Our 8th day was a travel day. We woke up early and met at 6:30 to pack the cars. After all our stuff was ready to go we went back to the hotel for breakfast – thankfully, most of the breakfast was already laid out despite the early hour and the fact that breakfast officially started at 7:00.
On our way to the airport we admired the landscape and listened to “Slave to love” one last time. Most of us were dropped at the airport, whilst Väinö and Kassu went to return the cars. Unfortunately, neither online check-in or group check-in was available for British Airways, so we all had to do our check-in in the old-fashioned way – by queuing individually. Obviously, this was a rather slow process – especially as Kassu and Vainö came to the airport only after everyone else was already finished. Apparently there had been some confusion with the return of the cars – our car contact did not come to receive the cars. Despite this, we managed to get through the security (short queues) and the passport control (longer, but fast-moving queues) just in time before our boarding. British Airways offered complimentary water and chips and some of us (luckily seated close to each other) tested how ordering drinks from the airlines’ website worked. Answer: Quite well!
After our three-hour flight, we arrived to London Heathrow and headed towards the connecting flight for Edinburgh. The transit inside the airport was an honest pain – long queues, especially for the security check. Additionally, the border guards gave some trouble for our member with the temporary passport, asking for the reason for the passport, what happened to the old one, and other, probably routine, questions. Thankfully it did not take long, but the total queuing time to the connecting flight took 1,5h at its longest – a rather large portion of our 2 hour transit time. We quickly grabbed something to eat from an airport cafe and found out our flight to Edinburgh was – of course slightly late.
At this point, our Icelandic car contacts friend called us, to tell that he’s at our car return meeting point, ready to take Kassu and Vainö to the airport – just 6h later than what had been agreed on. þetta reddast indeed.
In the end, we did not have to wait long – the flight was delayed only 30 min. The flight was pretty short and we arrived to Edinburgh without further delays or issues.
The journey from the ‘Ebinbruh’ airport to our dorm went smoothly. We didn’t have to wait for our luggage for too long and the taxis were pre-ordered. Our taxi driver went a bit wild with the radio and blasted different party songs on full volume (by our request, of course). He even asked us to put on the best Finnish song to dance to. ‘Antti Tuisku – Peto on irti’ was played.
Our two dorms were fitted for 8 people each. Four rooms fitting 2 people and a common area containing all the necessities such as a fridge, a tv, a sofa, a washing machine, a shower, and a single bathroom. The two dorms were cleverly named the “partyment” and the “peacement” due to the wants and needs of the people living in them. As a member of the partyment, I was really looking forward to the upcoming days.
After dividing the rooms, some of us went shopping for essentials such as soap and dishwashing liquid and some of us went to find a restaurant. We found an extremely friendly and cozy Turkish barbeque place right next our dorms. Even though the place was a bit costly, it was worth every penny. After eating, we took care of some preparations for the night and the upcoming day, including food shopping, getting some more blankets, renting towels, and agreeing on some basics rules for living.
After everything was set, we hung out in our common area, had a few drinks and did some research on Edinburgh. From the start, it was apparent that there was a waste problem. The bins on the streets (and even the streets) were full of garbage. We found out it was due to the garbage truck drivers being on a short strike. Thankfully not a constant problem for the city. On a more positive note, we also found out that the Fringe festival is currently happening in Edinburg. The Fringe is a huge festival of culture and music covering the pubs, venues and the streets of the whole city. Ai että. We will definitely check that out.
Iceland – done
Scotland – only just begun
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