Arrival

April 27, 2018

Chicago

Rachael and I like to think we’re at least reasonably plugged in, but the lights go out on us at the oddest times. Like here, in the O’Hare Terminal in Chicago:

We have a long, five hour layover in Chicago - a wealth of time. Our flight to Helsinki hasn’t even been posted on the departure board when we arrive, so we decide to just hang around the terminal we arrived in for now and sit down to a nice lunch. I’m really pretty impressed by the broad selection of eating choices there are here.

After lunch we check the departure board. Our flight is up now and listed for an on time departure, but the gate isn’t listed yet. Plenty of time, so we sit down at a comfortable spot and go into a zone. After an hour or so I check back at the departure board again but there’s still no update. Finally, 3 hours later, it’s just an hour until departure and I get worried. Not seeing an information desk anywhere around, Rocky and I start researching on the internet and quickly learn that all flights to Helsinki leave from terminal 5, wherever the hell that is. It looks as if the flight doesn’t leave from this terminal, the departure gate is just left blank. Bizarre.

We’ve nearly waited too long. We hurriedly pack up, when I realize I’ve lost my glasses again - the new ones I just picked up three days ago. I can’t believe it. I hurriedly backtrack where I’ve been recently, including checking in the coed restroom - and, embarrassingly, I barge in on a woman who forgot to lock the door. Finally I find them, on the ground beneath our seat - they must have slipped out of the pocket of my Pendleton when I set it down. Something new to be careful of - my old pair gripped into the pocket better and were less apt to slip out.

Terminal 5 is nowhere near us. We have to take an interterminal transporter, which mercifully we barely catch as it’s departing. While on the train, Rachael looks for the boarding passes and panics at first until she finally finds them. At terminal 5 we have to go through passport control and then security, both of which take long enough to heighten the tension we both feel.

We arrive just as the first boarding announcement is broadcast. Whew!

Oh, Lordy. Rachael can’t find the boarding passes, again. We look everywhere. I leave to run back the way we came to see if we dropped them, when Rachael calls me back. She’s found them.

Better to be lucky than smart, that’s my motto.

Helsinki

After a ten hour flight, we both arrive in Helsinki feeling a bit stunned and disoriented. There isn’t a lot to do at the airport, which is just as well because we’re too groggy to appreciate anything. After making it through passport control we proceed to the vicinity of our departure gate, just so that we know where it is this time. Then we just put everything into neutral for a couple of hours, waiting until we feel like getting something to eat. Pretty much just a dead space, waiting for time to pass.

There is one very appealing feature of the Helsinki airport though: the sound system in the restrooms broadcasts bird songs. Very peaceful.

I’ve never been to a Scandinavian country before, and Helsinki sounds exotic to me. I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed by first impressions.

These power assisted scooters were the most interesting thing in the terminal. Airport employees zip down the concourse quickly on them, with little apparent effort.

Here’s a different model. This one is the Helkama Scooter Strolley.

Chania

(A rough pronunciation: Hah’-nee-Ah’))

The final leg was uneventful, which is a good thing. We sat about 20 rows apart, but other than that it was fine. I was lucky enough to have a window seat with a partial view, but there wasn’t much to see but clouds and ocean after we left the scandianavian coast because I was on the wrong side of the plane.

I’m not sure, but I think we’ve just crossed the bay of Finland and this is the Estonian coast.

We arrived in Chania at about 8:30, and soon were in the taxi en route to our lodging for the next three nights: Bozzali Hotel, a lovely small hotel on a pedestrianized alley a few blocks from the waterfront. This is the same hotel we stayed at six years ago on our first trip to Crete. The manager is great. He’s also a biker, and remembered us from last time. The last time we were here, he told us he had biked home to Italy for the winter, by way of Albania. This was the first time I’d spoken with anyone who biked in Albania, and I was a bit shocked. This last winter he was off biking again, in Chile and Argentina.

Our hotel in Chania. If you come here, this is the place to stay.

The manager had stepped out for a bit, but left his phone number so we could contact him.

The entrance to our room. The light doesn’t stay on long, and when it’s out it is pitch black.

We quickly settled into our room, and rachael prepared to crash for the night. I’ve gotten a second wind so I head down to the waterfront to look around. It’s an amazing night - in the mid-sixties I’d guess, there’s a nearly full moon up above, and the waterfront is alive with diners and strollers. This is going to be fantastic!

Before heading to the waterfront I stopped at a nearby bar for a glass of wine, it came accompanied by a small plate of sliced apples dusted with cinnamon. The cellphone is out because I’m starting to bone up on basic Greek phrases. The glasses are in the photo to show that I haven’t lost them - yet.

So, we made it. As a reminder, here’s an overview of our planned itinerary through Crete, where we’ll be for the next two weeks. For a bit more detail on this and an overview of the whole eight week tour, you can refer back to this earlier post.

Our tour of Crete: 16 nights, 14 cycling days, 500+ miles, 40,000’ elevation gain.

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Steve Miller/GrampiesYou guys really like to live on the edge. Glad you made your flight. Scott, get Rachael to staple those glasses to your head, eh?
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesYes, she’s been trying to get me to wear a chain with them for years but I’m not quite ready to go there yet.
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5 years ago