There's going to be a two- in- one special today because I did not put this blog up yesterday. Good Morning, it is 8:00am. The girls and I woke up an hour early because our phones did not change time zones. We had a meeting at 8:30am but we actually came down at 7:30am. Anyways, now we are up and ready and have two and half more hours before we reach Stockholm.
*This is what I typed last night* It is currently 11:47 pm and I sitting next to the window on the seventh floor watching the waves and the sunset. Today, I washed clothes, packed, conducted my last interview, visited my last attractions, and boarded Mariella. We are headed to Stockholm and the cruise is fourteen hours long. All four girls are in one cabin and it is very tight but we will make it through the night.
9:00am I met with Dr. V to go over directions to my last organization visit. After the meeting, I went to put my clothes in the dryer. I went back to my room to finish packing everything else.
10:40 am My clothes were finally dry and I packed them up.
11:15 am We checked out and put our luggage in the luggage room. I left soon after to walk to the Sibelius monument with Chloe which was about a fifteen minute walk. We took some pictures and headed back quickly because I had to be at the hostel at 12:10 to get a metro card from Dr. V and get on the tram to make it to my last visit on time. It took thirty minutes to get to Save the Children Finland. I met with Mr. Max Holm and our meeting lasted an hour. It was very insightful and fun learning about the organization as a whole but even more interesting getting an international perspective as he worked in the communications department for the international side.
After leaving Save the Children, Chloe and I rode the train to the Kamppi stop so that I could see the Kamppi Chapel. After seeing the church, we walked to Ldli to get some snacks for the boat since we heard that it would be pretty expensive to eat on the boat. We walked back the hostel and met up with everyone else to leave for the Helsinki Port. We rode two trams and it probably took thirty minutes to arrive at the port.
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| Inside Kamppi Chapel |
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| Kamppi Chapel |
We went to the sky deck and took pictures up there. Since we had not left yet, we were able to see a great view of the city and the sea side of Helsinki. We stayed on the deck for about five minutes. We went back down to the sixth floor to sit at the cafe tables. Fifteen minutes later, I went back to the room to eat my chips and calzone from Ldli.
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| The Girls Cabin |
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| Helsinki Views from Sky Deck |
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| Helsinki Views from Sky Deck |
After about an hour, we were trying to figure out what we were going to do while on the ship. Chloe, Ev, and I saw the end of the magic show. When we all met back up, Ev told us about the spa right down the hall from our room and asked if anyone wanted to go. It was only eight Euros for two hours which was a great deal. I went because there was really nothing else to do. We switched between the sauna and the jacuzzi. The sauna was a better experience than the sauna in Helsinki because it had levels and the second level was not as hot as the third level.
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| Cruise Magic Show |
After we went back to the room and changed, we went upstairs to find something to eat. We ended up going to the least expensive restaurant on the boat as it was closing in forty-five minutes and all that was going to be open was the coffee shop and bars. While at the restaurant, Chloe and MaryEllen saw us and came to sit with us. I ordered a burger medium well, but the waitress did not speak English very much. She said we have medium, medium plus, and well done. I assumed the medium plus was medium well, however; when my burger came it looked rare. I sent it back and received another one and newly cooked fries.
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| Ocean Grille |
After dinner, the girls and I went down to the room; I took a shower. After the shower, we came back up to get some air and wifi. We stayed upstairs about an hour. I started on my blog but I only got to my introduction before getting tired. I was drained from the sauna and watching the waves made me sleepy as well. We went back the room, arranged the room where everyone could somewhat get around and then went to sleep. I am glad that I was tired because otherwise, I would have been bored out of my mind. I got on the top bunk, set my alarm and fell asleep.
