Welcome to HEL

I survived my first overseas flight, and it wasn't half bad! I was so tired that I almost fell asleep before we even took off! I slept about six out of eight hours, which I thought was pretty good. The food on flight was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.  I had lasagna and some delicious bread and salad for dinner, with a nice glass of red wine (didn't know that was a thing!) and had a nice croissant, yogurt, and tea for breakfast towards the end of the flight.  Sleeping on the plane was not the most comfortable thing in the world, but I was so tired it didn't matter much.  Between the lack of sleep, sleeping pills, and glass of wine, I was a pretty tired girl.  So I landed in Helsinki, or HEL (the airport code).  All I can say is they do things differently here, and I could tell as soon as I stepped off the plane.  Everything is very artsy and modern, and Alex told me they are the "design capital" of the world here, and it shows.  I went to the ONLY Starbucks in all of Finland in the airport (which was much needed, if I plan to stay awake another 8 or 9 hours).  But it seems like an overall friendly place.  Most Fins speak English, so I should be okay getting around.  This is good, because Finnish sounds like a complicated language. Their words are sooooo long and you pronounce EVERY letter.  So strange.  Don't think I'll be able to pronounce anything.. haha.  So Alex picked me up and back to their house (which is GORGEOUS) and on the sea! I think I will go take a walk with Klondike (the dog) and get a look around the neighborhood and take some pictures in a while.  I need some movement after sitting literally all day!  Then later when the girls come home, we are going to go to downtown Helsinki and bum around for a bit.  I will have to get used to public transportation!  More to follow later, with pictures I'm sure once I can get my computer hooked up to the internet. But I'm here! Let the adventure begin! :)