Finland and the Baltics: July 2022: Day 7: Landscapes

The Baltics

July 2022: Day 7: Landscapes

Breakfast before leaving. Still annoyed they charge for this and the food and beverage credit doesn't fully cover it.

Breakfast buffet.

Very modern.

Mini pancakes. Just okay.

Pancakes, eggs, turkey, fish, bacon, cheese...

Additional seating, I think this area was closed yesterday. Lobby.

Lobby.

Vilnius Airport is distinctly Soviet-era.

Finnair/Nordic Regional Airlines ATR 72-500.

Hot dog stand in HEL.

The #7 "big."

Overly sweet waffle at the Lufthansa Senator Lounge in FRA, Concourse Z.

Lufthansa Senator Lounge, Concourse Z, FRA.

Yay for upgrades.

Love the window seats closer to the window. Menu.

Menu.

Old Lufthansa A340-300.

Maybe 90 minutes after takeoff.

Warm nuts and actual champagne (!).

Roasted halibut. A little plain but did the job, and again a vast improvement vs. a few months ago.

Cheese plate was okay.

Feet dry over the southeastern coast of Iceland.

And feet dry again, somewhere over the east/southeastern coast of Greenland.

Glaciers and ice everywhere.

Mid-flight snacks.

Fruit salad before arrival.

San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.

Sunset over San Francisco Bay.

Fog rolling in.

Hotel buffet for breakfast wasn't bad. Not as good as Hotel U14 in Helsinki, but very decent. Then off to the airport to start the journey home.

Vilnius Airport car rental was surprisingly informal, and the terminal was a decidedly old school Soviet-era experience. Finnair/Nordic Regional Airlines uses little ATR 72-500's to Finland, had another reindeer hot dog while waiting in HEL, then off to Frankfurt via Lufthansa.

Did a bit less wandering between lounges this time around, was happy my upgrade cleared right before boarding (as was the passenger behind me-- we snagged the only two upgrades!), then was time for the flight to San Francisco.

Catering out of Frankfurt doesn't seem as good as it could have bee. Seared halibut, while an improvement over before, seemed to be overly safe, the cheese plate was not bad, the ice cream was back to a cardboard cup. Oh well. At least the views over Iceland and Greenland were both pretty spectacular; it had been much too long since I'd seen either from the air.

Arrival in San Franciso also had a nice sunset, although being punctuated by a bout of food poisoning (probably from the pre-arrival fruit cup) was no fun. Still, managed to make it back home without too much further unpleasantness (only threw up twice!...).