The (very secure) return to the States

The trip home was long, but overall uneventful. I only had to pass through four security checkpoints, and the agents of the Finnish, German and U.S. governments all seemed to agree that nothing harmful could come of my book, pocket lint and bottle of water. You would think that the government of Germany would trust the government of Finland to be able to screen passengers and their carry-on luggage, but apparently not. I guess that EU friendship only goes so far.

Same thing for the U.S. and Germany. I mean, I was patted down in Germany. Surely that's more thorough than the DHS screening where I take off my shoes? Needless to say, in each airport I stopped at (Helsinki, Frankfurt and Philly), I had to go through the "walk through a metal detector and screen your carry-on luggage" security process. I can see where there are certain countries you might be wary of providing the only security screening of your passengers, but I would think that the NATO countries are all up to par at least, right? I suppose in the age of global terrorism I'm willing to be more understanding, but still.

I thoroughly enjoyed my "in seat entertainment system" on the flight back. I don't know what they do in First Class now (maybe live performances of any show on Broadway and a spa?) but I was pleasantly surprised that we plebians in "economy" had our own in-seat TV screens. There were several movies to choose from and even some TV shows, and I cleverly used my own headphones to avoid "renting" theirs. The problem is that on a nine hour flight, even this entertainment only lasts so long. You watch a movie, read for a bit, watch an episode of "Friends" and then look at your watch...only SIX more hours! Woohoo! I thought we were supposed to have scram jets or something by now. Alas.

And, unlike the trip over, they didn't lose my luggage, which means I really don't have much to complain about. I was a little nervos when the first Customs agent was kind of gruff and wrote lots of things on my declaration form, but the second guy mainly looked at the markings, asked me a few more questions, looked puzzled, and sent me on my way.

So, by Thursday I was pretty much recovered from my jetlag. It usually doesn't take me that long, so I must be getting old. Tuesday was pretty much a haze, though. Which made for bad storytelling for everyone who asked...

"So Marc, tell us about Finland. What was your favorite part?"

"Ummm...Finland? It's cold there. And I did ate the, um, thing, and did some stuff...zzzzz"

"Marc? Marc?"

All in all it was a great trip, and I'm coherent enough to talk about it now if you're curious. Below are some pics of the cool things I saw.




This is a picture of one of my favorite places I visited in Finland, the "Rock Church." It is named this because it is quite literally a church just cut into the bedrock. I thought it was a really unique place.









I also really liked the architecture in Helsinki. When it was made the capitol, they brought in a German architect named Engel to design (among other things) this Cathedral and the main government buildings in what is now "Senate Square." A lot of city is modeled after this style of achitecture.

Here are some street shots so you can see more of the architecture

This is the Roman Orthodox Cathedral in the city, which is apparently the largest in the Western world. I didn't get to go inside, but from its position on the hill you can see it from most places in the city, which I thought was cool.