while in latvia, i bought a bottle of riga black balsams. i knew it would force me to check my bag at the airport, but i didn’t mind the idea. this morning as i thought about the multiple airports and the possibility of having to recheck my luggage in helsinki, i decided i would ditch the black balsams. i was disappointed i would be losing the souvenir and thought of a way to remember it; by taking some shots of it before i left. it has a chocolate taste sort of like kalhua and the burning sensation of vodka. it was 45 proof and a couple shots did the trick. I took the cork bottle top with me for olfactory reasons.

at the airport, the security lady confiscated my sunscreen and bug spray cause it was 118 ml, which is over the 100 ml limit. they were more strict than the states! fortunately, i was able to bring the six 40 ml bottles of lithuanian mead with me.

we took off in a tiny prop plane from tallinn. i was fortunate enough to be on the side of the plane that flew beside the old town before turning and heading across the gulf of finland. i got some great pics of the old town from the air as well as the toompea castle that eluded me. i also took some pics of the islands off the coast of finland. the flight lasted 20 minutes. up, down. pretty quick.

3 hours in the helsinki airport went by quickly. finnair started boarding early since they wanted to arrive in nyc ahead of schedule due to tropical storm hanna approaching. as much as they appeared to hurry along, we left 15 minutes behind schedule.

as on writing this as well as the other two posts, i’m on the finnair flight heading back to nyc. the only annoying thing about the flight is this screaming kid. every few hours it will scream so loud. argh!!! why do people fly with babies? can’t you stay at home for a few more years until the kid can explain what hurts instead of crying. if not, the airline should designate a baby area and have the cost of the seats lower for non-carrying baby people.

flying into jfk was nauseating. tropical storm hanna was pouring rain on the tri-state area, which made for a bumpy ride. as we approached the runway, heavy rain beat on the plane. the pilot made a great landing, and everyone clapped. john had mentioned that people always clap after landings on european flights. well, that was a first for me, and i was clapping with them.

ok, that’s all folks. we made it back in one piece. i have a few more things i want to write about the trip such as a little things post, or as john likes to refer to it, my cherry popping list, which is all the little things that make the experience of being overseas even more an experience.