Stockholm is a good place to wake up after any night journey. Bansi welcomed us right at the central station. On a foreign land it's so nice to meet people you know. She is doing her exchange term in Stockholm so acted as or host. And also she will join us for our further trip. Her hostel is a couple of stations away on tube, so we took the local sub. Sleepy stations greet everyone at this hour of day. It's too early for people here to be awake. Unless if they are on their morning walk.
Her hostel is a beautiful place amidst a complex intended to be a residential area for student community. A common hostel kitchen is something I saw for the first time in my life. And it became a memorable chance because of the idlis and the sandwiches that waited for us there. Girls will be girls. And they are really good hosts for sure. A walk to the nearby beach and some peaceful moments there cheered our spirits. The lady with Alaskan Wolves gave us lots of kodak moments. You get to see dogs and pets of a wide variety. I will share my collection of their photos soon.
Our next stop was Gamla Stan, which means the old town. There are lots of monuments related to Gustav here. The church supposedly is the only church in this world that has been charging an entry fee for over 100 years now. However it is open for a small part of they year. The town hall and the assembly place are example of the architectural style here. Even the church is totally different from the ones we saw in Paris. Another indicator that we are in a different country. The royal palace is another major tourist attraction. The roads leading to it are filled with shops selling 'antics' and souvenirs. Nice to see, they are bit expensive for our pockets so we just did some window shopping. There is a Changing of Guard ceremony every afternoon in the palace. We decided to watch it too. So after a quick walk around the palace, some quick bites on yummie ice-cream and some chitchating, we came back to palace. The ceremony is held in traditional manner, eventhough the guards (marines) now are quite modernized. The royal band plays beautiful songs in an even more beautiful style. The ceremony goes on for about half an hour, so it gets boring after some time. In my opinion, the performance by the Royal Band is the main attraction of this event.
And then the event I have been waiting for so long. I met Naina. She is here to finish her assignment and it had totally skipped my mind. But luckily we spoke in time and the meeting could work out. We meet after two years that too in a foreign land. That's like a dream. We all headed for a small almost guided tour to the tourist markets. Shops selling all kind of souvenirs, coffee shops and restaurants - that's what tourists are greeted with after spending some photo-perfect moments at the Palace. After spending a couple of hours, we bid good bye to Naina and headed straight to our hostel. A quick lunch of Rasam Chawal and we were running to catch our ferry for Helsinki.
Silja Lines is one of the two operators that runs ferries between Stockholm and Helsinki. The first glimpse of the ship and we were sure that we were off to something luxurious. They treat every guest by taking a nice photo. the entrance is through the floor which has all the duty-free shops and restaurants. Our cabin is almost see facing. Who is going to be in the cabin anyway except while sleeping!!
The sheep has a casino, sauna, disk and a couple of pubs. The topmost deck hosts an open bar and gives perfect view in all directions. There are entertainment shows at every half an hour or so. So you are never out of activities as long as you are here. And we did all of them. In our own way. The initial journey is through sea with small islands all around. Beautiful houses with colourful exterior are everywhere. It will be a dream of millions to own one such house facing the serene waters. The setting sun in the background makes it a painter's dream. We took umpteen number of photos so that these moments could be shared with others. As for as we are concerned, these moments are firmly ingrained in our memories.
Perfume testing is good fun and I think I am getting hooked to it. We tried lots of them in the duty-free shop. And collected the strips. :-)
The ship gets more lively by the night. The disc hosts karaoke with popular german numbers. The songs are nice to hear. The enthusiasm and energy shown by the people is the cherry on the cake. The same disc hosts an open party with DJ at midnight. Alas I could keep myself awake till then. Moreover the cozy bed in the cabin were difficult to resist. One good night's sleep deserved after the days fun. We will open our eyes in a new country. :-)
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