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Travel Diary: Welcome to Finland! Tervetuloa Suomi!

Much to everyone’s surprise, I’ve made it to Helsinki, Finland today. And boy, did the Fins try hard to make me go home straight away…

As soon as I got on the bus, the driver decided he hadn’t quite reached his quota of getting girls with backpacks upset, so he refused to take my 50 Euro note and told me to get a ticket from a ticket machine.

Being way ahead of him, I told him the machine wouldn’t give me my change for the 5 Euro bus ticket back either, so what was I supposed to do? Well, obviously not bother him with my problems, that’s for sure. He didn’t want to let me on the bus. Rules are rules, I was soon to find out even more…

Meeting two fun guys from Canada and Australia on the bus stop, I was saved by them as they’d offered to pay for my ticket and off we went, talking about the Winter in Helsinki, expensive travel in Europe and the fact that sometimes having a plan, or at least write down the name of the bus stop we’re supposed to get of properly when we travel might be a good idea.

Peeking out of the window at every stop, comparing one strange looking word with another, I finally managed to spot my stop and jumped up, put my pack on and said goodbye to the guys.

Except of course for the fact that the bus driver thought it was funny to not actually stop there.

And not at the next stop.

Because, you see, in Finland you actually have to PUSH THE BUTTON signalling the bus to stop before the driver can pull over.

Really?

He must be wired onto that thing I guess, or the -10 degrees outside must have frozen his ability to think for himself, but in either case, here I was, way too far from where I was supposed to go.

So the same bus back, you’d think. Yeah, not in Finland!

I finally managed, after walking around the bus stop for a bit trying not to completely freeze, to find the right bus and got off at “Hakaniemi” a lovely square with lots of hotels. Eh yeah, which one is mine? #travelfail

After realizing my phone was too cold to properly work and my fingers to frozen, even though I got these awesome touch screen gloves I don’t have to take off when using my phone, I just started walking.

Luckily, a nice young man soon came up to my obviously distressed looking self and told me exactly where to go, so sweet! And there, just around the corner was the warm welcome sight of the Scandic Paasi hotel, where I met up with fellow bloggers and took some time to relax a bit in my funky room.

All is well again.

I’ll keep you updated on the rest of my adventures. Stay tuned, because I’m sure there’s plenty more of misfortunes bound to happen to me. Ah, the joys of travel, right? Looking forward to it!

Travel Diary: Welcome to Finland! Tervetuloa Suomi!
Travel Diary: Welcome to Finland! Tervetuloa Suomi!
Travel Diary: Welcome to Finland! Tervetuloa Suomi!
The Travel Tester - Bookmark Practical

Visit Finland – www.visitfinland.com

Visit Helsinki – www.myhelsinki.fi

Finnair – www.finnair.com

Where to stay in Helsinki?

I stayed in a few hotels in Helsinki over the years, here are my favourite:

Check all Tours & Activities in Helsinki at GetYourGuide:

Booking a trip to Helsinki or the rest of Finland? Here are some great guidebooks:

One Day in Helsinki, Finland? See The Highlights With These Tips || The Travel Tester

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One Day in Helsinki, Finland? See The Highlights With These Tips || The Travel Tester

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Travel Diary: Welcome to Finland! Tervetuloa Suomi!

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