30 August

Again the usual routine, with minor exceptions.
As breakfast wasn’t until 0700, I rose at 0630 and found that the washing had not dried overnight, despite trying to turn the heat up (it didn’t go up). I tried drying the socks with the hair dryer, but no luck. It was out with another set and shower and dress, and down for breakfast at 0703. The distinction is important today as there were about five already down before me, an unusual occurrence.
Again breakfast was a sumptuous affair, but this time (for the first time while away), the bread I toasted had mould. But, as Meatloaf would say, “Two out of three ain’t bad” so I ended up with toast and Vegemite without the penicillin. About 0730, hordes arrived. The hotel is quite large and on the outskirts of Stockholm, so there aren’t the city noises (traffic, carousers, etc.) but the city is reached quickly by subway or train. It seems to be a popular choice for tours and airline staff.
We all left the hotel, with our luggage packed away, by 0845. Peter, my seat companion, is due to fly out this afternoon, so his luggage was packed out the outside (for a quick getaway). We headed into the city and stopped at the city hall for a tour, with our guide from last night (Elizabeth). As we left the bus, the railings were covered with CITY HALL stickers – from previous tours, for as we found out, we all got one before we could tour the building.
The tour itself was good but the Blue Room, large in size, was well and truly beaten by the Gold Room. The wall is covered with mosaics in mainly gold composite glass. It was breathtaking, and to know that the Nobel Prize ceremonies took place there added to the grandeur.
All headed back to the bus for a drive around and seeing the parts of the town which were old workers’ areas and are now highly prized to live in (but can’t really be altered), outdoor elevators, parks, statues and buildings. We ended up at the Wasa Museum and had a chance to look at the ship, which sailed about ten minutes and then was on the ocean floor for hundreds of years before being raised and restored (with less then optimal success). It was a huge ship and extremely ornate. Even with the guide and a film, there was more than we could see in the time we had, and so we left still wanting more.
The bus dropped us at the square in front of the palace and we had about ninety minutes free (except for Peter, who with wheeled luggage was walking over cobblestones to get to the station). I could have walked up and down the pedestrian mall, with the shops, but instead looked at what was around to see. I ended up in the Armoury Museum in the Royal Palace, where there was a range of clothing, armaments, armour, horse armour and dress and royal coaches. These really looked like the Cinderella type and included sleds. The museum also had a play and learn area for young children, where one boy was trying armour on and his sister was trying out for ABBA.
Back on the bus at 1500 and we all headed for the ferry. We arrived with no delay (even though there had been streets closed off during the day, they were open by then). After leaving the bus with our handbags (well, hand luggage), we got our tickets for the ferry and for breakfast the next morning. After a short wait, we got onto the ferry, found our cabins and headed out to explore the ferry and then be out on deck to watch the departure. For those interested, the ferry is the MS Silja Serenade, 203 metres long, 31.5 metres wide and a draught of 7.1 metres. Tonnage quoted by volume is 58 400 tonnes and speed was 23 knots. There were a maximum of 2852 passengers and up to 450 cars.
Being on deck was no hardship as the ship sailed out at 1655 and there were very nice views of the archipelago for the next four or so hours. I wandered around, took some photos, chatted and ended up in conversation with one fellow from a group of six volunteer Finnish firemen who had won the trip in a fire-fighting contest. He was an Estonian diesel mechanic who now lives in Helsinki. I finally found out the advantages of common rail diesel injection (which couldn’t really happen until piezo-electric control of injection) and a lot more about European cars and trucks.
Finally I went to bed about 2130. I was in a cabin of four; Ed, Brian and Charles (and of course, me). I was the second to bed (top bunk) and apparently ended up being the quietest – all the others (I am told) snored very loudly, but I was listening to the iPod to drown out such noise.