Home again.
The early AM wakeup in Vantaa was pretty brutal. All three of us were flying out at approximately the same time, so we stumbled to HEL on the shuttle and hastily said our goodbyes. I spent the last of my euros on a breakfast of Finnish black bread and smoked salmon, browsed the Moomin books at the little bookshop, and my flight departed on schedule.
Sitting behind a screaming toddler for two hours on the first flight wasn’t all that pleasant. I had an hour and a half layover at — you guessed it — Frankfurt Airport, which I’ve been getting to know a little too well these past couple of weeks. A mad dash from one terminal to the other, and I was on my Air Canada flight home, thankfully seated far away from any screaming toddlers next to a quiet German guy who pretty much left me alone the whole time.
My flights were uneventful and more or less on time. I watched two movies, slept a little, and before I knew it I was back in chilly, drizzly Montreal. I bumped into Cat at the baggage claim, who also got home on time on her parallel flights. Because I’m a travel ninja, I even managed to book my appointment for my replacement NEXUS card for fifteen minutes after I arrived. A quick pop in and out of the interview centre at arrivals later, and I had my approval, and should be getting my replacement card soon. Nice.
Now it’s back to the usual unpacking, laundry, bill payments and catching up on work — and sleep. Since I was only away for ten days, there isn’t all that much to do. Even my plants survived nicely due to the rainy weather. I really wasn’t feeling ready to come home yet, but I’m very glad I managed to get the second leg of this trip in. Under the circumstances, it worked out as well as it possibly could have.
I loved the taster I got of both Lithuania and Latvia, and am sorry I didn’t have a chance to see more, particularly of Latvia, which I suspect I would’ve loved. But it’s not going anywhere, and I’m sure I’ll make it back at some point.
I really enjoyed both Estonia and Finland, as well as the great company of Alex and Catherine — two of the best friends anyone could ever ask for. Estonia is a wonderful little country, having emerged from years of oppressive rule with creativity, innovation and spirit. Finland is beautiful, both weird and familiar to a Canadian, with lots of vowels, strange food, amazing coastlines, deadpan self-depreciating humour, and above-and-beyond warmth.
Thanks to all for reading and following along with this blog, for your comments and kind words. One thing that’s certain is that it won’t be too long until the next adventure. Meanwhile, real life awaits.