Home » Netherlands France Finland » Central Europe Travel Log (Fall 2003) [1]

After spending 3 months working in Helsinki, Finland, I decided to take advantage of my location and do some traveling in Central Europe.

Central Europe Travel Log (Fall 2003) [1]

Robertphelan
2004-02-06 23:47:22

Displayed times (last time: )

August 30, 2003: Last evening in Finland

Tanya has left, I've said goodbye to Eva, David, Dimitru, John and all the rest, and now it's time for me to make my departure. I'm saddened, more than I thought I'd be, to say goodbye to so many new and dear friends. Such is the way of life, especially the one that I've chosen.

With every departure, however, comes the promise of the next great adventure, with new friends, experiences, and memories. To that end, I'll be flying from Helsinki-Vantaa to CDG in Paris tomorrow starting at 4:30pm, arriving around 8:30 or so. I'm still doing some last minute packing and shopping for things, but I'm almost ready. I've got my hostel plans taken care of, so I've got a place to stay and all. The current plan is to take the subway from CDG to the city center Railway station, drop a large bag in a locker, and start wandering around the city center until I just can't walk anymore. Then it's 3km to the Le d'Artagnan hostel to catch some Zz's.

I must say, belonging to the international brotherhood of car nuts has some serious advantages. I was in a bit of a jam because that big bag that's going into a locker at the railway station was actually supposed to be shipped back to the states ahead of me. That is until I found out that it would cost me $110 to do so. So I sent out a request for aid on one of the car-nut mailing lists and within 24 hours, I had a place to store the bag for a month, and a free guide to Paris. So the plan for Monday is to go back to the railway station, pick up the bag, and meet Frederick at his office at noon. I'll drop the bag there and we'll go around Paris to check things out and get me a SIM card (phone chip) that works in central Europe. (I'll post the # here when I get it for emergencies)

So to sum up, I'm going to miss my friends, I leave tomorrow, and ...