Traversing the Invisible Gossamer Bridge, pt. III

Travel Blog by Kathy Criswell

This article is from Kathy Criswell. You may know her from her novel, Aphrodite Rising, or from her previous guest blogs here, which are linked down below!

Hello again for the final installment of my massive travel blog from when I went to Finland in August. I already spoke about the first four shows and a little of what adventures we went on in between, so this will be the final two shows: Vaasa and Helsinki.

The road to Vaasa was boring, but I loved that. We took a train in the afternoon and I managed to drag my luggage up the same hills in Oulu to the train station without dying, but it was close. Just kidding, it was kind of hot, I was sweaty, and I was very excited to rid myself of my suitcase for a bit. On the train I finished the painting that I was doing of Johanna, which turned out pretty well considering that I was out of practice.

We arrived in Vaasa the day before the show, so we pranked our friends by taking a selfie in front of the venue and telling them we were queueing, which made everyone laugh a bit. The sun was setting so we all sat and enjoyed the fresh air and the beautiful view. I managed to befriend a nice bird, which was unexpected but not unwelcome! We went back to our hotel rooms while I tried well into the night to fight with technology so I could start my classes (it eventually worked out, but it took until about 4 a.m. for it to function properly). The next morning, Melanie and I had the best cafe breakfast at Espresso House and we walked the mall a bit. When we went back, I napped and gathered myself while we met up with our friend from Estonia! From there we walked around a bit and eventually made it to the show. Having it in a theater was so cool because it was so intimate! I met a lot of people who had been at other shows in Finland and even more random people who knew us from Discord came to say hello!

The show was so fun! My favorite part was when Johanna, being so jumpy and joyful, wrapped herself in her violin cord and all of us watched with concern hoping that it didn’t fall. It didn’t, but it was so precious to see. Also since it was Kai Hahto’s hometown, the crowd was so loud, especially for him! After the show I had two Jäger shots on an empty stomach and went to go shopping at the K-Market outside our hotel. This led to some adventures and chaos, but the most important part was that I got a huge loaf of bread and Moomin colored pencils. Not joking! I was so happy!

We left Vaasa at the buttcrack of dawn and headed back to Helsinki. I did math homework on the train whilst everyone slept, but I was able to get it done and also eavesdrop on a lady who was very loudly telling her friend all about how her boyfriend cheated on her with her cousin. When we got to Helsinki, we had quite a bit of time before the show, so we got lunch at the restaurant in the train station again and went off on another adventure! I had a handful of people messaging me asking when I would arrive at the venue, which was very cute. I knew that I would know a lot of the crowd, especially the first two rows, but I had no idea how many people that would be until I was face-to-face with them! As we lined up, I kept waving to more and more people! There were friends that came to visit that weren’t even going to the show, they just wanted to say hello to everyone!

The Helsinki show was… interesting. According to a comment Tuomas made in an interview, the performers loved the audience that night, and I can see why! I, and others in the crowd, were pretty upset by people’s behavior, however. When we lined up, they ushered us and regrouped us. I was content sitting anywhere in the front row (listen, I have terrible vision and I love watching my friends perform in 4k Ultra HD on stage) but I had no idea how competitive the people in line were. When they re-aligned us to enter the venue, some man punched me in the head! Kind person that I am, hoped it was an accident because we were all squished together, so I ignored it. When he did it a second time, I turned to give him a piece of my mind and he just shoved past me and yelled about being in the front row. To be honest, it’s not a huge deal, but I forget that a lot of people forget that manners go a long way in life.

That incident behind me, I managed to snag a seat in the front row and center! I was so excited to see Eye of Melian because they’re wonderful and I still wanted to see if I could give the little cola bottle to Robin! When EoM played, I was so moved by my friends beside me, who were just so emotional over the show, that I got emotional too. It’s such a different vibe than Auri, but its still beautiful in itself. Someone told me that Timo was wearing the Be Nice to My Friend shirt that I had brought, which made me chuckle because I was wearing the same shirt. In between sets, I got to say hello to Martijn of Delain/EoM and also finally got to hug Robin!

When the break was over and we sat down for Auri, some drunk ladies sat behind me and dug their feet into my back. I let it go because it was the last show for me and I wanted to enjoy it. However, they kept singing loudly and off key to the music and would not shut up! I think probably ten of us turned around and told them off. (I waited until Johanna turned around to give the women a piece of my mind because I didn’t want her to see me cussing random people out, lol). After that, a random drunk man walked up to the stage? I’m not sure what was happening there, but it was mildly annoying. Honestly, if the performers don’t care, I don’t either, but still it felt disrespectful to them!

However, when “Them Thar Chanterelles” came on again, watching the entire venue stand and dance, was beautiful. There were couples dancing and people just living their best lives. That, my friends, is what Auri is all about. That feeling? Of belonging to something far bigger than one’s self? That 10 minutes of peace, where nothing is real except smiles and love and singing and dancing? That’s Auri.

After the show, I was informed that they were on a tight schedule so I took off and headed back to my hotel where I crashed so hard around midnight that when I woke up at like 4 a.m. to leave—I had no voice from snoring! The hotel breakfast was once again amazing, and I headed off with a hug from my friends. I was exhausted, but blissfully in love with life. Once I got back to the airport, I did a little shopping, got some snacks for the road, and boarded my flight. We stopped in Amsterdam, where I had a pretty big layover, but I did homework instead. Once I arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, I did more homework, and made it home at 10 p.m., my time!

All-in-all, the whole trip was wonderful. I gain a sense of independence when I travel, even if I meet up with people. Before 2024 I had flown twice maybe 10 years prior, and now I’m just going to Europe multiple times per year! I work very hard to make it happen and it’s totally worth it. I have a lot of people tell me that I’m lucky to have this life, and I really am. However, we all have free will and you can use that however you want. I mean, we all have different consequences, but still! My next trip isn’t until February to the Netherlands again. I’m not sure if the event will be announced by the time of this post, but if you see it, you’ll know that I’m going. After that I believe I have Finland in March and maybe June. But, we’ll see what kinds of things pop up in between now and then. And as they say in Nomadland, it’s not goodbye, it’s see you down the road.