Tuesday 9th September
Taxi from hotel to Finland Station at 2 pm. The station
exterior is very impressive but the international trains for Helsinki have a small separate waiting area
at the side so don't get to go inside the main part of the station. I am quite early so need a few minutes before I can check in with my ticket and passport,
only to find I have just moved from one part to another of a rather stuffy
waiting area. Still cannot go onto the platform. So make use of the duty free
to buy two cans of Heineken at 2 Euro each since I suspect everything in Finland may be
much more expensive.
 |
| Finland Station in St Petersburg |
Just after 3 pm they let us onto the platform and I find
my coach and seat on the train. I got the seat selection right, window seat facing the direction of travel but it doesn't really matter
since there are only three other people in the carriage! The train can't be
more than 20% full.
 |
| The Allegro Train at St Petersburg |
 |
| Plenty of seats available |
 |
| It even has a play area for children |
Leave on time and
almost immediately a Russian immigration official takes my passport, scans it,
and the visa, through a hand held terminal, stamps it and that is Russian
immigration done. A few minutes later a Russian customs man asks if I have
anything to declare, how much money am I carrying, and that is it. The train is
non stop to Vyborg
the last big station before the border. Later on discover that Vyborg was historically a Swedish/Finnish
city but the Russians seized it at the end of the Second World War. The
landscape outside is mainly yet more
birch forest. Makes you wonder why the Russians, Swedes and later Finns
fought over this land; did they need the
trees? About 4 pm I go to the restaurant car and get some Finnish meatballs and
a Finish beer. The prices are in Euros but I pay in Roubles, 1040. The
meatballs with mashed potato, gravy and cranberry sauce are exactly the same as
you get in IKEA.
 |
| Just like IKEA |
A few people get on at Vyborg
and all the immigration and customs people get off. We pass a few other small
local stations before crossing the border into Finland. At the first station in Finland, the
Finish immigration and customs officials come on. Again the immigration man
scans my passport through a hand held terminal and passes it back to me. For
the first time on my trip they don't stamp my passport; welcome to the EU. A
few minutes later two customs officials ask if I have anything to declare and
how many bags I have. If Russia
and Finland
can do border control so slickly here, why does it take so long at all the
other crossings? Once in Finland
there is noticeably less forest and more farming. See some lakes which fit exactly how I imagined Finland to be.
 |
| How I imagined Finland to be |
 |
| Another Finnish Lake |
See a combine harvester in action for
the first time in many years. Reminds me of The Wurzels "I got a Brand New
Combine Harvester"
We stop at quite a few stations in Finland
before we start passing commuter trains in the outskirts of Helsinki. Arrive at Helsinki Station on time. According to Wikipedia, Helsinki Station was designed by Eliel Saarinen and inaugurated in 1919. It was chosen as one of the world's most beautiful railway stations by the BBC in 2013. It is currently undergoing some restoration so the front of it is covered in scaffolding.
 |
| The Train in Helsinki Station |
 |
| Double Decker Train in Helsinki Station |
 |
Helsinki Station - Amazing to think it was built before the First World War, when Finland was still part of the Russian Empire
|
 |
| The Stone Men of Helsinki Station |
Thanks to Google maps, which is wonderful when it works, I know I can get a No
4 tram to the Scandic
Grand Marina
Hotel but it takes me a
while to find the tram stop. It is raining now, not heavily but definitely wet.
Don't have to wait long for the tram for which I pay €3 , bit of a change from Russia, and travel just a
few stops. Luckily I get off at the right one and it is only a few minutes walk
to the hotel, which is a converted warehouse in the harbour.
No comments:
Post a Comment