1.1.2018 - The first day of the trip

The day started with packing. Well I should say the night, since I started packing around 1:00am... I ate a hasty breakfast, showered and left for the airport.

You know how they say that you should come to the airport at least two hours before departure? Well, I did... And I had to wait one hour and fifty minutes at the gate, because I got through the baggage drop and security in less than ten minutes... That's finnish efficiency for you. And so, I did what any normal person would do, and spent the next hour in a bar, because I couldn't find a Starbucks.

The flight was slightly delayed, and took a bit longer because of strong headwinds. It was a smaller airplane... Small enough that I couldn't stand straight in the lavatory. The only thing we got for free was a glass of blueberry juice, which would have been nicer had it not only been half full. I spent the flight like I do most other times... I listened to music, wrote for a little while and slept for the majority of the flight, paying back a portion of my ever growing sleep debt..

After the plane landed and I got my suitcase, I followed the instructions I got, and went to the bus terminal to grab a shuttle to the hotel. The only thing I remembered (I was very tired) was that my hotel is the NH Brussels airport hotel. I had just missed the first one, so I had to wait twenty minutes for the next one. And so, I got on the shuttle to NovHotel Brussels airport. I got to the reception, told them I had a reservation and showed them my booking confirmation. At that point I was told I was in the wrong hotel... NovHotel, NH... That's where the two letters come from, right? And then I saw the sign... It said Novotel... No H in sight... Apparently I can't read...

And so, I had to take the shuttle back to the airport (at least it was free) and I looked for the correct shuttle stop, the driver showed me where it was. I found it, looked at the schedule and waited for it to come. After a while I started wondering why it didn't show up. I went to check the time tables again and that's when I saw the red note st the side of the info panel: "Due to the holiday season the shuttle service to the NH brussels airport hotel is not in use. Please call the hotel at (followed by a long Belgian phone number) and we will arrange transport for you"... I hadn't bought a Belgian prepaid SIM yet, so I tried calling with my finnish number, to no avail... I went back to the shuttle driver and tried to ask for help. He only spoke french. Luckily, a driver for another company was there and he spoke english. I explained the situation to him and asked if he could call the hotel to ask what to do. I was instructed to go back to the airport, and wait near the info desk for a taxi driver holding my name. While waiting there, I walked around and found the only store in the whole airport that sells prepaid SIM cards... It had closed fifteen minutes earlier.

I had waited for about twenty five minutes when I overheard an american couple asking a cab driver if he was waiting for someone going to the NH hotel...I had asked him the same question a bit earlier, to which he replied no, but that I should wait here... I kept waiting. After a while a conversation sparked between us, based in our common misfortune. I had been there for almost forty minutes waiting for the driver to show up... We decided to just share a cab to the hotel. I finally got to the hotel, two and a half hours after I got out of the terminal... At least the hotel paid back the cab ride. Got to my room, settled in and went to eat. Got back, finished writing this entry and calling it a day. And oh boy, what a day it has been.