Iceland, Wembley and Helsinki: a tale of a northern winter

[Justinf]

The game was to start at the early time of 12.30pm, which meant I was up pretty early.
I have always had the opinion that Wembley was miles out of London and that it was difficult to get to. Not so.
I walked to Paddington station and hopped on the Bakerloo line. Two stops to Baker St and then a change to the Metropolitan line.
Two stops to Wembley Park. Took next to no time. Probably 15 minutes tops from Baker St to Wembley Park.
London copped a very heavy dump of snow two days before and the remnants were still there to see.



It was a chilly day. A maximum temp of 4 degrees.
The walk from the station to the stadium was quite short.



I bought my ticket from a season-ticket holder who couldn't get to the game. He sold it to me for cost price of 45 pounds. The seat was terrific.
Once inside the stadium, there were heaps of people milling around drinking beers. You can't take booze to your seat so most just throw as many down beforehand as they can.
In the name of research, I joined in.



Once into my seat, the game started and the travelling Newcastle United fans were in full voice and provided a great atmosphere.



It became quite obvious early on that Newcastle was prepared to park the bus and try to get us on the counter.
They defended well all game and probably should have had a goal, but our South Korean magician Son Heung-Min scored and we held on. There would have to have been hundreds upon hundreds Korean fans there just to see Sonny.



I found Wembley to be very similar to ANZ Stadium in Sydney, both in size and appearance.

Three points in the bag thanks to a 1-nil win. A great day.
COYS

 

[Justinf]

Back to Paddington around 4pm and I had arranged to meet a old mate at the pub around the corner.
We drank and chatted for hours and it was great to see him.
Dogs are allowed in this pub as you will see.

 

[OATEK]

Just as well you weren't at the FA cup match at Selhurst Park. No Son, no Harry, and no spurs goals. Crystal Palace were deserved winners on that occasion (27/1) and the best player on the pitch was one that Spurs let go - Andros Townsend. For me, as a neutral, it was a great atmosphere and there was some good football played in patches. The Spurs left back gave away a penalty with handball, and CPFC took advantage, going on to win 2-0.
(Spot the ball)
The beer at Selhurst Park was good, but the Chips were amazing!!

 

[Justinf]

I had a free day the following day, a Sunday.
Weather forecast was for sunshine and a top temp of 6 degrees.
Despite living in this city for two years back in the 90s and visiting here numerous times since, I had never been on the London Eye. The last time I was here it was closed for maintenance.
I was meeting a former workmate and we planned to to do the London Eye. I bought express path tickets and waited for my friend to turn up. It was quite nice in the sunshine. Certainly didn't feel like 6 degrees, but once in the shade it did feel chilly.
There were heaps of people around.
I got the tube to Waterloo.
I tried to prebook on my phone but the app wouldn't let me pay. Unfortunately I had to pay the full price at the ticket counter of 38 pounds. Ouch!





Eventually Michele turned up and we skipped through the queues and got into our booth and the ride began. It was a great seeing day, but the sun was awkwardly positioned and made photography very difficult.

 

[Justinf]

More pics:







So was the Eye good and was it worth it?
I'm glad I did it because now...well...I have done it.
No.
London is not the prettiest city from above. It's kind of like Melbourne. You need to immerse yourself in it from the ground.
I found it fairly boring to be honest. Just my opinion of course.

Michele was suffering from a big night the previous evening (and morning) but I still persuaded her to have a drink nearby.



Back to Paddington on the Tube which was its usual stinking hot self. Some things never change.
Went out to the 'local' for a pint and a meal and with a 10am flight to Helsinki tomorrow, I called it quits very early but not before seeing coughnal lose. hahahahahaha!

 

[Justinf]

An early start. I planned to get the Heathrow Express no later than 7.30am as I am quite fussy about not being late for anything.
I repacked my suitcase and headed out for the 10-minute walk to Paddington station.
stupid me.
It was raining. My rain jacket was at the bottom of my suitcase and I wasn't going to open it as closing the damn thing had taken ages.
I decided to brave the rain and walk as quickly as I could.
Unfortunately I was drenched, but got on the Heathrow Express at around 7.20am, which pleased me a lot.
Quick ride to Heathrow and then a walk to terminal 3.
Checked in fairly easily and got held up at security through nobody's fault but my own.
In my rush to be on time I had packed all sorts of prohibited things in my carry on. Toothpase, shampoo, iPad, ejuice, you name it. Idiot.
Oneworld sapphire members such as myself (and the fact that I had upgraded to business class) get to use the Cathay Pacific business lounge.
What a great lounge. The freshly made dumplings. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can only guess what the first lounge would be like.



The lounge was roomy and the staff magnificent.

 

[Justinf]

Before long it was time for boarding and I was looking forward to being in the J cabin on the A350.
First impressions were positive.









This flight had arrived from Singapore and when I enquired about the wifi (which is free for business class guests), I was apologetically that neither the wifi nor the inflight entertainment was working and they simply didn't have time to fix it at Heathrow.
Bummer.
fairly long taxi out to the runway and we passed the old Concorde.

 

[Justinf]

View attachment 154770 Although it was a short flight time of just under three hours, I was still glad I upgraded, even for $315.
The seat was comfortable and although I did not attempt sleep, I did put the seat into full lay-flat bed mode and tried it out.
I'm 6'1" but I sleep on my stomach. With my feet stretched right out and my arms cradling my head, I had JUST enough room to fully extend. Any taller and it would be a problem.
Inflight service was great. I had some pretzels and a Carlsberg to start.



I liked the glasses they served drinks in.
For the meal I had the cannelloni and it was quite good.
The salmon entree was particularly nice.



I decided that I would indulge in alcohol just for a change. With a 3.30pm arrival in Helsinki I figured I wouldn't be doing much this afternoon.
I was feeling zero pain.



I settled in for the rest of the flight and listened to some music on my Bose QC35s and took in the scenery.



Drinks were kept topped up, much to my detriment.
Fairly soon Hesinki was coming into sight.

View attachment 154770

 

[Justinf]

Landing in Helsinki was without issue, but it was yet another bus ride to the terminal.





Finnish immigration was easy. In fact the young woman who processed me was friendly.
Out to the taxi rank to get to the Air B&B I was staying at in central Helsinki.
One thing I found weird (or offensive) was that people in the taxi line were refusing to get into cabs with drivers of colour.
I would later learn that new arrivals were viewed as not knowing their way around the city and were know to jack the prices up.
I reckon I skipped about five people in line to take a cab with a black driver.
I can absolutely report that the driver (a young Nepalese man) was fantastic. He asked me if I wanted the metre or the flat fare of 39 euro. I chose the flat fare and was in front of my Air B&B in around half an hour.
This attitude disappointed me greatly. How are people meant to earn a living without prejudice?
Anyway rant over.

 

[Justinf]

Now to the issue of my Air B&B.
It was fantastically located right in the heart of town. It was AUS$85 a night.
The pics on website were that of a very small apartment with a loft bed and very, very modest facilities.
I knew what to expect. It was not going to be a five-star stay.
Anyway, the instruction the host gave me to get in were confusing.
I couldn't for the life of me find the damn place. Eventually I had ask a local to help.
I had to retrieve my keys from a lock on the gate with a code. It took ages for the lock to open.
Once inside the gated complex, my key would not work.
The lock on the door was nearly falling off and it took literally 20 minutes to get the key to finally open the door.
Once inside, this is what I was greeted with.

Now to the issue of my Air B&B.

 

[Justinf]

The other bad thing about this place was that the heating could not be turned up or down.
The loft was stifling. I had to sleep with the window open.

 

[Justinf]

The fridge had not even been cleaned out from the previous guest. Or maybe it was three guests ago? I don't know.
Funnily enough I could deal with the accommodation as I knew what to expect.
Getting the gate open at night with my key was a nightmare and every single time I used the key to get into my flat, I had to manouevere the damn thing for ages. Seriously, one night I spend half an hour trying to open the door.
Anyway I went out for a beer and grabbed a pizza to take 'home'.

 

[Justinf]

I'm on a roll, so I am going to finish this TR today.
The following day I was greeted with snow and lots of it.
My ideal plans in town was the visit the Suomenlinna sea fortress and maybe get the ferry to Tallinn the following day.
I only had two days in Helsinki.
The snow was really heavy and the temp around minus 1.
I didn't do anything in the morning. The one good thing (apart from the location and the price) about this Air B&B was the free wifi was superb.
In the afternoon I braved the snow and ventured out to see the city as best I could.



















This almost made me feel at home, except it was warmer here than in Melbourne. hehe

 

[Denali]

Well know we know what you get if you go to all those Bunnings DIY weekend workshops

Youre a better man than my husband, he considers the Marina Bay Sands club room as roughing it.

 

[Justinf]

Well know we know what you get if you go to all those Bunnings DYI weekend workshops

Youre a better man than my husband, he considers the Marina Bay Sands club room as roughing.

I can handle 'spartan' accommodation, but when I have stand outside in -1 degrees trying to get in the front door. I can't handle it.

 

[Justinf]

After a nice walk around town, I decided it was time for a beer.
There were a few good pubs around and I tried out a few of them.



One strange thing about Finland is that the beer you see in this pic, I hadn't taken a sip.
They can only serve 400ml.
I got drinking with three Finnish guys all around my age.
We decided to kick on and went to a bar called Shooters or something like that.
All four of us are married and don't cheat.
It was little more than a brothel. The girls come up to you and you pay whatever to go home with them. None of us stuck around long enough to find out how much. The night ended early.

 

[Justinf]

Nursing a slight hangover, it was still snowing.
It seemed my trip to Tallinn and to Suomenlinna would have to wait until next time.
In the end I put on my rain jacket and just walked and walked and walked.
I reckon I walked for around four hours solid.
Temp was quite cold at -6.





One thing I learned was that Helsinki has great coffee. I ordered a four-shot flat white and the barista and fellow customers were in awe. Apparantely that is just not done. It's normal for me.

 

[Justinf]

 

[Denali]

Did you wear crampons?

 

[Justinf]

Sadly I would not be getting this beast to Tallinn this trip.