After months of trying to go to Finland but being blocked by the various Covid-19 travel restrictions I was finally able to put everything in place and head north. So come along and let’s travel to Helsinki Finland during Covid
Living in South Florida I have a collection of short pants, t-shirts, and flip flops; however, all the news reports were showing -3c and snowing in Helsinki and even worse at the Arctic circle (Lapland). Needless to say, my wardrobe was useless!! So I made the cardinal mistake of packing everything and immediately regretted my choice. Yes the weather is cold but I don’t need three jackets…. (I will post my revised packing list as an attachment). Having overpacked and ready for adventure I headed off to the airport.
Here is a pro tip for anyone living in South Florida. Use Tri-Rail and park your car in the FREE well lit and guarded parking lot. The Tri-Rail takes you directly to MIA and provides free transfers to and from the Ft. Lauderdale train station to the FLL airport.
Traveling during covid is both Awesome and a TOTAL pain. Awesome because the airports are empty! I mean EMPTY! At MIA there were no lines, no people, and it took longer to pull my ID out of my pocket than to walk up to the ID checker. When going through the security checkpoint we didn’t have to remove anything but the electronics from out bag and any items in our pockets. NO STRIP SHOW!
The total pain part was I had to wear the mask from the time I entered the train until the time I exited the Airport in Helsinki. That meant even though there was AMPLE social distancing I had to wear a mask every where all the time.
The flight over was quiet and as you can see…. empty. Best flight in a long time and British Airways rocked it. Once at LHR I felt like I was in a post apocalypse movie…. the gateways and lounge areas were completely empty but a few souls wearing masks. More workers than travelers! I had a lot of time to kill at LHR so I went to the cafe and had a few pints of local craft beer and a “proper english breakfast”, a must have if you are traveling through LHR.
Once in Helsinki I was offered, and accepted, a free Covid test at the airport and I received my negative result via text about 10 hours later. With my negative test and warm jacket in hand I am ready for my adventure….