Who forgot to order my private jet? And I admit, I was wrong about the lack of restaurants in Helsinki.
When we wake up, we have officially arrived in Murmansk , having secured customs clearance for disembarkation. Our bags have been cleared from where we left them outside our rooms the night before. As I take slightly longer than MG to get ready and organized in the morning, he picks up our passports and miraculously manages to get our passports stamped (once, with the most official looking stamp available, while the Chinese group proceed to fill pages of their passports with ALL available stamps).
With one final breakfast in the dining room and a final sweep of our room, we leave the ship and take the bus to the airport. As we say goodbye to the expedition crew, many of them ask if we plan to make the journey to the Antarctic or South Georgia. Our 120+ group fills the tiny Murmansk airport, however, I can attest the washrooms are reasonably well maintained. As we board the plane, we notice the only other plane at the airport is a sleek private jet that takes off minutes before us. It isn’t that tricky to deduce which passengers aren’t on the charter plan and are most likely to have private jet access.
Helsinki is warm and sunny…but first priority is free wifi in the hotel, reading missed emails and connecting back with the world. We enjoy a relaxed evening with our north pole BFFs…expertly navigating downtown Helsinki. After I mention our challenge finding restaurants when we were here at the beginning of the trip…every restaurant is pointed out. Finally, we say goodnight and goodbye to our new friends, agreeing that we will see each other again, either in Switzerland (most likely) or in Israel (also possible).
MG and I have a drink at the bar and chat with the other remaining passengers, but it isn’t a late night. The king size bed seems massive after two weeks of sharing a 90cm mattress (by choice... not using the bed-couch combo for sleeping). For the first time in almost two weeks the sun outside our window sets, but we are fast asleep.