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We are still getting used to the time zone shift, and were wide awake at 5:00, although we slept fairly well before this. We sat up and read for a while and then at 06:00 we decided to go to the station without out luggage and get an early breakfast, then return to the hotel to brush our teeth, finish packing, and check out.
We went back to the same place where M. had got her snack on arrival two days ago, but the pasticciera wasn't open yet, and the lady there pointed us at another place opposite that served mostly sandwiches. But they had a few cornetti, including ones with apricot jam, so we got one each and M. had a cappuccino. After eating these we stopped at the station to buy tickets for the express train to the airport. Then we went back to the hotel, packed our bags, and checked out.
Back at Termini station ten minutes later we saw a Leonardo Express train sitting at platform 23. So we walked out there but the train lights went off and the doors wouldn't open. We stopped to wait, thinking the train would be turned back on again in a little while. But I decided to walk back down to the indicator boards to see if there was any other information such as a departure time. I saw that the next express to the airport was due to leave from platform 24 at 07:35, in ten minutes. So I walked back to M. and told her we had to switch to the other platform. As we walked around, we stopped to inform several other people also waiting on 23 with luggage that they needed to walk over to platform 24. Hopefully they appreciated the advice! And indeed just as we made it to 24 another train pulled in. Travellers got off and we walked up to the front to get on.
The train left a few minutes late and deposited us at Fiumicino Airport just after 08:00. We checked with the Finnair check-in counter in case we needed to do anything, or check any of our bags. The man there said as long as we had a boarding pass on our phones (which we did) we could just go straight in through security. He also said our bags were fine to take into the cabin. So we passed through the security check, which only took a few minutes as there were virtually no queues. Again we didn't have to remove anything from our bags, and there were large signs saying to leave everything, liquids, laptops, etc, in our bags for scanning. They said (in Italian and English) that it was the security screening of the future. I commented to M. that it was also the security screening of the past.
We wanted to grab some food before the flight, because it's a bit of a budget flight and they only have snacks that you can buy on board. Upstairs in the terminal is a large area with restaurants, cafes, and other food places. M. grabbed a quick cornetto with Nutella from a coffee shop, and then we sat down in a large seating area served by a cluster of food outlets nearby. One of them had salads and vegetables, and I felt that would be good. I went to order a chicken salad and a large cup of fruit salad for M., but the woman there indicated that her station was closed, but I could order from the adjacent pizza place. When I went there and asked for the salad the lady looked at me funny and said to go next door. I told her that it was closed, and so she walked over to the other woman and they had a brief conversation, and then she came back and told me to go over there and grab what I wanted and bring it back here to pay. It was all a bit weird, but I managed to get what I wanted.
After eating those M. wanted a coffee and suggested sitting in one of the restaurants that had a coffee machine. I said I could still eat something else as well, so we did that. The place M. liked the look of turned out to be some sort fo weird Brazilian-Japanese fusion place. I ordered plantain chips with wasabi mayonnaise and some shrimp gyoza kind of things which came with a spicy banana dipping sauce. It was strange but decent.
Once done there it was almost 10:00 and our flight would be boarding soon. We walked down to the gate and people were already queueing up. We joined in, just before they started letting people into the queuing corral. We got seats in the fourth back row of the plane, a small Airbus A321. The back door was open and I could see it had started raining outside, and it got heavier before we took off.
In flight they crew sold snacks and provided complimentary water and blueberry juice. We both tried the juice and it was nice. We've never had blueberry juice before. The flight landed just 2:45 after take off, making our arrival in Helsinki around 15:00. At the airport we stopped at a bakery to get a snack. M. had a rye sandwich with cheese, lettuce, and cucumber, while I tried one of the tempting looking cinnamon buns. M. also had a coffee.
Then we walked out to the railway station, which was deep underground below the airport. We could feel the cold, as the temperature on arrival was 8°C. On the platform were ticket machines, blue ones for local trains and a green one for long distance trains. We used the green one to purchase two tickets to Tampere, and it printed a local metro ticket for an 8 minute journey to Tikkurila and a long distance ticket from Tikkurila to Tampere. The next train to Tikkurila was only 4 minutes away so we didn't have long to wait. At Tikkurila we switched platforms to wait for the train to Tampere. The ticket machine had assigned us seats in car 4, and we tried to find the right place on the platform to wait for the correct car. As the train pulled in, we saw several of the Japanese ISO delegates, including Katoh-san who came over and greeted us with handshakes. They boarded elsewhere, but Mitsui-san ended up in the same seating area as us a few seats behind. Our seats were across the aisle from each other, as everyone else in the carriage seemed to have single seats by the windows. But at the first stop the woman next to M. got off and so I moved across to sit in that window seat so we could be together.
The train arrived in Tampere a few minutes late, just before 18:00. It was dark, the sun having gone down around 16:00, and colder than at the airport, around 4°C according to the Internet. A light misty drizzle was falling, but we could see some drifts of old snow on roads and footpaths. We walked the couple of blocks to the pizzeria Bianco, where we picked up the key to our accommodation. It was just around the corner and we entered to find a nice apartment, a little worn in places, but certainly fine for our needs for the next few nights.
After dropping our things we went out to get some dinner. I found a Spanish place just a block away and we liked the sound of that so we went over to Bodega Salud. There we followed the example of others before us in using the large cloakroom to put our coats, hats, and gloves into a locker and take the key. This is completely foreign to us, having to deal with cold weather clothing like this. We were shown to a table in the nicely atmospheric decorated restaurant. We ordered tapas: patatas bravas, codfish croquettes, garlic bread, and a dish of spicy chick peas and spinach, together with glasses of Spanish Tempranillo wine. The food was all good and filling enough to serve as dinner without ordering more.
On the way home we stopped in at the supermarket next door to buy some supplies: shampoo for the apartment, muesli and milk and yoghurt for breakfast, and we threw in some fresh blueberries to go with that. I also grabbed a cheap tub of chocolate mud ice cream to serve as dessert each night while we're here, and M. got some liquorice and chocolate. Then it was back to the apartment to have showers and turn in for the night. Basically a full day of travel, which was rather tiring!
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