Thank You Copenhagen Airport!

I just recently came home from a family visit in Germany. It was hard to leave there but in a way I'm happy to be home again for a while! The day of my return I woke up, having undoubtedly not slept enough, and made it somehow to the Airport on time in order to take my plane back to Finland. Almost immediately after seating I slept only to wake up when I was served tea and to fall asleep again. I didn't quite realize what was wrong when I left the plane, but I must have forgotten my transit in Copenhagen because I remember wondering why I didn't see finnish signs anywhere! Well, my transit-time in Copenhagen lasted for 4 painful hours that I mostly spend hunting for a cup of tea that cost less than 5 Euros - I didn't find one - and seeing which bench could suit me for a little nap (of 2 hours, as it turned out to last).
But my real discovery was a small Silent Room (for meditation, relaxation, prayer -  as it said on the sign) with a comfy tuffed carpet and a prayer mat! In the middle of the room was a strangely shaped, sofa (color: silver), in front of it a vase with flowers and in the left corner, covered by a glass/plastic partition, a prayer rug and a tasbih. Tired as I was I was really happy of being alone in this peaceful room, so I went to the toilet that was nearby, made my wudhu and came back to pray Dhur.

I think that apart from the fact that Muslims are recommended to pray whilst travels (it is not obligatory after a certain distance of destination/lenght of journey) it is a nice and helpful thing for anyone to do. Just to take a break and go to pray or meditate into one of the airports prayer rooms will help to handle the stress of travelling and offer an alternative to the booming commercialism and urge for consumerism in regular transit areas.
 

A list of European Airports that have Prayer-rooms:

• Frankfurt International Airport: Separate prayer rooms for Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim and other faiths.
• London Heathrow: Anglican Chapel, Free Church, Catholic Church, multi-faith prayer rooms and Faith Chaplains (Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Roman Catholic, Free Church and Anglican).
• Munich Franz Josef Strauss Aiport: Muslim Prayer room, multi-faith prayer room.
• Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport: Multi-faith Prayerarea, Chaplains of various faiths such as Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim.
• Amsterdam Schiphol Airport: Multi-faith prayer room known as "Meditation Centre".
• Istanbul Ataturk International Airport: 6 (muslim) prayer rooms.
• Madrid-Bajaras International Airport: Multi-faith prayer room.
• Dusseldorf International Airport: One non-demonational prayer room.
• Stockholm Arlanda Airport: (Multifaith) Chapel for worship.
• Brussels Airport: Prayer facilities for Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, Protestant and Humanist meditation room (!)
• London Gatwick Airport: Multi-faith prayer room such as Christian services regularly (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Free Church) and Buddhist services every Monday and on significant dates.