A day in Santa land

No, I didn't get so far off course that I accidentally wound up at the North Pole-- according to Helsinki natives, Santa's true residence is here in Finland. I bought a Santa Christmas tree ornament this morning to commemorate the fact.

So yes, I have now officially sailed the Baltic Sea and disembarked on the northernmost land that I have ever been to. Which I guess isn't saying much, since this whole trip so far has been the farthest east I've ever been. Having said that, though, it really isn't very cold here. It was sunny today and pretty windy near the harbor, but the mittens I packed in expectation of near-arctic conditions have as yet gone unused.

So now I'll tell you about the James Bond stunt I pulled this morning in Tallinn. My ferry left at 7:30 am, meaning I had to wake up at 5:45 to get dressed, packed, and out the door with enough time for the half-hour walk to the port. With dismay I noticed that Terminal D, my destination, was the farthest of Tallinn's four outgoing ferry docks. I guess that's what you get for booking the cheapest passage available. I passed terminals A, B, and C, and saw the giant D looming ahead of me on the side of a far-off building. I shifted my 9,000,000-pound bag to the other shoulder, quickened my pace, and... walked into a fence.

Damnit! They had closed off the obvious path to my terminal. I looked around and realized that I would have to completely backtrack in order to circumnavigate the fence and access the arrival gate. By the time I lurched through the doorway it was 7:11, and the place was completely empty.

"Where are you going to, and when?" said the girl at the check-in desk. For some reason people all over the world speak to me in English before I've even opened my mouth.

"Helsinki," I said, gasping for breath. "Today at 7:30."

"Oh!" said the girl. "But you are too late! Boarding ended one minute ago."

Oh, hellll no.

"Well it's only one minute," I pleaded as an announcement boomed over the PA, saying that my ship was departing.

The girl eyed me dubiously, doubled over with the weight of my suitcase, then printed a boarding pass and handed it to me with a frown. "You will have to run."

"Where is it?" I said, already moving away from the desk.

"Second floor, follow the signs. Quickly, go!"

So I did. With my overstuffed duffel and purse banging against my legs as I ran, I flew down hallways, up elevators, and through twisting, empty passageways. Every time I thought I had gotten closer, another hallway appeared. Finally a window appeared and outside I could see the ship. I turned the final corner and practically knocked over two guys about to close the boarding doors.

"I made it!" I gasped, thrusting my boarding pass at one of them.

"Uh huh," he said, standing aside to let me pass.

Once that near heart attack had passed, the boat ride was quite plesant. The ferry was one of the big ones that you can drive your cars onto, and it was packed with restaurants, stores, and lounges. It was like being on the Titanic, minus the part where it sinks and everyone dies.

After we struck land, I found my way to the central station in Helsinki and loaded up on maps and bus tickets. I only had a few hours until my 5:30 ferry to Stockholm (it is about 4 right now... I'm leaving soon to avoid another action-adventure scene) so I had to keep my list of sightseeing to a minimum. I checked out a really cool Lutheran church that is dug out of the middle of a giant rock, and all the walls on the interior are rock outcroppings. Hard to picture, but I'll post photos. Then I went to a supposedly famous modern art gallery, but it was the pre-kindergarten kind of art that makes Dad angry whenever we visit museums, so it was a disappointment overall. I spent a little while wandering through Stockmann's, the famous Finnish department store, and then headed over to the harbor, where I found an outdoor restaurant selling fish that had been caught that morning. I ordered the Baltic herring because I remember reading somewhere that it's a famous fish variety in Finland, but I'm no fish connisseur so it pretty much tasted like high-quality fish sticks to me. It was fun to eat by the harbor, though, and when I got down to the bony parts of the fish I shared the remainder of my meal with a nearby duck. Very pleasant indeed.

Now I have to go reclaim my suitcase from the bag storage, and find a tram to take me to the port where my ferry to Stockholm leaves from in a little over an hour. Will update again from there, but not for awhile because the ferry goes overnight. My first night on a boat... this should be interesting.