The north pole is not a bad final destination for a suitcase…
Fortunately we have a mid-day flight, so we take advantage of the extra time and sleep through breakfast (and frankly, we’ve done enough eating in the last two weeks that it isn’t a horrible thing to skip another buffet breakfast). After almost two weeks of morning wake up calls from our expedition leader, it seems strange to not wake up to the words “Good morning Ladies and Gentleman. Today…”.
The Helsinki airport is the opposite of bustling (however, we see several other passengers making their way home). After a stop at the lounge, we are on our way. With a connection in Munich, we arrive home in Zurich in the late afternoon. As the plane touches down, MG asks if it feels like I’m arriving “home” in Switzerland – and it does.
While taking the train always seems like a convenient, economical way to the airport as the beginning of a trip, it feels as though it takes forever to get home. The problem is the inevitable 30 minute wait at Zurich HB and the 15 minute walk from the train station to our flat. With two weeks of winter clothes, plus our yellow parkas, we schlep our heavy bags from the station on foot. It’s a working day, which means it is sunny and delightful in Switzerland, and we are not dressed for summer weather. MG’s bag, already retrofitted with borrowed wheels, is done. He essentially drags it home and vows to replace it before out next trip… which is scheduled for 78 days from today – stay tuned J
We arrive home, sad for the trip to be over, but happy to be home after a day of travelling. We ask each other if the trip was worth it – the duration on the boat, the cost, the use of vacation days – and agree that the answer is definitely, yes.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain