How do you celebrate the first day of summer, the longest day of the year (or the shortest, depending on where you are), the end of a magical trip with one young family, the anniversary of the parents, father's day, the last meal together with the two little girls, the warmth and sunshine flooding Copenhagen?
It's a tough one!
My daughter invited me to breakfast with them at their Tivoli hotel. I come a bit early, just to sit on the terrace and take in the quiet, empty park.
The peace that comes to me is total. My travels with them are nearing the end and I am sending them home happy, into their environment of friends, familiar neighborhood haunts, a washing machine and a dryer (not to be made light of!), their lovely home nest. It's a great feeling to have your youngest child go home so content, ensconced in a life of her own making.
They come down fairly quickly. I have a flight at 12:45, theirs is about two hours later. We have time for a leisurely meal.
And it is both beautiful and delicious. The omelet is superb, the berries -- yummy, the pastries -- awesome, the yogurts -- refreshing, the milky coffee -- begging for a refill, though I hold off on that. I had many cups of it yesterday, but today, I should slow down and maybe allow myself to doze in flight..
And the girls, delightful -- as they have been all along here, despite the fact that they, too, have been going to bed around midnight and getting up for breakfast on time each day.
(sneaking over to get a poppyseed almond cream croissant for mom)
What a trip! Oh, what a trip!
A final good bye then -- to them (happy, happy anniversary!), to Copenhagen, to our travels together, reminding me of way back when, but now with the new twist -- of being with their family, equally committed to making it a good trip, one for the ages, as all travel is actually, because it counts, it all counts. Every moment is special.
(walking back to the hotel to pick up my suitcase...)
* * *
I'm at the airport waiting for my flight to Helsinki. Here's something you should know -- the city, no, actually the whole country of Finalnd closes down this weekend (through Monday) in celebration of solstice. Juhannus Eve, followed by Midsummer Day (Saturday this year). How does the celebration proceed? The emphasis is on nature, family, community. If you have a cottage in the woods or by the lake -- that's where you want to be. With bonfires, maybe dancing, certainly feasting, it is, after Christmas, the most important holiday in Finland.
So it's a bit of a mystery to me how Helsinki will look on a day like this. Empty? With tourists only? The internet tells me that everything is closed. But how does it feel to be there, just 323 miles away from the Arctic Circle on the longest day of the year?
I walk to my gate. The airport is crowded with travelers. I surely do not need to shop. I'm carrying my nephew's artwork and a backpack. There is no need to spend more money. Except, I saw these little Maileg mice in Copenhagen. Baby ones, dressed in an old fashioned way. Wouldn't it be sweet to add them to the girls' collection? I pick up a couple. I continue with my rather long stroll to the gate. I pass a chocolate store. Such delicious looking chocolates with the flavors of summer! Wouldn't my friends like them? I pick up a box or two. I keep on walking, this time intent on not buying anything at all, and who in the crowded airport should I see but these lovely ones!
I have two mice for you! Now I don't have to mail them!
My flight is one of those that you just have to endure. the trip itself shouldn't be long, but the plane is hot and they wont start the engines until the very late large group of old people from some far away country have arrived. I dislike overheated planes, but at least the door is open. It's a tight and small aircraft so it doesn't connect to the jetway. And of course, I have this irritating cough which I always get after a cold because that is the way my bronchial tubes operate, and I feel like everyone around me wishes they were sitting somewhere else. I don't blame them. I wish I were sitting somewhere else too.
The flight is operated by SAS, but I'm listening carefully and I note that the crew speaks Polish to each other. Poles in search of better paying jobs are everywhere.
Finally, we take off...
We land...
* * *
Helsinki. The older family of five is arriving here tomorrow, so this transitional day is mine only. I booked rooms at the Kamp Hotel, because of the location and the availability of connecting rooms for them. I cab over to it. The highway today reminds me of Covid times: empty of traffic. So people have left!
But the hotel is full. And lovely. With a wonderful, welcoming staff. And still, I run into a hiccup: they have upgraded me! You'd think that's a firm "yay!" but it is not. The new room is in a renovated wing of the hotel. It has a beautiful view onto the park, but to get to the room, you have to take the elevator to the 4th floor, and weave your way around snaky corridors until you come to an old stairwell and an old elevator which then takes you to the proper 6th floor. I dont mind, but Snowdrop, who'll be sharing a room with me, will mind, especially since I have to leave her alone in the room when I take off on Wednesday at dawn.
So here I am again, asking for a room change. The upgrade goes away, but that's okay, I'm fine with any of their rooms which are spacious and have a sitting area!
And they fiddle things around and come up with a solution and it is so good! The room doesn't have the park view, but it's bright and airy and very very lovely.
As for dinner -- I ask them what's nearby and open tonight and they list a handful of places! So much for relying on the internet. And one recommendation is just across the strip of park and it has tables outside because, did I tell you? It's a beautiful sunny day in Helsinki!
I take a walk first. And I see that the market along the harbor is also open. It is berry season indeed and it's an effort for me to walk away without buying their strawberries and blueberries, grown in Suomi (Finalnd).
I admire the fruits, I admire the waterway, because Helsinki, like Copenhagen, is all about the sea.
There are many walks you can take around town, but I long ago decided that on my solo day here (tomorrow), I will do as the Finnish people do on a holiday: leave the city. I have such fond memories of the countryside, the forests, the lakes -- from my summer here when I signed up (more than 50 years ago!) to teach English to a Finnish farm family of 4 kids. Riitta, Raja -- I remember their faces. In the village of Hirvivuori. They must be in their 60s now! We were such babes as they taught me the sauna rituals, and taught me to ride a tractor! I wonder if they speak English well now...
So tomorrow, I'll do a trip out to the forest. Today? Let me follow the recommendation of the desk clerk and go to Kappeli Restaurant/Bar.
Most people are sipping wines and beers and apperol spritz's. I'm back to N/A beers.
And I order the traditional Finnish creamy salmon soup with potatoes. And a salad with goat cheese.
And then I retreat to my hotel. No midnight walks for me tonight. Feet up, exhale, process everything -- the three necessities of life, following a crazy and very beautiful set of weeks.
with so much love...
