I'm sorry to say it's our last week in Sweden. Kristy and I are really sad to leave, but at the same time, we are ready. But before we left, we had to take a "road trip". Our itinerary looked like this... Stockholm to Helsinki Finland>Helsinki to Tallinn Estonia>Tallinn to Riga Latvia>Riga to Stockholm.
So it started early Wednesday afternoon when we brought Reese over to stay with two of our favorite dog sitters, Linda & Lena, and then took the tube down to catch our boat. We got on board our boat, the Silja Serenade, a couple of hours before it was scheduled to leave Stockholm. We wanted to get there, settle into our cabin, and then just relax. It was my first boat trip, so I didn't really know what to expect. When we first got on the boat, we took our stuff to our cabin, and I immediately had some chlostrophobic and sea-sick feelings. Nothing too terrible, but just didn't feel right. This is a big boat. It ferries cars and people, and also has bars, restaurants, play areas for kids, a pool, sauna, shopping, gambling, etc. We went exploring a little, and checked out the stores on board. We ended up at the back of the boat in the Port Pub. We got a couple of beers, and sat at the window. Eventually we got under way and discovered that we apparently had some highly sought after seats, as an older couple came and sat down at our table with us without saying a word. We didn't mind really, just a little weird. The only bad thing about being in the back of the boat, is that it shakes and rattles like crazy when the ship goes in reverse. Tolerable though. So once we were under way, we went and found a place to eat. We ended up having a very nice quiet dinner with a bottle of wine. l was still having a little bit of the weird feelings as I looked out the windows on either side of the boat and saw us moving up and down. After dinner, we took our bottle and glasses, and went out on deck to enjoy the scenery. It was a little breezy and cold, but a beautiful sunny evening nonetheless. The view was incredible. We were passing through what is known as the Swedish Archipelagos, and the best way I can describe it is to tell you that it feels like you're on a giant cruise ship floating through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northern Minnesota. For those who are not familiar with that part of Minnesota, it's miles and miles of pristine water and woods in the wilderness, where no motors of any kind are allowed. You have canoes and backpacks, and that's it. I cannot do justice to the view from the ship, but it was hundreds and maybe thousands of little islands made up of pine trees and dotted with little cabins. We couldn't take enough pictures. It's such a strange feeling to be on this eight story high ship cruising through these islands, which at times felt like you were running down a river with very little room on either side. But at the same time, we were moving pretty fast. Another interesting thing about the trip was that a handful of these cruise ships left Stockholm at the same time, which I'm sure is for safety reasons. Once you get out on the Baltic Sea, if anything happens to your boat, you have boats in the vicinity to help out. So we had these giant boats in front and behind us. It was also a little crazy to see nothing but pine forests in every direction, and then see the top of a cruise ship moving above the trees in the distance as a boat goes off to another destination. It was a little too cold to be outside for long, and the sun was setting anyways. So since we had nothing left to look at outside, we went and found hockey and soccer games on in the pub. We found a comfy little booth and made ourselves at home. Later that night, we went back out on deck as we docked to pick up more passengers along the way. It felt like a very remote location, but there were big ships everywhere, both moving, and docked. One thing I determined on this trip was that I would never want to pilot one of these ships. They are just a little too big, and have to squeeze into some fairly tight spaces. I wouldn't have the nuts to do it. Eventually we went back to our cabin and got some sleep.
We woke the next morning and went out on deck just as we were approaching the coast of Finland. It was much colder here, and there was still some snow on the islands dotting the approach to Helsinki harbor. But it was sunny, and nothing too terrible, so we were pretty happy about that. We docked, and were off walking through Helsinki towards our hotel. We walked up a boulevard lined with all of the high end stores on either side of a greenway/park. Our hotel was centrally located in the middle of shopping, dining, theaters, etc. We checked into our hotel, where we got a nice big room on the first floor overlooking the sidewalk and street below. We were going to meet up with a friend of Kristy's named Jarmo, who was a Finnish exchange student back in the early 90's in her hometown of Saginaw Michigan, but we had some time to kill. So we went next door and found a place where we could get coffee and a scone. Then we went wandering near our hotel. Eventually we made it back to the hotel in time to meet Jarmo. He picked us up and took us on a tour of Helsinki in his car. He took us down to the harbor, along the coastline to see the island fortification they refer to as Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, and over to a park where they had a sculpture created for a famous Finnish composer. Then we went down to the sports complex area, where he pointed out the hockey arena where some famous Finnish hockey players used to skateboard on the roof when they were kids. Or, he added, at least that's what the rumor is. Also in this complex was Finnair Stadium, where the professional soccer team plays. He has a friend that works for the club, so he called him. Next thing you know, we were in the stadium getting a tour. We went out on the field where the team was practicing. Then we went upstairs and checked out one of the executive suites, which had everything you'd see in a suite of this kind, with the addition of a sauna, where you can watch the game! Pretty sweet. It was complete with showers too, so pretty much everything you'd ever need. Looked like it would be a lot of fun. After that, we went over to the Olympic Stadium, which was built for the 1952 Summer Olympics. We went to the top of the tower. There we had a great view of Helsinki. You could see the Olympic Pool, and also the sports hall where they held the indoor sports. In addition to the sports venues, there were a number of statues on the grounds.
After that, it was off to what is known as The Rock Church. This is one of their biggest tourist attractions according to Jarmo. It's basically a church that they carved out of the rock in the middle of town, and threw a glass roof over it. It was pretty cool looking. After that, we drove back to the hotel, where it was time for Jarmo to drop us off. We said our goodbyes and looked for a place to have some lunch. Grabbed a coffee and some lunch at Bakers Pub, which had a great view of the street below. After lunch we went walking again, and ducked into a mall to look around. Came out and went towards the main mall a block or so down. Went in and started wandering. Eventually we came to one end of the complex, and were left with no alternative but to walk out a door. We emerged having no idea where we were. We just kept walking though, and eventually got our bearings, ending up back near our hotel. Jarmo insisted that we go to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants, Lappi, and order the Reindeer. He even made us reservations. So 7:00 rolled around, and we shuffled over a couple of blocks from our hotel for dinner at Lappi. Great choice on restaurants. This place was made to look like a rustic log cabin inside, and had a certain warmth about it. We ordered a glass of wine, and the Reindeer. Came with potatoes and lingonberries, like pretty much everything else you order in Scandinavia. At one point, I looked at our dinner and the easy joke came to mind. I told Kristy that she should set a lingonberry in the middle of the meat, and call it Rudolph. Of course she did. After dinner, we took a stroll through the city one last time before going back to the hotel. Overall, the city was much smaller than we imagined it would be, and a little drab, but we still enjoyed our time there. Jarmo gave us a great tour and recommendation as far as restaurants, and was a great guy on top of that. Next morning, we would get up early and catch our boat to Tallinn, Estonia.
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