I was up early to make the most of my last day in the city and managed to have quite an action packed day. It started with a trip to the royal palace (the apartments were closed as the Austrian prime minister was paying a visit), The Treasury, The Armoury which had stack loads of toys, clothes and costume from various royal films. There was also a big section on Game of Thrones costumes randomly for anyone who loves that fighting/soft porn/incest fest!
I also managed to catch the changing of the guard which was brilliant, not as long as the British one. But i couldn’t help but notice how scruffy some of the soldiers looked. There was long hair, beards and baggy jackets a plenty. Any regiment can do it in Sweden apparently, they all have to take turns so there is no special attire or grooming code for it. Maybe it’s the army sister in me that was a bit more critical of their standards?!
I love the fact that i was able to get right up close to so many of the official palaces and buildings in Sweden, just like in Denmark. Although i clearly got a bit too close and got a stern telling off by a 12 year old guardsman for wandering the wrong way around the courtyard. I was so embarrassed!
After a bit more gawping at the beautiful Gamla Stan, including the filming of a period drama! All of a sudden a whole chunk of the street was cordoned off and there were dapper young men getting into carriages being pulled along by handsome horses. I have no idea who they were though, so no starstruck pictures of the fellas just the horses i’m afraid. By this time I was tired and almost hangry so i started looking for somewhere to get some eats before the boat journey. I veered off the local food trail and ended up in the teeniest Korean place in Kungsträdgården in the middle of town. It was one of those places that is purely simple food cooked well, i had a pigeon English/Swedish/Korean conversation with the kindly lady behind the till and ordered a beef dish purely because it had an egg on it. OH MY GOD! It was sublime… The most tender beef mixed in with fresh vegetables, perfectly cooked rice all bound together by the creamiest fried egg on top. I think it was a duck egg, it was Heaven. Korea is going on The Afeedertravels list, there are always little signs for me about where to go next at the end of trips and this was it for Stockholm. The meal was fabulous, i didn’t want it to end! But it had to, had to get back to the hotel to get myself ready for my seafaring adventure to Helsinki.
Suited and booted for their period drama debut in Gamla Stan
And what an adventure it was. I was at the port ridiculously early, i have a new habit now (believe it or not!!!) after the Koln incident of the train going 20 mins early. So i was able to relax into the journey. After the obligatory “God i think you are crazy, be careful” conversation with the taxi driver i was excitedly waiting in the departures area with what looked like most of the over 50s clubs of Helsinki and Stockholm. This was not looking like the party boat that it was famed for being. I had heard of raucous nights with the Finnish drinking bars dry at sea etc. These guys didn’t look up to it, not without a lot of problems with their pacemakers anyway. I boarded and settled into my cabin before going for a look round the ship to find the best vantage point to say goodbye to Stockholm. I must have been all of about 15 mins, but that was enough for all the party animals to come out on the Silja line! I went to the front of the boat (obvious spot for pics of leaving the harbour) and was faced with a bunch of people chilling in various states of undress in the boat’s jacuzzi and accompanying spa/cafe area. They must have raced to their spots as soon as they got on as they looked like they had been there for months just letting it all hang out.
It was a bit more than i bargained for so i went to the back of the boat hoping to catch the sunset and not be blinded by anything other than a sky related moon coming out. Now this was more of a spot, it was the pub end and a great vantage point of the harbour and surrounding islands as we pulled away from the harbour side. I got myself a pint of Finnish beer (accompanied with the standard rhetoric from the barman and everyone i had spoken to in the past few days, “why are you going to Russia??? Just stay in Finland, it’s much better” talk from the barman) and went outside. Immediately coming back inside to hide from two rather over interested Russian guys.
“i’ll park myself in the corner and do some writing” i thought… oh no. There was already several full blown drinking fests going on, tables of people that must have done a total speed drink as soon as they got on board and were hammered. It was too entertaining not to watch and chuckle along with them. There were a few groups of people that were on work dos that were clearly taking advantage of free beer, i had got talking to a woman on the sun deck before and they were really going for it.
I decided to embrace the cheese of this mini cruise and went along to watch the pre show for the entertainment. They were all fantastic and i am sorry i didn’t get any pictures, but that’s another story… They were great value, the dancers grinning and pulling off some sequin spangled moves to a mega mix of euro pop and cheese. Followed by an acrobatic duo whose speciality was hanging from a rope on the ceiling and holding each others body weight by their necks (yes really!) The crowds had started to thin out to venture into the casino etc so i went for what ended up being a massive dinner. Giant steak, Dauphinoise potato accompanied by a large glass of red wine. Feeling the effects of dinner i decided that a disco nap was in order before getting up to take in the midnight show in full flow.
This turned out to be a big mistake! I woke with a start at midnight on the dot, sad that the show would be almost over. (The midnight show started at 11:30 for some reason, don’t ask!) So i scolded myself and went back to bed, clearly i needed sleep. It was only when i woke up the next day when i realised that i would have been perfectly on time as the clocks changed in the night and i could have rocked up and taken it all in. That’ll teach me to put the phone on aeroplane mode!
A very well rested feeder, was ready for all that Helsinki had to offer
Ciao x x x
