So where do I begin? It’s been a few days since I’ve had a chance to write anything. The first problem was that the internet was down at the hostel in Helsinki, and then I was on the ferry without Internet, and finally once I got to Stockholm I was just too burned out to write. So now with a few hours of sleep under my belt, and internet at my access, I have the urge to write.
I spent most of Thursday just wandering the streets of Helsinki waiting for the chance to board the ferry to Stockholm. Helsinki isn’t very big and most of the touristy things are located in the same part of the town, and since I’d spent the last two days seeing them, the third day was a little bit of a lost day. I don’t know if that’s the right thing to say, because I enjoyed myself, it was just that I didn’t see anything new, in fact I just went back to some of the places that I went earlier. Had coffee at the café overlooking the harbor, explored the church on the rock (see pics from my first post from Helsinki), and went to the Esplanade and ended in a park reading my book.
Now it doesn’t happen very often anymore that I get so excited that I can’t stop smiling, but when I boarded the ship for the trip to Stockholm I was all grins. There was something about it, maybe since it’s the first time as an adult that I’ve been on a ship that big, I don’t know, but just like a kid I explored it, from top to bottom, and for bow to stern. So cool.
The ticket that I bought was a plain ticket with no cabin or bed, so I was on my own on finding a place to sleep. No problems though I’m pretty flexible when it comes to sleeping arrangements. I had planned on sleeping on the top deck under the stars, but at about 9pm the captain kicked us off. To be honest is was pretty cold and very windy, I doubt that I would have enjoyed myself if I had been able to stick to my plan. It did though kind of make it hard for me to find a place to “set up camp” because most of the rest of the ship was full. So I hung out on a bench for about 4 hours until most of the people were gone and then decided to walk around a little bit. I don’t know why but it seems as if I almost forgot about the rest of the ship, the bars, casinos, and stores. It wasn’t long before I was being warmed up with a pint and a shot.
I woke up at six in the morning on a bench with my backpack as a pillow. I slept fairly well considering that people kept standing over me looking out the window. There is something kind of unnerving about waking up with people milling around you. I had been hanging out with an Aussie that was about four benches over and he was going through the same thing. When I think about it, the people that were looking out the windows were probably just as annoyed with me as I was with them.
We got into Stockholm around 930 and I was at the hostel by about 11. The hostel wasn’t ready for me to check in so I took off down the street. The street that the hostel is on is pretty cool. They’ve closed it off to vehicles and only allow pedestrians. The street goes for about 3 miles and makes for a fun walk, though it does become a little bit crowded.
So the time has come for another adventure, and although most of my “high priority” destinations have been seen, there are some places that I want to experience. Amsterdam, London, Scotland, and Berlin are just some of the places that I hope to see in the next six weeks.
