Helsinki, Finland
The last day of our Baltic Belated Birthday Adventure arrived with cloudy skies but, thankfully, no rain. We had originally planned a day trip to the former Finnish capital of Turku, but the bad weather yesterday prevented us from doing an outdoor activity in Helsinki that we both really wanted to do.
A thirty minute bus ride outside the city will drop you off at a long white bridge. On the other side is a small pedestrian island with an open air museum, hiking trails and a nude beach!
The open air museum features real Finnish buildings from all over the country. It was started in 1909 by Professor A. Heikel who wanted to preserve rural Finnish buildings at risk of being destroyed. Within the museum are homes and community buildings from the 1700 and 1800s. We saw several styles of homes from all over the country, as well as, a church, a farm and a windmill.
We stopped for a picnic lunch a beautiful little spot in the middle of a grassy field, under the shade of a big tree with the sound of the sea just over the hill. It was lovely. Pairs of geese and little birds grazed nearby.
Online, it said the wildlife on the island was abundant and friendly. So far that had been the case, except for a little yellow breasted finch who swiped Josh on the back of the head and made a b-line for my face when we unknowingly got a little too close to it’s nest.
All was going well at our picnic until another one of the little yellow finches landed on the corner of our table. It was so cute and was chirping, so I gave it a teensy, tiny, itty, bitty little crumb.
That, my friends, is when all hell broke loose. The 6-8 previously peaceful geese and other birds who didn’t even seem to be paying attention to us went nuts. They swarmed us from the flank (assuming the flank was my side - because that is where they charged). I dove over Josh leaving my phone, backpack and half eaten picnic behind. The birds descended upon the table. Josh was trying to fight them off but they were absolutely fighting back. Feathers were flying. Horns were honking. Josh was yelling for me to come back and help. I was screaming. It was utter chaos.
For the record I have a tumultuous history with geese. When we lived in Burlington a gaggle of geese were born in the pond behind the apartment. Several times a day the mom and dad would take the 7 or 8 babies for a run around our apartment. I would go from window to window in the apartment and watch them go.
Turns out they were running from me. The babies were taught to interpret my love for aggression and they grew into adult geese who would chase me and bite me anytime I exited my apartment. Even from across the pond, if they saw my car pull in, they would speed across the water and attack. Sounds minor, but it was kind of traumatic.
Anyway, Josh knows geese are a trigger for me! So, he grabbed my phone where I abandoned it and started throwing food in a plastic bag. As the food disappeared, most of the birds backed off. But not all! We still had one really sassy goose who chased us down the path.
It was hilarious and terrifying at the same time.
After lunch (and the bird brawl) we decided to hike the trail along the beach. It was a beautiful seaside trail that ended at the entrance to a gender segregated nude beach. I was 100% ready to go in, but unfortunately, we were a week too early and the beach doesn’t open until next weekend.
Upon starting our hike back, Josh got a notification on his phone that our airline was offering us the opportunity to move up one of our connecting flights from tomorrow morning to tonight. Our first connection was through Stockholm, Sweden. So of course we said yes! The opportunity to get a whole 12 hours in another country at no additional cost. How could we not???
Then came the next issue. We had exactly 2 hours to do the following: Hike the .5 mile back to the bus stop. Take the bus 30 minutes to our street. Walk 10 minutes to our hotel. Pack. Check out. Walk to the train station. Take the train 45 minutes to the airport. Go through airport security. Make it to our flight gate.
It was a time crunch, but, as Josh said, this is what I’ve been training for.
I watch a lot of zombie movies and dystopian future is my favorite genre of fiction. So, I am always scouting out a good apocalypse campsite or escape route. Today was the ultimate challenge: getting from a deserted island to the airport with all our belongings.
There were some moments when Josh doubted me - like when his shoe string ripped in two, but I fashioned a proper knot to keep it together or when we had to jump over the woman who wiped out in the middle of the airport walkway and spilled her whole suitcase (sorry lady, I would have stopped to help on any other day).
But, I write this blog sitting in the airport lounge, glass of wine in hand, waiting to board our flight to Sweden with a little time to spare. I don’t play. See you in Stockholm.
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