Sweden!

Next location: Stockholm! Even though Our trip to Sweden started in my previous post as we arrived late on Friday and stayed at the Jumbo Stay Hostel. This is the official start to the Sweden post as we were able to explore Stockholm from this day forward.

Day 16, Saturday
So today was our first official day in Stockholm as yesterday we were technically in Arlanda by the airport. Our bus took us to the main train station and from there we eventually found out the right place to take a metro to for our next hostel. We took the bus to Zinkensdamm, apparently a posh area of town. The trek to the hostel seemed far but the green gardens and colourful flowers that lined the streets made up for it. Our hostel was near the Zinkensdamm soccer stadium and inside were several different teams practicing. After leaving our stuff in our room we headed out to Gamla Stan.

Slottskyrkan- The Royal Chapel

Gamla Stan was absolutely gorgeous. In comparison to what we last experience in Helsinki, this DEFINITELY tops it. The older buildings, the palace, the tiny streets, everything seemed so historic and stuck in time. The cobblestone streets were really nice to walk on, minus my choice of flats as I felt every cobblesone, my bad. We found our souvenirs at a really great price and I even had Swedish gelato (Stracciatella) that was to die for. We took photos in front of the palace which faces the little bay and to my surprise I saw a female guard. I have never seen a female guard for a royal building before so I snuck a shot of her. We also took photos with the side guard before we entered the Royal Chapel. It was absolutely gorgeous! Even the entrance to the Royal Chapel was gorgeous but none of my photos could even compare how gorgeous it actually was unfortunately.

We went to bed early that night as we were going to have to switch hostels again the next morning. I talked a lot with another woman who was in our room. She was a geologist from England and she was so nice to talk to. She had a lot of insight into the field and possible venues for work pertaining to my interests.

Day 17, Sunday

The ship hostel (right) with Gamla Stan in the background

 As soon as we woke up we headed towards our next destination. We took a bus to get to it but it was not very confusing. Our next hostel was to be the af chapman af Skeppsholmen. This is a former ship that was originally made in 1888. It was a super cool experience to know that our hostel was going to be us sleeping on this boat. It also had great views of Gamla Stan and specifically of the royal palace.

After we dropped off our stuff we went to a little dock and finished eating our breakfasts. I took some photos and just relaxed by the water. The view was really gorgeous if I have not stressed that enough already. The bridge walking from Skepssholmen to Gamla Stan was really pretty as we got great views of the harbour on both sides.


From here we skipped the old part of Gamla Stan and headed toward the newer part of downtown. When we got there we went in to a huge H&M, as it is from Sweden. We did some minor shopping and headed towards an international food festival. There were mini booths from all over such as perogies from Poland, cheese from the Netherlands, crepes from France and barbeque burgers from Australia. From here we found a music festival that was going on. There was a young singer on stage who apparently is the Swedish version of Justin Bieber. The tweens were going crazy. When I asked one who he is, she told me: "He sings Lady Gaga, and he looks like he's 18 but he's only 14! OH MY GOD I LOVE HIM!". Obviously those are requirements in order to be talented.


We left the downtown and headed back to the older Gamla Stan in order to go on a boat cruise. It was really nice even though we didn't have window seats. We sat beside a family that actually lives right near where we departed and even though they have lived in Stockholm for many years they had never done the tourist sight-seeing boat cruise so they actually provided a lot more information to us which was great.

Radhus

After our boat cruise I really wanted to go see the radhus which is where the other Nobel Prizes are given out other than the Peace Prize (which is in Oslo as I previously mentionned). It was right along the water, which is not a great indicator as Stockholm is tons of small islands surrounded by water haha. Again, the view was stunning. There was a Stockholm horse in the middle of the court yard area, which apparently Stockholm is known for as they are everywhere. My poor camera took a tumble at one point as Amanda accidentally dropped it :( So in some of my photos if I forgot to move back the cover for the lens it will block part of the lens :( 
I came so close to putting my feet in the Baltic Sea as well but Amanda did not want to come down to the little water area so I didn't try as the current was too strong and there was nothing to hold on to...next time I'll do it and take a picture to prove as I always do!


From here we walked back through Gamla Stan to get to the ship. I completely ran out of money so I knew I needed sleep so that I could carry the 55lbs that was my backpack and purse all the way to the train station the next morning to catch our train to Copenhagen.

Finland (and Estonia)

Finland (and Estonia)

Next location: Helsinki! Even though Our trip to Helsinki started in my previous post as we arrived late on Tuesday I decided that this would be the start to the Finland post as these are the days most spent in Finland!

Day 13, Wednesday
After having to switch rooms we headed out to downtown Helsinki to discover the sights.

We stopped by in some tourist shops to first scope out some prices for postcards and gifts.We then stopped at the Forum shopping mall. I found a really cute headband for only a couple Euro which was a steal! We ended up having our lunch here as the selections was pretty decent. We ate a Turkish pizza place which allowed us to split the pizza, half Hawaiian and half just cheese so that me and Amanda could split it.It was only like 3Euros each? Amazing.

We continued walking and although most locals did not seem eager to help us we eventually found out way to the Salu Market... basically their touristy/farmer's market along the harbour. We bought some stuff and tried to go to the Uspenski Cathedral but were apparently too late for it.

We headed back down to the harbour and I convinced Amanda to take the boat to Suomenlinna to visit the UNESCO site. I wasn't going to let this go to chance and not visit it and the far was only a couple Euro for return so I couldn't pass it up. The boat ride was quick and the island was really pretty. There are people who still live there on a regular basis although we figured it is probably annoying with all the tourists who visit... We got to visit two museums for free as it was apparently national museum day so we visited the Suomenlinna visitor centre museum as well as an old military museum.

(overlooking Helsinki from Suomenlinna)

Once we got back we went to Senate Square and took some photos of Helsinki Cathedral. It was closed as well but we got some pretty good snaps of it. On our way back we went to the forum again for dinner. Amanda had pizza again and brought her food to the Golden Rax restaurant where I ate. It was a pizza buffet, kind of like a pizza hut but I was craving chicken and salad so I had both!

We went back to the hostel and didn't stay up too late as we decided that tomorrow we would do a boat trip to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia and spend a day trip there!

Day 14, Thursday
Today we decided to day trip to Tallinn, Estonia. We had to speed-walk (and run) in order to catch the boat on time, and we literally got our ticket as they were doing the final boarding. We decided the cheapest line to take would be with LindaLine and it was a Catamaran so it only took an hour and a half compared to the other companies that were 2-2.5 hours.

Amanda slept on the ride there but I ended up chatting with a Parisian girl who had been studying in Tampere, Finland. She said I had a really good command of the French language and an accent that was not Quebecois (thankfully) and therefore she could understand me haha.

Once we arrived in Tallinn we walked towards the Old Town. It was a dreary looking day and we had some bouts of drizzle but nothing serious. We first saw the Broken Bridge Monument for the memorial of the boat sinking that happened several years ago. We then found our way into one of the gate entrances to the Old Town. The town was very medieval looking with its cobblestone streets and decorated old doors. We first went into St. Olaf's Church was a beautiful old church (believed to be from the 12th Century). It was really gorgeous and the interior was even better!

While walking along the main street called Pikk I was determined to find the address Pikk 59. This is the address of the former KGB HQ that I had read about in my research. We eventually found it with the sealed windows from the basement which was a former interrogation room.

As we continued down Pikk we did some tourist shopping and stopped for a bite at Cafe Bonaparte which was amazing. I had a mince-meat pastry and saved a lingonberry pastry for later.

We continued down Pikk until we made it to Raekoja Plats(pictured below with me in the centre). This is their main square. It has the town hall and the surrounding buildings are restaurants and souvenirs shops. From here we rushed up to Troompea Castle(we thought we were in a rush but we did not have the correct time). It was really pretty even for the rush job that we had of seeing it. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was closed (as per usual for us on this trip) and we headed back down to finish our souvenir shopping and head towards the boat.

We ended up taking an earlier boat ride home (as we had thought we were in a rush). Before boarding I was able to pick up some sand for my uncle (not the easiest task as we mostly visited capitals and there are no beaches generally) and I was also able to pick up some wild strawberry Estonian liquor for 5Euros.

I slept on the boat ride back but was ridiculously cold. I had to wear mittens. I think sleeping by the window caused this but who knows. On our way back to the hostel we stopped in at the Forum to go to the grocery store and got some apples and yogurts. Our hostel has the worst system ever for the computers(albeit they were free) but seriously the group of girls in our room who were rotating in order to keep it between the 5 of them... was a bit ridiculous. I could go into more detail about how ridiculous the computer situation got but I won't get catty about it.

Day 15, Friday
Today was our final day in Helsinki and later we would be flying out to Stockholm, Sweden.

We checked out of the hostel but kept our luggage in their storage room so that we would not have to lug it around all day. Only because it was free did I actually store it haha.

We first went to some Natural History Museum. I didn't really want to go as it was our last day and I didn't have money either but Amanda didn't have a watch and our meeting point was not the greatest so I ended up waiting inside until Amanda was done. From here we decided to have lunch at another pizza place. The guy was really nice and put our pizzas in tin foil so that we could finish the remainder later.

We walked back to the market and did more browsing. I tried a squid ring, which tasted exactly like an onion ring haha but oh well I can say I tried. From here we walked to the Uspenski Cathedral with our fingers crossed that it was actually open. Thankfully, it was. No photos were allowed to be taken but of course I managed to snap a few without being caught. The inside was very elaborate but beautiful none the less. Once outside we were able to take some good views of the Helsinki Cathedral and Senate Square.

From this Cathedral we walked back down and headed towards Senate Square. We were able to go into the Helsinki Cathedral although it was bigger it was not nearly as elaborate. The outside is far more appealing than the inside. From here we decided to eat on the steps, as many of the locals do during the day, and then started to head back so we could catch our bus to the airport.

On our way back we bought our postcards and took a detour in order to see a Church. This church is famous as it is built into the stone and apparently has really great acoustics, but, as per usual with our luck with churches thus far, it was closed for renovations. Obviously. Great. We continued along our way to the hostel, grabbed our stuff and then headed back to the Toolo Bay Park in order to catch our bus.

The airport was horrible. Security took away my spray deodorant. The bottle has less than half in it, probably less than a third but since it said 125ml they took it. I also got body searched at this airport which was a first. I had NO metal on me. I had not gone off at any other airport at this point.

After our quick flight to Stockholm we took the free airport transfer bus to our hostel... Jumbo Stay! This is a recyled airplane that has been turned into a hostel and it is quite the experience! There was a dining area/living area, bathrooms and our room even had tv! It was weird sleeping on a plane but it was an opportunity we could not pass up!We tucked in early for the night as we had to bus into downtown Stockholm early the next morning to move to our next hostel!