Scandinavia At Last

Thursday March 15th 2012

Our Finn Air flight from Hong Kong to Helsinki was great. There was plenty of room on the plane as not too many people want to fly at 1am. The only downside which could not be helped was that we had long periods of very bad turbulence. Even in spite of this we all managed to get a little sleep - the little people much more than the big ones. 

Coming in to land in Helsinki was beautiful. Looking out the window all we could see was snow covered trees, land and waterways. Ryan was so excited. As we taxied up to the terminal he said he hoped we were going to have stairs so that he would get to walk on snow for the first time. Unfortunately for him we had an air bridge so he would have to wait a little longer for this exciting moment.

When we landed we had to go through intensive security checks and strict passport control (we commented we thought this was more than when we had entered Russia years ago). It didn't make any sense why the controls were so strict given we had been through security in Hong Kong and then had not had an opportunity to go anywhere but the plane and were only transiting Finland. After some careful thought we later realised that this was because Helsinki, although we were only transiting, was our port of entry into Europe. 

After a relatively short wait, and another emergency food stop for the boys, we boarded our flight to Stockholm. With the help of the friendly staff at the Arlanda Information Desk we gathered maps of Stockholm and information about possible activities and bought tickets for the Fly Buss to transfer us into central Stockholm. Both the boys slept for the 40 minute journey with jet lag really taking its toll. When we arrived in central Stockholm its hard to believe but it was time for another food stop - this time Burger King - to feed the boys and to get our bearings and make a plan for how to get to our hotel. In the end we decided the best course of action would be to walk as the hotel didn't look that far away.

We crossed a bridge, walked down some stairs and then walked along the edge of the river in search of our hotel. It was fascinating to see that the river was nearly fully frozen over - it was just beginning to melt as spring arrives. It was 9 degrees and sunny when we landed - apparently unseasonably warm for this time of the year.

After walking among the local walkers, joggers and cyclists we arrived at our yacht hotel - the MS Monika. Sadly we were to discover that we were too early for check in. A sign on the gate said to call a specific number if you arrived earlier than 2.30pm. This would have worked fine if we had a mobile phone or could find a pay phone - neither option was readily available. 

We walked along the river's edge wheeling our luggage behind us in the vain search for a telephone. After a distance without any luck Ryan and I stayed in a bus shelter with the luggage while David and Connor continued the search. They returned in a little while explaining that a lovely hairdresser had let them call from his phone but that unfortunately they got an answering machine message saying the people were not available as they were down at the boat doing maintenance. So our only option was to head back to the boat. Once we arrived we were pleased to discover someone was on the boat doing maintenance. We explained our situation to him and he called the Hotel Reception staff. It was agreed that we could leave our luggage on the boat and go for a walk and that Reception staff would meet us after 2pm.

We took a pleasant walk along the closest main thoroughfare and down to another waters edge. We walked along this new water way. We were surprised how many locals were also out walking or simply sitting soaking up the sunshine. Ryan found a little playground to occupy his time for a few moments before we continued our mission to find the City Hall - this is the building where the Nobel Prizes are presented each year.

Interestingly just after we found the City Hall and began our walk back there was a sudden turn in the weather. The sunshine was completely gone, there were dark ominous clouds and a chilling wind had blown in. Walking back it was as if we were in a ghost town with all of the locals having vanished. 

We made it back to the hotel and were able to check in and have some down time before heading out to find dinner. Eventually we settled on Formaggio's Pizzeria for dinner. We would never have guessed that pizza and pasta in Sweden could be so filling and so delicious. The plan after dinner was to go back to the hotel and watch Pinoccio as a family. Jet lag had other plans though with Connor asleep before David could even get the movie turned on.

Still not sure exactly how it happened but the boys got to sleep on the bottom bunks while David and I slept on the top bunks. Watching the two of us get up and down the ladder without banging our heads into the ceiling must have been entertaining for any flies on the wall. The big challenge now was to make sure we woke up in time to make our flight tomorrow morning to Kiruna - the combination of jet lag and no alarm clock did not suggest a good receipe for success!!