At the gate I asked for boarding passes to be printed for the RIX-HEL and HEL-MAN flights as I knew I had a short connection in HEL. Good move, the connection in HEL was a lot shorter than I expected...
Easy loading on to the same turbo prop that took me here. Arrived on time and then transit through HEL.
Made it through passport control and to the departure gate. A couple of ladies are there at the desk but no-one else, and no plane. The ladies look glad to see me and greet me in a lovely friendly manner. A little banter about the short connection and a bus is provided for me (just me) to get from the gate to the plane. I am the last on. CC also glad I'm there. But there is someone sat in my 1A seat. He's covered head to toe in a blanket. CC lady questions him and he moves to 1B. I settle in. CC asks a bit more. Other pax is actually in 27A so off you go bud. (she is super polite no drama). Bonus for me is that I have an empty seat next to me now on the way back to MAN.
Anna is my CC. She is a superstar. Cannot do enough for me and for everyone else in the Premium cabin. Truly one of the best you will get (if she was BA a golden ticket would be on the way). I do have to refuse some drinks as I want to be conscious when I return to UK, but it's not just a drink thing, she is super nice.
Back in the UK, MAN T1, through to the train station. Pretty slick and there quickly. Picadilly not much later then on to Stoke, but wait. The train I boarded was cancelled, so I had to exit the CrassCountry bus and jump on a Avanti (which is why I always book a tranferrable ticket).
Train was relatively early in the day so it wasn't as full of football nutters as some of my previous charriots,back to Stoke.
Here endeth the trip report.

This will be the last of the trip reports for six months or so as I will be saving my pennies and enjoying my gardening in the UK over the summer.