On Thursday morning Kathryn and I were up bright and early to make our way to Stockholm. We had two buses to get to the harbour to get a ferry, which would take us from Turku, Finland to Stockholm, Sweden in 11 hours and 35 minutes.
We were recommended to get the buffet lunch on board the ferry, as it was all you can eat and drink. So we did just that! I totally over did it and after 3 courses, a few glasses of wine and a couple of soft drinks, my food baby was in full force and I felt almost sick from eating so much. But it was so good and I slept the horrible full feeling off.
After a long day on the ferry we finally arrived in Stockholm and made our way to our hotel, which was just up the harbour a bit as it was on a boat. When we arrived we had a nice surprise of being upgraded!
Once we made it to our room on the boat, we were both pretty tired from an early morning and a long day of travelling. So we just relaxed and then went to sleep, so we were well rested for the next few days exploring.
Friday morning we got up, got ready and got our breakfast. We then made the short walk to the Royal Palace. The ticket we bought allowed us entry to all three parts of the castle, we started with the Royal apartments. The Royal apartments were so huge we had to take a break after we had seen it all and go for lunch.
After we had made our way around all of the castle we headed to the Cathedral which was very nearby.
Once we looked around the Cathedral we walked into the centre of Stockholm and has a look around some of the shops and a well needed sit down and drink in Starbucks. We the made our way back to the boat to decide where we would go for dinner. We opted for Mexican place only a short walk away from the boat.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling 21! It was my birthday! It was super strange not spending it with my family, but we planned to have a fun day and make the most of our time in Stockholm. We took the metro and bus to the Vasa Museum, which is a museum which preserves and displays the world’s only surviving 17th century ship.
Once we finished in the Vasa museum we were both pretty hungry, so we grabbed a hot-dog from a van outside the museum and began the short walk to ABBA the museum.
We had planned to go look around an aquarium and Skansa, but unfortunately the aquarium was closed and Skansa doesn’t fully open until May. So instead we decided to sit down for a while and enjoy the view, just of a walk way by the river.
Coincidently, Anniina was also in Stockholm on Saturday with her two friends, so we walked back to the city centre, back to the Starbucks we went to the day before. Where Anniina joined us for a little while, before she had to go to get the ferry back to Turku. Kathryn and I then took another walk around the shops in the city centre and then made our way to TGI Friday’s for dinner.
After I had finished my burger and chips I nipped to the toilet, which Kathryn took as her opportunity to tell our waitress that it was my 21st Birthday. When I returned from the toilet I didn’t suspect a thing. Our waitress came from the kitchen with another Birthday dessert, and just as I was going to say to Kathryn, “That must be the fifth or sixth time they have sang Happy Birthday to someone. But the waitress turned towards our table, I’m pretty sure my face went red instantly! I was so embarrassed, but it was so funny at the same time. A group of waiters and waitress’ sang to me and brought me a dessert cake with a massive sparkler on top!
After dinner, we were so full we were ready to burst, we waddled back to the boat to let our food settle and get some sleep. I was so tired, but I think it was the mix of a busy day, lots of walking and a very full tummy.
Sunday was our last day in Stockholm, we had to check out of our room by 11am. Luckily, our last day was a beautiful sunny one! We decided to have a relaxed day as we had a great but busy few days. We decided to go to the Royal Armoury, as we walked through the Royal Palace courtyard we noticed that areas had been cordoned off. So we joined the crowd and waited to see what was going on. It was the changing of the guard that guards the Royal Palace. There were lots of guards in uniform marching, flags being displayed and even a brass band!
We then went on our way to the Armoury.
After the Royal Armoury, we went for lunch and took a wander around some of the streets near by, including some souvenir shops. We then stopped in and got some Belgium waffles, we walked to near the river and sat down in the sun to eat them. We then walked back to the boat we were staying in to sit in the sun for a while. At 6.30pm we got our luggage from the storage room and made our way to the ferry terminal.
It was definitely a Birthday weekend that I will remember, as I had a great long weekend, and somewhere that I hope to return to again in the near future to explore some more!
Such a pretty city!
30/03/2017- 02/04/2017.
Jessica's Journal. 