Category: travel

Finnair

My flight to Helsinki was a disappointment. It was the first time in a while that I took a direct flight, and although Boris mentioned that recent service changes were for the worse, I didn’t fully believe him. 

I do not like complaining at length, but I wanted to mention a couple of things;

  • Not specifically related to Finnair, but the lounge they share with Qatar Airlines is indeed miserable (last time, I was in the BA lounge)
  • The food on the flight became way worse and less. The dinner does not include bread or crackers, or cheese; there is only a “snack” before arrival, not breakfast, as it used to be. Also, I didn’t see any duty-free shopping. 
  • The rows are way closer to each other, even in the 30-s rows, than they used to be. The last time I was so uncomfortable was several years ago on SAS flights, and I remember how happy I was to find a different situation on Finnair. I decided not to put any luggage under the seat in front of me, although my DRW backpack fits, because I thought I would have trouble stretching my legs, but even with all the space available, my knees hurt badly in the morning. 
  • Not related to Finnair: my neighbor on the left was horrible; I couldn’t imagine a tiny quiet middle-aged woman could be such a horrible neighbor: not “excuse me,” no “could you please,” not “thank you,” just multiple demands. 

Well, enough of that! I am in Helsinki, I have a new bike, and today is a day off work, so I will have an actual vacation day!’

Passports Disaster

I am on my way to Helsinki, but not the way it was planned – I am flying on my own. As I mentioned, the last two weeks were one emotional roller coaster. Here is a complete story of our passport disaster.

John’s and Nadia’s passports were good to travel in June, but Anna’s passport had expired, and Kira didn’t have one yet. Anna applied for both passports in February, not even thinking that she might need expedited processing, starting the whole thing sixteen weeks before the trip.

However, that was when everybody started to apply for passports and the current backlog had started. When the passports didn’t return in May, Anna started jokingly saying that she and Kira might need to travel to Chicago for an emergency appointment. When the passports were still not there two weeks before the departure date, she tried to apply for an emergency appointment only to realize that no appointments were available before the departure day!

That’s when we all started panicking. Anna called her Congresswoman, and her office promised help. Meanwhile, Anna called every day to see whether there would be any cancellations, but even when she would catch one, while she was on hold for another representative. 

On Wednesday, she came to Chicago to try to get in without an appointment, but they won’t let her in. Her Congresswoman’s office told her that they were supposed to get a callback on Monday, but they didn’t, and they don’t know why. Anna decided to try to get an appointment for a later date (she found another time during summer when everybody could go), and was able to get one for the two-week later date.

We decided it was better to go later in summer than not at all, and Anna spent another two hours on the phone exchanging the tickets. I decided to still go now (I just made the trip shorter) and booked another ticket for later. Just after we were done with all of these exchanges, Anna’s Congresswoman’s office called to inform her that they got an appointment for her on Friday!

We had yet another several very emptional hours. It turned out that while I could easily restore my original trip, Anna’s original tickets doubled in price. Even though I suggested a crazy idea of making this wish come true, there was a risk – what if the passports would still be delayed? What if something went wrong?

Anna and John decided to keep the new dates but still used this Friday’s appointment. Then, Anna had a last-minute realization that Nadia’s passport won’t be good for travel in August, so she needed to make the new one for her as well. 

I am on my way to Helsinki, but not the way it was planned – I am flying on my own. As I mentioned, the last two weeks were one emotional roller coaster. Here is a complete story of our passport disaster.

John’s and Nadia’s passports were good to travel in June, but Anna’s passport had expired, and Kira didn’t have one yet. Anna applied for both passports in February, not even thinking that she might need expedited processing, starting the whole thing sixteen weeks before the trip.

However, that was when everybody started to apply for passports and the current backlog had started. When the passports didn’t return in May, Anna started jokingly saying that she and Kira might need to travel to Chicago for an emergency appointment. When the passports were still not there two weeks before the departure date, she tried to apply for an emergency appointment only to realize that no appointments were available before the departure day!

That’s when we all started panicking. Anna called her Congresswoman, and her office promised help. Meanwhile, Anna called every day to see whether there would be any cancellations, but even when she would catch one, while she was on hold for another representative. 

On Wednesday, she came to Chicago to try to get in without an appointment, but they won’t let her in. Her Congresswoman’s office told her that they were supposed to get a callback on Monday, but they didn’t, and they don’t know why. Anna decided to try to get an appointment for a later date (she found another time during summer when everybody could go), and was able to get one for the two-week later date.

We decided it was better to go later in summer than not at all, and Anna spent another two hours on the phone exchanging the tickets. I decided to still go now (I just made the trip shorter) and booked another ticket for later. Just after we were done with all of these exchanges, Anna’s Congresswoman’s office called to inform her that they got an appointment for her on Friday!

We had yet another several very emptional hours. It turned out that while I could easily restore my original trip, Anna’s original tickets doubled in price. Even though I suggested a crazy idea of making this wish come true, there was a risk – what if the passports would still be delayed? What if something went wrong?

Anna and John decided to keep the new dates but still used this Friday’s appointment. Then, Anna had a last-minute realization that Nadia’s passport won’t be good for travel in August, so she needed to make the new one for her as well. 

They all came to Chicago on Friday a half-hour before their appointment time (which was 10 AM), and it turned out that the time didn’t matter at all, and they had to wait in line. They got in at about 12:30, and Anna was sent to retake her photo, but the person was at lunch, so they waited more. All our plans for the birthday lunch for the girls were not going to happen, and I decided to walk in their direction at least to see them and hand out my mom’s birthday cards for the girls and Vanille cookies and macaroons, which I ordered a day before. Fifteen minutes into our conversation, Anna received a call that the girls’ pictures had to be retaken as well.

After that, John drove home with the girls, and Anna waited for the passports, which were ready closer to 6 PM instead of 3-15 PM.

The good part is that now everyone has a passport so that we can plan our early August trip, but the horrible part is that… well, that is was a mission impossible!

***

The last several days (actually, more than a week) were a complete rollercoaster, and I can’t and do not want to talk about them now.

I know that the problems we were solving and the worries we had were so minor in comparison with what other people experienced. There are no life-threatening events, everybody is healthy, and I am almost ashamed to talk about our situation.

The good part is that we have plans for this summer, and although they’ve changed drastically from what they were a week ago, they should work :).

Since over the weekend, I was still unsure whether I would be traveling or not, I didn’t start packing, and then I was too nervous to pack because of all uncertainties. Tonight I skipped the concert I wanted to attend so that I could finally pack because I am leaving on Saturday, but I got caught up in reading about the current situation at the front, and… well, I still have about 40 hours 🙂

The Last Post About Ireland – Megaliths

I know you can’t tell it from the pictures, but by the time we left Trim Castle, the weather was horrible. We discussed whether it makes any sense to drive to the site of the oldest remains of civilization in Ireland – the Megaliths. Finally, we decided that we’ll make our way to the Loughcrew Cairns and then decided whether we felt like getting out of the car.

We did, and I couldn’t be more thankful to my friends who brought me there! Yes, muddy and rainy, and we had to climb the hills in the pouring rain, but it would be unforgiving if I would not use a chance to connect to these pieces of history,

Everything about them is unknown: who, when, and why put so much work into bringing the stones from all over Ireland into one place and worked so carefully on positioning the whole structure in accordance with the movement of the sun.

Standing there, I felt the presence of unknown forces, both empowered and humiliated simultaneously…

Trim Castle

This post was sitting in the drafts for almost a month. So many things happened after I traveled to Ireland! However, I still wanted to show the pictures of the city of Trim and its amazing Castle!
The city is very beautiful and very Medieval (I believe it is considered a city with the most Medieval building in Ireland.

Continue reading “Trim Castle” →

Bective Abbey

So many places I was during my fourth and the last day in Ireland that I almost forgot that I didn’t sow the pictures of Bective Abbey.

That’s another amazing piece of history and architecture of the mid-twelve century.

Continue reading “Bective Abbey” →

Ireland Day 4: Hill of Tara

My last day in Ireland was all about ancient history. First, we visited the Hill of Tara:

I know that pictures tell nothing about this place. It’s a feeling. It’s not that often that you visit a Christian site dated the 5th century A.D., but knowing that the place had a special meaning even during the Stone Age, gives it all a new perspective.

This place was visited by St.Patrick
Here, St. Patrick had a theological dispute with the Druid priest which resulted in the burning alive of the latter one
Continue reading “Ireland Day 4: Hill of Tara” →

Kilkenny – The City And The Castle

Back to my third day in Ireland: after visiting Glendalough National Park, we drove to Kilkenny – a small town with a gorgeous castle! Kilkenny Castle has a rich history, being continuously occupied for over 800 years. It’s even harder to imagine that for more than half of that period, it belonged to one family. The last owner handed the castle to the state so that it would become a museum and not turn into ruins, as many Irish castles did.

Currently, most of the castle rooms represent the later stage of the castle’s history, with elaborate furniture and decorations.

Continue reading “Kilkenny – The City And The Castle” →

Dublin Pictures

More pictures from Dublin – it was so much fun walking around, visiting the parks, and watching people.

Continue reading “Dublin Pictures” →

Henrietta Street 14 Museum

Sure, it was funny, cool, and special to visit a museum on the street with my name:

But regardless of the name, the house’s history is remarkable, and the museum is extremely interesting. That’s what I have been repeating to myself for the last couple of weeks since I returned from Ireland: yes, these days, you can find all information on the internet, but I would never think about looking up this information if I won’t visit Ireland, and if my incredible friends won’t take me everywhere!

So, back to Henrietta’s street. In the 1700s, it was a place where noble Irish families lived, and this particular house was occupied by the family of Lord Viscount Molesworth. But after 1801, when the power moved to London, and all noble families followed, this house went through major transformations. After being used for different offices, in 1876, the building was bought to be converted into a rental property. Shame on me, but I didn’t know that “communal apartments” were not invented in the Soviet Union. Apparently, in Dublin, a tenement was an 18th or 19th-century townhouse adapted to house multiple families. Thus, Henrietta Street 14, instead of being a home for one family, became a home for over 100 people.

The museum shows all stages of the house’s history: several 18th-century restored rooms would give an idea of how the Lords lived, and several restored flats represent different living conditions for families on different socio-economical levels.

I took very few pictures because I was very busy listening to the tour. It is astonishing how much life in the tenements was similar to life in the “communal apartments” in the Soviet Union.

During my first full day in Ireland, I walked more than 30,000 steps!