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Helsinki street signs — image by author Once we were outside again — in the cold — we were given some information on street signs. Finland has two official languages: Finnish and Swedish, so every official sign has both languages. And in the old days, for those who couldn’t read either one...

Red Umbrella tour group at Senate Square, Helsinki I love Helsinki Airport. Straightforward, practical, efficient, elegant. I walked with Megan to immigration and drew her aside into a central hub where there were padded lounges for sitting, resting, or sleeping. In a continuous screen above...

In theory, my latest TR is PJ-themed, and yes there were QF pyjamas offered on the AY wet-lease to SIN. Delivered just as I stretched out flat and closed my eyes. I wore them on the two flights coming back. I was offered another pair SIN-MEL but I indicated I already had some, and she said I...

Flight 2406 Tuesday 16 April 2024 AY 132 SIN-HEL A359 OH-LWO Scheduled: 2150 Boarding: 2115 (Seat 2L/62C) Pushback: 2203 (Delay while awaiting luggage transfer from another terminal) Takeoff: 2206 Landing: 0628 Gate: 0631 My plan had been to approach one of the crew in the gate lounge but I see...

From research in this forum, I find that the Qatar lounge consistently rates high out of those available to oneWorld members, at least those at my OWS level. I found the place without difficulty - up the first set of escalators, turn left - and when I ask about the showers a series of smiling...

Bottles and ceramics are allowed on board and they can be broken to create sharp weapons. Certainly handier than whatever medals and medal bars might be used for. I doubt that they are considered with careful thought by the security operatives manning the scanners. I'm not sure anything is, to...

At this point in a long day and a half, I care naught for pyjamas. I’m dressed in reasonably dishevelled fashion - rumpled polyester trousers and a cotton shirt that has lost any freshly-ironed sharpness it may have had twelve hours, two cities, and a bus ride back - and my brain is shutting...

Flight 2405 Tuesday 16 April 2024 QF 191 SYD-SIN A333 OH-LTS (wet-lease from Finnair) Scheduled: 1025 Boarding: 1000 (Seat 4L) Pushback: 1038 Takeoff: 1050 to south Landing: 1650 from west Gate: 1653 (C18) My Singapore flight is indeed the same plane that flew in from Singapore. It and the...

Yes, the business and economy seats were shared. I will share details of how it worked out in my trip report but I was overjoyed at the outcome!

I have answers to both questions. All will be revealed but long story short, yes to both.

The view from my AirBnB last night. There's been a bit more snow since - and is still lightly falling - making my parkrun here in Tampere an interesting experience in an hour's time.

My Qantas flight is a Finnair "wet lease", meaning it's Finnair equipment and crew but Qantas supplies including food, drink, amenity kits etc. The most talked-about feature of Finnair's product is the "no-recline" business seat. Sounds odd but I think it works quite well. The seat itself is...

Not too long ago, five hours in a lounge would have been an excuse for non-stop grazing from the range of food and drink available. Post-parkrun, not so much. It’s nice to have a light breakfast - I indulge in a hash brown as well as some sausages, bacon, and a delicious bowl of fruit - but...

The day was restless. I had a long list of things to do and check and pack. Not to mention tidying my office, as my wretch of a wife has long promised that if I didn't keep it neat and tidy and clean, she'd do it for me while I was away on the other side of the world somewhere. By the end of...

I poached a seat once. Coming back from Hawai'i on a QF 744 in J, I asked at the desk if I could get a window seat. She said, "you've got a window seat", so when I boarded, I went to row 4 or whatever and plonked myself in the window seat 4K or L or whatever it was. A guy came along and sat in...

Thanks, Qantas! I'm getting close now. My email inbox is full of alerts from various travel services reminding me I'm travelling in a day or two. Here's one from Qantas. Even though I'm leaving at one in the morning - earlier than that, of course, as I need to whistle up an Uber to get me to...

OMG! What a day in Canberra. We needed Moses at parkrun to part the Red Mud Sea! Here's my blog report: Saturday Morning parkrain. And here's what is waiting for me in Tampere:

Good to see the return of the Grannies in Ghostbasket today.

Yummmmm! Probably a good thing that it's a rare occurrence; the cabin crew would become increasingly spherical if everyone did it.

I think the differences have already been noted in other threads, notably that Qantas supplies the bedding for the seats from their own supplies, and that doesn't quite work with the Finnair seat. I do wonder if there will be PJs, though! As for charm, I think that belongs entirely with my...