Vienna Airport… I really wanted to like you.

First of all, since I was trying to escape from the Vienna airport as soon as humanly possible, which you’ll understand why in a moment, I didn’t pause to take any pictures. So there won’t be any images of VIE airport in this post. Sorry, about that.

After a 2.5 hours flight from Helsinki and a cold curry pasta salad, I landed at the VIE Airport at 8pm on Dec 10, 2011. Right after I stepped inside the passenger’s hall, I smelled strong cigarette smoke… Hmmm, not pleasant. Looked around and I didn’t see any smoking lounges…. weird. So, this airport is built somewhat in a “C” shape, all the gates are located at both ends with the passport controls in the middle. So I saw everyone was just walking in the same direction, it was easy to find my way just by going with the flow. At first, I was like “oh cool, this is easy…”. Not long, I started to realize: it’s a loooong boring walk. I like seeing people coming and going in all directions, so this single-flow system made me felt like a salmon swimming up-stream robotically along with all my pals. Maybe some would say it is good for not easy to get lost.

Burst of color: the street, the light and the food in Helsinki.

Wet ground reflecting the street's color on Alexandersgatan in Helsinki. Dec 10, 2011.

In Helsinki at 8:30 during a December morning, this is possibly what you would see: dark blue sky and drizzling rain while the puddle on the ground reflects the street’s Christmas decoration and colorful lights from the store. It was a mix of color in the dark which I didn’t expect to see in this city of the north. I thought it would be all snow and grey……But this is not the only thing I noticed about this city.