Yay - ports! I have come to love the sound of our joker of a Greek captain announcing we are docked, have been cleared and can disembark. Yesterday it was Stockholm, and today, Helsinki.
Our stop in Stockholm was far too short. At 6 hours it is the shortest port stop of the entire cruise. How on earth is it fair that on a cold rainy day we get 14 hours in Rostock Germany but only six hours on a warm sunny day in Stockholm? Boo to that.
We started our day in Stockholm checking out a panoramic view of the city, and driving around to get our bearings. It would seem our tour guide thought that the only thing we knew about Stockholm was that it was where the girl with the dragon tattoo was set, and all references we were given related back to the books or movies (thought we would at least get an ABBA reference).
Our first stop was city hall - which is where they hand out all the Nobel prizes with the exception of the peace prize (which Norway gets the honour of deciding instead).
I also learned something interesting - Nobel invented dynamite, hence the fortune he acquired to set up the prizes.
Next we headed for the Vasa museum. Back in the 1600's the king wanted a new fleet of navy ships, and one of the biggest ever built was ordered by the King if Sweden. On it's maiden voyage she sailed for 23 minutes before sinking, killing 18 people on board. It lie at the bottom of sea for 333 years until it was salvaged in the 1950's. In 14,000 pieces. Despite being tasked with the worlds biggest jigsaw puzzle, she was put back together again. Because the water is so cold, there's we're no little varmints in the water to eat the wood, so the pieces had all survived. It was easy to see in hindsight why she sunk. Essentially, she was top heavy and simply fell over. She is covered in lions to scare the enemy!
Next we headed for the old town. Also a rather pretty spot. We had a few hours free time which I used to purchase the tackiest spoon in Sweden for Gaye's collection, and have Sofia teach me about Swedish pastries. Sofia assures me ABBA once stood in this square.
Waiting for the bus at the royal palace we all got a treat. We watched Bill Clinton get out of a vehicle and head inside the palace - secret service and all. Caused quite the commotion.
We spent the afternoon cruising through the archipelago, checking out all the summer homes. There were activities to join in if you were not keen on watching the world go by with a martini (my preferred 'activity') but I drew the line at joining in the line dancing class. There is some skepticism from the likes of Tracey that there is actually a line - but I drew it. I swear!
I woke up this morning in Helsinki.
I spent the morning looking around the city itself. The buildings in the senate square were by far the most impressive.
Now, Finland is of course where Santa is from. Man even has his own shop...
I am however starting to think of Santa as a mobster of sorts - man seems to not only have his own stores, but he clearly has an effective way to deal with reindeer who misbehave...
And it is not just soup - there were reindeer hotdogs and pies as well at the market. It was nearing lunchtime and I was starting to panic about what I had signed up for given I was going out to the countryside to have a "traditional Finnish lunch". I couldn't eat Rudolf. Maybe I should be vegetarian for the day?
But it was all good. We went to a lovely farm about 40 minutes from Helsinki.
We ate what was probably one of the best meals I have ever had. Ever ever. We started with a creamy stinging nettle soup. We decided it was a mix of the best of a broccoli chowder and a mushroom soup (despite not including either broccoli or mushrooms!). Next they gave us fish stew and boiled new potatoes. Again, the plates were cleaned. It was all washed down with home made beer.
For dessert - we had rhubarb and strawberry cake with blueberries and lingonberries from the farm.
It was unbelievably awesome and tasty.
We then moved on to an ancient medieval town called Porvo. We strolled and shopped and basically just hung out in the sunshine.
We even got to see a wedding at the church.
Tomorrow, we start 48 action packed hours in Russia. But for now, I leave you with one of the funnier things seen today in Helsinki. Pretty unfortunate name for a food van...
Our stop in Stockholm was far too short. At 6 hours it is the shortest port stop of the entire cruise. How on earth is it fair that on a cold rainy day we get 14 hours in Rostock Germany but only six hours on a warm sunny day in Stockholm? Boo to that.
We started our day in Stockholm checking out a panoramic view of the city, and driving around to get our bearings. It would seem our tour guide thought that the only thing we knew about Stockholm was that it was where the girl with the dragon tattoo was set, and all references we were given related back to the books or movies (thought we would at least get an ABBA reference).
Our first stop was city hall - which is where they hand out all the Nobel prizes with the exception of the peace prize (which Norway gets the honour of deciding instead).
I also learned something interesting - Nobel invented dynamite, hence the fortune he acquired to set up the prizes.
Next we headed for the Vasa museum. Back in the 1600's the king wanted a new fleet of navy ships, and one of the biggest ever built was ordered by the King if Sweden. On it's maiden voyage she sailed for 23 minutes before sinking, killing 18 people on board. It lie at the bottom of sea for 333 years until it was salvaged in the 1950's. In 14,000 pieces. Despite being tasked with the worlds biggest jigsaw puzzle, she was put back together again. Because the water is so cold, there's we're no little varmints in the water to eat the wood, so the pieces had all survived. It was easy to see in hindsight why she sunk. Essentially, she was top heavy and simply fell over. She is covered in lions to scare the enemy!
Next we headed for the old town. Also a rather pretty spot. We had a few hours free time which I used to purchase the tackiest spoon in Sweden for Gaye's collection, and have Sofia teach me about Swedish pastries. Sofia assures me ABBA once stood in this square.
Waiting for the bus at the royal palace we all got a treat. We watched Bill Clinton get out of a vehicle and head inside the palace - secret service and all. Caused quite the commotion.
We spent the afternoon cruising through the archipelago, checking out all the summer homes. There were activities to join in if you were not keen on watching the world go by with a martini (my preferred 'activity') but I drew the line at joining in the line dancing class. There is some skepticism from the likes of Tracey that there is actually a line - but I drew it. I swear!
I woke up this morning in Helsinki.
I spent the morning looking around the city itself. The buildings in the senate square were by far the most impressive.
Now, Finland is of course where Santa is from. Man even has his own shop...
I am however starting to think of Santa as a mobster of sorts - man seems to not only have his own stores, but he clearly has an effective way to deal with reindeer who misbehave...
And it is not just soup - there were reindeer hotdogs and pies as well at the market. It was nearing lunchtime and I was starting to panic about what I had signed up for given I was going out to the countryside to have a "traditional Finnish lunch". I couldn't eat Rudolf. Maybe I should be vegetarian for the day?
But it was all good. We went to a lovely farm about 40 minutes from Helsinki.
We ate what was probably one of the best meals I have ever had. Ever ever. We started with a creamy stinging nettle soup. We decided it was a mix of the best of a broccoli chowder and a mushroom soup (despite not including either broccoli or mushrooms!). Next they gave us fish stew and boiled new potatoes. Again, the plates were cleaned. It was all washed down with home made beer.
For dessert - we had rhubarb and strawberry cake with blueberries and lingonberries from the farm.
It was unbelievably awesome and tasty.
We then moved on to an ancient medieval town called Porvo. We strolled and shopped and basically just hung out in the sunshine.
We even got to see a wedding at the church.
Tomorrow, we start 48 action packed hours in Russia. But for now, I leave you with one of the funnier things seen today in Helsinki. Pretty unfortunate name for a food van...
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