Helsinki and Cruise!!

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Woke up in the morning suprisingly fresh. Got into the station and had no idea of where to go or what to do. I looked at the schedule and I could have taken a train in 10 mins back to the lakes but I wasnt interested after 13 hrs. I wanted to explore the city. Got out on the road and tried to locate where exactly I was so I could make my way to some of the sights. Couldnt figure it out at all!! No one was out either. Things were open which was convient though. I kept walking straight down what I thought was a main road which I could not pronounce!! One thing that stood out was the architecture was AMAZING. Almost every building was different and unique. Sculptures everywhere as well.Got to this big square and people were cleaning up garbage from a wild night last night. Something must have going on last night. Walked towards my first landmark the market. I had heard about this market from the website I had been using, trip advisor. Sold all kinds of things there. They were just setting it all up so I was a tad early. I continued towards a huge church in the distance. Walked up the hill to try and see what was up there.Came back down and found a nice park. Better than that I walked acorss the street and found a grocery store. Managed to get a decent breakfast for like 5 dollars with a huge thing of juice and some pastries. Cheaper than most places Id seen.I asked them if they knew where the ferry was to Germany. They had no clue where it was.
There was these cool looking things I bought that I had never seen before. They turned out to be potatos dried with some rice inside. I walked across the street to the park and sat down in the sun. Really nice, and relaxing. I just started to eat and then comes this homeless looking guy pointing at something and walking towards me. He ends up laying down face first on the grass hill not too far from me. I tried to ignore him but he kept mumbling and I think I saw him pull himself out of his pants and start humping the ground!!! Can you believe that shit. He was going to town on the grass too. It was the weirdest shit i had ever seen. He would stop and then all of a sudden it looked like he was having a seizure or something. OH man it wasnt what I wanted to see for my damn breakfast. So I packed up my shit and took a quick picture for the blog. I thought ah well maybe the guy is having a serious attack. Just incase I will tell the people in the store I was at and let them deal with it. Two of them ran across the street and saw exactly what I saw before. They brought the phone out and called up the ambulance. The guy supposedly told em that he had too much to drink and was shaky!! Yikes
I finished my breakfast walking and came across a huge marina with all sorts of fancy boats around. Now I finally could tell where I was by the landmarks. I sat at this restaurant at the marina and tried to get the wifi going so I could find out about this ferry. I wanted to take this ferry tonight so I had to make a reservation asap. My pass gave me a big discount I just had to figure out where to go.
Next I walked down the waterfront through what I think was a millitary base. Not many people around. I stopped at this apartment block and managed to steal someones wifi. Found out the ferry was like 20 kms out of town. There was a bus but the other station was just around the corner. There were two companies Viking Line and the Stejna Line. Found the Viking terminal first and found out it would cost around 30 Euros plus 5 more to reserve the ticket. Ok but I wanted to know how much it was to get to Germany directly because its not that easy through Scandanavia and takes a long time.
Grabbed a map from the station and continued on. Went through the market. They had all kinds of things made out of animals. Reindeer bone knives jewlery spoons tons of stuff. I even got a picture of my wearing one of those funky wolf hair hats. Not anything i really wanted to carry with me though. I had to get Benny and Svetlana something to bring back but i had no clue what to get Benny!!!l
I kept on walking towards the other ferry company to see how much it would be to Germany, or if they could even tell me. I walked through an old mall called Gamel Market which was pretty cool, other than being SUPER touristy. It was from way back in the 1700s I believe. They had all kinds of crap. Reindeer kebabs and you could by it as sliced deli meat. I found a few cool Reindeer furs that were super soft and got some pics.Took some pics of the old pictures they had of the place. After I got through it I walked on over to the ferry terminal. Waited in line for abit cause I had 2 ppl; budge right in front of me!! Found out that this was only to Estonia. The other one was just a short walk over. Saw a nice jogger on the way!!
Got to the station and found out that it would be around 70 Euros with my pass to Germany and i had to take a 20 minute bus to get there. There ferry to Stockholm would be 21 Euros without any fees, so without too much thought I booked that. It also came with a bed and private shower and everything so I was pretty happy. I would also be able to see the Stockholm archipelago which I missed with the weather last time I was there.
The boat would leave at 5 so I had to be there before 430 for the last boarding. I had plenty of time to explore still cause it was only around noon. I walked up the hill after having to use the free washroom!! BOnus and had a great view of the harbour and partially of the city. Only problem was it started to sprinkle rain for a few mins. Luckily it stopped and the sun came out shinning again! I had the tourist information ppl point out some of the spots I wanted to see around Helsinki. One of them was really close this huge church which looked like a palace. They had a huge parade going on when I arrived. Band was playing for the crowds on the steps in there fancy outfits and the millitary was standing at attention beside them in form. After they played they did the whole ATTENTION and started marching around the square. This retarded American tourist was following them around with his camera. Kind of funny everyone was taking pics like mad. This lasted for around 15 mins and then they marched out of the square. Next I walked up past the train station and up to the this big square where they had a football court all set up for some promotion. Big soccer ball that you could hang out inside as well.
Walked up to find this underground church. Took me awhile to find getting a bit frustrated. Finally it appeared with its huge copper roof peering out from the rocks surrounding it in this park. I went inside and there was a service going on. Hordes of tourists though. All taking photos like crazy. I got a few pics of the place and got out. THe washroom was manned by this nice looking Fin blonde who i got a pic of. Some lady just walked in when i took the pic and didnt pay, she was pretty choked. Next I went to Finlandia Hall where they have lots of Opera and things. Not a whole lot to see there.
I walked through a construction zone to get back into town as a crane swung huge sheets of metal almost over my head. THere was a cool half pipe right by the train station these kids were using.
I was starving now and wanted to try some Finnish specialties so I figured I would splurge on a decent meal. I was having a pretty wicked day and didnt want to pay for exuberent food prices bound to be on the ferry. So I found this awesome Buffet just close to the train station which had lunch going on untill 330 and it was only 300!!! I made there was still time to sit down and it was fine. Couldnt find any place to plug in the old laptop. The table was small for the food but there was all kinds of salads soup and main course dishes. It was sooooooooooo tasty. Probably one of the best tasting buffets Ive ever had. It tasted like it wasnt mass produced and slopped onto your plate. THey had this one dish which was chicken and bacon with this tasty tasty brown sauce. Oh man that was good. I stuffed myself silly. Beside me there was a daughter and mother having lunch. The daughter picked up the phone during the meal and didnt stop untill they left. I couldnt believe how rude she was to her poor mom. My mom would kick my ass if I ever did that!!! Europe is a bit different though.
I contemplated taking some food for later on. Not really much to put it in though. I did have ziploc bags but that would have been quite the scene to see. HAHAHAA i should have done it just to say i did it. But no i was a decent human being this time anyway.
I walked my fat ass to the ferry taking the scenic route to be a bit early and get settled in. I found a spot to get some more oj for my jager and a couple cigars for when im drunk!! Did I mention how beautiful Helsinki is. I dont know how often its sunny but man its great. Stuff everywhere to see. I walked through this park and saw this amazing looking hottie. Had to get a pic without being too creepy. Ha
After that I made my way to the boat. THe place was packed with ppl trying to reserve on the boat. I had it all taken care of so I just showed the guy my reservation and I was on. Walked up the stairwell and they took pics of me coming in. I had no idea what this was all about but I managed to give em a smile. WOW this ship was amazing. It was a freaking Cruise ship. NO shit there was this HUGE ass hallway with stores everywhere and this stupid character from Ice age dancing around the place waving at everyone.
Found my room at the very very bottom of the boat just above the motor room. Place was actually wicked. There was two beds laid out and someone had already been there so I put my stuff on the other one. I felt like having a shower so I started pulling everything out of the big blue bag! Got all the stuff I needed and saw this guy coming in. Russian dude who was the other guy who had his stuff on the bed. I hid my laptop bag to make sure nothing went missing so soon. Jumped in the shower and it took awhile for water hot water to come on. THen it was scolding scolding ass hot. LIke way hotter then any human could take it. Finally it dropped down and it was lovely. I freshened up and shaved. Shitty razors I bought at this convience store for like 70 cents.
Then in come a guy with motorcycle gear as Im in my towel keeping it real. He introduced himself as Mikko and we chatted about travelling. He was just starting his vacation around Europe for 2 months riding his motorbike around. He wasnt very experienced riding bikes and said he had to get some advice from the Hells Angels downstairs parking the thing so it wouldnt fall over!
Turned out to be a really cool guy, He told me about what Finns usually do on this boat. Everyone gets hammered at the buffet and then buys tons more booze for after when it closes from the Tax free shop. He said he had been on the boat like 6 times at least. He had a reservation for the first sitting for dinner and was on his way there now. I was still full as hell so I might make a reso for the later one at 8.
I got all dressed and checked out the ship. Went upstairs and saw the pool. No wave pool!!! shitty i would of loved to try surfing on one of those things. Really cool though. THey had a movie theatre you had to pay for. Playstation room for all the kiddies to play. Casino which was open all night. Not huge but there was blackjack and poker. Lots of slot machines. Funniest thing was that there were freaking kids gambling!! I couldnt believe it they were plunking away spending all their allowance. Checked out the night club at the front of the boat where they would have entertainment all night long. There was a cool bar at the front of the ship there. Didnt really feel like dropping 6 Euros on a drink though. Made my reservation at the buffet for 30 Euro. Ouch oh well all you can drink. Should be one to remember.
After I sat on the internet by the bistro for a bit checking out hostels in Berlin and information about the Love Parade. Its cancelled this year! Shit I wanted to see that crazyness. Went through the Tax Free shop. Got some samples of whiskey and different vodkas from Finland.Beer was pretty damn cheap. It was 10 Euro for 24 beers!!! I bought myself some ciders that were nice and cold and brought them down to the room.
Mikko was there after finishing his meal and was drunk!! There was another roomie there as well from Finland. He was 18 and was on tour with his Death Metal Band going on tour through Sweden and some of Europe. SUper nice guy though. He got himself a big bottle of Jager as well and threw it in some water in the sink to try and cool it.
I went up and cancelled my reso for the buffet cause I wasnt hungry enough and had lotsa booze to drink that I already bought so I got my money back and was a bit relieved. Thats a lot of cash to me. Im balling on a budget right.
Got back and got into the booze with the other guys. The Russian dude was fast asleep already at 9. We bullshited for quite some time about everything. After we were good and drunk we went up for a cigar and to check out the nightclub. Pretty funny the most exciting place to be was the casino but there were tons of bikers around. Had our cigars outside on the deck as we watched the sun crawl down.
PRetty cool place to be. I was pretty happy to be in good company on my way back to Sweden again. Off to Germany tommorow hopefully Berlin if its not booked up. My plan was to get up early for the Archipelago and enjoy that. Maybe get the buffet tommorow when its only 12 Euro. Headed to bed and slept the night away!! NIghty night

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Photos

she thought i was gonna buy it
even though i look like an idoiot