Sun - 26/06/22

 I struggled with cramp through the night. I got some sleep at least and I did snooze my alarm so that I got up at 5:30.

I left the IBIS at 06:50 and got a bus at just after 7am. I actually got the 278 this time.

Finnair bag drop opened at 7:20 (Flight time minus 3 hours). Security was a bit busier this morning but not too bad. I got through and had plenty of time for a full English at the curator.

So far so good! 

But now it gets worse. While waiting to the number of our boarding gate I checked the VR app to see the trains status. I was shocked to see that the afternoon trains were showing as no tickets available. The first train with seats available was at 19:19 from Tikkurila. I booked my seat rather quickly. This train was not due in at Tampere until 20:53.

There was a bit of a delay for our take-off. We started boarding at 10am, pretty much the right time, but there was a delay in loading the bags on to the plane so take off was delayed for 30 minutes from 10:20 to 10:50. The plane was a roomy Airbus 350 and I had a spare seat next to me (which was nice). While I was on the plane, I had my pre-ordered chicken wrap with a bought on the plane red wine. It was nice. I then had another red wine with a cheese platter and a coffee. There was also complementary water and blueberry juice. As it happened, we caught up on time and landed at Helsinki only 15 minutes late (at 15:30). I now had several hours to kill at Helsinki airport and the nearby Tikkuri station (three hours in total at least), so I scouted the airport and decided to have a hot dog (Bratwurst) and a beer in the food court. Then I had some fries and a diet coke at Burger King. I got the first train to Tikkurila that my ticket would allow. This was just after 18:00. At Tikkurila I had a beer and a bottle of water and a roll to take on the train. I went down to the platform at around 19:00.

The train was due at 19:19 but it was half an hour late and there were other trains running late too. The platform was heaving. I think that four other late trains arrived on platform 3 while I was waiting for my late train. Eventually my train arrived... on platform 2! Luckily, I had my wits about me and spotted what was happening. I boarded the train and found my seat. Car 5 seat 50! Car 5 had no air conditioning. It was a like a sauna. I didn’t have to suffer it all the way to Tampere because the train stopped two stations before that destination at a place called Toijala. I did the last 30 kilometres on a replacement bus service. At least that was efficient. I got Tram 3 OK and it was close to 10:30pm when I arrived at the apartment and met Rami. He showed me round and disappeared on his motor bike. I had a coffee and some fries and mushy peas for supper!