Stockholm and Hesinki
I can see why the streets of Stockholm’s old town are choked with tourists. The city is a wonderful place to visit. We had a great few days there. We’ll have to return, there was too much for us to see during our short visit. There were many bars that we’d loved to have dived into but they will have to wait until pass though again with more time and money. Stockholm wasn’t as expensive as I was expecting though, yes the beer was expensive, but eating out was comparable with the UK. We had a great meal at the atmospheric Pelikan in Södermalm. Rhian had the traditional meat balls with gravy, mash and logonberries and I had the local hash ‘Pytt i panna’ which was served with a side of beetroot.
Our visit to Stockholm was probably enhanced by the fantastic weather while we were there. The Swedish, much like the British, appear to take full advantage of good weather when it comes along. At lunchtime the parks were full of office workers enjoying their boxed salads and sandwiches. The women appeared quite happy to sit in the park in their bras surely a practice that should be adopted to the UK? Then again, maybe not. The sight of a park full of beautiful Swedish women taking lunch bares no resemblance to a park full of overweight Geordies in their underwear munching on Gregg’s sausage rolls.
From Stockholm we took the overnight ferry to Helsinki. The Silja Symphony bared more resemblance to a hotel than a ferry. The main part of the boat consisted of the promenade from which numerous shops, restaurants and bars stemmed. Our cabin was fantastic, far more comfortable than any of our accommodation on the trip so far (sorry G). The crossing was incredibly smooth and we could happily have stayed on the boat for a few nights enjoying the comfort of our cabin and the ship’s facilities.
Helsinki was part of the Russian Empire from 1808 to 1917. This is immediately apparent when you arrive as most of the buildings that make up the centre of the city could quite easily have been plucked from St. Petersburg or Moscow, the same goes for the efficient and extensive tram system. We had an enjoyable few days here, visiting the island fortress, eating fried fish (mostly Herring but the markets were filled with all sort of fish which wouldn’t be considered in the UK including Tench, Pike, Perch and Roach) and discovering more about Finland and Helsinki at the city museum. It was a surprise to learn that Finland has only been an independent state for less than one hundred years and that Helsinki only began to grow into the capital city it is today when Russia ruled during the 19th century. One thing we didn’t get around to on our short visit to Helsinki was a visit to the public sauna. Another city we will have to revisit in the future!