No tavaliselt ma reisi viimasest lennust eraldi postitust ei tee aga seekord teen erandi. Päeva alustasime siis 25.07 Miamist, Radison Red lennujaama hotellist. Kuna lend oli 8:30 ja vaja kaks tundi varem lennujaamas olla, siis hommikusööki nii vara ei saanud. Ja niipalju ka, et edasi-tagasi lend samast lennujaamast on mitte ainult kaks vaid mitu korda odavam, kui lennata New Yorki ja tagasi lennata Miamist. Seega, vältimaks edasi-tagasi autosõitu New Yorkist Key Westi (ja miljonärid me ei ole, et üheotsapiletiga seal maanduda ja tagasi Miamist startida), sõitsime siselennuga Miamist New Yorki.
Siselennu saamine mitte ameeriklasena, või omamata kohaliku aadressi, oli ka põnev. Kasutasin American Airlines'i. Pika mässamise peale sain piletid. Seal ei ole ühelgi piletil vist pagas hinnas, ma äriklassi kohta ei oska kommenteerida. Pagasi ostsin eelmisel päeval juurde.
Niisiis. Eelmisel õhtul pakkisime kohvrid kokku. Kõik Rossist saadud kaup mahtus ära😁Hommikul istusime lennujaamabussile, mis toimetas meid tasuta ja mugavalt õige terminali ette. Sellest hoolimata, õige värava leidmine oli huvitav, sest kuigi äpis oli värav näidatud, siis kohapeal sellist varianti selle lennufirmaga ma ei näinud. Aga ega sellepärast värav leidmata ei jäänud. Kohvrid antud ja kontrollist läbi saime kiiresti. Pikka turvakontrolli järjekorda ka ei olnud. 
Hommikusöögi sõime lennujaamas. Burger-võikud. Siis juba pardale ja tagasitee esimene, kolmetunnine siselend Miamist New Yorki võis alata. See läks plaanipäraselt.
New Yorkis maandusime natuke pärast keskpäeva. Eelmisel päeval sain teate, et lend lükatakse natuke edasi, aga see oli minutite küsimus. Siselennu võtsin selle arvestusega, et saaks kiirustamata JFK lennujaamas maanduda, kohvrid kätte, Tallinna lennule registreerida, kohvid ära anda ja turvakontrollidest läbi saada. Seega edasilend pidi olema alles 19.
Kohvrid saime ilusti kätte. Leidsime Euroopa lennu registreerimiskoha ja saime suht kohe kohvrid ära anda. Turvast saime ka läbi ja siis lõunasöögi jahile. Saime päris korralikud portsjonid ja hind ka mõistlik. Meie terminalis oli üks toiduala, JFK kohta väga vähe, võrreldes teiste lennujaamadega, mida kasutanud olen.
Allesjäänud aega kasutasime imetledes Charles Fazzino loodud 3-d kunstiteoseid. Käisime kõik väravad ja kõik tasandid läbi, kuhu lubatud liikuda. Lihtsalt hämmastav. Isegi Eesti oli maailmakaardil ära märgitud, erinevalt teistest Baltimaadest.
Lennule saime ja teate, et lend hilineb. Milaanos pidime maanduma 9:05 ja sealt edasi 11:05 aga nüüd räägiti vähemalt pooletunnisest hilinemisest, mis tähendaks mitte Euroopa Liidust tulekuna korraliku turvakontrolli läbimist ja uue terminali leidmise aja vähenemist. Aga kuna pagasit ei olnud vaja välja võtta, siis ei muretsenud.
Lend, 8 tundi, möödus märkamatult. Õhtusöök, film või paar, tukastamine ja olimegi Milaanos. Kust edasilend hilines. Ei, seda ei öeldud isegi välja, et lend hilineb, ainult, et oodatakse väravat. Ka siis, kui lend pidi juba toimuma. Aga see osutus küll probleemiks, sest viimane lend Helsinkist pidi minema 15:40 ja sinna maandumine 15:05. Kuna Euroopa Liidust st. turvakontrolli ei olnud vaja ning kohvreid ka mitte välja võtta, oleksime poole tunniga jõudnud. Nii kinnitas Finnair, kui nad mõned kuud varem Helsinki-Tallinna stardiaega varasemaks muutsid.
Võtsin ühendust Finnairiga. See oli omaette põnev, sest sain ootele ja mingi aeg sain teate, et minu mitteaktiivsuse tõttu oli ühendus lõppenud kuigi olin kogu aeg aktiivse ekraaniga. Aga pärast mitmendat katset sain chatiga ühendust ning kinnituse, et kui meie lend hilineb, siis pagas tuleb koos meiega.
Selleks ajaks oli kõht jälle tühi. Järgmine päev ju ning eraldi hommikusööki ei pakutud. Aga kuskile liikuda ka ei julgenud, sest äkki teatatakse sellel ajal värav. Käisin vahepeal emale peavalu vastu valuvaigistit ostmas. Kui tuli järjekordne teade, et värav selgub x minuti pärast, käisime lõpuks süüa tellimas.
Milaano Helsinki hilines kokku 2 tundi ja 50 minutit. Ehk siis 10 minutiga pääsesid võimalikust kompensatsioonist. Aga saime lõpuks Helsinkisse viivale lennule.
Helsinkis selgus, et Finnair tegeles asjaajamisega ise ning meid oli tasuta kella 21sele lennule ümber tõstetud. Enne olin uurinud, kas üldse on võimalik samal päeval edasi liikuda ja kuni lõpuni ei uskunud, et pagas tegelikult meiega koos reisib, aga Tallinnas oli see meid ootamas.
Ehk siis tagasireisi alustasime 25.07 kl 6 Miamist ja lõpetasime 26.07 ca kl 22 Tallinnas.
Nagu öeldud, 3300 km, 10 osariiki, mis toob USAs läbitud osariikide arvu 14ni + Washington D.C. Seekord mitu endist pealinna. Jeep. Uus aastakümme. Tänan kaasa elamast💗 See aasta ei ole veel läbi ja järgmisel suvel pubid ootavad😁 Heh. Ja kuna 2022 Iirimaa jäi kirjutamata, siis alustan järgmisena sellest, kes soovib, saab veel lugeda.
I don't usually make a separate post about the last flight of a journey, but I'll make an exception this time. We began our day on the 25th of July in Miami, staying at the Radisson Red Airport Hotel. Since our flight was at 8:30 am, and we needed to be at the airport two hours earlier, we couldn’t have breakfast as it was too early. And just to mention, a return flight from the same airport is several times cheaper than flying into New York and then returning from Miami. So, to avoid a round drive from New York to Key West (and since we aren’t millionaires to afford a one-way ticket there and start the return from Miami), we took a domestic flight from Miami to New York.
Obtaining a domestic flight ticket as a non-American without a local address was quite an experience. I used American Airlines. After quite a bit of effort, I managed to get the tickets. No ticket seems to include luggage, though I can’t comment on business class. I purchased an additional luggage allowance the day before.
So, the previous evening, we packed our suitcases. Everything bought from Ross fitted in perfectly 😁 In the morning, we took the airport shuttle, which conveniently and free of charge dropped us off at the correct terminal. Despite this, finding the right gate was interesting because the app showed the gate, but I couldn't find any signs of that option with this airline on site. But it didn’t stop us from finding the gate eventually. We quickly handed over the suitcases and got through the security checks. There wasn’t a long queue at security either.
We had breakfast at the airport – sandwiches. Soon enough, we boarded, and the first part of our return journey, a three-hour domestic flight from Miami to New York, began. It was on time.
We landed in New York a little after noon. The previous day, I received a notification that the flight would be slightly delayed, but it was only a matter of minutes. I chose the domestic flight with the thought of having sufficient time to land at JFK without rushing, collect the suitcases, check-in for the Tallinn flight, drop off the luggage, and go through security checks again. Thus, the onward flight was set for 7 pm. 
We collected our suitcases without issue. We found the check-in desk for the European flight and were able to drop off our luggage almost immediately. We passed through security and then went in search of lunch. We managed to get decent portions, and the prices were quite reasonable. There was only one main dining area in our terminal, which is quite odd for JFK compared to other airports I’ve used.
We spent the remaining time admiring Charles Fazzino's 3D artworks. We walked through all the gates and levels we were allowed to. Absolutely astonishing! Even Estonia was marked on the world map, unlike the other Baltic States.
We boarded the flight and received news that it was delayed. We were scheduled to land in Milan at 9:05 am on the 26th and continue onwards at 11:05 am, but now we were looking at at least a half-hour delay, which would mean less time to clear security (as we were not arriving from within the EU) and find the next terminal. But since we didn't need to collect our luggage, I wasn’t that worried. Yet.
The eight-hour flight went by without much notice – dinner, a film or two, a quick nap, and we were in Milan. The onward flight was delayed. They didn’t even announce it directly but simply mentioned that they were waiting for a gate, even when we were already meant to be boarding. However this did become an issue, as the final flight from Helsinki was due at 3:40 pm, and we were scheduled to land at 3:05pm according to the original plan. Since we were arriving from within the EU, i.e., no security checks were needed, and we didn’t have to collect our luggage, Finnair had assured us that we’d manage within half an hour when they brought the Helsinki-Tallinn departure forward a few months ago.
I contacted Finnair. It was quite the adventure, as I was put on hold, and at one point, I got a message saying the connection was lost due to my inactivity, even though I was actively using my screen the entire time. However, after several attempts, I managed to reach the chat and received confirmation that if our flight was delayed, our luggage would accompany us.
By then, I was hungry again. It was a new day, after all, and there was no separate breakfast provided. But I didn’t dare move away in case they announced the gate while I was gone. I quickly went to buy some painkillers for my mum's headache. When another announcement came that the gate would be confirmed in x minutes, we finally went to order some food.
The Milan-Helsinki flight ended up being delayed by a total of 2 hours and 50 minutes – just 10 minutes short of the potential compensation window. But eventually, we got on the flight to Helsinki.
In Helsinki, we found out that Finnair had taken care of the arrangements themselves, and we had been moved free of charge to the 9 pm flight. I had already checked if it was even possible to continue travelling on the same day, and up until the very end, I didn’t believe that our luggage would actually be travelling with us, but it was waiting for us in Tallinn.
So, our return journey began at 6 am on the 25th of July in Miami and ended at around 10pm on the 26th of July in Tallinn.
As mentioned, 3300 km, 10 states, bringing the total number of states we’ve travelled in the US to 14 + Washington, D.C. This time we visited several former capitals. Jeep. A new decade. Thanks for following along 💗 This year isn't over yet, and the pubs await next summer 😁 Heh. And since the 2022 trip to Ireland went unwritten, I'll start with that next, for anyone interested in reading.
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