The Adventures of a Rally Roadie

We check out of the hotel at about 10 and start the last couple hour drive to Helsinki. It’s bright but cold and we’ll have the sun in our eyes all day. We just have to grind it out.

The road starts to widen but also the traffic starts to pick up and the number of trucks on the road starts to climb. The bad news is that there seems to be a speed camera every 3 or 4 kilometers. The good news is that we start getting stretched of divided highway with 100 kph speed limits and no speed cameras.

Just as I start getting in to “this trip will be over in no time” mode, we hit major road construction. And the 100 kph speed limit turns into 50 kph safety speed limit mode. Just grind it out. We’ll be in Helsinki sooner or later.

We’ve been driving all over Finland and we’ve encountered moose crossing warning signs everywhere. No moose but plenty of moose warning signs. The assumption is that there must be an awful lot of moose that we aren’t seeing. And the highways have miles upon miles of sturdy fencing presumably to keep the unseen moose out of the roads. They must wrokd really well.

We’d asked along the way about moose and noone seemed to know what we were talking about. We’d get long dissertations on reindeer or elk but moose drew a blank. Of course, we’d seen reindeer. But no moose or even elk.

We looked in the Lonely Planet and there’s not even mention of the word moose. Yes, there are reindeer and elk, the books says so, and the book goes on to say that they are a hazard on the highways, byways and motorways. But so much as a single instance of the word moose.

Finally, it gets the best of me and I go to our resident experts on all things, moose or otherwise. “Google, what do they call moose in Finland?” Maybe we’re looking for the wrong word. A few seconds later, Google has the answer.

In Finland and in the rest of Europe, moose are actually known as Eurasian Elk. In North America, moose are known as well, moose. Like all other questions answered by Google, we take that as gospel. At any rate, question answered and mystery solved.

Whatever they are called, they are big, dangerous and usually cranky and should be avoided at all times. And definitely, not hit with your car. As they say in North America, that results in a wrecked car and a pissed off moose and you definitely don’t want to be around a pissed off moose (assuming you’re still alive after hitting aforementioned moose.)

We get into Helsinki and we’ve decided to do a walking tour of Helsinki that mapped our in the guide book. That means that we have to get down through a main route in center Helsinki that is being torn up, ripped apart, reconstructed. We crawl along the now tiny two-way streets through the construction area behind a convoy of city buses. We eventually get to the area near the Lutheran Cathedral and find a place to park the car.

We have a bit of trouble trying to get our bearings on the ground in relation to the guide book map. But when we go around the side of the cathedral we realize we were here in 1991 at the start of our bus tour through the old Soviet Union with my parents and the map orientation makes sense.

We head down to the market square next to the harbor and wander about looking in the stalls. We see a small painting of the Northern Lights and forest and buy it for the house at Folly. We continue following the guide map through the Esplinade and find a pretty good salad bar for lunch.

We’re almost to Mannerheim’s statue when I see a facade on an older building with 4 stylized reliefs of art deco woman. Metropolis, the movie by Fritz Lang comes to mind. Then I see the dome of the train station. More Metropolis. We walk farther up the boulevard, as see a modern sculpt of a fish bursting out of the water.

We were headed to a modern cathedral that has been craved into the rocky hillside but the sun is starting to go down and it’s getting much chillier. We had been to the cathedral in 1991 and it’s a must see but we have to get back and get going to our hotel.

We walk down toward the train station and on the front of the entry way there 2 pairs of stylized Fritz Lang men flanking the entry way. There’s no shortage of art deco in this area. I take some more photos and we continue our way back to the car.

We put the hotel address into the GPS and start on our way. Smack into late afternoon Helsinki rush hour which isn’t much like rush hours anywhere else. No honking horns. No one flipping off another driver. No darting in and out of lanes. Just very polite Finnish drivers politely waiting of the traffic snarl and driving the very slow speed limit when the traffic does move. I’ve been in a lot of cities that could learn a lot from Helsinki and its polite Finns.

We get to the hotel and check in. Empty the car. I head back to the airport to retrun the rental car. Our flight is at 7AM in the morning and I don’t want to have to return it in the early morning.

I stop for fuel at a gas station in the airport ans as I start to leave, I see an entrance to the parking structure with a sign that says “Rental Returns Only.” I drive in and recognize the area as the one where we finally found the car when we first rented it.

I drive round looking for a return area but I don’t find one. I do see a sign that says “Bring key and mileage to the Hertz counter in the hallway between terminal 1 and 2.” They aren’t making this any easier. I know where the counter is and it’s a hike from here. And the hotel shuttle bus is supposedly at Terminal 2 arrivals. Guess I’m going to get my steps today.

The parking structure is at the end of Terminal 1. I walk through the terminal in head up the connecting hallway to the Hertz counter. Drop off the contract and key. “We’ll email a receipt.” That’s fine with me.

Hike to Terminal 2. Hike through Terminal 2 Arrivals. Hike to the bus staging area. I’m looking for bus bay P57. Hike through bus staging area. Hike past the entrance to the airport Hilton. Hike past the airport Scandic hotel. Hike around the corner to P57. Wait for bus.

Fortunately, the bus arrives soon. It’s getting dark, breezy and cold. In about 15 minutes I’m back at the hotel. Start repacking for the flight home. Transfer to last photos to the blog gallery. Dinner. Bed. I’m beat. I’ve set a 4:30AM alarm. That’s going to come way too soon.

Tomorrow, the flight home.

Obi-wan