Airport Awakenings

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a poor traveller is always in want of a comfy airport chair...

Failing on meeting the rich man in want of a wife,  it was left to my mind to amuse me in the drudgery of bouncing round airports in order to get to your destination.

Yesterday found me flying from Gatwick to Copenhagen after a day which made me reflect on the importance of family and what you achieve in your life. So I arrived. at Copenhagen airport on a reflective kinda mood. Last time I was here, I was travelling with someone who fought the good fight against cancer with a smile, but lost, and memories came flooding back of those happy times and a whirlwind trip to see Mike Peters in Copenhagen and Stockholm... a road trip that I will forever treasure.

Despite these bittersweet memories I was excited to be going back out on an adventure,  a shorter one than the Ecuador madness, but quite possibly the equal in pain levels. Last year I attempted to learn cross country skiing in Norway and this year my hope is to strap on the boots, click into the skis and glide away with finesse... ok that almost certainly won't happen but I do have a better chance of seeing the Northern Lights this time due to the fact that I will be much further North... almost in the arctic circle in fact.

I sat in Copenhagen airport, dressed in as many clothes as possible... base layers, 2nd layers, sweater, coat... not because the temperature in my destination is a very chilly 0, but as I have learnt over the years, trying to sleep in a frigid airport is next to impossible if you are not wearing most of the clothes you are taking with you. Add to that the layers of clothes add padding to the hip bones... the significance of which will become apparent shortly. 

Sleeping in airports is something I do out of choice rather than necessity. Whilst advancing years and a healthier bank balance make an airport hotel for 3 hours seem much more tempting, I choose to sleep on the chairs, or worse, the floor so that I have a legitimate excuse to spend that money on doing something worthwhile in the country I am visiting... in this case, booking a guide to go and find the Northern Lights. Bit just because I choose the cold uncomfortable option doesnt mean to say that I am not going to moan resoundly about it.

Finding a place to sleep is like a choice between going to see Eminem and Jay Z... a rock and a hard place... or in this case a hard place and a hard place. In most airports, the option of anything remotely comfortable is ruled out by the sadists who designed the airport chairs... with immovable arm rests. So normally you are faced with the very cold, very hard floor, where your hip bones are ground down every time you turn over, in order to relieve the pressure sores that develop in the blink of an eye..... or you go for the chairs knowing at least you have a chance not to end up with frostbitten extremities. This in itself is usually a compromise ... either your neck is at an angle that is incompatible with life or your legs have their blood supply cut off at the point you drape them over the armrest... if you are tall... no compromise is available!

Iucked out in Copenhagen... some kind soul... or kind vandal had removed the armrests on some of the chairs meaning I could stretch out a bit more without fear of blood supply compromise... that is until I put my bag under my legs (to avoid anyone swiping anything) and we were swiftly back to pins and needles.

Of course even if comfortable, sleep is a challenge with the glaring lights, air con, loud  bastards, trucks and cleaners all conspiring to ensure that you remain bleary eyed and sleep deprived... that and the half an hour turning over to relieve pressure areas or wake up the arm that has fallen asleep.

so why do I put myself through this... Im asking the same question as I await flight 2 of 3 in this country hopping journey... 

well because it makes it seem more like an adventure... more of a journey than a civilised getaway.... more spontaneous and free.

By sleeping at the airport I find myself the first at the gate and some peace and quiet before the flight to Helsinki... another new country to tick off my list.  Then another hop up country to Ivalo, followed by a taxi to my final destination and the start of another brief adventure. 

Arrival in Helsinki came quickly.. and with only a short time to wait, I bought myself a hugely overpriced sandwich and settled to wait the short while. Lack of sleep was now catching up with me and the weariness of plane hopping was taking its toll. I had managed a brief kip on the plane due to the fact that the seats next to me were empty so the cross seat stretch was possible. Once landed I strolled to the gate and looked outside.... dreary and no snow here. It was pretty gusty as proven when one of the newly arrived air hostesses had a marilyn monroe moment and my mind turned to sideways landings and other horrors that facebook takes such delight in filming. I think its going to be a bumpy takeoff from Helsinki. The other thing that struck me was how quiet the airport was. Compared to a bustling Heathrow with a plane taking off every 30 secs, this seemed almost provincial... kinda like Dunedin airport in New Zeaand was.

One thing I did notice about this airport was that there were sleep pods there... typical... the airport where I only have 1 1/2 hours.... I dont know how much they would be but surely worth it for a couple hours decent kip? more research is certainly required.

So the next plane was thankfully my final take off for the day as now i was getting a little weary of boarding and un-boarding... at least I only had hand luggage. You see due to my bikepacking experience, I know exactly how little stuff I actually need (I almost wrote 'you' in that sentence but I tend to need a lot less that most normal people). Plus with a cut short trip, it was pretty easy to squash enough stuff into a small rucksack. There were a few must have items....  tape for my heels to avoid the awful blisters I had last time... very warm gloves and my ski trousers.... after that my packing was nearly done😂

As we flew over Finland I was astonished at the amount of lakes and forests, although I had just read in the airline magazine that that is all Finland had so I shouldnt have been surprised. Also a relief was the ever increasing amount of white stuff as we flew North... it's a bit difficult to ski without it! 

Landing in Ivalo, I felt relieved that the journey was nearly over... just the small transfer to Saariskella of about 20 mins. I was going to get a taxi cor around €50 but as luck would have it... there was a bus right outside the airport with my destination on it and at only a tenner,  bonus! I spent the journey staring out at all the snow... having not yet had any at home this year, and even if we had, it is not the same, and isnt dealt with as well, meaning that you gotta get to work through unploughed, unsalted roads in a car that wasnt built for snow. no fun. 

I arrived at Hotel Tunturi (Santa's hotel apparently) and proceeded to check in. There was a modicum of confusion as I was checking in 2 days later than the rest of the group but soon sorted and gear stashed in a nice v v warm room. My plan was to sort everything I needed to sort today so that for the next 4 days I could just be outside skiing. So I found the ski rental place and found a good pair of boots, some skis that I dont have to wax, and a nice lady who showed me where the tracks started, explained the map a bit and generally answered all the questions that weren't answered as I hadn't arrived witb the group. I then proceeded to book a tour to find the northern lights... and then stowed my skis back at the hotel. 

Then.... find a shop... find provisions for the days ahead. I had breakfast and dinner at the hotel but if last year was anything to go by, I will be starving on a daily basis, so need to find snacks, preferably reasonably healthy ones, to see  me through the day. 

My room provisions included hot chocolate for the flask so that was easy. I strolled a way down the road, dark now, footsteps muted and deadened by the sheer amount of snow everywhere. It was so quiet, hardly any people anywhere. 

I loved the shop.... all new stuff not found at home... and I was hungry which drove me to buying a lot of food... but hey.. I found mint jaffa cakes 😮 and some really nice crisp type things... bananas, snack bars, dried fruit... all good fuel for the days ahead.  

By the time I had had dinner, I was about to keel over from tiredness that comes with incessant 24 hours of travel. Early to bed and early to rise... means more skiing tomorrow.... 

I conked out in 10 seconds flat!