The Orchestra arrived in Helsinki Saturday night after one of the craziest travel days on record.  Edinburgh’s population swells by several million during the International and Fringe festivals and has the traffic jams to prove it!  Airport buses were due at the hotel at 12:45pm.   Three of the five buses arrived 30 minutes late, were quickly loaded with people and luggage and sent to the airport.  Two more buses to go.  30 minutes later, still no buses.  Everyone’s luggage was waiting at the curb when the skies opened with a proper Scottish downpour.  Several people stood and covered what bags they could with umbrellas, but they were no match for the rain.  Ten minutes later, just as porters began to run bags back inside, the sky cleared.  

 

Still no bus.  So, several people decided to make the most of it by heading across the cobblestone street for a pint! Finally, 90 minutes late, a bus was spotted making its way up the hill through the traffic.  One porter muttered, “please, please, please….”  It was indeed a bus.  Not the scheduled bus, but one the bus company had diverted from another job.  Two busloads of people and luggage were stuffed onto the bus, with a taxi following, and made their way through the throngs in the streets.  The bus driver was a hero and drove at breakneck speed to the airport - luckily the day’s flight was a charter so it would wait as long as necessary!

 

Once at the airport, staff began to hand out boarding passes to expedite the process.  However, because it was already after the scheduled departure time, the computers suddenly refused to print out boarding passes to check luggage because they thought the flight had already left.  More waiting while airline staff convinced the computers to work.  Finally, success.  Which was good since carry-on luggage was limited to one very small carry-on (measured by placing your bag into a box before going through security.) Then, the security line.  Very long.  

 

Eventually, everyone was on the plane.  And airborne.  And descended into Helsinki through a brilliant sunset.