In Greece, a place isn’t “really far away”…it’s “by the devil’s mother” (στου διαὀλου την μἀνα)

Day One: Part Two: Lift Off

Gun’s travel log, stardate 08.08.2015, 04.00 EET (GMT +3)

Flying through the air
On the wings of Finnair
Keeping on smiling
As the beautiful island
Of the Goddesses and Gods
Hoping to beat the odds
And have a great vacation

Lift off: Finland, Espoo, via Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Destination: Greece, the Island of Rhodes

The day was Saturday and the first day of this year’s short vacation time (a full week for this year ;P). So as you can imagine, the time was precious and not a second of it could be wasted.

Wake up call at four am and arrival scheduled for 06.00 at the aeroport. No later than that
to avoid having to run through the baggage drop (yes we were too lazy to drive there the night before and drop them off, which by the way, is an great option to do to avoid the morning hassle).

So after three hours of “sleep”, it was time to get up, shower, shoes and shove off. But, as Mr Murphy would have it, things never go as planned.

The taxi driver got lost and was delayed. He also was new at his job and apparently did not know the gas pedal was supposed to be used for faster speed of the vehicle. Luckily we arrived non too delayed for the original planned time and thanks to Finnair <finnair.com> they have a very organized and smoothly running operation at the airport. Therefore the baggage check, security check and the loading of the aeroplane ran as clockwork.

Although, a few minutes were lost on what we now call the “lighter incident”. Due to a simple error of carrying not one, but two lighters in the carry on bag, and thanks to a very anal security officer, one of the carry on bags was tossed over. After a few words and getting rid of the offensive lighter, we finally got through to the other side.

The gate was not far away, but unfortunately even if you are organized and briskly walking trying to get to your goal, some of the other passengers are not. They tend to stop abruptly without any visible reason in the middle of the passage way and if you are lucky, you won’t collide. After a few swear words later and quick maneuvering, the gate was reached with a few minutes to spare before boarding.

The plane ride was nice and easy, despite the scheduled four hour flight. The Finnair crew was generally in good spirits and customer orientated. Of course there are always a few rotten apples, who are waiting for retirement and just counting the days until when it all ends… Luckily we had reserved seats beforehand and had a nice comfy setup and the flight attendant checked up on us every now and again. After eating a small breakfast and some onboard shopping, there was also time to record a few memories on the smart phone.

Back to Part One