Ready to set sail

 Sunday

8 September 

Day 70

26 to go

Our final day in Helsinki was a quiet one. We were up at 8am, as we realised the Wildcats first preseason game, against NZ, was being televised at 8.30am on YouTube. We set up in front of the tv with our breakfast and enjoyed the telecast for the next two hours. We were happy to see them take out a come from behind win.

At 11am, we ventured out for the very last time. I wanted to take some more photos of the Moss Children. With that complete, we then went in search of the ten tonne fruit. A sculpture of a large strawberry plant. With my two tasks ticked off, we then wandered for a short while, before being dragged in to the Subway store with the promise of a free cookie. It turned out quite fortuitous, as we also had a photo taken that we uploaded to Instagram, tagged them in and then were given a footlong cookie and a pizza cutter for free. Happy days.

Our final task was to buy things for dinner that we could take with us on the ferry. We picked up a selection of sandwiches and a salad, before returning to the apartment for 11.45am. We were happy to sit back for the next couple of hours, watch the NBL Blitz, eat lunch and get all of our things ready for the move.

Tomppa messaged at 1.50pm, that he was downstairs, so we carted our cases out of the room and into the elevator, before emerging on the street, to meet him and his waiting car. We bundled everything inside and then made the round about journey to the Viking Line Ferry terminal.

We all hung our together in a small coffee shop, before having to say our goodbyes. At 3pm, we were able to check in, receiving our boarding card. We then went upstairs and waited until 4pm, when we were finally able to board the Gabriella and enter room 9114. 

The room was spacious, with a generous sized window, giving a good view. We settled ourselves in, before doing an explore of the various decks and then returning to the room. We were happy to see the boat begin to move at 5.15pm. We watched from our window, as the boat turned around in the harbour and then we off into the waters, passing alongside Suemolinna, before moving between the rocky gap and out into the waters of the Finish Gulf. 

We stood out on the deck, enjoying the fresh air and a free drink from the minibar. The weather and view were perfect. We returned inside, checking out the duty free, which was not particularly  cheap and then made it back to the room to eat our easy dinner and watch the Swedish TV. 

The sun was beginning to set, casting beautiful colours across the water, so we returned outside to enjoy the view. The golden glow was magnificent. We stayed until the clouds hid the sun from view at 8pm. It was a memorable ending to our time in Finland. 

Feeling tired, we were soon ready for bed, keen to feel good in the morning, so we would be ready to explore Stockholm.