Finland in February - Ice Station Zebra

We managed to leave Bush International at 4:25 PM on Monday just ahead of a cold front. The first third of the 9.5 hour flight to Schiphol (Amsterdam) was pretty rough even at 30,000 feet. We had a two hour layover at Schiphol before boarding a flight to Helsinki, Finland. As far as I know the flight to Helsinki was uneventful. I slept during the entire 2 hour and 15 minute flight. At Helsinki we had a 4 hour layover. Then we boarded a bus that took us out to a small commuter prop plane. This was my first introduction to Finland in February. For some reason I was the last one off the bus and consequently the last one on the plane. As the 40 plus people slowly climbed the stairs, selected a seat wedged their carryon luggage into small overhead compartment (I had a 1968 Chevy with a glove box bigger than those overheads), and then wedge themselves into the little seats, I stood on the tarmac at the end of the line in sub freezing weather. It was cold. The flight to Pori, Finland was a short 45 minutes. We landed in Pori on Tuesday at 6:35 PM Pori Time, 10:35 AM Texas time. Total travel time 18 hours and 10 minutes.
When we landed in Pori, or course I was the last one off the plane. As I walked to the terminal building I noticed that another passenger had turned around and was taking a picture of the plane with his cell phone. I turned around and saw the photo opportunity. This picture reminded of the old 1968 movie “Ice Station Zebra” staring Rock Hudson. Of course this was when we had a “Don't ask, Don't want to know” policy…