Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Ando dropped me off at the ferry terminal, and I was able to check my suitcase once on-board for the 3.5 hour trip over to Helsinki. That made exploring the ship much easier.

What I soon discovered is that there were maybe 12 seats inside for people that were in a non-paying area of the ship. The remainder of the seats--and I bet there were at least several hundred people on board--were in lounges, discos, casinos, restaurants, and the fast food area. I watched one guy in the fast food area dip his spoon in and out of his cup of tea for probably 2 hours, going throught the motions to protect his seat. Fortunately, it was almost pleasant outside, and I spent an hour or more sitting outside and wandering those decks.

It appeared that a primary reason for Finns to visit Tallinn is to go shopping. Beer and vodka must be considerably cheaper there, for that is what made up much of the carry-on luggage. If that wasn't enough, a grocery of sorts in the middle of the ship was packed for most of the voyage with people buying more spirits. They left the ship with hand carts loaded with four, five, six and more cases of their favorite brew or drink.

In the ferry terminal on the Helsinki side, I figured out that only two busses left the terminal, and I would need to change at the main station to get to my hotel. Wrestling my big suitcase on board and showing the map of where my hotel is to the driver, a lady behind me began asking lots of questions using fair english, and offered help in knowing how to get to my destination. She sat down in front of me, next to another stranger, and soon both were looking at maps and making suggestions. I gave them each one of my RTW cards, and they each gave me back their business cards. Pretty soon, the woman said that her husband would be picking her up at the central station, and they would be happy to drop me at the hotel on their way home. I hesitated, played back the previous few minutes of conversation in my mind, and decided to take the chance. We walked a bit from the bus station toward a parking area, and soon a green Citroen rounded the corner with her husband. The car had an infant seat in the back, but no infant, and getting the luggage in was tight, but was accomplished. Sliding into the front seat, I thought I would either be on the receiving end of a great act of kindness, or would be robbed and left for dead within the hour. Happily, the husband soon turned into my hotel driveway, dropped me off, and I said my thank you's and goodbye's.

Amazing kindness, and a risk I would rarely if ever take, but it was a gift I'll remember for a long time to come.

The gods smiled on me further yesterday evening, providing a Thai restaurant around the corner that served green curry chicken (my new addiction). It was interesting to see the name of the Thai restaurant in the window in both our familiar lettering and in cyrillic. The gods smiled further, and provided free wireless internet in my room, making uploads and updates much easier for the next few days.

I've got few plans today--partly because my tour book for Finland is still in the ether of the postal services somewhere, and partly to slow down a bit for the coming five days I'll spend here. I've picked up several good free guides, though, and will get the "Helsinki Card", which will cover my travel and most museum/site fees while I'm in town. So I'll sign out for now, and venture out into the frigid north...

JP