We started already on Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock. We met at the train station of Helsinki and were then heading with the group of 84 people towards the harbor to catch the ferry. These ferries are taking about 14 hours for the passage. So we had enough time to party and have fun. On the way to Sweden the sea was really quiet and nothing special happened. We were dancing in the club, singing karaoke and had cabin parties. The next morning after some few hours sleep we arrived in Stockholm.
We had to walk from the harbor to the nearest Metro station, where we had to wait for a long time. The tutors didn't get the 24-hour ticket for the public transport before and the lady at the counter had to print 84 tickets one-by-one. It was so cold. However, I made the best out of it and bought from a man, selling bread on the street, some kanelbullar, a Swedish pastry. After we received the tickets we took the metro to the hotel. It was few stops away and we were soon there. However, as we arrived in Stockholm early in the morning we couldn't enter our rooms and so we left the luggage in the lobby and went to the city center.
On the metro to the old city some elderly woman approached us and asked if we needed help, as we were talking in English about where to go and where to get off. She was so friendly and really wanted to help. She gave us recommendations what to see and where to go. Even more astonishing was, that she got off the metro with us and showed us around for five minutes or so. This seriously would never happen here in Finland. Incredible how a small gesture of one person can make you whole day!
We went then through the shopping street of Stockholm towards the old city, Gamla stan. We were really lucky, as suddenly the sun came out and it got a little bit warmer. We walked around in Gamla stan and were enjoying the old buldings with the small shops and boutiques, which create a certain and somehow magical atmosphere. I've been to Stockholmn some six years ago and already loved the city back then. Now I fell even more in love with the place. It is so beautiful, even in winter.
After walking around for sometime we got hungry, as we didn't have had a real breakfast this morning and so we went to eat something. Afterwards we took the tram to the Vasa-museum, which is some ten minutes away from the city center on another island. The Vasa is the world's only surviving 17th-century ship. She sank on her maiden-voyage after just 20 minutes in the middle of the harbor of Stockholm. 333 years later she was brought back to the surface and is now, after nearly 30 years of restoration, available to the public. It was really impressive to see the size of a ship from these days. A really unique and somehow powerful experience.
In the evening we went out to a club with the whole group. The beer was cheap and from good quality. The music was pretty nice as well, so we stayed until the club closed, which was just until 3 o'clock in the night. Then we experienced another advantage to most of the cities in Europe. The metro is running all-night-long. We went back to the hotel and got some sleep, as we knew that the next day would be long again and the next night therefore even shorter.The second and last day in Stockholm we spent on a boat tour. It was raining and so we decided, that this outdoor-indoor activity was the best choice. However, as we were a little early at the terminal of the sightseeing boats, we took a walk around in the neighborhood. And man, what can I say. This was even more beautiful. It was a little away from the center and here were the people actually living. It was so nice, again, all the small shops and offices. I fell even more in love. After the boat tour we went back to the hotel as we were meeting up at 14.30 to go back to the ferry.
On the ferry we had again an awesome time. We were drinking, dancing, singing. And this time different from the first passage the sea was rough, the wind was strong and the boat was shaking. It was so funny to see how all the people on the dancefloor were going from one side to the other. I guess for some shy people it was a good opportunity to get closer to each other ;-) Anyways, we then found a new activity. We realized that the highest deck was really slippery from the rain and that you could slide on it. As the wind was so strong we used our own body as a "sail" and "surfed" over the deck. It was so much fun and you could easily cover 15-20 meters sliding on your feet. Really great outdoor activity on a boat. My recommendation, just don't do it when you are drunk. You will have a lot of bruises all over you body afterwards...
After just three hours sleep we then arrived back in Helsinki and got up too late. When we came up to check where we were, the ship was just docking. By this time one of our cabin mates was still in the shower. So we went down, packed our stuff quickly and left the boat. Everybody was still drunk and so tired. However, it was an awesome trip... honestly!~M~
Really nice description... thank u for the lovely picture with Marc. I will miss u guys when I'll come back at home...
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