The first feature was an old favorite of mine, a beautiful sunset watched while flying over the Great Sandy Desert northwest of Alice Springs. There was a brief moment as the sun dropped below the horizon when all the clouds turned pink. Magical. I thought of fellow FTer mad_atta, a fellow window watcher who I know would have enjoyed this view. Minutes later, I watched as the horizon displayed the following colors, in order from below to above:

Black, reddish brown, orange, gold, white, pale blue, navy blue and indigo

Interestingly, as I got up for a brief stroll to the rear of the plane during intermission, I passed by a man who looked alarmingly like Alan Hale, the Skipper on the old TV show Gilligan’s Island. Once again, I was the only person in First Class and indeed one of the few on the plane who actually had my window shade open to view nature’s beauty outside of the airplane. All the way back through Economy, many shades were drawn as most everyone was busy watching movies or dozing. Ah well, to each their own, I reckon, but I’m tellin’ ya – good sunsets at 36000 feet aren’t something we get to enjoy everyday.

I watched with interest as we approached the edge of the continent just north of Broome. At the point where we left Australia behind and headed out over the Pacific, we’d been flying for 3 hours, 57 minutes. This is the life!, I thought. Sitting up here in the nose of a 747, flying high above the world’s oldest continent at sunset. The views were simply spectacular, and the muted sound of air rushing past the windows was music to my ears. Sitting this far forward, the engines are so far behind you that during cruise, I don’t think they can really be heard. Just out of curiosity, I took a stroll after dinner through Business, World Traveller Plus and finally Economy Class. The audible ambience is substantially more profound back there

The skyline is now black, red, pink, ochre, sky blue and indigo. What’s that? Why yes, a glass of Port sounds fine, thanks.

About an hour before landing in Singapore, refreshments were offered. Here are the choices, any or all:

REFRESHMENTS

Grilled Fillet Steak
Accompanied by red onion marmalade in ciabatta bread

Selection of Reception Sandwiches
Chicken and Avocado, Cheese and Tomato, Ham and Veggies

Classic Margherita Pizza
A cheese, tomato and garlic taste treat

Selection of Pastries

** ** **

When you’ve eaten a big multi-course meal only five hours before, the prospect of even more food is not quite what I’d call refreshing. Even so, I had one of the little chicken and avocado sandwiches with a glass of Penfolds while working on this report.

We began our descent into Singapore soon after the plates were cleared. The Captain came on and informed us that the temperature in Singapore was 28 degrees with a dew point of 26. I was thankful that I was just passing through. I wonder what the lowest temperature ever recorded in Singapore is?

A slight tailwind had pushed us into Singapore almost half an hour early. How unfortunate, I thought. Comfortably reclined as I was in my First Class Suite, being wined and dined in true plutocratic fashion while nature put on a spectacular show outside my windows, well – this flight was all too short!

What with SARS on the rise in this part of the world, I decided that if I didn’t have to get off the plane in Singapore, I wouldn’t. Passengers were advised that as the aircraft would be refueled during our layover, those remaining onboard should refrain from using their cell phones, electronic games or laptop computers. Apparently, they spark now and then. I don’t know about cell phones, but thankfully my laptop has yet to emit any sparks. Local time in Melbourne was approaching midnight and I had no problem picking up an hour of sleep while the aircraft was cleaned and serviced.


26 April
SIN-LHR British Airways 18 First Class
747-436 G-CIVD Seat 2A
1140p-620a Flight time: 13:27

There’d been a crew change in Singapore and the new flight attendant working my side of the cabin stopped by to introduce himself. His name was Brendan and as the First Class load into London was light this evening, we had an opportunity to chat for a bit. Brendan started his flying career with BA back in the 707 and VC-10 days, but his life experience was considerably broader. He’d lived in Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada and took his first flight in 1952. He shared some great stories about the early days of intercontinental flight when, for example, rather than serving meals aboard the airplane, meal stops were made. He’d flown aboard Constellations, DC-7s and Brittanias and pointed out that First Class meal services were far more extensive back then. He estimated that the amount of food that BA loads to feed 14 people in First Class today would have only fed about 8 in years past. Indeed, while some of the reductions in First Class fare are budget related, some of them also reflect changing eating and drinking patterns amongst today’s travelers. For example, alcohol consumption is way down from the sixties and seventies. Brendan estimated that on long international flights these days, a full First Class cabin (14 pax) generally goes through only about 6-8 bottles of wine and very little hard alcohol. I think BA’s meal service, as offered on this Singapore to London route, is just about right.

Scheduled departure from Singapore is 11:20pm. A full dinner and breakfast service are offered over the 13 hour flight. Since local time at our departure is only 5:20pm in London, many passengers elect to eat first, then sleep, awaking two or three hours out of London in time for breakfast. What worked for me last year on this flight was to first knock off six or seven hours of sleep out of Singapore, then awake to dinner and still have five or six hours left to enjoy the flight. By the time I finally get to the hostel in Helsinki tomorrow evening, it’ll be about 9:30pm locally and I’ll get a good sleep and wake up feeling like a local.

Our First Officer advised us that due to heavy incoming traffic into London, we’d been ordered to stand at the gate for another half hour and could expect to be airborne in another 45 minutes. Flight time was projected at thirteen hours and ten minutes, cruising at 35,000 feet. Our route of flight would take us out over the Bay of Bengal, across central India and northern Pakistan, then directly over Kabul, Afghanistan before jogging north around the Aral Sea and continuing west towards Moscow, Vienna and into London. This must be the longer northern route I’d heard about because my flight out to Singapore from London followed a more southerly route over the BlackSea.

After what seemed quite a long take off roll, we climbed out of Changi and made a big right hand turn to get us onto a northwesterly heading. I got a great view of the city lights and the big bridge over to Malaysia while lightning flashes illuminated the western horizon. What a fine night for flying! As the lights of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur receded behind us, I lowered my seat and prepared my bed. While many passengers choose to use the duvet as a blanket, I prefer to place it over the seat and use BA’s sizeable wool blanket for warmth.

I awoke just south of Kabul. We were cruising along at 534 mph, flying into 37 mph headwinds. The outside air temperature was a frosty –52 degrees. Just like home! Of course, it was still dark and apparently a bit cloudy for I never did see the lights of Kabul.

Right – time for dinner then. Here’s the menu:

Singapore to London

DINNER

Appetizers
Scottish smoked salmon with crème fraiche and lemon
Beef and chicken satay with peanut sauce

Soup
Vegetable consommé

Salad
Mixed Seasonal Salad
Served with blue cheese and chive dressing, mustard and herb vinaigrette or extra virgin olive oil

** ** **

[b]MAIN COURSES

Grilled Fillet Steak with Parsley Butter
Served with a potato cake and wilted spinach

Szechuan Prawns
Presented atop stir-fried rice with Chinese cabbage

Smoked Breast of Duck
Served with cranberry and kumquat compote on fresh salad leaves

Won Ton
Char siu, mushrooms and noodles

LIGHTER OPTIONS

Freshly Cooked Penne Pasta
Presented with your choice of tomato and basil or cheese and parsley sauce
Served with freshly grated Grana Padano cheese

Classic Margherita Pizza
A cheese, tomato and garlic taste treat

Selection of Reception Sandwiches

** ** **

DESSERT

Orange Charlotte
Flavored with Grand Marnier

Hot Apple Crumble
Served with vanilla ice cream

Cheeseboard Selection
Capricorn, Mull of Kintyre, Gubbeen, Blue Wensleydale and Rustique Camembert Cheese

Fresh Fruit
Chocolates

** ** ** ** **


I had the prawns out of here last year and they were excellent. Although the steak looked tempting, I’ve learned that often the best dishes are those with which the local caterers are familiar. I can get steak anywhere, so once again, I went with the Szechuan Prawns and once again, I was not disappointed. In the Szechuan tradition, the sauce was spicy enough to intrigue, but not so spicy that I required oxygen. I might add that the salmon and satay appetizers were also good, though not memorably so. In all, a tasty repast in the middle of the night.

After dishes were cleared, I reclined my seat and watched as Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry combined to foil yet another psychopathic villain bent on world domination in Die Another Day. The following warning was posted in the movie viewing guide:

WARNING: Please be aware that this movie contains an extended sequence aboard a stricken aircraft which some viewers may find disturbing.

The aircraft was a Russian built Antonev AN-124 cargo jet and I thought the scenes of its demise were quite exciting if a bit difficult to believe. I mean, the aircraft was disintegrating in mid air, engines falling off, etc. and yet, unpiloted, it still managed to maintain a nice gradual descent until our heroes affected a dramatic exit just in the nick of time!

As we approached Moscow, the sun began to rise and I was surprised to see snow covered ground for miles around to the east of Moscow. Some of my fellow passengers were beginning to stir and despite our still being three hours out of London, the wonderful smells of breakfast began to permeate the cabin. Here is the menu:

BREAKFAST

To Begin
Freshly squeezed fruit juice
Our special wake up energizing smoothie

Continental Breakfast
Fresh Fruit
Birchermuesli
Natural or Fruit yogurt
Warm breads and breakfast pastries

** ** **

HOT CHOICES

Classic British Breakfast
Freshly scrambled eggs, grilled bacon, pork sausage, sautéed mushrooms, grilled tomato and hash browned potatoes

Cheese and Tomato Omelette

Brioche French Toast
Served with caramelized fruit and maple syrup butter

** ** **


Brendan mentioned that he’d be happy to serve me whatever I’d like for breakfast up until about an hour out of London. Having just finished dinner over Kabul, I decided to do breakfast over Copenhagen. In the meantime, I fired up my trusty laptop and went back to work on this marathon Trip Report. Any of you who’ve written one of these know that even the most basic ones can take some time, but then what better place to type away from than my lofty perch here 38000 feet over Latvia. Fueled by coffee and water, I’ve managed to finally get this report up to date, including menu transcripts!

Approaching Copenhagen over the Baltic Sea, our airspeed had dropped to 477 mph while headwinds had increased to 72 mph. The air temperature had dropped to minus 83 degrees! That may just be the coldest air I’ve ever flown through.

Breakfast began with a smoothie, followed by a fruit plate and a serving of the French Toast. I’m not a big fan of airline style French Toast which, from my experience with most US carriers, tends to come out dry and chewy, like Navajo bread. BA’s brioche sounded pretty good though and I wanted to try something different than the egg dishes with which I was so well acquainted. Well, I am pleased to report that if you like French Toast, based upon my breakfast today you’d be quite pleased with BA’s version. The toast was moist and flavorful, as if it had been dipped in eggs and cooked just minutes ago. I don’t know how they did it, but well done, BA!

Our First Officer came on, bid us all a cheerful good morning, and then apologized for once again having to be the bearer of bad news. Air Traffic Control had directed us into a holding pattern, adding another 20 minutes to our flight time. Finally, after 13 hours and 27 minutes, we made a very nice landing at Heathrow and I noted that no reverse thrust was employed to slow us down. I found out later that BA’s 747-400s are equipped with carbon fiber brakes that negate the use of reverse thrust except when landing in less than ideal conditions.

Apparently ATC also added insult to injury by directing us to land on what had to be Heathrow’s most remote runway. As a result, we got the Grand Tour of Heathrow as we took a slow, stately meander through the back taxiways of Heathrow. Heathrow is, of course, the world’s greatest airport for plane spotting and on the way to our stand at Terminal 4, I spotted the following exotic aircraft:

Royal Jordanian A340
Syrian Air 747SP
Kuwait Airways A340
Cathay Pacific 747-400 in “Asia’s World City” livery
Egyptair 777
Gov’t. of Japan 747-400

By the time we’d finally chalked our wheels at T-4, I noted that I’d been sitting on board this aircraft for almost exactly 24 straight hours. As aircraft of the world go, I can think of very few others that I’d rather spend 24 hours aboard. Once again, British Airways delivered a stellar service, from check-in at Melbourne to a post flight shower at the Molton-Brown Spa. From a First Class perspective, other airlines may offer wider seats, more extensive menus or better lounges. BA’s real strength, I think, lies in the quality of their crew. I can’t imagine a better trained, more dedicated, capable and caring group of people. They’ve all been just great so far and contribute mightily to BA’s maintaining its perennial status amongst the world’s best airlines.


[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 05-25-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 05-26-2003).]

Seat 2A

PART 6: TO, FROM AND AROUND FINLAND
MILE 58760 - 62890
By Air: 2330 Miles
By Rail: 1360 Miles
By Bus: 440 Miles

Photo Album Reference: FINLAND and FINNISH TRAINS

After touring The Taxiways of Heathrow in BA’s 747, the shuttle bus over to Terminal 3 provided me a tour of The Back Roads of Heathrow. Since I wasn’t driving, I just sat back and enjoyed the scenery, which included passing within less than 100 feet of numerous aircraft, including a beautiful Air Canada 747-400 and an Air Portugal A310. Heathrow Airport really is an amazing place to navigate, be it in a car, in a plane or on foot. I have never seen such a convoluted collection of roads, taxiways or hallways! Consider my journey within Terminal 3 from the SAS check-in desk to the Servisair Lounge. Having been informed that Servisair’s lounge was down by Gate 12, I proceeded through the main terminal commons with all the shops, restaurants, etc., before making a right turn towards Gates 2-55. Of course, this is not a long concourse stringing along 55 gates a la DTW. Rather, the gates are broken up into groups within their own mini-concourses. It was only fitting, then, that when I did eventually make it to the Gate 12 area, I was presented with further options. 12 A-C or 12 B-D if I recall correctly. A sign indicated that the Servisair Lounge, along with Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge and Virgin’s Clubhouse, was down 12C. Fair enough. Everything was very well marked. Here’s where it got interesting, however. Whereas at most airports you’d walk down the hallway from 12C and there would be your lounges, at Terminal 3 I walked down three separate hallways, took a stairway to the next floor up, then walked down another two or three, maybe four hallways until I finally arrived at my destination. After all that, I almost expected to hear a harp glissando and a chorus from the heavens as the lights suddenly brightened and I entered the sanctum of the Servisair Lounge.

I am a charter member of Continental’s President’s Club, having purchased a lifetime membership back in 1980 for the paltry sum of just $300.00. To this day, it remains the single best investment I have ever made. Continental’s President’s Clubs have always been classy lounges and initially, my membership was only good in the fifteen or so Presidents Clubs around the Continental network. After Frank Lorenzo took over Continental and added Eastern Airlines to his collection, I also gained membership to all of Eastern’s Ionosphere Clubs until Eastern’s unfortunate demise. Eventually, Continental formed an alliance with Northwest and America West, and now Delta’s been added. That now gains me entry to all the WorldClubs, Crown Rooms and the two America West Clubs at LAS and PHX. An agreement has also recently been worked out with Alaska Airlines to use their Boardrooms. All of them. Finally, my President’s Club is also accepted at various Servisair Lounges around the world. As such, there aren’t too many major cities in America or Europe where I don’t have lounge access.

Servisair operates at least two or three lounges at Heathrow. This one was tastefully appointed and had a nice big window looking out over one of the T-3 concourses. The view of an Air Canada 747-400, Air India 747-400 and Gulf Air A330 lined up down the concourse was very much to my liking. The lounge also offered a well stocked complimentary bar as well as a decent selection of pre-wrapped cookies, cakes and snack mixes. I poured myself a coffee and perused a copy of the Herald Tribune until my flight was called for boarding at 10:00am.


27 April
LHR-ARN SAS Scandinavian 584 Economy Class
A321-200 SE-REG Seat 9A
1025a – 150p Flight time: 1:56

Until recently, I’d never flown aboard Airbus’s A321. Only US Airways and Air Canada operate the type in North America, unless you include the Caribbean in which case you could also add Air Jamaica and BWIA. In any event, I logged my first flight on one aboard Finnair’s OH-LZD back in December. Today, A321-231 SE-REG awaited me at Gate 6, looking quite nice in SAS’s livery. SAS names their planes – a practice I’ve always liked. It lends a touch of distinction and identity to the aircraft, like Virgin Blue’s “Barossa Babe” from four nights ago. Some of you may remember a few years back when some US and Canadian airlines used to follow this practice. Pan Am’s jets were Clippers, American’s were Flagships, Piedmont’s were Pacemakers and Canadian Pacific’s were Empresses. SAS names their aircraft after Vikings and today’s plane was dubbed “Randy Moss”. No, no – just kidding there – an inside joke that some of you football fans in America may or may not appreciate. The name was “Svipdag Viking”, who’s acquaintance I was pleased to make as I took my seat in exit row 9A.

I’m sure that “Svipdag” was a nice enough guy but comfort wasn’t high on his list of attributes. The exit row seats were narrow and stiff but the other seats didn’t look any better. Legroom couldn’t have been any more than 31” in Economy. In Business Class, pitch was perhaps 36” and unlike the MD-80 fleet, the seats were not fitted with foot rests.

Otherwise, this was a very nice airplane. Each seat was equipped with Empower outlets for laptop connections and I counted 24 drop down television monitors, meaning no one was ever too far from a good view of whatever was being shown. One of the neater things being shown was via a camera mounted down near the nose wheel landing gear. We got to watch from a forward perspective as we taxied and took off. Then the camera swung down and offered a view of the scenery below. Initially it was nice English countryside. Unfortunately, cloud cover soon obscured the rest of the views into Stockholm so the TV monitors switched to a thrilling but silent documentary about the lives of penguins. No headsets were offered and without volume, this documentary was only marginally more interesting than watching the cloud cover. I pulled out my book of the week, Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” and read until luncheon was served.

On last year’s shorter flight between London and Copenhagen, I was offered a nice tray lunch containing a generous variety of ham and salami, some potato salad and a cucumber and tomato salad. On today’s longer flight (910 miles vs. 590 miles) we were presented a styrofoam carton bearing a plastic container of pasta salad with a couple of slices of ham on top. Also included were a coffee cup with creamer, a moist towelette, and a salt and pepper packet upon which was inscribed a droll bit of Scandinavian humor. Something about pepper being called a gift from the Far East, but as the word “gift” translated to mean “poison” in the local lingo, well, use it as you will. Thankfully, the wonderful bread service still remained and I selected a large rye wafer and a wheat roll. From a present day American perspective, this was a fabulous meal service for a two hour flight in Economy Class. Based upon what I’ve experienced aboard European airlines in years past however, well, it would seem there’ve been some cutbacks. Still, it was tasty enough and I particularly enjoyed the hot and flavorful coffee service that followed the meal.

We landed in Stockholm on a wintry spring day, with cold rain turning to sleet and even snow for a short time. A Thai 747-400 in the King’s Anniversary livery brightened up the ramp considerably. We parked over on the F Concourse and I was surprised to see that all the floors on that concourse were done in attractive dark wood. After clearing immigration, I headed over to the main domestic departures area and took a seat in the gate lounge for my onward flight to Helsinki. I’d been travelling for 30 hours since leaving Melbourne and the experience was starting to catch up to me. With an hour and a half to wait, I dozed for a bit until boarding was called.


27 April
ARN-HEL SAS Scandinavian 704 Economy Class
737-883 LN-RRT Seat 21A
350p – 545p Flight time: :39

I had hoped that this flight would be aboard a 737-600. It is the one variant of the 737 family that I’ve not yet flown. SAS flies the 600, 700 and 800 series though the agents in Heathrow weren’t able to ascertain exactly what type of 737 it was. Still, given my exit row seat assignment of 8A, I felt reasonably good about my chances.

From the gate lounge, it was impossible to see any more than the wing of the aircraft, so I’d have to wait until I boarded. When I handed my boarding pass to the gate agent, he ran it through a small machine which immediately spit out a new boarding pass indicating Seat 21A. Hey! What happened? Ah, well, due to the large number of bookings this afternoon, a larger aircraft had been substituted. Grrrrr… Oh well. At least I got a window seat.

It’s only a short 250 mile flight across the northern Baltic Sea to Helsinki, well within the range of this new 737-800. Interestingly, this aircraft had no flip down TV monitors nor laptop connections. We roared off into the cloudy skies and soon after our flight attendants came down the aisle distributing the afternoon snack. A snack! On a 39 minute, 250 mile flight! Served by a flight attendant who was almost a spitting image Nordic version of the Australian golfer Greg Norman. All he was missing was the Akubra hat! The snack itself seemed appropriate to the length of flight – a wheat roll with a smidgen of shrimp salad inside.

Finland claims to have over 185000 lakes and as we began our descent into Helsinki, I could see that many of them were still frozen. We made a smooth, quiet landing without use of the reverse thrust and taxied briskly to the terminal, parking beside a Lufthansa A320. Lufthansa’s a great airline but I think it’s time they upgraded their color scheme.

Baggage was delivered promptly, and after picking up some local wampum at an ATM, I hopped aboard a waiting Finnair bus that took me directly into the downtown district for 5.00 EUR. A regular city transit bus will get you there for about half the price but takes longer and doesn’t offer a baggage rack. When you’re only talkin’ a couple of Euros, why quibble? Half an hour later, I alighted at Helsinki’s main train station, walked a couple of blocks up to Mannerheimintie and caught the #4 tram out to the Katajanokka district. Fifteen minutes later, I was checking into the Eurohostel, my home for the next four days.


THE EUROHOSTEL

I discovered Helsinki’s Eurohostel through the internet last year while searching for accommodations prior to my first visit. I plugged “Helsinki” and “Hostel” into Google’s search engine and there it was. It’s in an excellent location, just a short walk from the downtown district and an even shorter walk to the ferry terminals and Market Square. Accommodations range from single rooms to triple rooms. There are no traditional hostel style dormitories. Reservations can be made over the internet and I’d reserved a four night stay in a single room, including breakfast each morning, for a total cost of $135.00 USD or about $34.00 a night. Such a deal!

The reception desk is open 24 hours and the staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful with most anything related to seeing or getting around Helsinki. They also speak better English than half the people south of the Mason-Dixon line. This is my fourth visit here and I continue to be impressed by their command of both the language and the accent.

My room was on the third floor. It had a single bed, an armoire, a big wooden table and a comfy chair. It also had a nice big window overlooking some attractive red brick buildings behind Linnankatu Street.


HELSINKI

Despite May being only three days away, it’s still winter here in Helsinki. A light but cold rain fell for most of my first day here and throughout the daytime highs have only risen into the mid thirties! The hot, muggy days of Adelaide’s Indian Summer seem but a distant memory now. Regardless, life goes on and while I’m not too keen on the rain, I rather enjoy the cooler temperatures.

After taking full advantage of a breakfast buffet featuring cold cuts, cheese, veggies, breads, hard boiled eggs, sliced honeydew melon, yogurt and hot and cold cereals, I set to work getting a hostel reservation booked for my two nights in St. Petersburg. It’s projected to be a busy summer for St. Petersburg as this is that city’s 300th anniversary and there will be all manner of celebrations and events to mark the occasion throughout the summer. Things wouldn’t begin to really pick up for two or three weeks however, so I was confident that I could find a room for two nights at one of the two YHA affiliated hostels there. It’s also worth noting that in order to qualify for a Russian tourist visa, one must first have proof of reservations made and paid for in Russia. So, once reservations are made and money received, the hostel will then issue you a Visa Support Letter at a cost of $30.00 Euros. You then take this letter to your nearest Russian Embassy or Consulate and get your visa issued for an additional $30.00 or so. I had tried to do all this prior to my departure from America, figuring that I could swing by the Russian Consulate in Seattle to get my visa. Unfortunately, I never could get a response from the St. Petersburg hostel. Even so, I figured I could handle things locally without a problem, especially since reservations could be made directly from the Helsinki hostels. I’d also heard that short stay visas, valid for stays of three days or less, could easily be taken care of at the border. Alas, I was wrong on both counts.

On its website and in its brochure, the hostel I’d wanted to stay at in St. Petersburg indicated that it was possible to make reservations for it through the Eurohostel where I was staying here in Helsinki. Eurohostel informed me that this was normally true, though for some reason as yet unknown to their staff, it was not possible for direct phone bookings after May 1st of this year. My first night in St. Petersburg was to be May 1st. Only internet bookings were possible. Go figure. OK, then. I went to the internet site and once again e-mailed all the completed forms to the hostel. I indicated that time was short and hoped/expected to get a response later in the day or at the very least by the next day. Wrong. By my second day, having heard nothing, I looked into a stay with the other hostel in St. Petersburg. This one was not as conveniently located but it could be reserved by phone directly through another hostel in Helsinki. I called that hostel and was told that they could make bookings but it had been a problem of late because only one employee at this particular St. Petersburg hostel spoke English (No one spoke Finnish, there) and that person didn’t work every day. This same person also handled the English language internet requests. Further questioning revealed that nobody even knew what days this person did work. He/she was either there, or wasn’t there. Based upon the information we were given, all one could do was hope for the best. So, a call was placed to find out. Nope, not today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe? Maybe.

This language problem also factored into my decision not to pay a little more and go with a hotel instead. Certainly, at the larger business hotels, English speaking staff would not be a problem. Without Priceline.com however, those hotels were well out of my price range, and amongst the lower cost hotels, everything I’d read strongly suggested that language and security could be an issue.

I called the Russian Embassy where it was reiterated that I’d need proof of accommodation arrangements before a visa could be issued. As well, the policy of making short stay visas available at the border was no longer in effect. For whatever reason it just hadn’t worked out. Also, visa applications required 3-5 working days to process. I was planning to leave in three days and still hadn’t gotten anywhere on the reservations. I was told that if I did get a reservation within the next day, it would be possible to get the visa application processed within one day, but there would be a substantial surcharge for the expedited service. How much? Maybe hundred dollars, maybe more. You call consular affairs, they tell you. It depend what country you from. What country I’m from? Hmm… OK. I called consular affairs, where I got endless busy signals. I kept trying and finally got a ring. Ring–ring–ring. Ring–ring–ring. Thirty or forty seconds later, the phone was finally picked up, then quickly disconnected. I tried calling again. More endless busy signals.

In the meantime, Helsinki offered plenty to occupy my time and interests. During my December visits, I never did get to thoroughly check out the National Museum of Finland. The building itself looks like a small castle, made of stone and graced with an impressive tower. Admission is only 5 Euros, the price of a pint of beer. Anything you want to know about Finland, from prehistoric times to the Bronze Age to Roman times to the Russian occupation to present is all there on three very well laid out floors. Four hours later, I emerged into a cold rain and caught the #4 tram back to the hostel. By now it was near 6:00pm and I was ready for dinner.

In addition to local fare, Helsinki offers just about every type of ethnic restaurant imaginable, from Thai to Middle Eastern to Mexican. Finnish food is mighty fine however, highlighted by delicious fish and seafood, lamb, reindeer and plenty of vegetables, especially root vegetables like potatoes and beets. Katajanamarja’s Restaurant, located right on the ground floor of the Eurohostel, offers excellent meals at an affordable price. Tonight’s special was a salmon fillet, presented atop grilled vegetables and topped with Mercury Sauce (Kind of like a Bearnaise sauce). At only $12.50, it was one of the best deals in the city. I was joined for dinner by Jim and Holly, a couple of Canadian backpackers who’d checked in with me the day before. It would be fun to write down their story but it would add another 10000 words to this report. Suffice to say that they’d been on the road for eight months, having traveled from their homebase in Hamilton, Ontario west through Canada and the US, down to Tahiti, Rarotonga, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and on to Europe, arriving just in time for spring. Or so they thought. The daytime highs in Helsinki have been peaking at about 35-40 degrees. If that.

By the end of my second day in Helsinki, I had gotten nowhere on the reservations and never did manage to get through to the Russian Embassy’s Consular section. I could have just gone over there, but the most important thing was to first have a reservation and I had nothing.

Certainly, I’d heard plenty of stories about Communist era Russian inefficiency as well as the generally glacial pace of their bureaucracy. Even so, I had hoped that this would have improved somewhat in recent times. From my experiences described here however, the situation clearly leaves much to be desired. If Russia aims to promote and improve tourism, the St. Petersburg hostels and the Helsinki Embassy in particular have plenty of room for improvement.

As much as I’d looked forward to a visit to St. Petersburg, along with travelling there aboard the Russian train “Repin” and back aboard the Finnish train “Sibelius”, I finally decided that the extra visa cost and the ongoing standstill on reservations just wasn’t worth all the hassle. There’ll be other trips for me to this region, and I’ll get to St. Petersburg on one of them, of that I’m certain. Well, fairly certain.

There’s an old adage about how when life gives you lemons, you might as well make lemonade. So, I got out my maps and started squeezin’ them lemons. I briefly considered crossing the Gulf of Botnia by ferry and heading over to Stockholm. I’d see those ferries every day as I walked into town and they are most impressive – unlike any ferries I’ve ever seen! The largest ones are operated by Silja or Viking Lines and are more like cruise ships than ferries. The Silja Lines twin cruise ferries “Symphony” and Serenade” have over 12 decks offering a variety of restaurants and bars as well as a shopping arcade, movie theater and a wide variety of accommodations, from 4 berth shared cabins down in the bowels of the ship to luxury suites up top. They are each over 620 feet long and carry 2850 passengers and 360 cars! While all very attractive on the surface, I’m not so sure I’d like to be riding on such a big ship with so many people. The MV Taku of the Alaska Marine Highway is more to my liking. I’ve ridden it many times on the two day journey between Prince Rupert, BC and Skagway, Alaska. The Taku checks in at 352 feet long and carries all of 450 passengers, though at the times of year I ride it, the number is about half that. And, I can camp out under the solarium instead of being stuck in a seat or cabin. Alright then, the ferry is out.

Finland’s a big country and the Finnish railway network is fairly extensive. After looking over a map of Finland for about ten seconds, I decided to go to the very top of Finland, way up above the Arctic Circle. I consulted my hostel guide book and determined that the northernmost hostel in Finland is located in the tiny hamlet of Kaamanen, pop. 200, about 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, just above the 69th parallel. Further research revealed that getting there from Helsinki would involve an overnight train journey to the town of Rovaniemi, 560 miles to the north. From there, Kaamanen was only 220 miles farther north, accessed by a six hour bus ride. This sounded just fine to me!

It’s almost as if Kaamanen as a destination were never really in question. Helsinki sits at the bottom of Finland and the country runs much more to the north than it does to the east or west. My eyes just naturally gravitated to the north, and then focused on the very top. I love visiting these far flung places, as much for their remoteness as for the character of those who choose to live in them. As well, one of the best parts about travelling to out of the way places is that you can’t just get on a plane and fly there nonstop. Often, the journey requires numerous connections and modes of transport that make getting there an adventure in itself. And when you do finally arrive (Do real travelers ever truly arrive?) you feel as if you’ve earned it.

The other thing that excites me about this journey to Kaamanen is its spur of the moment, didn’t-know-I-was-going-ten-minutes-before-I-am nature. It’s how I first went to Alaska (I was in line to check in for a flight to San Francisco at the Honolulu airport and ten minutes later I was on my way to Alaska. But that’s another story…) and the willingness to adopt sudden, occasionally dramatic changes in travel plans has certainly served me well through my wanderings.

I set to work getting everything booked and ticketed, going back and forth between the downtown railway station and the city bus terminal. The contrast between these two buildings is substantial. The Railway Station is an impressive structure, built in the grand style of great railway stations the world over. While it’s not as large or ornate as New York’s Grand Central or London’s Victoria Station, it’s got the signature high, sculpted ceilings and ornate walls and windows that grace all the great turn of the century railroad stations. There’s a beautiful, spacious cafeteria at one end, and an equally ornate restaurant and bar at the other end.

The bus station is located just a short distance from the Railway station, across the broad thoroughfare of Mannerheimintie Avenue. Hidden away behind an old city shopping arcade, it occupies a low, two story building that once served as a warehouse for the Russian military. Its interior is plain and functional – linoleum floors, a few plastic chairs and benches, and a couple of kiosks selling magazines and candy. A small restaurant is located at the far end, though I didn’t see anyone taking advantage of its alleged cuisine. It appeared to offer only sandwiches and pastries. If you have the time, much nicer fare and ambience can be found within a two block radius of the bus terminal.

There are four direct trains each day to Rovaniemi, but the one which offered the best connections to the northbound bus service to Kaamanen departed Helsinki at 7:20pm. This train also offered sleeper services in two or three bed compartments. If you wanted a room to yourself, you’d have to pay the price for both beds in a double compartment. The agent I spoke with was most helpful, and informed me that I could save a bit of money by buying a 30 day railpass good for three separate days of travel during that period. Add to this the cost of my accommodations, sharing a two berth cabin, and my total fare came to $160.00 Euros or about $175.00 USD. The bus fare for the 220 mile journey up to Kaamanen and back came to $85.00 USD and by mid afternoon, I was booked and ready to depart on the next evening’s train.

April 30th is a day of celebration for Finland’s students, and Helsinki looked like Party Central. Alternative culture is well represented amongst the youth of Helsinki and it’s not uncommon to see hair dyed in unnaturally vivid shades or rings showing up on places other than an ear. Today however, people were extra colorful, with lots of gaily dressed high school kids, many of them wearing their white school caps, roaming the streets of Helsinki trailing confetti, carrying large colorful balloons, and generally having a wonderful time being young and out of school. As the day wore on, the celebrants turned to drinking. Lots of drinking. In the streets, in the stores, in the railroad station, it didn’t matter. The celebrations have something to do with the end of the school year approaching and I noticed many adults wearing their old school caps as well. By 7:00pm, the clouds had cleared, the sun was shining and things were starting to get pretty intense downtown. Mere drinking had turned to drunkenness with lots of shouting, running around and casually discarded bottles, meaning lots of broken glass afoot. Being amongst a large crowd of drunken people can be fun provided you, too, are drunk. If you’re not, take cover! Or, head into the local downtown supermarket, pick up a sixer of Lapin Kultas, (Finland’s Budweiser) and pop a couple with the gang while awaiting the next tram to Katajanokka!

The Eurohostel has a very lenient check out time of 12:00n and since the rain had returned, I spent most of the morning in my room bringing this report up to date. My train didn’t leave until later in the evening and as this looked to be yet another good day for indoor activities, I decided to have lunch at a good looking restaurant I’d seen up on Aleksanterinkatu Street. It’s called Raffaellos and has big street side windows offering a great view of the scene on Aleksanterinkatu, one of Helsinki's most attractive streets. This is the street that’s known as the Christmas Street in December when it’s all lit up and shoppers congregate to its multitude of shops and restaurants. Today, they congregated to its restaurants. Today is May 1st, or May Day. It’s a public holiday in Finland and one of the May Day traditions is to eat lunch out. At a nicer restaurant like Raffaelos, unless you’ve made a reservation well in advance, you’re out of luck. Just down the street, a chain restaurant advertised a Carolina Burger for only $2.95. Nah! I headed for the railway station where the detritus of the prior evening’s celebrations were still in evidence with broken bottles and paper streamers littering the perimeters. Even so, somebody had done a pretty good job of cleaning up so far compared to what I saw last night! The railway station cafeteria offered a great chicken casserole on rice and plenty of free tables. Afterwards, I spent a couple of hours in the Museum of Contemporary Art, located right next door to the railway station. To be honest, I’m not very much of an art museum guy but with the inclement weather, I figured what the heck, let’s check it out. The museum building is pretty extraordinary structure in its own right and if you’re into more contemporary art styles, I could see spending quite a bit longer than I did in there, which was about an hour and a half. Now if the museum had been stocked with Remingtons and Russells… I might still be there!

All that trendy art made me thirsty, so I ambled over to Molly Malones, a lively Irish pub in the heart of Helsinki that offered cold Guinness and good conversation with an international clientele. I only stayed for a couple of beers but had a good chat with Mikko, a university student in town from Turko. He’d spent a year as an exchange student in America and I must say, his English was impeccable. I am consistently impressed by the number of Finns who not only speak English, but speak it well. I was chatting with a girl who worked as a clerk at a railway station coffee kiosk and she told me that Finnish kids start learning English in third grade. Later, other languages are offered, but English is deemed the most important foreign language to know. Interesting. And convenient, to an English speaker like me. I didn’t start formal study of foreign languages until 7th grade, and then it was three years of Latin. Still, that three years of Latin sure made learning Spanish and French easier later on! While I’ve forgotten most of my French due to lack of usage, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to use Spanish and am still quite passable with it. Now, if only I could learn Finnish – supposedly one of the hardest of the European languages to master.

May 1st
Finnish Railway Train P-61 “The Santa Clause Express”
Helsinki - Rovaniemi
Two Person Sleeper Compartment

Helsinki’s main railway station is a busy place with both commuter and long distance trains departing every 10-15 minutes during business hours. I watched as the 7:04pm to Tampere departed exactly at 7:04pm. Clocks are placed at the head of each platform and not only did the clock show 7:04pm, but the second hand had just passed the top of the clock. That train was moving no later than 7:04:04. Amazing! I was also checking out one of the commuter trains when suddenly its doors shut and off it went. There was no conductor yelling “All Aboard” or blowing a whistle. The doors simply shut and the train departed. Immediately. If you weren’t already on board, you’d be looking for a seat on the next train.

Generally, Finnish Railway trains do not bear catchy names like their counterparts in America. There is no “Lapland Zephyr” or “Rovaniemi Rocket”. Only the “Sibelius”, serving St. Petersburg, is distinguished by a title. My train up to Rovaniemi was listed in the schedules simply as train P-61, and the big departures board showed it to be departing from Platform 8.

At 6:55pm, 25 minutes before scheduled departure time, the train was backed into the station. At the end were two car carriers, preceded by fifteen blue and white cars. There were three chair cars, a diner, a baggage car and ten sleepers. My car was the second from the front. I noticed as I walked past sleeper after sleeper that several had a small placard on the side, by the door, indicating that this train was called “The Santa Clause Express”. Yeah! Now that’s more like it! Ho! Ho! Ho!

I clambered aboard Car 44 and headed down the hallway to my compartment. I was surprised and more than a little disappointed to find that these sleeping compartments were designed as just that – compartments to sleep in. The beds were permanently down. There was no couch for daytime use. It occurred to me though that this run to Romanievi and beyond to Kemijarvi, 80 km further up the line, was one of the longest routes in Finland. Unlike America where many long distance trains covered distances of over 2000 miles, requiring a journey of two or more days, here in Finland the longest route could be covered in a single day. Night services didn’t require a conversion to a daytime parlor room because you’d be arriving in the morning anyway. Even so, I would describe these compartments as utilitarian at best. The floors were an off green linoleum, the walls two tone gray, and the wash basin and mirror cabinets were made of bright orange molded plastic. A small platform folded out of the wall and served as a seat. In the cabinet above the sink were six cups of pre-packaged water and in a holder along the wall were key cards to regain entry to the room should you leave. The keys were not marked so it was important to remember your car and room number. There were no car attendants and I only saw the conductor twice on the whole trip. Most importantly, however, the beds were wide and comfortable. I had no roommate for this trip so I threw my stuff on the upper bunk and stretched out on the lower one. Ahhhh…

At 7:20pm, on the dot, we were underway. There was no jolt as I’ve often experienced on other trains. One moment we were standing still, the next we were gliding smoothly out of the station. The railway lines in southern Finland are electrified and so the engines are much quieter than traditional diesels. I also was impressed by how smooth the ride was. These were big, old heavyweight cars, so that helped some, but I think the tracks were also quite well maintained. Propping my stuffed sleeping bag and a pillow against the wall beside the window, I reclined quite comfortably and watched as we rolled through the suburbs of Helsinki. Within a half hour, we were out of the city and I decided to pay a visit to the diner.

The diner was twelve cars back and each of the sleeping cars had four doors to pass through. On each end, you would open a door into a vestibule. From there, you’d open another door into the main compartment. This was repeated on the other end of the car. None of the doors were pneumatic, as on current American trains. Each had a handle and each had to be manually opened. I’d noticed all the doors right off the bat and so counted them on my way back to the diner. I opened and closed 41 doors between my car and the diner. Last week, between Adelaide and Melbourne, I was only two cars and four doors away from the diner.

Alas, there would be no dinner in the diner on this train. There was no kitchen. Everything was pre-made and ready to take away, either to a table in the diner or back to your car. Even Amtrak offers a wider variety of hot and cold items in its snack cars! Ah well, I selected a ham sandwich and… OK, a couple of Lapin Kultas, too. I handed 10 Euros and change to the cashier, who in turn offered to heat my sandwich in the microwave she had behind the counter. Her English skills were minimal so she just pointed to the sandwich, then the microwave. Yeah, sure, why not. Kiitos!

Back in the sanctuary of Car 44, Bed 13, I stretched out on the comfortable bed and read for awhile. This far north, the sun stays up in the sky until late. By the time it finally got dark, about 10:00pm, I was just about asleep.

Arrival in Romanievi was scheduled for 7:55am. If you hadn’t already woken up by then, the conductor would make sure you did. I was returning from a breakfast of coffee and a pastry in the diner when I witnessed his wake up call on my next door neighbors. Inserting his door key and turning it as he knocked, he opened their door and said in English, “Good Morning. Half hour to Romanievi!”. Pray there weren’t any couples having a morning go ‘round in any of the rooms he attended to!

It was snowing lightly as we detrained in Romanievi. The station was a big, nondescript three story building, like a larger version of the Helsinki bus station, but with a much nicer restaurant. I had a fifteen minute connection to my northbound bus and was thankful to see that we were actually a couple of minutes early. In America, scheduling a fifteen minute connection off of an Amtrak train to anything would be the height of folly. In any event, I had time to run into the restaurant and purchase something a little closer to a filling breakfast – a ham and egg sandwich, along with another cup of coffee.

Outside the station, two modern and spacious Volvo busses were loading, one to Ivalo and one to Kilpisjarvi. Kaamanen’s a pretty small place and so I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t see it listed amongst the towns on either bus’s destination sign. I figured I’d better check with the Ivalo driver to be sure. Despite the apparent national proficiency with languages, I’ve never assumed that everyone in Finland or Europe for that matter knows English, so I always ask in advance. Today’s driver seemed like he’d heard the question a million times before. “Yes, yes! No, this is the Ivalo bus. You’ll need to transfer to Kaamanen there.” My ticket did not indicate a transfer, but no problem. If I can make four flight connections between Alaska and Tasmania, surely I can handle one single connection in Ivalo.

You can take a big, beautiful bus (or an airplane, for that matter) and cram a whole bunch of seats into it or you can emphasize comfort and allow for a little more legroom and recline. The journey is a long one up to the north country and I was thankful for the extra space and recline offered on this bus. Not counting of the Servicio Cama sleeper busses that I’ve ridden down in Chile and Argentina, today’s bus up to Ivalo may well be the nicest coach that I’ve ever ridden upon.

Romanievi is situated just a few kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. As we headed north up Highway 4, I was amazed at how much the land here resembled the land around Fairbanks. The same low rolling hills, the same birch and spruce forests, the same snow flurries rather than blizzards. It looked and felt like home! One big difference however was the quality of the road. This road was nicely paved and well lined. All the way to Kaamanen and beyond. In Alaska, there’s only one road to take you north of the Arctic Circle. The Haul Road. Also known as the Dalton Highway. It’s the old supply road for the pipeline construction crews and it is definitely not paved. Furthermore, the type of crushed rock and gravel used on the Dalton is particularly abrasive to tires and it is recommended to take not one, but two extra tires. Rock guards for your headlights are essential and it’s a rare visitor up the Dalton that escapes without a chipped or cracked windshield. By contrast, Finland’s Highway 4 was a driver’s dream, more reminiscent of the Alaska Highway through BC and the Yukon, over rolling hills and around gentle curves. Our driver kept the pedal down, too, hurtling the big Volvo up the road at 100km/h.

In Sodankyla, we took a twenty minute break for coffee. This was more of a cigarette break than a coffee break. I was the only non-smoker amongst the six of us aboard the bus. The driver smoked a quick one with a cup of coffee, then spent the rest of his break hitting the video poker and slot machines.

Another hour up the road, we braked suddenly as a small group of reindeer crossed the highway. Although I haven’t seen many of them, the animals that call Finland’s northern forests home are the same ones we see in Alaska as well. Caribou and moose (called reindeer and elk here), bear, lynx, beaver and squirrels. Even some of the birds looked familiar. I could swear I saw I magpie this morning. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of ptarmigans. This time of year, they blend right into the background snow. A huge goose took off across a lake as we passed. Nice.

In Ivalo, I had a short connection to a smaller, though no less comfortable bus. As we headed north, the clouds disappeared and left us with a fine, sunny afternoon. Kaamanen was just another hour up the road. Only three of us were aboard - myself, a lady and her young daughter. They got off in Inari, leaving just me and the driver to continue on to Kaamanen.

KAAMANEN

Were it not for the Kaamasen Keivari Resort, there would be little to distinguish Kaamanen other than a few cabins set well off the main road. The population of Kaamanen “village” is listed at 200, but I suspect that’s only when the “resort” is full.

The Resort is comprised of a main building with store, check-in, restaurant and bar along with a few small single cabins and out buildings that offer hostel and suite type accommodations. All of this sits in a forest of birch and pine. Behind the buildings, a small lake could be seen through the trees. I was immediately reminded of the small backcountry lodges one comes across every 40 to 60 miles along Canada’s Cassiar or Alcan Highways. These places offer much more than mere accommodations. For the region’s residents, they are general store, gas station, bus station and regional watering hole all in one.

The receptionist/store clerk/waitress was a friendly middle aged woman named Nikki who spoke only broken English. (Still way, way better than my Finnish!) While I checked in, the driver poured himself a cup of coffee and chatted with a couple of locals in the bar. The bus was to continue on to Karigasniemi, 60 km farther up the road, on the border with Norway. With no passengers and no further stops beyond Kaamanen, he could afford to hang loose. Meanwhile, I was given a key attached to a palm sized piece of wood and directed to Room 6. Nikki led me into the dining room and pointed out my building through the window – the red wooden building with the white railing – the last building down, about a hundred yards through the trees. Although there weren’t many visitors this time of year, I could see that a well traveled path had been stomped through the snow. I gathered my gear – just a sleeping bag, my day pack and a change of clothes, and headed on down.

For 32.50 Euros or about $35.00 USD, I got a great deal! Outside at the entrance was my own private covered porch with a chair and ashtray. I entered into a sitting room with a small couch, table and television. Along the back wall was a small kitchen, complete with refrigerator, range top burners, a microwave oven and cooking and eating utensils. Around the corner was a bedroom with one single and one bunk bed. A small bathroom and shower were off a side door. Out the windows, the sun shone brightly through the trees and offered a great view of the lake, forty yards distant. Although it was sunny and about 40 degrees, the ground was still snow covered and the lake looked to be a long way from thawing. It was most definitely spring though. Melting snow was dripping off all the roofs and occasionally a big slab of it would crash noisily to the ground below. I liked this place immediately.

All I’d had to eat today was coffee, a Danish and a dinky sandwich, so I was definitely ready for a late lunch. I trudged through the snow back up to the main building and passed by an old man wearing only a T-Shirt. Up here above the 69th parallel, a day like today must be considered a real scorcher! I had on just a T-Shirt and a long sleeved cotton chamois shirt. It was more than adequate.

As might be expected, the restaurant did not offer an extensive menu. There were three different hamburger options: Hamburger, hamburger with cheese, or hamburger with fries. There was something called a Leaf Steak, a steak with onions and the ever popular sautéed reindeer, served on mashed potatoes with lingon berries. That’s what I ordered, along with a tall glass of Lapin Kulta, proclaimed on a wooden sign as “The golden beer of Lapland”. Fill ‘er up!

I was presented with a large plate of food - more than enough reindeer meat alone to compensate for the day’s earlier nutritional shortcomings. A TV was mounted in one corner of the restaurant and was showing a car race. I enjoy TV now and then, but not while I’m eating. As for car racing, I would find SAS’s documentary on the secret lives of penguins more interesting. As I was eating, a guy came in from the bar and turned the channel to the World Ice Hockey Championships game between Finland and Slovakia. Hockey is hugely popular in Finland. The Finns won the world championship back in 1995 and a good number of Finns play on teams the NHL. “You like hockey?” he asked me in broken English. It’s OK, I guess, much more so if the Avs are in the playoffs. Of course, I didn’t say that to this fellow. Partly because my mouth was full of reindeer. Instead, I pumped my fist, raised my beer glass, and said “Go Finland!!”. He beamed with pride and invited me to join him. We were quickly joined by three more guys and the game was on. We never did dispense with introductions or chit chat because the game was indeed on. The interest level was intense and when Finland scored first, the serotonin levels in the room soared perceptibly. Lots of whoops, shouts and manly chugging of beer! More beer was ordered and life was good while the lead lasted. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Slovakia scored to tie the game and this cast a slight pall on the merriment. At the end of the first period, I decided to take a break from the game, primarily because it was such a nice day outside and I wanted to have a look around. Given the amount of time to get here and back from Helsinki, I really had only today to check out the area. While there’s a lot to be said for hangin’ with the locals, in the long run it was just too nice of a day to be sitting inside way up here near the top of the world. There’d be more time tonight for a visit to the pub.

During the winter, for those that have cross country skis (it seems that few people in Finland don’t) this area is heavenly, the terrain well suited for easy and scenic touring. During the summer, there are hiking trails and of course fishing in any of the many lakes. I settled for a walk first down to the lake, then up the highway a couple of miles. Despite the time, about 5:30pm, the northern sun was still high in the sky and the temperature still pleasant. Sunset wouldn’t be until about 11:00pm. Interestingly, in about an hour and a half of walking north up the highway and back, I was passed by no more than ten cars. That’s my kind of traffic! Unless, of course, I’m hitch hiking.

When I returned, I took a shower before heading up the hill to the main building for more beer and hockey. Sweden was playing Russia and winning at the time. It was a quiet night in the bar and the crowd, all three of them, were definitely pro-Sweden. I asked about Finland’s game against Slovakia. The bartender didn’t speak English but the guy standing next to me could speak a bit. Alas, Finland had lost. People didn’t seem to be too down about it because it was recognized that this year’s team was not the powerhouse that the ‘95 squad was. Tomorrow would be another game. I stuck around for a couple of beers and then returned to a peaceful night down by the lake.

I awoke around 8:00am and boiled up a cup of coffee. The sun was already high in the sky though clouds had moved in and there were occasional snow flurries. I was amazed at how quickly it could go from snow to sun up here. At one point, it looked like we were in a snow globe with big dime sized flakes coming down, reminiscent of a ruptured pillow in a pillow fight. I turned the TV on. There were three channels available. On one was an advertisement for a fitness and toning device called the Abtronic Pro. For only $129.00 Euros, you too could have abs like Ahnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. Without having to do difficult and annoying exercises! A bevy of female models, all of whom sported already trim midsections, were shown wearing the device while lounging about watching TV, ironing, cooking - anything but good physical activity like Nordic skiing or tending to a reindeer herd. A number of other items were then displayed and although the voice over was in Finnish, you just knew the announcer was imploring viewers to order now, because if you do, we’ll also throw in this turnip masher and these amazing scissors! Don’t wait! Call today!

After a breakfast of coffee and cereal, I fired off a few postcards before my bus arrived. I could definitely spend a couple of more days here! I’m sure that some would look at a place like Kaamanen and say it’s a little too sedate for their tastes. For sure, the mindset that thrives on Karaoke nightclubs and reality TV would not be happy up here. Unless you’re looking for a good fishing lure or a hunting knife, the shopping is abysmal and the accommodations, amenities and meals are fairly basic compared to an expensive resort at a trendy destination. English language skills are not as developed way up here in the north of Lapland, but then the situations requiring the use of English are less as well. As a single traveler, my inability to speak the local lingo did isolate me a bit at times. Than again, that’s all the more incentive to learn some Finnish. And as for loneliness, I’ve always been able to entertain myself. I’ve done alot of 5-10 day backpacking trips, mostly solo, if only because nobody had either the time or desire to go out for a week or more on the trail. I never felt lonely. If anything, I enjoyed the solitude. So, I like Kaamanen. It’s not a destination I’d spend two weeks at, but it’s a peaceful and beautiful place and the people seem pretty nice. I’d like to come back here again. I want to go all the way to the end of the road, beyond Finland to the top of Norway and the Arctic ocean.

This morning’s bus provided a thru service all the way down to Rovaniemi. I’d like to see this place in the middle of summer! The huge Lake Inarijarvi is just a few kilometers to the south and it sure would be nice to catch a pike dinner from its waters. The snow intensified as we headed south but it was so dry that rather than stick to the road, it just swirled around on the surface. Four hours later, we approached the outskirts of Sodankyla, a town of about 10000. There were traffic circles, side streets and lots of stores. I got this discomforting feeling that I was back in that other world, where the land has been tamed and life is more complicated. It’s the same feeling that I got upon arriving in Los Angeles after three weeks camping on a beach in Tahiti. It’s the same feeling I continue to get every time I come down to the Lower 48, knowing that it’ll be awhile before I get to return to Alaska. Out of the wild and into the office. Interestingly, we were still 70 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

I had a two and a half hour layover in Rovaniemi and headed into that nice railway station restaurant to find out what a leaf steak was all about (It’s a pretty thin steak – nothing to get excited about.) while awaiting my 9:10pm departure aboard train 68 back down to Helsinki. As I sat there considering the next day’s plan of action, it occurred to me that geographically speaking, my next seven nights would be spent in some extremely diverse locations, not to mention some wildly varying accommodations and comfort levels. Check it out:

May 3: Compartment on board the train down to Helsinki - North Central Finland
May 4: A single room at the Eurohostel – Helsinki, Finland
May 5: On a couch in a friend’s flat – Bracknell, England
May 6: A single room at the Doubletree SFO – Burlingame, California
May 7: On the floor in a friend’s cabin – Fairbanks, Alaska
May 8: On the floor in the airport – Dallas, Texas
May 9: Camped out at a music festival – Suwannee Springs, Florida

Though hardly as geographically far flung or as extravagant in accommodations as the best of B Watson’s travels, it is nonetheless an ambitious itinerary, to say the least.

We had a light load for this Saturday evening departure – maybe thirty people were gathered to board the train as it arrived from Kemijarvi. I could have taken an earlier train that left within fifteen minutes of my bus’s arrival but it arrived Helsinki at 7:00am and as long as I was going to have a sleeper, I wanted to be able to sleep in. Thankfully, I once again lucked out and had a compartment to myself. Despite our 9:10pm departure, the sun was still over an hour away from setting. The long shadows it cast looked very nice as we headed south through rolling hills dotted with farms and small lakes. I stopped by the restaurant car once for a beer but otherwise enjoyed a quiet evening in my compartment.

Arrival in Helsinki was right on time, at 8:40am Sunday morning. Unfortunately, the weather was not good – low clouds enveloped the city and a cold rain was falling. Very gloomy. With the exception of one sunny evening, Helsinki’s been cloudy and rainy since I arrived a week ago. It’s been like visiting a good friend who happens to have a bad cold at the time. It’s good to see them but unfortunate that they’re not at their best.

As originally planned, I was going to use my last full day in Finland to take a day trip over to Estonia. The capitol city of Tallinn is just across the Gulf of Finland, only a short hour and forty minutes away via the fast catamaran style ferries. Unfortunately, the unseasonably cold weather this spring has inhibited the break up and melt of sea ice out in the Gulf so only the larger, slower car ferries are making the trip. Their timing would require an overnight stay and I don’t have enough time for that.

I still had one more day of travel available on my Finnrailpass, so I decided to go to Turko for a chance to ride the pride of Finnish Railways, the Pendolino. It is a sleek, modern electric powered train of the type one often sees in Europe but hardly ever in America. It also speeds along at about 100 mph. The fastest I’ve ever gone in a train was onboard Amtrak’s Southwest Chief speeding west through the desert out of Gallup, New Mexico. The engineers really put the coals to her out there and the conductor said we reached speeds of about 80 mph. Whoa, Nellie! I looked forward to setting a new personal record today.

Given the Pendlino’s prominence amongst Finland’s trains, I decided to ride it in Business Class and return aboard the double decker InterCity train in Second Class. I considered doing the return in Business Class as well but the difference in fares was jaw dropping. It cost about three times as much for the two hour, 120 mile journey. With tickets in hand, I headed off to the restaurant for a light breakfast.


May 4th
Finnish Railway Pendolino
Helsinki - Turko
Business Class

The Pendolino was scheduled to depart from Platform 10 and as I approached, I noticed that all the doors were closed. The train was due to depart in less than ten minutes. How do I get on? A lady brushed by me and, approaching a closed door, casually pushed a button beside the door. It opened and she got on. Ah. Simple enough.

The Pendolino consists of six cars. At each end of the train is a driver’s cabin, so the train can be driven in either direction. There is no separate engine. It’s blended right into the passenger cars, probably sitting behind the cab. Car one has a driver’s cab at one end along with the Business Class seating area. The remaining five cars are Second Class, with the exception of the third car which is the food service car.

Inside, the passenger compartment is more like an airplane cabin than a train. Everything is molded and streamlined. The Business Class cabin was particularly nice, offering wide, comfortable seating in a 1-2 configuration. Laptop power outlets were available at each seat, along with five channels of audio entertainment accessed via a headphone jack. The pitch was generous – about 40 inches, and the recline adequate.

In the middle of the Business Class car was a service console where one could get complimentary tea and coffee, along with some prepackaged biscuits. I later found out that the seats beyond this console are the Business Plus Class, the primary difference between it and regular Business Class being the addition of a complimentary breakfast or snack served at your seat. Beyond the Business Plus section is a private, seven seat meeting room offering a monitor, video facilities, a slide projector and an overhead projector. The designers seem to have thought of it all. Why, there’s even separate seating areas for passengers travelling with pets.

Compared to most trains I’ve been on, the noise level inside the Pendolino was really quite low. TV screens mounted in the ceiling showed the time and our speed. At one point, we hit 162 km/h. Ah… what a nice way to travel. At 100 mph, the land rolls by fairly fast, but not too fast. There’s still time to enjoy, however briefly, that view of a lake or a nice house. Now I wonder what it would be like to ride France’s TGV, which cruises along at over 200 mph. Someday…

Looking over the schedule, I found it interesting that even though one pays a premium to ride the Pendolino, it isn’t really that much faster than the big, double decker InterCity trains. The Pendolino covers the 197 kilometers between Helsinki and Turko in 1 hour 49 minutes vs 1 hour 57 minutes for the InterCity.

I had two hours in Turko and managed to find a decent restaurant/bar where I got a decent burger and a pint for 10.00 Euros or about $11.00 USD. Were it not such a miserable day, I could definitely see spending more time here. Turko is the 770 year old former capitol of Finland. Of course, it is also the oldest city in Finland. Amongst its leading attractions are a beautiful medieval castle and its 700 year old cathedral, described as the national shrine of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland. Museums are in abundance here as well. Turko is definitely a place I’ll spend a few days on my next visit to Finland.

Back in Helsinki, I spent my last night in town eating Mexican food at a restaurant called the Santa Fe Grill. I guess it’s become somewhat of an inadvertent tradition of mine to check out Mexican restaurants in places about as far away from Mexico as one can get. I’ve quaffed Margaritas and snarfed burritos from Rarotonga to Santiago to Bar Harbor, Maine. While all of them have been good, none of them have tasted particularly Mexican. Tonight’s chicken fajita was no different. I recommend fresh jalapenos, cilantro and more cumin to all aspiring Mexican restaurants.

I like Helsinki and I like Finland. The Finns are a friendly and well educated people and there’s certainly no shortage of beautiful women. The country is quite pretty and besides, I’m a sucker for those northern latitudes. The poor spring weather notwithstanding, I think I like Helsinki more in the winter, though. The whole city looked like something out of a Currier and Ives painting when I was here in December and despite the cold temperatures, I found the people and the city to be very warm indeed. Whatever the season may be, I’ll certainly look forward to my next visit to Finland.


05 May
HEL-CPH Air Botnia 584 Economy Class
Avro RJ-85 OH-SAH Seat 6F
110p – 150p Flight time: 1:37

Wouldn’t you know it - the day I leave Finland, after a week of gloomy weather down in Helsinki, we finally get a beautiful spring day. Sunshine, temperatures in the 50s… Why couldn’t this have happened last week? Ah well, take these days as they come and enjoy ‘em, I reckon.

At Helsinki’s airport, the International Terminal was only sparsely populated, as if many travelers had put off their travel for a bit just to stick around and enjoy the fine day. I strolled right up to a waiting agent, asked for and received the seats I wanted, breezed through security and was on my way to Gate 22. Just like that. This entire process was so smooth and efficient that it could be every Economy Class passenger’s fantasy. In my case today, it was real. Bravo to SAS, the Vantaa airport staff and all those passengers who weren’t there when I arrived. You’re the best!

I’m not sure what the relationship is between SAS and Air Botnia, but it’s a close one. Air Botnia’s aircraft bear the SAS livery minus the titles, and the food service appears to be SAS issue.

This 1:10pm departure was only a third full, thus boarding was accomplished and doors were locked up with considerable alacrity. So much so, in fact, that we departed the gate five minutes early!

The seats on Air Botnia’s RJ-85 are as comfortable as any coach seat I can remember sitting in. Pitch is about 32 inches and the recline is decent. Regional jets just don’t get much finer! I’d asked for the bulkhead seat because there is no actual bulkhead, just a small curtain over the seat backs in front of you. Best of all is the view. The wing is mounted above the passenger cabin, so you get a great view of both engines just outside your window in addition to a clear view of the scenery below. Aside from those slightly forward facing windows in the nose of a 747, this is certainly one of my all time favorite window seats.

Take off was short and swift, lasting all of 21 seconds. You detail freaks will be pleased to know that I had a meal at my seat a mere 16 minutes after takeoff. It was a snack and was served in SAS’s trendy red cardboard food box embossed with the following bit of wisdom: “Gastronomy is like astronomy – one feeds your body, the other your mind”

Upon opening the box, I wasn’t exactly starry eyed over the contents. The only food item was a soft roll with salami, cheese, lettuce and tomato. A cup of spring water and a coffee cup with creamer completed the consist. The sandwich, though small, was better than nothing, which is exactly what I’d receive were I flying on the other side of the Atlantic. Thankfully, I’d thought to grab a couple of extra packets of Finnish mustard while dining at the train station up in Rovaniemi.

I had a three hour layover in Copenhagen and headed straight to the Servisair Lounge. The receptionist took my CO President’s Club card, looked at it quizzically, flipped through a couple of manuals, and finally told me to take my sorry ... elsewhere. Well, not in those exact words of course, but she might as well have with the people standing behind me giving me that look – the same look reserved for people who try to withdraw funds from ATM machines only to be denied with the brutally devastating response “Insufficient Funds”. I averted my eyes and quickly slunk from the premises, heading directly for the nearest bar to drown my embarrassment in $6.00 pints of Danish beer.

Truth be known, Continental doesn’t fly anywhere near Copenhagen so there’s no reason for them to pay Servisair to provide it’s Presidents Club members lounge access here. I figured it couldn’t hurt to check, however. As it was, I had a productive afternoon at the bar where I scored a table next to an electrical outlet and despite the considerable potency of the beer, managed to once again bring this report up to date.


05 May
CPH-LGW Maersk Air 584 Economy Class
737-500 OY-API Seat 9F
450p – 545p Flight time: 1:44

Boarding for Maersk Air 117 to London-Gatwick was way out at Gate D102, accessed via the C Concourse. Getting there from the bar meant a nice stroll through the heart of Copenhagen’s main terminal. It is a beautiful terminal, done in light colored stone and wood with lots of windows allowing in plenty of natural light. In the center is an attractive shopping arcade flanked by a variety of bars and eateries. The restaurants run the gamut from cafeteria style to formal dining. With or without lounge access, it’s a nice airport to pass through.

This was to be my first flight with Maersk Air, a small but well established Danish carrier that’s been in business since 1970. In recent times, their partnership with British Airways has resulted in some of their aircraft being painted in BA’s colors but I was happy to see that the aircraft for today’s flight, a 737-500, was wearing the full blue Maersk Air livery. Despite this being a full flight, boarding was not done by row number. It was simply announced, people formed a line, and we slowly made our way onboard the aircraft.

Maersk Air offered the closest thing I’ve seen to decent Business Class seating in Europe. The wide blue leather seats are arranged in a 2-3 configuration and each seat is individual, not one of those cheap 3-3 set ups where folding down a couple of arm rests on one row turns it from three seats into two. The Business Class cabin for today’s flight required only two rows, as noted by the full divider with curtain between cabins. However, the 2-5 seating arrangement continued all the way back to exit row 9. Hey! That’s my row! With the extra leg room afforded the exit row, plus a window, I had in my opinion the best seat on the plane!

Our Captain welcomed us aboard in both Danish and English, then informed us that this afternoon’s flight down to London would be a quick one – an hour and 45 minutes, cruising at 36000 feet. Well alrighty, then!

Service began about 30 minutes into the flight with the presentation of a full hot dinner. It featured an entree of Beef Burgundy accompanied by mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli. Dessert was a slice of spice cake and the flight attendants came through the cabin on two separate occasions with a big tray of plain looking yet surprisingly tasty dinner rolls. By current standards, I’d consider this a pretty good meal, especially for such a short flight. I spent the remainder of the flight watching the green English countryside and wondering what the folks in Business Class had for their dinner.

We landed at Gatwick on a beautiful spring evening. This was my first ever flight into London’s “other” airport and I was surprised at how much smaller it is compared to Heathrow. I was met by an old friend and we spent a nice evening catching up over dinner and ales at an old country inn. Spring is a wonderful time to be in England, with its wide variety of trees, fields and beautiful old houses. It’s a shame I can’t stay longer. I’ve always been rather taken with the country and people of England. It’s high time I planned a proper visit, something I’ll look forward to hopefully sooner rather than later.

Parts 7 and 8 of this Trip Report continue on to Alaska and Florida HERE


[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited Jan 08, 2004).]

Seat 2A

Sorry, I underestimated the size. Going to Part 3

[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 05-24-2003).]

Seat 2A

This has been transferred to Part 3

[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 05-24-2003).]

Seat 2A

This Trip Report continues here

[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 05-24-2003).]

transpac

Excellent trip report.

FWIW, the Helsinki Train Station was designed by Eliel Saarinen in 1916, whose Son, Eero, designed the TWA terminal at JFK and the Terminal at IAD.

rot8

I haven't had time to read all of this, so far I have just skimmed, but having had the pleasure of meeting Elton in Melbourne during this trip and spending a few hours with him, his standard of trip reporting really deserves a book!
You are a fascinating and interesting writer and I look forward to finding the time this week to enjoy your full report.
Travel publishers out there could do worse than picking up Elton's great writing skills.

goback

I have to agree with you about Keswick railway station in Adelaide. It is such a shame they don't revert to the grand old Adelaide station.

By the way it is Collingwood. There is either a love or hate relationship with this team. I think the supporters might be upset at the mistake, they love their Magpies!!!

gba

Again a great trip report Seat 2A.

What are you refering to in the above quote. Is there a forum I'm missing?

-gba