Day 1 - Helsinki to Cork

1st August 2016

I woke up in the morning to the chime of the alarm on a new application on my phone called "Sleep Cycle". It shows you how well you sleep, and when you sleep best for future adjustments. And when you should wake up so that you are feel most awake ;)

So after breakfast, and any last minute packing of miniature toiletries (because I only had carry-on luggage, and could only take 100ml)  Harri, mum and dad drove me to the airport. I don't know why I didn't have a cup of tea with them before they left, but anyways ... I got through security and bought myself a large bottle of water and a muffin. I then sat myself down at a table with a wood burning fire, ate and read for half an hour till it was just before boarding, when I headed to the gate.

The first flight was in a small Canadian jet, and I was sitting right at the front in seat 4F. Of course, it was with a window seat; ;) It was just taking me from Helsinki to Stockholm, so it only took 40 minutes.

Getting off the first flight in Stockholm

The next flight was not for two hours, so I went to another cafe and bought yogurt with blueberries and I cut a banana into it. I lost an hour, from Helsinki to Stockholm, so I was getting quite hungry.

My snack at the airport overlooking planes

Here I finished writing my previous blog post for Rome.

Boarding a bigger plane from Stockholm to Dublin, and sitting down in my window seat 3A, felt completely natural. Maybe I am getting too used to this luxury?

Here I got hooked on the novel I was reading, as it had just reached the main climax of the plot. So ... I forgot to eat. haha. When I finally remembered to eat I was starving, and so I think that started my upset stomach ;) I am not sure ...

First glimpse of Dublin behind the clouds

Arriving at Dublin airport was lovely. It was not raining, but it was quite fresh and grey when I got off the plane. I then had to walk for a long distance to get to the exit.

When I got to the exit, I realised that I needed to get some snacks for the 3 hour bus journey I would be taking from Dublin to Cork, so I went to the only cafe to buy a muesli bar, some traditional sweet bun, and a juice. After I had bought these snacks I realised that I needed to buy some water, because I couldn't fill up my empty bottle. So, back in the line I went :)

Sinking in to my seat on the bus was heavenly. It was much more cushiony and large compared to aeroplane chairs.

This is when my stomach started really hurting. I through perhaps I was hungry, so I had something to eat. While it did stop for a while, it then started hurting again, so I ate some more. But I don't think I was hungry ;) Thinking back, it could have been the gherkin (that I don't like) and hot mustard (which I never have) on the sandwich on the plane that was making my stomach go all weird.

I finished my novel ...

I checked my mail ...

I started on my group devotional reading for the week ...

I read some articles online ...

And finally I was in Cork :)

River Lee, which goes right through Cork city

Danielle, my friend from university, and her brother were there to pick me up, because I was going to stay with them in Saleen, which is outside of the city.

Cork is in the top left corner, and Saleen is where the blue dot is

After this we had a lovely dinner, caught up on each others Summer adventures, and went to bed.

Now you are uptodate,

Laura

xoxo