Just plans: North Germany tour

I was looking at the Club One newsletter, and discovered an offer which stated that for winter time one can make boat trip to Germany with half Club One "reward points" plus 10€.

I would have enough points for that kind of trip in the cheapest cabin class (or, actually it's just called "a seat" then). And it'd probably make a nice trip, taking the Superfast boat from Helsinki to Rostock. That part takes 26 hours.

Then onwards, to Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen. For a weekend, one could rent a car for 60-80€. Hmm, lots of things to see, for sure..

I could then return by plane from Bremen, with Ryanair. The cheapest ticket is about 20€ (with hand luggage). But one bit of a downer lies at the very end - train ticket from Tampere to Helsinki is almost 30€. Direct flight from Hamburg to Helsinki would be around 110€.

Anyway, with the cheapest options timing could prove to be a bit of a drag too - late night arrival, early morning departure.. and something like 200-300 kilometers of driving.

With accommodation and meal costs etc. on top of it all.. I'd estimate the total cost eventually being something like 300/350/400€ for a weekend.

Hmm - this trip could also be done in reverse order, and then be called "buying a used car from Germany". But that'd be another story. ;)

Anyway, these are just plans, I haven't made any moves towards anything yet.

A brief visit to Matka 2009 Nordic Travel Fair

I went to see Helsinki's main annual travel fair this weekend, looking for new ideas and good offers.
I guess I eventually ended up in making another ad hoc goal - to take part in as many competitions as possible. And there was a lot of them. The prizes were naturally travel-related.

In overall, the event was quite crowded but still nice. Pretty much the whole world was covered, there were things to see for 3-4 hours, easily. I got a load of brochures, my kid's name written in a paper with Japanese characters. I also bought guidebooks and some kalakukko. And, ahem, a trip to Malta for next autumn. :)

I might go there next year too, though all the best offers and most of the competitions were already available on the internet. But maybe it's all about the athmosphere?

Classic "first post"

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I was thinking whether there will be any need for me to start a blog. There probably isn't. Any good reason, at least. ;) But since I've already got started, here it is anyway.

My plan is to have this blog mostly around about travelling (me & my family), but let's see what I will eventually end up with.

I can say that since 2004 I've travelled more than ever. I've had a private website to come along my travels, and I will pick up the best bits from there.

So, the bottom line, again, is blog will be text and pictures, mostly around travelling.

...Go along now, nothing to see here any more! ;)