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August 21, 2000
Greetings one last time from Stockholm:
Tomorrow I'll leave for Krakow, Poland to start the next leg of my adventure on the road. I'll stop and visit
friends in Lubeck and Berlin, Germany along the way, and by the weekend I'll be exploring the city I'll live in
for a month while going to school.
After spending the last six weeks in Stockholm, leaving is bittersweet, as they say. I've made many new, wonderful
friends here and found it quite easy to get around, but the feet are itchy and new challenges beckon, - so it's
time. I'm especially grateful to Peter for his kindness and generosity. Tonight he took me out for dinner at
the Grand Hotel overlooking the harbor, which was top shelf all the way. He wanted me to have a "real Swedish
dinner" on my last night here and it was the finest meal I've had since I started my traveling!
But before I close the book on Scandinavia, I must say...if you come to Stockholm and do not intend to go to Helsinki,
Finland I suggest you reconsider. I did, and I'm really glad!
I'd kept hearing about a "party boat" to Helsinki and I finally decided to check it out, but not to
"party", as I am a lousy "partier". Instead, I discovered that it's a fun and inexpensive
way to explore, if only on a limited basis, a wonderful city. Here's how it works.
Silja Lines runs a ferry that leaves Stockholm at 5 pm and arrives in Helsinki at 9 am the next morning, then leaves
Helsinki at 5:50 that afternoon and returns to Stockholm the following morning at 9. (There is also the Viking
line, but Silja is better.) You get a cabin both ways and I was quoted 639 Swedish Kroner return (or round trip
for Americans). That's about $71 U.S. Because I have friends here (Bob and Maarit) who are Silja Members, they
booked it for me at 334 SK, or about $37.
It's a beautiful ship, about 1000 feet long with multiple decks, a night club, disco and several bars, restaurants,
casino, hot-tub, play area for kids and more... it is outstanding! When we left Stockholm, we cruised for four
hours through an archipelago of tens of thousands of islands before reaching open sea. That ride alone is fantastic!
After dark, there's plenty to do, but a good share of those on the ship start consuming massive amounts of alcohol.
I dare say there are many on board who spend more on booze than they do for their fare.
I sat for a while in a small lounge and listened to a guitar-playing troubadour who seemed to know every song written
and recorded in the last half century... and if he didn't know it, he faked it quite convincingly. He was quite
entertaining. Then I moved off to the nightclub where a five-piece rock/pop band played all the obligatory covers,
and masses of dancers writhed and perspired. I left fairly quickly and headed to the casino and watched Japanese
men lose obscene amounts of money doing something they knew far less about than they thought they did. Apparently
some Japanese are as obsessed with gambling as they are with golf!
The disco is supposed to be quite a spectacle, but since it doesn't get going until 23:30 (11:30 pm for you yanks),
I'll have to save that for another lifetime as by then I was headed for my cabin and some shuteye. (I admit I'm
a lightweight!) For the price quoted I was supposed to have a roommate, but I was by myself... thankfully, as
I didn't have to deal with some guy stumbling in during the wee hours crashing around and farting all night.
In the morning I was off to explore Helsinki. Granted my exposure was minimal, but what I saw, I liked. The people
have that same tall, blond Scandinavian look that the Swedes do and there were an ample number of statuesque Nordic
goddesses on the scene. They're also very proficient in English. Helsinki, population wise, is a little over one-half
million, about half the size of Stockholm, and the city is small enough that one can easily walk a good portion
of it in a day. And that's just what I did. By the way, I recommend picking up either or both "Helsinki
Your Way" and "Helsinki This Week", which are distributed free by tourist information. To research
in advance, there's www.hel.fi, and click on English.
First I went to the Kauppatory (public market) which is reached via a 15-minute walk from the docks, and next to
that is Esplanadi, a long rectangular green belt surrounded by shops and restaurants. In the center was a bandstand
and while I sipped my latte I was treated to several performers. The first was a group of young ladies dressed
in cowgirl outfits dancing to music that ranged from The Music Man's "76 Trombones" to Aretha Frankin.
Then some guys came out with Stetson hats, boats and guitars and set back country music about 50 years!
My latte finished, I decided to explore culture slightly more indigenous to Finland. Old Town, with its cobblestone
streets, trams, and rich blend of architectural styles, is stunning. At its center is the imposing Senate Square
where I grabbed a bench, aired out my feet, and participated in people watching for a while. As I sat near a big
statue of some famous dead Finn I also became part of numerous photographs being snapped. And so for the umpteenth
time in my travels, I became "that guy". "Honey, who's THAT GUY in the picture?"
Then I headed to Uspenski Cathedral, the largest Orthodox church in the Nordic countries. I found it to be remarkable
and I recommend you put it on your list of places to visit. From there I followed the edge of the harbor northward
where tall-mast sailboats are berthed, and then I strolled through the huge and lush University Botanical Gardens.
Helsinki, again like Stockholm, is filled with canals, lakes, parks and winding pathways with plenty of benches
offering a wonderful scenic view. It was a clear, sunny day and the city was alive and vibrant with activity,
yet still very peaceful.
Like Krakow, Poland, where I'm soon headed, Helsinki is one of Europe's Cities of Culture in 2000. There're about
70 museums, and included among them and highly recommended are the National Museum of Finland as well as Kiasma,
with its contemporary art. I could not bear the thought of being inside on such a magnificent day though, so I
settled for just walking by these impressive structures. Some friends I made on the ship took the 15-minute ferry-ride
to the Suomenlinna Fortress and were glad they did, so you might want to keep that in mind.
I briefly commented about the Finnish women and so I must give equal time to the male gender, but in all candor
I cannot be as complimentary. You see friends, it's about fashion... and this goes for many of the Swedish guys
as well. It seems that a lot of these young men have made bed-head a fashion statement. What do I mean by that?
It honestly looks like these guys smear tons of mousse in their hair before they go to bed and then just roll
out in the morning, throw on some clothes and then head off. Their hair is something to see! I even watched a
young TV reporter sporting that look. It's quite in contrast to all the trendy, meticulously dressed girls.
As I strolled back to the ship I passed world-class runners racing by in the Helsinki Marathon. There were guys
running at a pace they maintain for 26.2 miles faster than I can sprint for 50 yards. Amazing!
One thing I should mention about this ship is that duty free shopping is a big thing. Alcohol, cigarettes, candies,
perfume (all of life's essentials, right?) can be purchased at a fraction of what they normally cost ashore, and
for many travelers on the ship this is a shopper's paradise. When I disembarked I witnessed one after another
of my fellow shipmates with these collapsible luggage carriers, stacked with as many cases of beer as they could
lug off the boat. One older lady had a backpack on and was towing two of those carriers behind her, one with each
arm, and I counted twelve cases! At least with socialized medicine in Sweden she won't have to pay for either
a liver transplant or a hernia operation... which ever comes first.
To say I've experienced Finland, having only spent a day in Helsinki, would be absurd, of course - just as spending
a day in London hardly constitutes knowing England. Finland is a vast region of wilderness reaching north of the
Arctic Circle and with only five million inhabitants; it's truly an outdoor paradise. Technically not part of
Scandinavia, Finland has a language highly unique to itself and a fierce pride in its history and culture, though
Finns admit to sharing a Nordic kinship and friendly rivalry with its neighbors to the west. I hope to go back
and explore more, as well as the north of Sweden and Norway.
But for now...
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Peace
and love and skol
