We left OKC yesterday, May 9 at 12:35 p.m. The Iceland volcano erupted again earlier that day, leaving us with a slight uneasy feeling that we might be diverted around the volcanic ash, or like some unlucky travelers, be half way to our destination and be forced to turnaround. Good thing for us, we didn't experience either of those situations.
Lesson #1 compliments of Delta: "Do not put any unapproved materials in the back seat pockets." Weird. We reached Atlanta around 3:45 p.m. and proceeded to find some grub at the airport Chili's. We should have known that we were off to a bad start, when our server, Swan, brought Jill the chicken enchilada soup instead of the potato soup. That just started a whole chain of bad juju. After a round celebratory "1st leg journey" drinks, we proceeded to our gate.
Our flight from Atlanta to Copenhagen, Denmark, was delayed from 6:30 to 7:45. We saw quite a few crazy characters waiting for the plane to Denmark. Some dudes with crazy facial piercings and tattoos from Pain for Fun - Body Extremes were probably the most extreme. When it was finally time to board, people were antsy, crowding the boarding line when it wasn't their turn to board! Our plane was very big; our seats were five rows from the back of the plane (closest to the restrooms). We enjoyed an onboard dinner of chicken and veggies, salad, roll, brownie and complimentary wine :) The flight wasn't too bad, not too many turbulence. The girls who took the good sleeping pills enjoyed a more restful sleep than the other girls who took the over the counter sleeping pills - note to self - take good sleeping pills next time!
We arrive in Copenhagen, Denmark, almost two hours late. We missed our connecting flight to Turku. After being corralled like cattle up the escalator to the customs agents, we learned that we had been standing in the wrong line. We needed to be in the line for connecting flights. We only had to pass our carry-on lugguage through the x-ray machine. Poor Robynn had her bags entirely unpacked by the security gal. After reaching the TransferCentre, the lady behind the counter had the audacity to tell us that it was our fault that we missed our flight to Turku. Nevermind that Delta didn't leave Atlanta until two hours late! We spent the next 3-4 hours trying to find an alternate method of transportation to Turku. Amy called American Express and that lady rebooked us on a flight to Helsinki. The catch was that all of us would be on the 3:15 flight except Robynn, she was booked on the 5:10 flight. Those this was not an ideal situation, it was the best we could get so we went with it. Go figure, our flight to Helsinki was delayed too. The four of us (Lynn, Aimee, Amy, Jill) said our goodbyes to Robynn and boarded the Scandinavian Airlines plane for Helsinki. The air steward walked through the cabin, counting the available seats. We could see 3 empty seats and hoped that he would get on the phone to tell the lady at the gate to bring Robynn on the plane, but he didn't. But then, to our amazement, Robynn walked on the plane! We cried shouts of joy to have all our team members together again.
Fast forward an hour flight and another timezone and we land in Helsinki at 6:00 p.m. Helsinki time (10:00 a.m. Oklahoma time). While in Copenhagen, the agent made Jill aware that her baggage claim ticket didn't have Turku as her bag's final destination, but assured her that since getting a new ticket to Helsinki, that her bag would follow her there. Wrong! All of our luggage arrived but Jill's. Our Rotarian host and driver were very kind and drove us back the 80 miles to Forassa where we met our host families.
Amy and Robynn went back to their host family's house to enjoy some baked goods. Aimee and I went with our host families to Subway for some authentic American sandwiches. Jill went with her host family, though I'm not sure what food was involved in her stay :)
Overall, it has been a great day (besides Delta losing Jill's luggage and not automatically booking us to another Turku flight). I'm almost certain that all of my team members have showered and are probably in bed by now. We are meeting tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m. OK time). The locals assure us that we'll recover from our jet lag very soon :)
Lynn
Lesson #1 compliments of Delta: "Do not put any unapproved materials in the back seat pockets." Weird. We reached Atlanta around 3:45 p.m. and proceeded to find some grub at the airport Chili's. We should have known that we were off to a bad start, when our server, Swan, brought Jill the chicken enchilada soup instead of the potato soup. That just started a whole chain of bad juju. After a round celebratory "1st leg journey" drinks, we proceeded to our gate.
Our flight from Atlanta to Copenhagen, Denmark, was delayed from 6:30 to 7:45. We saw quite a few crazy characters waiting for the plane to Denmark. Some dudes with crazy facial piercings and tattoos from Pain for Fun - Body Extremes were probably the most extreme. When it was finally time to board, people were antsy, crowding the boarding line when it wasn't their turn to board! Our plane was very big; our seats were five rows from the back of the plane (closest to the restrooms). We enjoyed an onboard dinner of chicken and veggies, salad, roll, brownie and complimentary wine :) The flight wasn't too bad, not too many turbulence. The girls who took the good sleeping pills enjoyed a more restful sleep than the other girls who took the over the counter sleeping pills - note to self - take good sleeping pills next time!
We arrive in Copenhagen, Denmark, almost two hours late. We missed our connecting flight to Turku. After being corralled like cattle up the escalator to the customs agents, we learned that we had been standing in the wrong line. We needed to be in the line for connecting flights. We only had to pass our carry-on lugguage through the x-ray machine. Poor Robynn had her bags entirely unpacked by the security gal. After reaching the TransferCentre, the lady behind the counter had the audacity to tell us that it was our fault that we missed our flight to Turku. Nevermind that Delta didn't leave Atlanta until two hours late! We spent the next 3-4 hours trying to find an alternate method of transportation to Turku. Amy called American Express and that lady rebooked us on a flight to Helsinki. The catch was that all of us would be on the 3:15 flight except Robynn, she was booked on the 5:10 flight. Those this was not an ideal situation, it was the best we could get so we went with it. Go figure, our flight to Helsinki was delayed too. The four of us (Lynn, Aimee, Amy, Jill) said our goodbyes to Robynn and boarded the Scandinavian Airlines plane for Helsinki. The air steward walked through the cabin, counting the available seats. We could see 3 empty seats and hoped that he would get on the phone to tell the lady at the gate to bring Robynn on the plane, but he didn't. But then, to our amazement, Robynn walked on the plane! We cried shouts of joy to have all our team members together again.
Fast forward an hour flight and another timezone and we land in Helsinki at 6:00 p.m. Helsinki time (10:00 a.m. Oklahoma time). While in Copenhagen, the agent made Jill aware that her baggage claim ticket didn't have Turku as her bag's final destination, but assured her that since getting a new ticket to Helsinki, that her bag would follow her there. Wrong! All of our luggage arrived but Jill's. Our Rotarian host and driver were very kind and drove us back the 80 miles to Forassa where we met our host families.
Amy and Robynn went back to their host family's house to enjoy some baked goods. Aimee and I went with our host families to Subway for some authentic American sandwiches. Jill went with her host family, though I'm not sure what food was involved in her stay :)
Overall, it has been a great day (besides Delta losing Jill's luggage and not automatically booking us to another Turku flight). I'm almost certain that all of my team members have showered and are probably in bed by now. We are meeting tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m. OK time). The locals assure us that we'll recover from our jet lag very soon :)
Lynn
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