Travelling down to Heathrow on the day after Boxing Day was not the best journey I have ever encountered. The whole of the country was pretty much shrouded in thick fog. On top of that it seemed that every man and his dog was travelling home after the festivities. There was so much congestion with heavy traffic, roadworks and road closures on the M1 which slowed the traffic down so much. 

After getting to the hotel we then had a mammoth task of actually getting parked. We eventually had to resort to parking on double yellow lines in the hotel car park. When we checked in the receptionist didn’t even seem bothered when we told her. 

After we settled in our room we then went downstairs to the hotel restaurant, a nice little Italian place. We were seated immediately and didn’t have to wait too long for service. I could sense that the staff were a little rushed off their feet. It turned out that a flight to New York that should have set off that morning had been cancelled, and passengers had been booked in for a night’s stay and food. About half an hour into our service there was a massive queue for tables so we had been lucky getting in when we did. The staff did really well with this added pressure and it didn’t spoil our night. 

The only thing that kind of upset our evening was me receiving a text from Finnair, saying that our flight on Saturday morning was delayed. It was now a 9:10am departure instead of 7:30am. Thinking that we could have a bit of a lie-in was out of the question as we still had to arrive at the airport at the original time. Never mind, it was lights out for us, with a 5:00am alarm on Saturday. 

It didn’t seem that long since my head hit the pillow that we had the rude awakening by my alarm.  It was a case of getting dressed and hopping in an Uber to Heathrow’s terminal 3.  Getting through security was a breeze and we then got settled in the Qantas lounge, which can be used by Finnair customers. It was lovely and peaceful in there, and it gave us chance to chill out and relax despite the early start. 

We kept an eye on the board for any changes to our departure time, but it stuck at the later time of 9:10am. We were called to gate 9 at about 8:15am and it all went very smoothly. 

After boarding, the captain apologised for our delay. He explained that it was because the crew needed a statutory rest period after arriving late the day before. That was obviously the reason why we’d been informed about the delay last night. We had been lucky though, over 20 flights had already been cancelled on Saturday morning when we were there. 

The flight was smooth and went quickly. We had time to eat our pre-ordered breakfast, a generous healthy fruit platter. This was served with a choice of tea, coffee, juices or even alcoholic drinks. I stuck with orange juice – it was too early to be tackling anything else.

We landed in Helsinki at our rescheduled arrival time of 13:30 local time. The airport was fairly quiet so we got through customs easily. Many of those on our plane were in transit to Dubai so didn’t need to follow our route to the exit.  We ordered an Uber which took us 30 minutes or so, and arrived at Lapland Hotel Bulevardi just before check-in time. 

The hotel staff were really lovely and helpful, giving us tips of where to go in Helsinki. Once we’d freshened up we headed out towards the historical part of the city.  I wanted to go to the open air market in Helsinki’s Market Square.  It was dark by 3:30pm so we could get a good view of the Christmas lights and decorations as we walked through the streets. The Market Square is located at the south harbour near where the cruise liners moor up, and has been a main part of Helsinki trade for hundreds of years. 

The traders were selling various different items such as hats and scarves, soups and hot wines, items that were locally made from reindeer antlers and wood, Christmas baubles and dream catchers. I managed to get a Christmas bauble in the shape of a Finnish warrior. Unfortunately when we went some of the vendors were packing up so we can try and visit again another time. 

We walked back on a different route, this time in the shopping area of Helsinki and enjoyed more Christmas lights that adorned the streets. 

Once we arrived back at the hotel we went for a drink. I decided to have a hot glögi, which was a hot wine but with the hotel bar’s own twist in that flavourings. It was very nice and warmed me up nicely after being out in the cold. 

https://www.laplandhotels.com/fi/hotellit-ja-kohteet/helsinki/lapland-hotels-bulevardi

After a quick change and freshen up, we went for something to eat in the hotel restaurant, named Kultá. This is a traditional Finnish restaurant that offers local delicacies such as reindeer and fish. We had bread and blini to start, which was nice. Our server, Tara, brought us some wine and water. For a starter I went for a platter of local tapas which included smoked reindeer, fish tartare, artichoke, vendace roe, cheese and local berries. It was presented beautifully on a wooden latter that was decorated with pine and that in itself smelled lovely.

Next I went for beef tenderloin which was served with creamed potatoes, flavoured with a local blue cheese, and some grilled artichoke. The whole meal was reminiscent of our time aboard Hurtigruten’s MS Trollfjord which took us down the coast of Norway and Svalbard, and had the fabulous restaurant Røst.

https://www.kitchenkulta.fi/en/kulta-kitchen-bar.html

Once the bill was paid we went to the bar for a cocktail before heading up to bed.