Ferry to Finland
The second day in the evening (8 pm), my ferry departed for Finland. I booked the ticket online and payed €40 for the 9 to 10 hours shipping, including a bed in a four persons’ cabin. The cruise was awesome: Starting with a sunset over Stockholm, passing many islands in the archipelago and in the end a sunrise over the sea. In between I had a really good night’s sleep and a shower. Worth a recommendation.
Turku – unknown yet beautiful
Then I spent two nights in Turku ‚for free‘. The European cultural capital of 2011 doesn’t have many sights. Yet it’s an interesting, idyllic town.
Nature is always close and the archipelago’s islands are worth a boat trip. We visited Vepsä, one of them.
There I found a Swedish House as you imagine it from pictures, despite being in Finland.
But as Finland’s southwestern part is partly Swedish, that’s no big surprise.
As you would expect from a student’s city, nightlife is cool!
Ferry back to Stockholm
After two nights I took the ferry back to Stockholm. This time by day and it was beautiful seeing everything in daylight. The huge ferry passing those countless islands is really impressing. As I didn’t book a bed, I couldn’t sleep. That’s why the shipping appeared very long. But OK, lots of time to read, taking a nap and breathing fresh salty air.
The end
The last part was exhausting though. But worth the experience! I arrived in Stockholm at 7 pm. My flight back to Germany was to depart at 6 am the next morning, the bus to the airport at 2:30 am. So that’s not worth booking an accommodation. But what to do?
In daylight I did some more sightseeing. Later I had dinner in McDonalds (affordable). Then I had the idea of my life: Well, that’s exagerated- i just tried something!
I went back to the hostel, i stayed a few nights ago and explained them my situation. And thank God, they let me spent the rest of my time in their lobby. Here i was able to surf, read, talk, observe, fall asleep and wake up again.
At 2 am I went to the bus station and later from Skavsta back to Memmingen. Luckily my parents picked me up at the airport (thanks to them!) and we drove back to Regensburg. As I could take several short naps, I wasn’t even too tired.
Of course, there would have been (more comfortable) alternatives. But that would have been way more expensive. And all in all, it was really fun, so I can definitely recommend. A great experience, which I would repeat.
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