Sailing through Scandinavia - A Long Review with Lots of Pictures!

[jstducky]

Stockholm

 

Stockholm was the day where we had the most ambitious plans for doing the city on our own. I had known in advance that we would be docking at Stadsgarden, which is a different pier than I had docked at on my previous trip to Stockholm. Through research, I found out that the most convenient way to get from the pier to the Vasa Museum (which should be every cruisers first destination when arriving in Stockholm) was via HOHO boat, which docked right by where the ship docked. However, I knew that I would be purchasing the Stockholm Card in advance, which included the use of all public transportation (bus, metro, public ferry) so I needed to find a way to get from the pier to Vasa Museum by using public transportation so that I wouldn’t have to pay extra for the HOHO boat. In addition to Vasa, prior to the trip we had planned to take a tour of City Hall, see the Royal Armory and Treasury, Stockholm Cathedral, Nobel Museum and wander Gamla Stan, and then finally head out to the Globe Arena to ride the SkyView; and all of this needed to be accomplished using public transportation. I worked tirelessly to research public busses, metro routes, and made a plan A, B, and C trying to account for every contingency possible. And then I crossed my fingers that everything would work out!

 

But first, part of having a port call in Stockholm is watching the sail in through the Stockholm Archipelago. For the few hours prior to arriving in Stockholm, the ship sails through an archipelago made up of over 24,000 islands big and small. The lanes we sail through weaving in and out between some of the islands is so narrow that at times it feels like you could reach out and touch the islands on either side of the ship. I had planned to wake up 3 hours prior to docking in Stockholm so that I could watch the sail in from our aft balcony. I knew that the sun would already be up, and in the first light of day when the waters are so calm, the scenery is gorgeous! My husband said that the scenery reminded him very much of the scenery out on the lakes where he grew up in Northern Minnesota.

 

 

First morning view of the Stockholm Archipelago as the sun tries to break through the clouds

 

 

Here comes the sun over the water

 

 

Once the sun came out it was glorious!

 

 

For anyone interested in taking the HOHO boat, you can see here the 2 boats (different companies) coming in to dock at the pier, right behind the ship (picture taken from my aft balcony)

 

 

Though getting there isn't as simple as walking by the aft and out to the HOHO pier. You actually have to exit the pier area by the bow of the ship and then walk all the way around following the fence line

[jstducky]

The ship was scheduled to dock at 8:30 am, which is what time Vasa Museum was set to open. Knowing that there were several other cruise ships in town, we knew we had to try to make it to Vasa as early as possible before it became crowded with tourists or before a line formed just to get into the museum. Luckily, the ship docked and was cleared by local authorities just before 8:30 am. My husband and I quickly got off the ship and went in search of the public bus. From research, I knew I had to find the Londonviadukten bus stop and grab any bus headed in the direction of Slussen (the main bus and metro transportation hub for the city). Most people say that you can walk from the ship to Slussen and just pick up the necessary bus to go to Vasa from there, but having done this now, I don’t know why you’d unnecessarily waste the time walking to Slussen (must be at least 15-20 minutes) when taking a bus from Londonviadukten (which took 3 minutes to walk to) is so much easier! The Londonviadukten bus stop was easy to find (based on the information I got from Stockholm residents on Cruise Critic) and as soon as we got to the bus stop, a bus showed up! We took bus 410 (but there’s a number of different buses you could take) to Slussen, which is the next stop (but in real distance a good 1-2 miles from where the ship docked). At Slussen, we changed to bus 76 (which just happened to arrive) for the quick trip to Djurgårdsbron. From Djurgårdsbron, it’s a simple matter of crossing the bridge to Djurgården island and walking to the Vasa Museum (which is signed). We arrived at Vasa just before 9:00 am. While we saw a few tour buses already at the museum, it was very few as we had beaten most of the crowds. (By the time we left, the place was starting to fill up and the tour bus parking lot was full and more buses were coming in.)

 

Using the Stockholm Card was quick and easy and we had no troubles at all. The minute we walked into the museum and my husband saw the warship Vasa for the first time, he said “wow!” I already knew what to expect since I had been here before, but that doesn’t make it any less stunning. But seeing his reaction was priceless. The Vasa is impressive and definitely a must-do for anyone on a trip to Stockholm. How it was preserved and how they have taken care of it and now exhibited it for visitors to come and see is mind-blowing. The exhibits are well marked in English, and the story of the ship, as well as the story of the crew’s life onboard and artifacts that were recovered with the ship are displayed throughout the museum. The museum also shows a continuous video which talks about the discovery and salvage of the ship, and also offers a free guided tour of the museum. We spent just over an hour at the museum going through the exhibits and learning about the history of the ship. It was fascinating.

 

 

A look as you cross the bridge over to Djurgarden island

 

 

A panoramic view of the ship when you first walk in

 

 

It's hard to believe that she sat at the bottom of the ocean for hundreds of years

 

 

The bow of the ship

 

 

The aft of the ship

 

 

A mock up of salvage operations

[jstducky]

By the time we were done with Vasa, we were about 30 minutes ahead of the original schedule I had planned on. Due to that fact, my husband and suggested that perhaps on top of the tour of City Hall, that we should try to climb the City Hall tower as well if we could get tickets. He decided then that if we had to cut something out of our planned day, he was willing to cut out the trip to the Globe Arena to ride SkyView.

 

From Vasa, we took City Tram 7 from the Nordiskamuseet/Vasamuseet stop to Nybroplan as per the notes I had. From Nybroplan, we needed to board bus 62 to Stadshuset, which would drop us off right in front of City Hall. However, when we got off the tram, we couldn’t figure out where bus 62 stopped. We walked in every conceivable direction, but couldn’t find a stop for bus 62. We asked a few people and no one had any idea. Where tram 7 dropped us off, I noticed was also the bus stop for 69. In looking at my notes, I had seen that we could take bus 69 to Kungsträgården and then switch to bus 62 there. Since we were wasting time and couldn’t find bus 62 where we were, we decided to hop on bus 69 and try our luck at the Kungsträgården stop. When we got off at Kungstragarden, we were again at a loss to where the stop for bus 62 was. It certainly was at the stop we had gotten off at. I walked into the nearest store and asked the proprietor inside if she could help me out. Luckily, she was really nice and had a map where she showed me where we were in relation to where the next closest bus stop also known as Kungsträgården was. She wasn’t sure that bus 62 stopped there, but she didn’t know where else it could be. So, we walked off in the direction that she pointed us in and luckily we found the obscure little sign for the bus stop and it indicated bus 62 stopped there! Thank goodness. Unfortunately, all the time we were ahead of schedule was now lost looking for bus 62!

 

When bus 62 arrived we hopped on and headed straight for City Hall. As indicated, the bus stopped right in front of City Hall, it was just a matter of crossing the street. And since we would need to take bus 62 back, we located where the bus stop was so we wouldn’t have trouble on the way back.

 

By now it was 10:45 am. Tours of City Hall are conducted in English every 30 minutes during the summer months. The tour capacity is 50 guests and tickets are sold on a first come, first serve basis. Fingers crossed we weren’t too late to get tickets to the 11:00 am tour or else we’d be wasting a lot of time. Once again we used our Stockholm Cards and had no problems getting in for the 11:00 am tour. In addition, we decided to try and see if we could get tickets for the City Hall Tower at 11:55 am. And yes, our Stockholm Cards worked for the Tower as well. The City Hall tour would last about 45 minutes, which would give us just enough time to get over to the tower for the 11:55 slot. For the City Hall Tower, tickets are also only sold on a first come, first serve basis; and there are only 30 tickets sold for each time slot available. We were lucky enough to get 2 tickets for the 11:55 slot for the Tower, so it looked like things were going to work out for us.

 

City Hall was busy with tours going in English, German, Italian and Spanish! Because City Hall is still a working building with 4 floors of offices for government officials, entry into City Hall is only given by guided tour. We learned that City Hall is made up of 8 million red bricks, all sourced from Sweden. Though the building is only over a century old, the bricks were chipped at so that the building would look older than it actually is. City Hall is famous as the place where the banquet honoring the Nobel Prize laureates is held each year in December. The banquet takes place in the Blue Hall(which isn’t actually blue) where the tour of City Hall starts. From the Blue Hall, we are taken through the Council Chamber with its famous Viking House roof, to see the political side of the building. The grand finale of the tour takes us through the great Golden Room filled with 18 million gold mosaic tiles and where guests during the Nobel banquet go to dance the night away. The tour is extremely interesting, and you learn all about the history, and the architecture behind the building itself and the individual rooms you visit.

 

 

A look at the beautiful Nordiskamuseet (next to Vasa). City Tram 7 stops right in front of the main entrance to the museum

 

 

A view of through one of the many arches of Stockholm City Hall

 

 

The Blue Hall where the Nobel Banquet occurs every year

 

 

City Council Chambers

 

 

The Viking roof of the City Council Chambers

[jstducky]

A glockenspiel that goes off every day at noon at the base of the bell tower

 

 

The Gold Room made up of 18 million gold mosaic tiles

[jstducky]

After the tour through City Hall, we headed over the Tower for our climb to the top. We were lucky to have gotten one of the slots for 11:55 am as it had sold out not too long after we got our tickets. We are told that the for the self-guided tower tour you are given 35 minutes (they estimate 10-15 minutes to climb up, 10-15 minutes at the top and 10 minutes to climb down). The climb to the top is almost 400 steps. If necessary, there is an elevator that takes you halfway up, but they say to only use it if you really need it. The halfway point of the climb up is actually the one point of the tower that you can see while on the tour for City Hall (it’s the room where the glockenspiel is located in City Hall). By halfway, I was already exhausted from climbing and we weren’t even there yet! The last third of the climb up isn’t actually a climb up stairs, but a dizzying array of bricked corridors that you kept going around and around until you came to a small set of stairs that took you to the next level. After a while I was sick of seeing these bricked hallways and was getting kind of dizzy! But, the view at the top of the tower is worth all the effort it takes to get to the top. It’s the best possible aerial view over the islands that make up Stockholm, especially Gamla Stan! It’s spectacular and beautiful. I would definitely recommend doing this climb if you are a photographer and if you are pretty fit.

 

 

Panoramic view from the top of Stockholm City Hall Tower

 

 

A look to the various bridges that connect the 14 islands. In the center of the picture (towards the back) you can see the Parliament Building, the Royal Palace and the tower of the Stockholm Cathedral

 

 

Gamla Stan from the top of the Stockholm City Hall Tower

 

 

Views from teh top of the Stockholm City Hall Tower

[jstducky]

Once we were done with City Hall and the Tower, it was 12:30 pm. With a 4:30 pm all aboard time, we already knew we were going to have to skip SkyView at the Globe Arena for sure unless we wanted to push the time limit and miss being able to wander around Gamla Stan. I guess we’ll just have to go back to Stockholm again in order to do it. We took bus 62 to the Karl XII:s Torg bus stop, at least this time we knew exactly where to get on the bus! The bus dropped us off right across the Strombron bridge that connects the island of Normalm with the island of Gamla Stan. From there it’s a pretty 3 minute walk across the bridge to the Royal Palace.

 

While Kungliga Slottet (The Royal Palace) is known as the official residence of the Royal family, they don’t actually live at the Palace, they just use it for official functions. The Palace is open for visitors to take tours through and also includes various museums. Of the Palace’s many sites, we had already decided in advance that we wanted to see the Royal Armory and the Royal Treasury. Again, both included with the Stockholm Card.

 

The Royal Armory, like the Tre Kronor Museum, has a separate entrance from the rest of the Royal Palace. Perhaps because of this kind of tucked-away entrance, it isn’t as popular as other parts of the Royal Palace. But, I think for people who overlook it to see the rest of the Palace, it’s a mistake! The Royal Armory was one of the most spectacular things that both my husband and I saw during our cruise. The basement level of the Armory contains chariots, carriages and buggies used by the Royals dating back to the 17th and 18th century; chariots and carriages that were used for Royal coronations, weddings and funerals. In addition you can see Royal wear, porcelain collections, and an exhibit on royal etiquette dating back to the 17th and 18th century on the main and upper floor, as well as an impressive collection of Royal armor and weapons through the centuries. There’s also an interactive section just for kids which is great. This exhibit was really a hidden gem.

 

 

Lion statue in front of the Royal Palace

 

 

The Royal Palace

 

 

Crown Emblem on the gate to the Royal Palace

 

 

Royal Armory Carriage

 

 

[jstducky]

A couple more Royal carriages

 

 

 

Royal Armor

 

 

Old Swedish Coat of Arms

 

 

Royal jewels on display at the Royal Armory

[jstducky]

From the Royal Armory we walked the short distance to the main part of the Palace to see the Royal Treasury (no pictures allowed). The Royal Treasury is contained within the basement of the Royal Palace and is rather small. The most interesting artifacts in the Royal Treasury are the Royal crowns, which are still used today by the Royal family. Unfortunately, there was a large tour group inside this very small area of the Royal Treasury when we visited which kind of detracted from the whole experience. I guess it was just bad timing on our part.

 

Once done with the Royal Palace, we walked the short distance to the Stockholm Cathedral. This cathedral is the official church of the Royal family, and even contains Royal pews situated next to the pulpit that are used exclusively by the Royals when they attend church services. The cathedral has been the site for many Royal weddings, coronations, and funerals. From the outside the cathedral looks pretty unassuming, but is pretty spectacular inside. The church was originally built in the 13th century and contains some historic relics and artifacts inside, include the George and the Dragon sculpture from the 15th century that we learned about during our tour of City Hall. Luckily, entrance into the Stockholm Cathedral is also included with the Stockholm Card.

 

 

Stockholm Cathedral

 

 

Stained glass inside Stockholm Cathedral

 

 

Interior of Stockholm Cathedral

 

 

Pulpit of Stockholm Cathedral

 

 

Royal Pew (topped with a crown) inside the Stockholm Cathedral

[jstducky]

Organ inside Stockholm Cathedral

 

 

Altar inside Stockholm Cathedral

 

 

George and the Dragon statue

[jstducky]

After the Stockholm Cathedral, we walked around the corner to the Nobel Museum. The museum, though small, is very well done. It walks the visitor through the history of the Nobel Prize and the life of the founder, Alfred Nobel. There was a very neat exhibit called “Sketches of Science: Photo sessions with Nobel Laureates” where recent Nobel prize winners were asked to sketch their amazing achievement out on a blank piece of paper, and then they were photographed with their sketch. The museum is a nice way to recognize the achievement of some of the world’s greatest minds. Of course, entrance to the museum is also included in the Stockholm Card. The other purpose of going to the Nobel Museum was to visit the Bistro Nobel and have the famous Nobel ice cream. First served at the Nobel Prize banquet at City Hall back in 1976, and served every year thereafter until 1998, the dessert is now made exclusively for the Nobel Museum. It was a tasty and delicious way to treat ourselves and sit down in the Bistro and rest our weary feet. All Nobel Laureates who visit the museum are asked to sign the bottom of a chair at the Bistro Nobel, so it was kind of an added bonus to look under some of the chairs and see the signatures of some great intellectuals.

 

 

Nobel Museum

 

 

 

Inside the Nobel Museum

 

 

Alfred Nobel emblem

 

 

Bistro Nobel

[jstducky]

Nobel ice cream

 

 

 

 

Chairs at the Bistro Nobel with signatures of Nobel Laureates

 

[jstducky]

By now it was just before 2:00 pm and we had finished touring Stockholm, we had a little over an hour before we wanted to make our way back to the ship, so we decided to take the time to wander around Galma Stan. We walked through a few small alleyways and the cobblestone streets, and walked through the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, doing a little window shopping and souvenir shopping along the way.

 

Shortly after 3:00 pm, we found the bus 76 stop at Slottsbacken (just around the corner from the Royal Palace) which would take us back to Slussen so we could go back to the ship. When we arrived at Slussen, we got a little confused about which bus we could take that would make a stop at Londonviadukten, but the great thing is that there are public transportation officials everywhere wearing vests who are more than happy to help you out. We boarded bus 473 and got off at Londonviadukten and walked back to the ship the same way we walked in the morning.

 

All in all, we had a fantastic day in Stockholm. We saw a lot and did a lot. Our ambitious plans were fulfilled and my diligent trip planning paid off. I had debated in advance as to whether or not we should order the Stockholm Card and if it would be worth it. In the end, we are glad we did, it ended up more than paying for itself, and it was convenient to already have the card in hand and not have to worry about paying for a ticket for each place we went to.

 

Stockholm Card cost: 450 SEK (but you do receive a discount for purchasing it on the internet – but most of the discount is wiped away in the cost of having it delivered to your home)

 

Items we saw covered by the Stockholm Card, and their admission prices had we not had the card:

 

Vasa Museum -110 SEK

City Hall Tour – 90 SEK

City Hall Tower – 40 SEK

Royal Armory – 80 SEK

Royal Treasury – 100 SEK (though this includes entrance to all of the other portions of the Royal Palace except the Royal Armory and Tre Kronor Museum)

Stockholm Cathedral – 40 SEK

Nobel Museum – 80 SEK

------------------------------------

TOTAL: 540 SEK

 

And the 540 SEK doesn’t yet include any of the cost of the use of public transportation (bus and tram, in my case) for getting from place to the next. Looking at the public transportation website, your basic ticket to get around, one way in Stockholm is 36 SEK. And we used the bus/tram on 4 separate occasions. I’d say the Stockholm Card paid for itself for our day in Stockholm.

 

 

 

Gamla Stan buildings

 

 

 

Sailing away from Stockholm

[jstducky]

Stockholm night dinner in the main dining room

 

 

Vitality and Alternative Selections Menu

 

 

Starters Menu

 

 

Entree Menu

 

 

Vichyssoise

 

 

International Cheese Plate

 

 

Baked Perch

[jstducky]

Ravioli Mare Monte

 

 

Dessert Menu

 

 

Chocolate Ice cream and Cream Catalan

 

 

Spanish Orange-Almond Cake

 

 

Pistachio Sherbet

[Desdichado62]

Stockholm

 

My husband said that the scenery reminded him very much of the scenery out on the lakes where he grew up in Northern Minnesota.

 

 

 

You know when the Swedish emigrants reached and settled in America in the 1800's and early 1900's.

Most of them settled in the area around just west of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.

In places Such as Chicago/Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin...

 

One of the reason to the choice of those states was the similarity of the landscape there and

the landscape back home in Sweden.

 

To remain on topic i would like to say that your review is really brilliant so far.

[jstducky]

You know when the Swedish emigrants reached and settled in America in the 1800's and early 1900's.

Most of them settled in the area around just west of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.

In places Such as Chicago/Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin...

 

One of the reason to the choice of those states was the similarity of the landscape there and

the landscape back home in Sweden.

 

To remain on topic i would like to say that your review is really brilliant so far.

 

Yes, there's a very large Swedish population in that part of the US. Until I met my husband, I didn't realize that.

 

The first time I went to Minnesota, I ended up purchasing a purse that had all sorts of Minnesota phrases and words on it, and one of them was "Uffda". My husband said it was a Scandinavian term popular in Minnesota. I looked it up and realized it was Norwegian.

 

But Swedish items such as lutefisk are found in Northern Minnesota. Where my husband is from, almost all the families used to be Finnish or Swedish.

 

And you're right, that's the big reason why the Swedes, Finns and Norwegians moved to that area, because it's so similar to where they come from.

 

Although my husband is part-Finnish, he will say now that he absolutely loved Stockholm. Would definitely want to go back there and see the things we didn't see and to travel to other parts of the country.

 

 

BTW, thank you again for your help with Londonviadukten! That made a huge difference in our day!

[Giantfan13]

And I thought I took pix of everything:D:D

 

You beat me hands down. I jsut didn't think of taking pix of my soup, but maybe next time:D:D

 

You did miss one thing though, a great chocolate eclair in Stockholm

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster409.jpg

 

:D

 

 

 

Glad you had a great time.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[jstducky]

And I thought I took pix of everything:D:D

 

You beat me hands down. I jsut didn't think of taking pix of my soup, but maybe next time:D:D

 

You did miss one thing though, a great chocolate eclair in Stockholm

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster409.jpg

 

:D

 

 

 

Glad you had a great time.

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

 

oh yum! that looks to-die-for! and I love chocolate eclairs!!

 

Where in Stockholm was that from? A cafe in Gamla Stan?

[MIRYAM]

what hotel did you use in copenhagen ?

[Giantfan13]

oh yum! that looks to-die-for! and I love chocolate eclairs!!

 

Where in Stockholm was that from? A cafe in Gamla Stan?

 

We loved exploring Gamla Stan. we went off the regular trail and found some wonderful shops and cafe's. One had these huge pastries and we just had to have one. sorry, I never did get the name and probably could never find it again. but that is just the entire fun of Gamla Stan.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[jstducky]

what hotel did you use in copenhagen ?

 

I booked the Hotel Danmark.

 

I wouldn't recommend it. You'll see why when I get to the Copenhagen portion of my review.

 

I've previously stayed at the Copenhagen Marriott on my previous trip to Denmark. That is a hotel I would recommend, large room, pretty good location, air conditioned. If I could have stayed there this time, I would have.

 

I made the mistake of trying to save some dollars and booked at the Hotel Danmark. Hopefully, I'll get the rest of my review up in the next few days and I explain exactly why I didn't like the hotel. Other than the fact that it's in a terrific location, I would say avoid it!

[jemily45]

alisa,

great review so far! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks again for everything.

Jane

[jstducky]

Helsinki

 

Helsinki is the one place I really wanted my husband to see. I had loved it on my first visit there, and I was hoping that my husband would fall in love with it too. I hear people who take Scandinavian cruises say that Helsinki is either a place you love, or hate, because there isn’t the old historic charm you find the way you would in Stockholm or any other large Scandinavian city. But Helsinki is about the striking, modern and contemporary. We had planned all along that we would do this city on our own by purchasing a 1-day transportation pass. That would be all we would need to get us around town. Our initial plans were to see Temppeliaukio church, Sibelius Monument, climb the Olympic Tower, visit both the Lutheran Cathedral and the Uspenski Cathedral, take the ferry over to Suomenlinna island and then wander around Market Square.

 

It was a beautiful morning for our arrival into Helsinki, although it seemed as though everyone was moving just a little bit slower. I think it was the long day in Stockholm, plus the loss of an hour of sleep as we moved our clocks forward to Finnish time that did everyone in! Even the Windjammer for breakfast was pretty empty.

 

 

Tuesday - Cruise Day 4

 

 

Windjammer Breakfast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jstducky]

We were scheduled to arrive in Helsinki at 10:00 am, which we actually did. However, there was a delay with the local authorities clearing the ship, so it was almost 10:10 am before we were allowed off.

 

Due to a change made by the Helsinki public transportation authorities only a week prior to our arrival in the city, I knew instead of having the option of taking either bus 16 or 14B into town from the pier, that we only had the option of taking bus 14 now. According to the schedule I had printed online, there was a bus arriving at 10:16 am, and then one 20 minutes later. Even though it was just shy of 10:10 am, I was hoping that we’d make the 10:16 am bus.

 

The local tourism office was offering a shuttle in to town for a nominal fee, but we weren’t interested in that. When we exited the ship, there were tourism officials standing there with signs to the effect of “ask me, I can help you.” So, I walked up to a man and asked him where the bus stop was for bus 14. The man looked at me and indicated which direction the bus stop was, but then said, “don’t take the public bus, it only comes once an hour.” I thanked him and went on my way, since I knew that wasn’t the case. I haven’t been able to figure out if he was purposely trying to scare me so that I would buy tickets on the shuttle they were offering, if he really didn’t know and thought the bus only ran once an hour.

 

As soon as we exited the port, we saw bus 14 just down the road about 2.5 blocks from where we were. We immediately started walking in the direction of the bus. When we were ½ a block from the bus, it actually pulled out of the stop and took off, driving right by us. I understand that the bus driver probably had a set time (10:16 am) and then took off when that time came, but since there’s nothing at all in the area of the bus stop and we were ½ a block from the bus and it was obvious we were headed towards him (since there’s nothing else there) couldn’t he have waited for us? Or at least signaled to us to run for the bus? Ok, I guess it was partially our fault for assuming he’d wait for us and not running for the bus ourselves.

 

No matter, it was just a 20 minute wait for the next bus to come. As this particular stop (which in hindsight is not signed well and hard to find – and we would have never seen it if not for the fact the bus was already there when we arrived) is the first stop on the line, we were the first 2 people on the bus. Again, the bus waited until it was exactly time and then the bus driver took off. We quickly bought our 2, 1-day transportation passes directly from the bus driver using exact change. We figured we’d sit back and enjoy the scheduled 10 minute drive out towards Temppeliaukio.

 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and we had no idea what was about to be in store for us. As the bus approached it’s second stop, we saw a large group of people waiting to get on the bus. These people were all cruise ship people who found out that the 2nd bus stop (where they were waiting) was probably a lot more convenient and obvious than the 1st stop where I was waiting (this stop actually looked like a bus stop with a bench housed inside a little hut). So, the first group of people get on the bus, and the person steps up to the driver and says, “I need to purchase 25, 1-day passes.” What?!?! Seriously, you’re going to stand here and purchase 25 of them? Why didn’t get you all go on a tour? Then she proceeds to tell her group to all go and take a seat on the bus while she figures out payment with the driver. So, as she’s standing there paying, they all start piling in the bus and taking empty seats. At this time, my husband and I are discussing where we need to get off the bus, what the name of the stop is, how many stops there are between here and there, etc. At some point in time, I must have mentioned, oh this is the stop we’ll be using at the end of the day to come back to the ship since this bus route no longer goes to Market Square. So, the 2 girls (who were part of that group of 25) who sat in front of me immediately turned to me and said, “this bus doesn’t go to Market Square?” And I said to them that the bus routes where changed last week, this bus doesn’t go to Market Square. That’s when they noticed a sign (obviously written by a previous tourist) on the wall inside the hut where the bench was that reads, “Bus 16 to Market Square, bus 14B to Metro.” I think that’s when they realized, they got on bus 14, not 16 and not 14B. So, it was almost like playing telephone, they turned to the person in front of them and said, this bus doesn’t go to Market Square, look at the sign inside the stop, we need bus 16 (um, the bus that doesn’t run anymore this way!). So then others start discussing it, but the word never gets to their tour leader, who by now has finished paying for all of them. A few other people from the ship get on and pay for their tickets, but then we noticed that a few others who got on, asked the bus driver a few questions, then got off, and started looking at the sign inside the bus stop again. It was obvious everyone was confused! But, at the stop itself, the sign only indicated that bus 14 stopped at this stop, and the spot where the sign for 14B and 16 used to be had obviously pulled out because those buses didn’t run this way anymore.

 

It was ok, at least my husband and I knew exactly where we were going, and for everyone else, it would be interesting to see what would happen. Of course, by now, the bus is way behind schedule. We move forward a few more stops until we get to a stop where it’s obvious there’s a sizeable group of locals waiting to get on the bus. As they board the bus, it appears to be full since people are standing in the aisles. The locals ask people to move forward so that they can all get in the bus. One of the tourists on the bus yells, “Can’t you see, the bus is full! Get off and wait for the next bus!” This definitely didn’t make the locals happy. They yelled back, “MOVE BACK!” To their eyes, there was plenty of room on the bus. And they were correct. When everyone moved back, half of the standing room on the bus was empty and there was plenty of room on the bus for everyone. But, by now the locals weren’t pleased, and in Finnish, they voiced their displeasure. It was quite lively entertainment for us who were in our seats and just along for the ride. Colorful local character and charm in the morning.

 

When we arrived at Kamppi, the stop where the majority of bus, tram and Metro lines converge, all of the locals got off, and at the last minute, that group of 25 from our ship got off too, leaving more than enough room in a nearly empty bus!

 

As the bus drove along, we could see Temppeliaukio on our right hand side. We knew that was our signal to ring the bus “STOP” sign and get off at the next stop. The bus stopped right around the corner from Temppealiaukio and it was a quick uphill climb to the church. Though the church was already teeming with tour buses and visitors, it wasn’t terrible. The church is a wonder to behold. It’s gorgeous inside with exposed rock where it was blasted away. Looking up at the ceiling, it’s amazing to marvel at the 13 miles of copper wire used to create the roof of the building. We were lucky that when we were there, there was a man playing the piano so that we could hear just how well the acoustics sounded inside. It’s all so beautiful. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have that much time to spend at the church if we wanted to get anything else done that day. We also ended up spending quite a bit of time souvenir shopping at a store located just outside of the church

 

 

Approaching Hernesaari port in Helsinki

 

 

 

Welcome to Helsinki

 

 

Hernesaari bus stop

 

 

Exterior of Temppeliaukio

 

 

The cross outside is the only thing that designates that this is a church

 

 

Ceiling of Temppeliaukio

[jstducky]

Temppeliaukio Church