…or at least the last stop before we get home.

JFK and customs are behind us. I am typing this on a keyboard which has all the keys were I am used to finding them.

Chris is not dead yet, although the slowness has increased.

In slightly less than three hours our final flight takes off.

On the way here, while we were taking off our shos and displaying our little baggies of toiletries (Nothing more than 2.5 oz.!), a white dog of poodle heritage was in line in front of us. He (she?) was a good doggie. Very patient. But then he was placed in a big box and he objected. Barks and whinings commenced.

Poor doggie. He didn’t know why he could not go on with the rest of his family. I’m sure PETA would demand he get equal treatment on flights.

But it reminded me of our doggie. She would bark in the same situation.

Tomorrow, we will see her. I’m sure she has grown.

Two and half hours till take off. It’s 11:30 PM Germany time.

My pillow will feel good.

It began yesterday, that little SAS flight we tacked on at the last minute since we thought the train would take too long.

So, YESTERDAY, we flew from Frankfurt, Germany to Copenhagen, Denmark. We spent the night in the airport hotel and flew from Copenhagen to Helsinki this morning.

Here is the breakdown for today: Copenhagen to Helsinki. Helsinki to JFK New York. We will endure the customs degradation procedure in New York, then fly to Los Angeles. Los Angeles airport holds Chris’s car, so I will drive the car to our home.

We are crossing a lot of time zones, and landing in LAX just the left side of midnight. We begin the flight and end the flights the same day. But the day will be longer than 24 hours.

Which leaves me a lot of time to figure out exactly how long it is. I will not do so now, since that would leave me without entertainment for later.

I am right now in the airport in Helsinki. I love Helsinki.

I just love it.

Oh but I forgot to mention. Chris is sick. Right after the ship show in Kassel, he came down with a slow bug. It is slowly making all the parts of him ill. And it makes him slow.

Which means that in Copenhagen, the land of the 6 dollar coke, was too much for him yesterday. He finally felt well enough to eat after we landed there, but not well enough to endure the infamy of the food prices in Denmark. After walking (slowly) all around, I had to put him in the hotel room and bring him back something just so he didn’t have to know how much it cost.

Which is also why I will be driving home when the end of the day reaches us at the Pacific ocean. He is sick, poor thing. I think it would be a minor sick, one that would only require a nap if only we were at home. But since we are not at home, and are forced to travel all over and be kind of uncomfortable, he is extra unhappy.

But this trip has been really really full of ships. So many ships. I think I know a little more about ships than I did. All the collectors are so very excited about the ships. We had a good time. But it’ll be really nice to get home.

Copenhagen is a more uban city than Helsinki. Translation: tons more graphitti

Helsinki had a little graphitti, but in the neighborhood near my hotel, the graphitti is really all over. Even on the big statues. You would think that they would have more respect.

Then again, there are statues and carvings EVERYWHERE. All the buildings seem to have carved windows and swoops and faces and greek gods and what-not. I guess the graphitti artists have to use what material is available.

I listened in on part of a tour in English. We heard the guide from a distance. I said to Chris, “Hurry! We will hear.”

“He´s not speaking english.” Chris wouldn´t run to hear.

But he was speaking english, just with a huge accent that made it sound like a different language. He said “The direct translation for Copnehagen is the bay of merchants.”

This explained why this city felt a bit like Brussels to me. Merchants, huh? So it was all about the salesman’s flash and social mobility. Maybe that´s why they ornamented everything they could reach.

And also the incredible amount of chain stores.

We counted McDonald’s, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and 7Eleven all on one block. With another 7Eleven at the end of the block.

Unfortunately, jetlag is a contant companion. We haven’t been too unpleasant to each other, though. Just a bit snippy when we’ve been walking too long. We are taking turns being completely brain dead, so that one of us is always available to steer the other towards whatever we need to do next. That is usually eat or sleep.

We have three things to do during our stay in COpenhagen. One, we want to visit Tivoli. Two, we want to see Malmø. And three, we want to go see Helsingførs, known to english-speakers as ELSINORE! Yes, Hamlet’s palace.

We have three days to do those three things. I think it will work out.

more to come

It’s a very beautiful city, a small town kind of capital. Only a hundred people there.

It never got above 70 degrees, but still I managed to get sunburned.

Now we are about to go to Copenhagen.

I think Denmark will be warmer, and more populated.

more later

At least that’s what we figured out on the subway back.

We left LAX, and we will not land at our final destination in Helsinki until 29 hours later.

So today we enjoyed the museum of Natural History in Central Park. Since it’s humid and about 90, my plan to hang out in the foliage of the park was jettisoned.

We wandered around, amazed at what east coast city folk think of as ‘nature’. No wonder this country’s environmental efforts are so screwed up.

But we also just tried to stay awake. We are tired. We told ourselves that this will help with the jetlag once we get to Finland. It IS a 10 hour time difference after all.

Now we are back at JFK, and the plane to Finland boards in 5 minutes. It’s 8 hours, and maybe we will sleep the whole way.

Wish us comfort and quiet neighbors.

more to come