It was another early start and an enormous day of travel, involving bikes, buses and boats. Cycling through the cool empty morning streets of Gothenburg on the way to Central Station, we at least got to catch a few of the sights that we’d not got to yesterday.
Once at the bus station, we just had time to go through our routine of fitting the bikes into the big plastic bags, stash them under the bus and take a seat. This section of our day would get us to Stockholm. A train can get there in three hours, but sadly, not with a bikes! Our only option for the 585km trip was a seven hour bus ride, or get peddling. We chose the former and settled in for the ride.
To be fair, the time flew by (thanks to a few movies), but I’d hardly recommend the experience. Especially as at one stop, where there were about thirty people all with tickets, waiting to board the bus (which had about two spare seats). At one point I started getting flashbacks of African expeditions, where the bus keeps getting fuller and fuller; but surely not in Sweden?! Not speaking the language meant that we were oblivious to the cause, but there was quite a commotion as people jostled to climb aboard. The driver was saved from a mob lynching, when another bus arrived. They wanted us to get off and join the new bus, but when he realised we had bikes to deal with, changed his mind. I’m not sure exactly what was going on, but eventually we got moving again and did end up in Stockholm, only half an hour late.
With passengers and bikes both having survived the journey, it was time to get across the city to the ferry terminal. Having arrived on an air-conditioned bus, the city heat felt stifling. It didn’t take long to get the bikes back together, but it took ages to get across town. There was loads of roadworks and construction going on and it wasn’t as bike friendly as Gothenburg had been.
With iPhone in one hand, navigating with google maps, we still saw a few sights as we made our away through the busy city.
We stopped briefly for a quick drink, but didn’t really relax until we were in sight of the boat.
We were a little late checking in, but thankfully not too late. We joined the line of cars at the terminals.
Because we were a) on bikes and b) a bit late, we got fast tracked to the front of the queue, where we could relax enough to know that we’d made it! We had a short sweaty wait in the blistering sunlight....
Then were ushered onto the ship. It was enormous! We were told where to put our bikes, then followed signs to our cabin.
We weren’t expecting much of our ‘Picolo’ suite - the cheapest option of overnight sailing accommodation, but were delighted to find it clean, spacious, cool and even with en-suite facilities. We were over the moon and began the voyage to Finland with showers and fresh(ish) clothes.
Having showered and put on the cleaner of my two shirt options, we went up to the duty free deck to ‘freshen up’. This has been a long standing technique of mine when travelling through hot and sweaty airports and today we went all out on the vast duty free area. The aim of the game is to sample as many free tester products as possible and come out smelling splendid. The more expensive the product, the better too. I started with some beard wax (what ever that is), then got my hair styled with the latest ‘products’. A €65.00 for 10ml tube of moisturiser to reduce eye wrinkles was applied to face, followed by Calvin Klein’s finest hand cream. Finally a little dash of after shave and I was ready for ‘cruise life’!
By the time we got up on deck, we were smelling like a million dollars and well out of Stockholm - passing by a repetitively picturesque panorama of islands, islands and more islands.
More exciting than going on an overnight cruise (and not sleeping on the floor), was the prospect of fine dining in the ships restaurant, where we had booked a table. With an all you can eat menu and a free bar, we were clearly not the only passengers who couldn’t wait for it to open its doors! This was part of the menu to whet our appetites while we waited:
The food was plentiful and fabulous. So delicious. And there literally was an open bar near our table while you could pull yourself a beer from the tap! We shared our table with two ladies from Stockholm who explained that most people on board (like them), were just there for the night out and would not be getting off the ferry at the Åland Islands like us. The explained that they get on in Stockholm, eat and drink all they can, (and of course, purchase as much duty free alcohol as possible), then eventually go to their cabins to sleep. They wake up around 9 or 10 the next day, (we’d be getting off at 7am), have a nice breakfast in the buffet, a drink in the sun deck and then be back home just after midday! “What happens on the cruise, stays on the cruise” she said with a wink!
The moon was coming up after we’d eaten all we physically could. We walked off dinner having a look around the other areas. There was a spa deck and three different live bands playing and lots of over 50s getting stuck in on the various dance floors. The whole thing was a marvel to us.
It was well past midnight by the time we went to bed, but there was still light in the horizon. To make the cruise timings work, they actually anchor up for four or five hours in the night to allow a sociable landing time of 7am, but mostly I suspect, to allow people to buy cheap alcohol while in the tax free ‘International waters’!
Winding our way through the rabbit warren of corridors to find our cabin, we were literally bursting with food, drink and happiness.
Total Ride: 17km (plus about 500km by bus and a lot more by ferry!)
More exciting than going on an overnight cruise (and not sleeping on the floor), was the prospect of fine dining in the ships restaurant, where we had booked a table. With an all you can eat menu and a free bar, we were clearly not the only passengers who couldn’t wait for it to open its doors! This was part of the menu to whet our appetites while we waited:
The food was plentiful and fabulous. So delicious. And there literally was an open bar near our table while you could pull yourself a beer from the tap! We shared our table with two ladies from Stockholm who explained that most people on board (like them), were just there for the night out and would not be getting off the ferry at the Åland Islands like us. The explained that they get on in Stockholm, eat and drink all they can, (and of course, purchase as much duty free alcohol as possible), then eventually go to their cabins to sleep. They wake up around 9 or 10 the next day, (we’d be getting off at 7am), have a nice breakfast in the buffet, a drink in the sun deck and then be back home just after midday! “What happens on the cruise, stays on the cruise” she said with a wink!
The moon was coming up after we’d eaten all we physically could. We walked off dinner having a look around the other areas. There was a spa deck and three different live bands playing and lots of over 50s getting stuck in on the various dance floors. The whole thing was a marvel to us.
It was well past midnight by the time we went to bed, but there was still light in the horizon. To make the cruise timings work, they actually anchor up for four or five hours in the night to allow a sociable landing time of 7am, but mostly I suspect, to allow people to buy cheap alcohol while in the tax free ‘International waters’!
Winding our way through the rabbit warren of corridors to find our cabin, we were literally bursting with food, drink and happiness.
Total Ride: 17km (plus about 500km by bus and a lot more by ferry!)
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