Hayley and I flew from Prestwick to Stanstead on the Sunday night, and we met Chris Devenney there (who went to my school but is now my flatmate, bit of an odd coincidence). Straight off the plane we headed for the bar. 2 Magners later I was feeling a little tipsy. Hayley had been knocking back the Baileys and with our lack of eating we were a little worse for wear. So we scraped together the last of our pounds and had a bowl of stale tortellini. Totally not worth a fiver, but it passed time. We spent the following 9 hours playing top trumps (both ‘celebrity’ and ‘Harry Potter’) and Hangman, Squares, and other paper games of years gone by. We sat in Costa coffee and waited in the empty airport for what seemed like weeks. It dragged on and on…..
Eventually at about 4am, Maxine, Jodie and Vikki turned up (they had been staying at Jodie’s in Salisbury). They were far too hyper for my liking but at around 6 we checked in and went and had yet another coffee in starbucks...
(Finland from the air)
The flight to Tampere was hell. I felt so so ill. I had never been so glad to land.
At Tampere the ground was covered in snow, the runway was iced up. FINLAND! We were all so excited and ran across the runway to the tiny airport terminal. We got our bags and got on a coach to Helsinki. €25 already. Public transport would prove to be expensive this week.
(Hayley and I on the Runway)
(Hayley and I on the Runway) In Helsinki we met Emma who took us to McDonalds for breakfast. I still wasn’t feeling too great but it was so good to see Emma. She went and bought us a 3 day bus pass (…€20) and we sat and ate our Finnish McDonalds. Carita came and took Vikki, Maxine and Chris to her flat on the bus, while, Hayley, Jodie Emma and myself went in her car with all the luggage. We settled in to the tiny room where I would be staying in a bed with Hayley and Vikki and Maxine had 2 singles surrounding us. There wasn’t space to stand. Carita’s flat was empty. There was no food or drink. The fridge stank of rotting flesh…luckily that night we had dinner at Emma’s house, where her dad (who originates from Manchester) made us Thai curry. A decent meal at last! Back to Carita's to get ready to go out, and Emma's friend Ville came over with some black alcoholic finnish drink. It was pretty much thick aftershock. So we drank the whole bottle.
(Ville Carita and myself)That night we went out to the Barfly in Helsinki. We met Emma’s friends, who were all lovely. We got very drunk (me on the pear cider yum yum) and danced the night away. I met a French guy whose version of ‘hello’ involved bribing me to talk with a cigarette. Interesting move, so Hayley and I entertained him for a while with our useless French, which is even worse when I’m drunk. His name was Dimitri, or Dim for short. If you ever read this, get in touch haha, you were interesting…Greek, French, Finnish hybrid man.
(Maxine and I, still bemused by Finnish....)Emma decided it was time to leave and go get a McDonalds (wasn’t really feeling up to it myself, but okay.) However, they were shut and Vikki, Jodie and I all really really had to pee…..so we ended up squatting in the middle of fucking Helsinki, in some square with blue lights and big mounds of earth, right outside some sort of shopping center. Oh how embarrassing……..
When we eventually got back to Carita’s, she made a tiny tray of oven chips, which didn’t really help us, and then we all crashed out, sleeping for the first time since Saturday night.
Welcome to Tuesday, our first full day in Helsinki. We went and had breakfast in Gusto in the Kaampi center. It would soon be our favourite eating place. The food there was so nice, I think I had a mozzarella and pesto baguette, which was €5 and all so fresh. Healthy eating in Finland is so much easier than here. No wonder we have such a huge obesity problem. I think we could learn so much from Finland. We wandered around the shops and I bought a few tops from Vero Moda.
Emma took us to a really posh hotel for drinks, we had a bottle of champagne up in a bar on the 12th floor of this building and had our photos taken out on the balcony. The view of Helsinki was phenomenal. What was interesting however, were the toilets. They all had huge windows in them, meaning anyone could see you…doing your business. I guess they must be mirrored on the outside, cause the windows
really were huge…Didn’t stop us peeing though. Then we headed back to Carita’s to get changed (the others went back to Emma’s). 
We had dinner in Ville’s studio flat – 2 huuuge pizzas between the visitors, which ended in a race to finish after we split into 2 teams. Best pizza I’ve ever had!
We went out to The Club firstly, and then The Barfly again. I was drinking white Russians (they seem to be pretty popular in Helsinki, don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone drink one at home though!?). Blueberry shots that came in beautiful big shot glasses - which were quickly tumbled into my handbag by Jodie, and of course, pear cider.
(Blueberry shots - with blueberry seeds and cream!?)The photos from this night are pretty spectacular, Ville picking Jodie and I up – don’t think anyone has managed that since I was a baby! Us pretending to be antelop
es, Hayley pulling some blonde Finnish guy…yup it was all pretty eventful! It was also this night that Hayley did a forward roll into Vikki’s crotch in the taxi. Her taxi gymnastics are 
still amazing.On Wednesday, we went into town for a while, then went to Emma’s house for…NAKED SAUNA!! The highlight of the trip we had all been waiting for. Of course some of us weren’t too pleased with the thought of naked sauna, so we wore swimsuits. I went in with Jodie and Vikki -“three hippos at the zoo” we declared as tiny petite Maxine looked at us through the glass. Still, we sat there for a good while and I felt like my skin had sweated out so much crap, it was fantastic. I could do with having a sauna in my house haha.
After that Emma’s dad cooked us Finnish sausages and then we headed out to the Aussie bar to meet Emma’s friends, however it was €7 for a glass of cider or €8 for a white wine, so we didn’t drink until we got the The Club, which was €1 champagne, cider or beer night! This is what we’d been waiting for!! The table was crammed full of drinks, you’d buy yourself 5 at a time, just to get drunk, as the offer was only on until midnight.
Jodie ended up buying champagne with her credit card, and Hayley chatted up the man at the blackjack table. After we managed to drink all the drinks (it was a m
ajor rush of downing glasses of champagne and pints of cider) we left to go to Swengi, a karaoke nightclub. By this point we were all fucked, Hayley walked into a sign and knocked it over, and I was worse for wear. Again. However at one point something changed and I became really upset and ended up in the toilets, phoning Phil, crying about our relationship which seems to be slipping through my fingers like sand. I remember telling him how he was the only one for me, how I would never move on and how I would always love him. Then I got annoyed and went “FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK IT!” and hung up. I’m a wonderful girlfriend…
Then Emma dragged me up onstage to sing Careless Whisper with her. Sadly, I don’t even know the words to it; all I know is the tune as we used to play it in my school band. That, combined with my drunken state, and the porno that they were playing behind the words, I couldn’t even stand there, let alone sing. So yes, I made a complete fool of myself in front of a whole karaoke bar. Nice one Mags.
Then Emma and Carita fell out, and Vikki and Jodie fell out. Ville had to walk home in the rain and yet again, the taxi cost a fortune, but we got home and we crashed out.
(Salads for breakfast - cheer up maxine!) 
Thursday, Vikki, Maxine, Hayley and I went into town ourselves and had a huge salad for breakfast (yum!) and then we met up with the others and Emma took us on a tram to the Seaside where we went and had coffee in a gorgeous café. We then got the tram back into town and went to see the Cathedral (some fit kids decided to run up the steps, I however, lumbered up with Jodie). After that Hayley and I went shopping for a while and I bought presents for Magz’s 19th, Phil and my brotheim.
(Cathedral place)
We then went to Eatz, a multi-cultural restaurant specialising in Mexican and
Australian food (it also had a sushi bar downstairs I think). Most of us had fajitas, which were wonderful and messy. There are photos somewhere to prove it. The barfly had a €1 drinks night and the Aussie bar had Emma’s ex Terry dj-ing at it, but we decided that considering we had a flight the next day we should perhaps for once not get fucked. However that didn’t stop me havin
g a few pear ciders before we headed home. However, that was just the start of the night, as we began to pack. Packing with 4 girls high on Helsinki is not easy. It ended up in Vikki trying to force her repulsively smelly feet into Hayley’s mouth, and Hayley being terrified of this wall-ornament thing in the kitchen. It was a bit freaky but she really was going nuts. We ended up staying awake until about 6am, the only person who really slept was Maxine, though god knows how through all the noise.
Friday was our last day in Helsinki, we got the bus into town and then a huge double decker train outa town to Tampere. Ville came on the train to say goodbye to everyone (I hope he comes to visit, he really was a nice guy) and we set off. Tampere is further North than Helsinki so the snow was deeper and the wind sharper. When we arrived we stuffed our suitcases into lockers and went for a drink in a bar called “Home” which was designed to be a bit like a house, with little rooms with sofas where you could sit with your friends, looking like some sorta 60s living room. Very cool concept. It is here that I had my last glass of Finnish Pear Cider haha. We then went to have dinner at this really cheap Pizza Buffet place because Vikki had ran out of money (though I still had to pay €3 towards her €8 meal). It was a pretty scary place, full of weird hobo people, and it was all run by one woman. We also stole ice cream (intended if you pay an extra €2) and had a jolly good time. Our last half hour was spent in Stockman, spending our last few euros (I bought myself a small Finland mug) and then it was time to get on the bus and go to Tampere. We said our goodbyes to Emma (Jodie and I were close to tears) and got on the coach. Within half and hour we were at the airport. The next while isn’t really worth documenting, but we arrived at Stanstead safely.
ajor rush of downing glasses of champagne and pints of cider) we left to go to Swengi, a karaoke nightclub. By this point we were all fucked, Hayley walked into a sign and knocked it over, and I was worse for wear. Again. However at one point something changed and I became really upset and ended up in the toilets, phoning Phil, crying about our relationship which seems to be slipping through my fingers like sand. I remember telling him how he was the only one for me, how I would never move on and how I would always love him. Then I got annoyed and went “FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK IT!” and hung up. I’m a wonderful girlfriend…Then Emma dragged me up onstage to sing Careless Whisper with her. Sadly, I don’t even know the words to it; all I know is the tune as we used to play it in my school band. That, combined with my drunken state, and the porno that they were playing behind the words, I couldn’t even stand there, let alone sing. So yes, I made a complete fool of myself in front of a whole karaoke bar. Nice one Mags.
Then Emma and Carita fell out, and Vikki and Jodie fell out. Ville had to walk home in the rain and yet again, the taxi cost a fortune, but we got home and we crashed out.
(Salads for breakfast - cheer up maxine!) 
Thursday, Vikki, Maxine, Hayley and I went into town ourselves and had a huge salad for breakfast (yum!) and then we met up with the others and Emma took us on a tram to the Seaside where we went and had coffee in a gorgeous café. We then got the tram back into town and went to see the Cathedral (some fit kids decided to run up the steps, I however, lumbered up with Jodie). After that Hayley and I went shopping for a while and I bought presents for Magz’s 19th, Phil and my brotheim.
(Cathedral place)We then went to Eatz, a multi-cultural restaurant specialising in Mexican and
Australian food (it also had a sushi bar downstairs I think). Most of us had fajitas, which were wonderful and messy. There are photos somewhere to prove it. The barfly had a €1 drinks night and the Aussie bar had Emma’s ex Terry dj-ing at it, but we decided that considering we had a flight the next day we should perhaps for once not get fucked. However that didn’t stop me havin
g a few pear ciders before we headed home. However, that was just the start of the night, as we began to pack. Packing with 4 girls high on Helsinki is not easy. It ended up in Vikki trying to force her repulsively smelly feet into Hayley’s mouth, and Hayley being terrified of this wall-ornament thing in the kitchen. It was a bit freaky but she really was going nuts. We ended up staying awake until about 6am, the only person who really slept was Maxine, though god knows how through all the noise.Friday was our last day in Helsinki, we got the bus into town and then a huge double decker train outa town to Tampere. Ville came on the train to say goodbye to everyone (I hope he comes to visit, he really was a nice guy) and we set off. Tampere is further North than Helsinki so the snow was deeper and the wind sharper. When we arrived we stuffed our suitcases into lockers and went for a drink in a bar called “Home” which was designed to be a bit like a house, with little rooms with sofas where you could sit with your friends, looking like some sorta 60s living room. Very cool concept. It is here that I had my last glass of Finnish Pear Cider haha. We then went to have dinner at this really cheap Pizza Buffet place because Vikki had ran out of money (though I still had to pay €3 towards her €8 meal). It was a pretty scary place, full of weird hobo people, and it was all run by one woman. We also stole ice cream (intended if you pay an extra €2) and had a jolly good time. Our last half hour was spent in Stockman, spending our last few euros (I bought myself a small Finland mug) and then it was time to get on the bus and go to Tampere. We said our goodbyes to Emma (Jodie and I were close to tears) and got on the coach. Within half and hour we were at the airport. The next while isn’t really worth documenting, but we arrived at Stanstead safely.
The night passed relatively quickly. It took ages to go through passport control. We had a coffee and by 5am we had checked in. We wandered around duty free for a while (Agent Provocateur’s perfume is lovely – hint hint anyone…) and all the tax-free shops. Didn’t buy anything, and then finally we could board the flight. It was quick, but the strong winds forced the pilot to do some crazy landing at Prestwick. Vikki and Maxine’s flight was delayed because of the winds, but luckily, we were back at my house by 9am, Saturday morning, and straight to bed.
A wonderful holiday, which opened my eyes to loads of new things, be it about my friendships, my country or my financial situation haha.
Moi Moi!
Xxxxxx maggieinthegraveyard
A wonderful holiday, which opened my eyes to loads of new things, be it about my friendships, my country or my financial situation haha.
Moi Moi!
Xxxxxx maggieinthegraveyard
London tomorrow...
