When we were in Stockholm in November, we wondered why the Baltic Princess didn't leave for Turku as scheduled. It turned out that these days there are day in Stockholm cruises from Turku on Mondays. Normally, you can't go ashore on Turku cruises. However, these day in Stockholm cruises from Turku end at the end of May.
When I got an appointment with the dentist for Monday, April 27th, I thought I wouldn't be able to go on a cruise that day. But then I realized that it was so early in the morning that I would be just in time for the 11:15 train leaving Kuopio. The wake-up call was damn early by my standards, and there were 12 hours between meals. Luckily, I took some low carb muffins I had baked for lunch on the train.
It didn't take many minutes at the dentist's when it was determined that the (third) bump in my mouth is harmless, an exostosis. It also originated from bone, like my torus in my lower jaw. I guess those two are the same thing.
I then had too much free time waiting for the train to leave, and I went to the library to read a book. I arrived at the train station at the same time as my spouse, who brought my suitcase with him. There were two changes on the Kuopio-Turku train journey, in Pieksämäki and Tampere. Actually, it's good that I can walk around sometimes.
It was sad to say that the boots that I had never had any problems with before were now hurting my feet. It was probably because I put on an extra layer of tights, I was afraid I would freeze. It was warm in Kuopio, but in Tampere my teeth were starting to bite. It was so hard to decide whether to put on a winter or summer jacket. I ended up doing pretty well with the temperatures.
The train arrived in Turku 40 minutes late. There was no way we could get out of Tampere because the train ahead (to Pieksämäki) broke down. We had to reverse past it. Then, near Lempäälä, the train service was suspended by an official decision. Fortunately, the delay didn't bother us, in fact, the opposite. These departures from Turku are terrible, when the ship is only in port for an hour, and in that time you have to get the old ones out and the new ones in.
I remembered the center of Turku, and its railway station, as completely different. I guess it has changed places since I last saw it.
Our cabin was A-premium. The deluxe cabins were strangely expensive on this particular departure, more expensive than the suites, which makes no sense. There must be a bug in the booking system. Surely no one is so crazy that they agree to pay more for a deluxe than a suite? Anyway, the deluxes seem to be almost always sold out.
The cabin was quite close to the bow, so luckily we didn't have to walk along endless cabin corridors. But right next to it was the area of suites and deluxe rooms that could be closed off with a door, and the first night there was a lot of traffic and noise. The second night there was no similar problem, I don't know if the noise was actually less or if we just slept through it.
At Starlight, the bartender wondered if you could make a Caipiroska without sugar. I don't remember anyone objecting to it before.
You can order an omelet for the special breakfast. I tried two different ones on different mornings, they were good but too small.
Stockholm Viking Museum
This time we went to Djurgården with the ferry company's own bus. There were surprisingly many people at the Viking Museum in the middle of an everyday day. There was no one at the liquor museum next door on my previous trip. The Viking Museum is also quite small, but there is surprisingly a lot of everything there. The wonderful song "If I had a heart" is also playing there.
The Viking Museum even had guided tours every hour. However, this "tour" was just standing around, so I had to rudely leave halfway through because my body can't handle that kind of standing still these days.
There were also (familiar) games on display.
In Stockholm, I found out that the sheath dress I ordered from Sellpy was too tight around the stomach and hips. Note to self: no longer for all-day wear, especially when you're about to eat. Stretchy knit dresses work well when traveling.
Moomin's Stinky
I found a Stinky jackpot in the ship's gift shop! I've been wanting justice for Stinky ever since it was canceled from the New York exhibition. Now I got a Stinky fridge magnet, a key chain and a new (third) Stinky socks. The salesperson also said that someone is a Stinky fan. There would have been a shirt with a picture of Stinky and Moominpappa cooking moonshine in the selection, but it's too expensive, 25 euros.
When we went out on the deck of the ship on the last evening to take pictures, my camera ran out of batteries. Of course, I had spare batteries with me on the trip, but of course I didn't have the energy to go get them from the cabin. So that's why the photos in this post were taken with my spouse's cell phone.
Since winter had just come back and it was windy, I was afraid in advance that the ship would sway, but sea was surprisingly calm.
I found sugar-free milk chocolate at Lidl in Turku, but they were hidden behind dark chocolates there too.
I felt bad on the first part of the journey home because the sun was shining on me on the train and it was too hot. Later on the train I noticed that the two games I had reserved had arrived at the library. I was a bit disappointed later when I didn't realise that I could have picked them up when we arrived in Kuopio, the library would have been open for another half an hour. But I only had in mind going to Supermarket Port for the magnesium on sale. But on the other hand, normally I wouldn't even have known that the games had arrived, because I usually don't have my phone with me when I travel. Originally I thought I would pick up the games on Friday, but I was reminded that it was May Day and the library was closed. D'oh.
It was such a tough journey again, my body and legs hurt. I can't bear it.
