... to Helsinki and back home! And even though I don't live so far from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, the trip felt like some adventure to me because so much new happened today as me and my friend decided to go to see a movie.
So, we decided to go - not by train as usually, but by car - the first time ever! Ok now, I've driven once or twice back home from Helsinki, but never actually driven /there/, so it was all new to me as I'm a relatively new owner of the driver's license. That's why I wonder how I got the courage to do it this time, but I sure got it.
I hop in the car to pick up my friend and I see I'm running out of gas, diesel really, but I assume it will last there and back so there was nothing to worry about. (Just so you know, I've never gone to a place where you go and fill in your gas tank, so that's why I panicked a little.) We get safely on the highway and all goes just fine until we have to search the first place we're going to have to take a turn - to the right, to Helsinki. Well, I managed to find the right place to turn, with some unnecessary swaps of roadstrips in the way and the trip goes on, until the car makes a little beeping noice and I see the low gas - light has turned on and it made me worry.
As we arrive to the next place where we have to turn, I'm not sure which way to turn and I drive straight - straight past the place I had to turn next. Luckily we recognized the place and immediately noticed we drove wrong, so I went straight looking for the next place to turn back. I turned right to this little road full of parked cars and when no one was around, I decided I'd make a U-turn! And that was fun. But it's not recommended to do that. 8) And that way we got safely to our garage where I left the car while we went to see the movie.

After the movie we decided we just have to go and fill the gas tank or otherwise we'll never make it home. The problem was, I didn't know where there was a good place to go and do that.
So we drove blindly around, looking for a good place, and then we saw one place which was totally on the other side of the whole driveway but we decided to try to go there anyway. I took the most left-sided way in hopes of a sign where there reads it's allowed to turn to the left to the gas-filling place, but as there weren't any, I gave up on that and saw straight another one - so I made two quick changes of the roadstrips and was about to turn right too early when I noticed it was a bit after that you had to turn to make it to the gas station. At that point I thought it must've seemed as if some drunken person was driving the car and I just hoped there were no police around.
Well, something even worse turned out; When I got out of the car to fill the tank, a car stops beside mine and there is my friend and his family in their car, waving at me and grinning. We chatted there a while and after they leave, I feel such a bad driver and so ashamed because I'm sure they've seen me driving like crazy across the roads there 8(
But as it turns out, I had no time to worry about that as I had the tank-problem before me. I read carefully the instructions of how to use the machine and .. ta-dah! It all goes surprisingly fine and we even feel a bit proud of ourselves, managing the new thing without totally screwing up. X3
When we had just gotten the hang of it all again and found the right route to take us home, I confuse the roadstrips and accidentally change the strip from right to the left strip without showing a sign of changing strips( how unexpected 8D ) and move /right in front/ of a taxi, whose driver didn't seem to be delighted about it, and they honk a couple of times and I feel ashamed again :'D
After the incident all goes as smoothly as can go, and there comes thunder to accompany us. It was all like fiction really! There were many lightning and they bolted against the pitch-black sky and we drove on and on... The scenery was like from a movie, and it was all awesome. A bit scary, but awesome.
So we make it to our hometown, I leave my friend in front of her home and drive back home, tired but happy. As I got in front of my desk, I just couldn't help but feel a bit proud of myself - I did it! 8) I was kinda scared of what was going to come of this trip, but we're safe, the car is safe, I didn't cause any crashes or anything of the sort... Overall, it felt great to actually do something new and succeed, specially when I'm not very familiar with driving and I'm certainly not yet comfortable with it.
And the result of it all? Surprisingly, I know how to handle the car a little better now and I actually know how to drive in Helsinki. n_n

I hope you enjoyed this tiny piece of my adventure with the car I hope to drive more in the future - and be safe too!