Ferry to Helsinki

 Tuesday 

3 September 

Day 65

31 to go

Moving day once again. The 7.30am alarm startled me awake and the day began. As usual. Our things were pretty much packed, other than last minute items. Showered, breakfast and last minute check over the apartment and we were ready to go. Paul began the shuttle of the bags down the stairs. I am sure he will be hoping that is the last time he has to do it. 

Our taxi was waiting for us, down the road and we were taken the short distance to ferry terminal D. The terminal was clean and sleek. We made it to the self check in for 9.15am, received our boarding cards and proceeded to the lounge area to wait for boarding. 

Once the call came, all of the passengers were on the move, heading up towards the entry point via Travellators or stairs. We made it to the entry point, received directions of where to go and took the lift to level 10. Outside the cabin area, we had to scan our boarding card to receive our key card to room 1067. We then walked the passage way, until we located it. It was quite a large, internal space. There was plenty of room to leave our bags and to rest if we wished. 

With that all sorted, we then went for an explore of the ship, finding the outdoor deck, so we could watch Estonia disappear, as the boat began its journey. The water was very flat. We continued our explore of the 9th deck and then the 8th. There were plenty of spaces to sit inside and watch the ship’s progress. There were also plenty of bars, restaurants and shopping stores to wander about, but nothing was particularly cheap. 

We returned to the room, grabbed some chocolate and then returned to the 9th deck, finding seats by a window to watch the happenings on the Gulf of Finland. There wasn’t much, other than cargo ships and the occasional ferry. 

By noon, we began to see islands and it wasn’t long and we could see mainland Finland. We packed up our things and went outdoors, for a better view. After taking some photos, we returned to our cabin, packed up our gear and then headed for three exit on level 8. There were passengers already milling around, waiting for the doors to open and let us escape. 

We followed the snaking line, slowly making our way through the terminal and out the door, where Tomppa was waiting to collect us. We placed our things in the car and then he drove us from the port towards our accommodation. The city of Helsinki is not particularly large, but it was pretty busy with traffic. I was taking in all of the buildings and the various ports, as we drove along.

Once at the Bob W apartment, Tomppa left us to return home and we went upstairs to settle in to our new digs. The room was on the 5th floor, but thankfully a lift was in the building to whisk us up to room 512. We began the great unpack and filled the washing machine with our week’s worth of washing and explored the apartment. We have a sauna!

Feeling hungry and spying hat looked like a supermarket below us, we ventured outside and into the store. It was a little odd, more like a red dot store, but we found a few things we needed. We bought a sandwich at a small cafe and returned to the room, just in time for Tomppa to return.

We finished off our quick lunch, hung the washing and then headed out on a walking tour of the area. It is quite different to Tallinn, being far larger and more commercial. We walked passed a few interesting points, before stopping in at a bar on Esplanade Park. I tried my first long drink. It was very refreshing. We did some organising of the coming days and then continued our wander of the busy streets. 

Once again we stopped for a drink, this time at a brewery bar. People were just starting to finish work and the offices were emptying employees onto the pavement. We stayed for one and then began the walk back to the hotel. There were some interesting buildings I will look forward to returning to later in the week. 

We said goodbye to Tomppa and returned to our apartment, exhausted but happy with our day. We left about 30 minutes later to eat dinner at a South American restaurant, it was expensive, but delicious. We then returned home, heated the sauna and enjoyed the heat that it provided. By 8.30pm, I was ready to fall into bed.