During my last day in Finland I made my way, following the tram tracks, to the Rock church (Temppeliaukio Church )
In the 1930s a competition was held to decide on the design of the church to be built on an acquired piece of land. There were actually 3 competitions held before the 'winner's were announced in 1961. The interior was excavated and built directly out of solid rock - hence the unofficial name! The copper ceiling helps with the acoustics and while I was there the organ was being played. It was a restful place to sit and rest ones aching feet!
I returned to the hotel for my bags and hiked up to the port to catch the ferry to Sweden. It was very straightforward getting on board and finding one's cabin. I booked a cabin for myself with views to the outside. The cabin had a Moomin theme - Moomins are trolls and are based on novels etc written by a Finnish author. Kerry told me that she remembered watching the cartoon series after school!!
I then took a look around the ship - I couldn't get over the size!
I claimed a spot at the rear of the ship to watch us leave Helsinki.
I had just sat down with my G & T when the hoards arrived! I presume that plenty of people head to Stockholm for the weekend but it seemed like the whole of the Finnish male population was there! I was 'pushed' further and further into the corner but I held my ground! Not long after we left Helsinki behind I headed back to my cabin - the peace was awesome!! I can't cope with so many people - I like my space! I did venture out for my dinner at the Grand Buffet and was happy to be allotted a table by myself! It was a bit of a bun fight but I took my time and started with the smoked salmon and caviar!
There was a huge variety of food but had I known about the the various other restaurants on board I might have opted for somewhere else.
It was a smooth sailing, not like the crossing to Tassie! Still suffering from jetlag and seeing sun rise just before 5am I got dressed and wandered the deck - must get my steps up! It was b*#&* freezing and I spotted some sleet but the scenery was so beautiful it was worth every frozen limb. The water was so flat it was hard to tell where land ended and water began. To see the sky reflected on the water was quite something.
The ferry took 18 hours from Helsinki to Stockholm and I would recommend this trip. Although wonderful it hasn't made me want to go cruising!! This has been my way of trying to save the planet by not travelling by plane!
I caught the bus into the city centre and then started the walk to reach my hotel. It was so cold and there was no possibility of checking in until 3pm so I just had to wander. Two doors down from here is the most amazing cake shop/ cafe! My excuse, to indulge, was the cold and needing to sit down!
Doesn't look much but it was scrumptious!
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