Category: travel

Coworking In Helsinki

This is the first time I am working from Helsinki since I started to work for my current firm – not just connecting here and there, but actually working. When we started planning it in June, I started looking for a coworking space, and I found one close to our place. It’s only a 10-minute bus ride, unfortunately in the direction opposite the city center, but still very close.

In June, we went there to find out all the details. I liked what I saw and heard. I could claim a free day within the first month I sign up for their web app and then pay per day, or buy a series or a subscription (which I didn’t need, but that was an option). Monday was my first day in this coworking space (a free day), and I loved it. I immediately bought a ten-day series for a private office.

Here is what I got:

  • The room is a private office “for 1-2 people”, it has a desk, two office chairs and two stools, a desk monitor, a wall monitor and a white board.
  • It has a private bathroom with a shower, towels, shamooo/coditioner/hairdryer
  • There is an ironning board behind the mirror and an iron
  • Also a mini-kitchen with the sink, the kettle/tea bags/coffe/milk:
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Acropolis

When we were in Athens last time, we wandered around without tour guides, and I wanted to take one “proper” tour. I booked it for the first half of Tuesday so that I would be free to meet with people arriving on Tuesday afternoon.

Short summary: too many people! Back in 2014, we were in Athens in March. It was warm and there was enough tourists around, so I pictured pretty much the same in the second half of October, but I was wrong! This time, there were crowd and crowns, and one stream of people moving up the the Parthenon, and another stream moving dows. The marble steps polished my millions of feet made these ups and downs quite adventurous.

It was still beautiful, and the sky was still blue, but I missed the lonely climbs we had back then, when at least at some moments, there was nobody except of us, the mountains, and the marble.

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Traveling With Russian Passport

That was the first time in a while that I traveled together with Boris and had a connection in London. Actually, since I had a connection in London on my way to Helsinki, I had three London connections in a week!

The first one was just me, and there was a very long wait, and no priority line was opened.

The second one was with Boris, and we had it all:

  • Interrogation at the passport control in Helsinki
  • Interrogation at the boarding gate (the gate attendant started checking the regulations for transfers – as if Boris was the only one transferring person without a UK visa)
  • Interrogation in Heathrow
  • Long lines at security without a priority lane
  • Barely made it to the gate

The third one, again with Boris, on our way back from Athens

  • The online check-in didn’t issue a boarding pass for him
  • In the Athens airport, a BA counter attendant went to check the regulations (as if Boris was the only person connecting without a UK visa).
  • Then he called another associate, and this whole process took twenty minutes, and for some reason, they asked for my passport as well. They finally issued boarding passes for both of us, adding that Boris “can’t step out from the airport” in London (as if it was ever different). Then they tried to convince us to check in our carry-on (we refused because we didn’t want to wait for our luggage at 11 PM)
  • We finally made it to the lounge, which was not very impressive (fun fact: you had to go to another lounge for a toilet)
  • Interrogation at the border control, however – no lines!
  • Surprise: no lines at the security check!
  • We were absolutely sure we wouldn’t have time to go to the lounge, but because of zero wait time in the security line, we had it!

Completely unexpected:

  • When we arrived in Helsinki and had to go through passport control again, they figured out that “we were together,” and despite my protests, they sent me to the same officer who talked to Boris. I should have said that “we are not traveling together,” not “we have different passports,” but I didn’t realize it right away, and then I was a subject of interrogation. They assumed that I wanted to stay longer and asked whether I had a residential permit, and then when I said I didn’t they asked to show my returning ticket.

Summary: it was so good to finally be home, and before midnight!

P.S. Just to be clear: I understand that the suspicions against Russian passport holders are completely justified, and that post is not a protest.

The Delphi Museum And Going Back

After visiting the archeological site, we went to the museum see some excavated artifacts. It was equally if not more interesting than visiting the site itself. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, and we learned a lot from him, and each time after he had given us the information he would say: look, what a beautiful art! And now as I am looking at these pictures I took at the Delphi museum, and I do not want to write about each of the sculptures what/who do they represent and what is their significance. I just want to say the same thing our tour guide Kosta said: look, what a beautiful art! Look at all these muscles! Look at all these imperfect wrinkles of the clothes!

The ivory and gold statues of Apollo and Athena. They were buried near the temple in the antiant times when were became deteriorated of natural causes
Did you know that you could tell just by the clothes or absence of it that the first culture represents a polititan, the second one – a warrior and the third one an athlet?
The bronze Charioteer is considered to be a most valuable exhibit of the museum was created in 470s BC
I don’t know who has lunch at 2-30PM, but apparently, some Greeks do 🙂
That was supposed to be a picture by the #marathon hashtag, but I opted for the better view behind me

A Trip To Delphi

Now, here is a little bit more about our trip to Delphi. Boris was joking about visiting the first database in the world (because Delphi is a place where Oracle lived), and I said that it’s rather the first AI :). Except for that, we knew little about Delphi, so we spent all three hours on the road listening to the tour guide who was filling us in.

As I said, the most striking part were the views on the mountains and valleys, but that’s something impossible to describe or to capture on a photo. I tried but it doesn’t represent the reality, even remotely!

Each turn of the road produced more ahhs, because each next view was even more scenic than the previous one!

I have to admit, that I either forgot or never knew that Delphi is located by the Mount Parnassus.

And similarly(or consequently), I forgot that the temple with the Oracle was dedicated to Apollo. Another thing I didn’t know was that Appollo supposedly was out of town for winter months, and at that time, Dionysios ruled the city, and the plays were presented at the theater.

The visitors could ask the Oracle for advice only when Apollo was present.

The road the visitors would take to get to the temple

The Pythias were older women, but it was not like this from the beginning. Initially, Pythias were young virgins, but because of multiple cases of rape, the decision was made to choose Pythia from older virgins (over 50).

Pythia sat in the “basement” of the temple surrounded by the smoke of burning bay leaves. Also, although it is not confirmed, but it was believed that there were some cracks in the earth from which the vapors that caused the trance emanated. Pythia didn’t say anything in response to the questions. She could just move or produce some sounds, and these signs were interpreted by the prophets and communicated to the priests who gave the meaning of the response. So it was a very complicated procedure indeed!

Omphalos – a conical stone that symbolizes the center of the world, located close to the Apollo temple
The Theater – the first row seats were designated for dignitaries and have backs
The view of the Temple
Continuous excavation
The view of the Theater
A gigantic Roman stadium above the theater

Flights – A Lot Of Them

My current trip was planned several months ago, but I was utterly not prepared by my departure time on October 18. Just one thing to mention: I was not packed in the morning of the day of my departure.

My flight to Helsinki had a connection in London, and when Boris and I flew to Athens on Sunday, we had a connection in London again. Both times, it was horrible: long security lines and no priority line, and taking all the things out. Both times, there was no time to stop in the lounge.

The good part was that I had a Business class upgrade on the flight from London to Helsinki, and for some reason, they had a larger aircraft on this flight, so the business class was a real thing, with all these cool seats, and a nice lunch, and a cinnamon bun for a dessert.

I arrived in Helsinki at about 4-40 PM on Saturday, and on Sunday morning, we took off to Athens, with yet another connection in London, and the flight was delayed again, and no business class this time :).

On Saturday, when I was doing an early hotel check-in, I realized that I accidentally booked one extra day, and it turned out that removing this extra day was considered a late cancellation, but it was too late to do anything about it.

That will be the end of the complaints, because the hotel is great, and we did a day and a half of touring, and now the conference is happening, and although I am not presenting this time, I do not have a second to spare!

Delphi

Just pictures for now, but there will be words as well 🙂

The best thing was the day of traveling through the mountains, but you can take as many pictures as you want, and they won’t even remotely describe how it looks and feels!

Avios Saga

This lasted for way too long! First (and I believe I mentioned it) I realized that I didn’t add my Finnair Plus number to my September reservations and for some reason, the BA website didn’t allow me to add it. I had to call BA and go through a very long wait, but in the end, they made the change, and I started to see these reservations on my Finnair Plus app.

After my first flight, I didn’t see my Avios, but I knew that with the partner points, it might take a couple of days. When no Avios appeared after a week, I called Finnair and asked what was going on. They promised to investigate, and I saw a “pending” message on the app, but a day later, all four flights showed “rejected.” When it happened a couple of times before, I let it go, but this time, there were four flights, and my end-of-tier-points period was fast approaching, so I called Finnair again. They said that it looked like my loyalty number was not on the reservation (which was not true), so I asked them what I could do to claim my points. They said it was a good question and they would send another email to BA.

Still, nothing happened. I called BA, and they said they had my number and everything; it’s just that Finnair never requested them… Everything started to look Kafkian. I called BA and Finnair every other day, and every other day, it was the same story: BA said they had all the information, but Finnair didn’t request it, and Finnair said that BA didn’t reply to their email. I complained on X and received a number of false agents’ responses plus one actual Finnair response: “We are still waiting for BA to email us.” Out of complete desperation, two days before the end of the tier points period, I called BA again and asked whether I could change the loyalty program on the tickets to the BA executive club (then I could transfer them myself). They said I could do it, but it would take up to six business days, so it wouldn’t solve my problem of receiving my missing point before the cutoff. The lady was super nice, and she said that she would try to escalate my case (although technically speaking it was not their case!), but she can’t promise.

Now, I was already Finnair Plus, and I already had enough points to maintain this status, but since I flew a lot this year, Finnair Platinum was within reach. I knew I wouldn’t have enough tier points, and I would need to exchange some of my Avios for tier points, but I was hoping to get it to the minimum.

A day before the end of the period, I asked Boris whether I should wait for another day or make the Avios exchange, and he replied that it had already cost me more time than the Avios was worth (which was true) and that I should exchange and be done with it. It turned out that I needed to change just a little bit less than the maximum allowed amount, and so now I have FInnair Platinum.

However, I didn’t want to leave the case as it was (after all, I still could use missing Avios for Avios), so I decided to find a way to complain. It took me a while, but I found a place on the Finnair website to leave feedback and share all the details about my case. The following day, early in the morning, I saw that all my missing Avios magically appeared on my Finnair Plus, so I guess this method worked :). Several hours later, I received an email from Finnair, saying: “We are sorry there was a delay, but your Avios are now here.” I emailed back, saying: “Thank you, but I also want to ensure you have better customer service in our New York office.” They replied formally, and I decided to stop.
In retrospect, I do not regret I spent that much time. The previous time I had points rejected, the number of points was small, and I didn’t want to spend time trying to resolve the issue, but that time around, I wanted to protect my consumer rights 🙂

I am a Professional!

The very last piece from my September trip. We walked around like complete tourists in Amsterdam and walked into this very touristy cheese shop, where literally everyone shops. We walked around the shop; I knew I wouldn’t be able to take anything with me, and I wouldn’t need any cheese before Thanksgiving, but Boris wanted to take something along. he liked one of the cheeses we had at the breakfast buffet in Jakarta, but we had no idea how it was called. So when the store associate asked us whether we needed any help, I first replied: thanks, we are just thinking, but then I decided to ask her. Boris started to describe the texture of the cheese he liked “as if it was dry, but not really dry,” and she immediately said: try this one on the opposite side – that should be the one.

We took the samples, and it was indeed the one. We thanked the associate, and she proudly said: I am a professional!

Then I decided to buy a set of cheese knives and forks (I thought I would bring it to Vlad and Dylon – I couldn’t possibly know this trip wouldn’t happen!). So I chose the set, and we started to check out when the same associate said: you know, they won’t allow this knife in the carry-on! The other two pieces are fine, but because of this third one you will have to check it in. Since I had a second flight the same day and didn’t want to risk getting out and getting back in, I had to put the set back on the shelf. I thanked her again (after all, she lost the sale on us, and we wouldn’t go after her if we figured this out in the airport!). She replied: I am a professional!

Indeed!

Google Knows!

The last story from my delayed flights saga. On September 12, when I already left my company’s London office and took Elizabeth line to Heathrow, I received a notification from Google (not British Airways): Flight XXX delayed arrival – 90 minutes. I don’t remember the exact verbiage, but something like that. Immediately, I looked at my BA boarding pass, but it didn’t show any delays. Since during my Chicago delay, Google was more accurate in estimating the delay time than AA, I thought that I will see the departure time change soon, but nothing came up. I arrived to the airport, waited for the departure in the lounge, still surprised that there was no delay announced, and finally proceeded to boarding. The flight was still perfectly on time, I took my seat, and soon, the boarding was complete.

Then came a usual announcement: “That’s your captain speaking,” and immediately after that he went off script: “So, you heard the thunder when you were boarding, right? Yea, it’s quite a storm going on, and now the traffic control want us to sit here and wait for the storm to clear. We will update you as soon as we know.”

Guess how much we were delayed? Yes, an hour and a half, and yes – just an arrival, not departure!

This left me wonder – how did Google know????