After my last post, I made my way with my luggage to South Harbour to catch the cruise ship Silja Serenad to Stockholm. On my way, I stopped at one of the ice cream vendors and treated myself to two scoops of salmiakki ice cream, because I know it won't be possible to have some more anytime soon. As I ate my ice cream, I walked over to the Olympiaterminalen, the cruise ship terminal that was built for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. It is here that cruise ships from the Silja Line dock. It is rather unusual, because Helsinki is one of the only cities in the world where cruise ships are able to dock in the heart of the city.
I got my ticket for my passage to Stockholm and was told that boarding could begin in 15 minutes, even though the ship was not scheduled to depart for more than 90 minutes. As soon as I could, I boarded the ship and was greeted by three musicians playing traditional Irish music. For some reason, the cruise ship hired three female musicians to play Irish music from March 15th to May 31th, to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. It was a bit surreal, because it didn't seem to fit with my surroundings.
The ship was huge, and I was told that my deluxe cabin was located on the 11th deck. As the entrance to the ship was on the promenade deck (the 7th deck), I got to get a sneak peak of what the boat had to offer: casino, a choice of restaurants, a wine bar, duty-free shop, elevators... I got to my room and thought it was very nice: queen size bed, window seat, private shower and bath. I thought I could definitely live with that. I then went off to explore the ship a bit more. I discovered the moonlight stroll upper deck, the dance club, the piano bar and lounge, the sauna and pool, the spa, the karaoke bar, the kids's area, the arcade, etc. This ship had a lot to offer! And I took a ton of pictures.
I decided to go back to my room to take in the view from my window. I sat on the window seat, only to realize I was given a room facing indoors, with a view of the promenade deck. I was a little disappointed because I thought I had booked a room with a sea view. So I went back to the information centre. I figured there was no harm in inquiring about the room. The attendant said it was bizarre that the system had not recognized the ticket I had purchased online, and she offered to switch me to one of the few remaining rooms facing the water, for no additional charge. She said she should hurry, though, before those rooms were all taken up. So, in the end, it did pay to ask. My new room was cabin 11418, on deck 11. This time, there was no window seat, but a great view of the Helsinki Harbour.
I learned onboard that if we wanted to partake in a traditional Swedish smörgåsbord, we would have to book ahead of time. So I went to the appointed area and reserved my table. And despite stumbling over my Swedish words, the patient attendant kept addressing me in Swedish so that I could practice. The last time I was in Stockholm in 2010, I did not get a chance to have the smörgåsbord because I had had an upset stomach for most of my trip. I was not going to miss my chance now. The cost of the buffet was quite steep, at 35 euros (or close to 50 dollars Canadian), but included in that price was the full dinner and dessert buffet of well-over 200 items, and also included all the red or white wine and beer we wanted. My reservation was made for the first available sitting, at 8:00 p.m.
I still had quite a bit of time, so I decided to sit at the wine bar and enjoy a Riesling. Once again, the patient attendant spoke Swedish with me and helped me get that much-needed practice in. It is so frustrating for me to know the words, to be able to use them, but not to hear them when people speak with me. Anyway, I sat at a table and read the brochures on Sweden which I took at the information desk. I must have spent a good hour just going over this material and slowly sipping my wine. I guess it was partly the wine, and mostly my frantic pace of the last few days, but I seriously needed a nap. There was still well-over an hour until my smörgåsbord, so I went back to my cabin and slept.
I awoke on my own around 7:50, just in time to make my way to the buffet, which is easily the most impressive culinary experience of my life!! I had to take tons of pictures of all of the different stations that were set up. I have never seen so many varieties of food in one venue. And I wanted to sample almost everything in the buffet. I say almost because there were clearly things I did not want to eat: feta cheese and olives being chiefly among these. But I did sample a wide array of the offerings. As expected, there were plenty of traditional Swedish delicacies: smoked salmon, baked salmon, lightly salted salmon, lightly salted herring, fried herring, boiled herring, pickled herring, herring salad, shrimp, mussels, shrimp salad, shrimp in pasta salad, Swedish meatballs... But in addition to these, there were foods from around the world as well, and I got the chance to have three foods that I had never had before: red caviar, black caviar and gazpacho. The gazpacho, a traditional Spanish soup served cold, was delicious. As for the caviar, I couldn't really savour its delicate flavour because I had put it on a strong rye break that overpowered the roe. I made a pig of myself and had three heaping platesful of food before going back for a plate of dessert. Add to that a glass of beer and two glasses of white wine. Dr. Atkins is turning over in his grave...
Karaoke was slated to start at 9:00 and run until 11:00 p.m., and I was just getting up from the table, bloated, at 9:30 p.m. I got the chance to see the sun disappear under the horizon at 9:37 p.m. (quite late for the time of year, by my standards). So I made my way to the starlight lounge on the 12th deck for karaoke. Because my friend Dan from CP had requested that I sing some ABBA for them, especially on this Sunday evening when the whole gang was at karaoke in Ottawa, I sang "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and had the crowd singing along with me and then breaking out to loud applause at the end. There were a lot of other singers there, so the only other song I got to sing was Dido's "White Flag". It was only when I reached the chorus that I thought it might not have been the best song choice, as I belted out the line: "I will go down with this ship".
When karaoke ended at 11:00 p.m., I checked out the various decks and realized that most everything was closed except for the bars and clubs. So, I gradually made my way back to my room, settled in for the night and started reading the Benny Andersson biography I brought with me. I must have gone to bed around midnight (Finland time), which was really 11:00 p.m. Swedish time, given the fact that I am gaining an hour in my travels.
I woke early, at 4:00 a.m., when the ship docked at Mariehamn, on an island between Finland and Sweden, but went back to sleep. I woke up on my own around 7:00 a.m. (Swedish time), and got ready for the complimentary breakfast that comes with the Deluxe cabin. I was greeted in the restaurant by a waitress who offered me my choice of "breakfast" beverages: sparkling white wine, mimosa or Bloody Mary. When in Rome... My meal consisted of some breakfast items, like pancakes and fruit salad, but I also tried the Finnish cauliflower pie (which I really liked).
After breakfast, I went to the topmost deck to see our approach into Stockholm. The first building I recognized was the Käknatorget Tower, then the Globe auditorium, then the Nobel Hall on Riddarholmen. I got very excited at the thought of being back in a city that was very familiar to me. And also knowing that tomorrow is the grand opening of ABBA The Museum.
But at the same time, I was a little nervous, because I did not manage to make contact with Jarl, the man who owns the flat whose room I am renting during my stay in Stockholm. After I left the boat, I asked the lady at the information desk if she could help me, because Jarl's telephone number didn't seem to be working. She tried everything she could think of, but the number simply wasn't working. So, not having any other choice, I decided to make my way directly to the address he had provided me with, in the hopes that he would be home. So I walked from the Silja Lines terminal, east of the city, to his home in the Karlaplan area of Stockholm, about a 25 minute walk. Nice, sunny weather here too, but slightly warmer than Helsinki, so I was starting to heat up in my leather jacket. When I arrived at Jarl's house, I was thrilled to see that he was home, and that his previous guests, a couple from Germany, were on their way out. So I could leave my luggage in the room and set off on foot to rediscover the city, while Jarl cleans the room and gets it ready for my stay. The first thing I wanted to do is find a computer so that I could add to my blog. It took a few minutes to figure out how to get to one, and then I discovered that the 7/11 convenience stores here are equipped with computers. And they are quite reasonable: 5 euros (about 7.50 dollars) for 2 and a half hours access. So here I am, all caught up now, and eager to go out and see the city. But I will be doing this without Hans, whom I called after I left Jarl's house, only to discover that he is still running a fever and not feeling well. But we still plan to see an opera together on Thursday.
Cheers!
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