Euro Trip 2008 - Days 8 & 9 - Return to Stockholm and Helsinki

The last two days of our Euro Trip 2008 is posted as a single entry because I've talked a lot about those two places here and here. But the most interesting thing about our revisit to these two places was the fact that it was snowing there. When we first went there, there was no snow hence it was nicer. Now with the snow and the bitter cold, it just reminded us that the tour was ending and it was time to go back to Russia. Heheh. But we still managed to have fun.

Warning: Picture-heavy entry!


DAY 8: 3rd FEBRUARY 2008 - Return to Stockholm, Sweden.

In Stockholm we didn't bother taking lots of photos there because we had done so the first time we were here, and it was just too cold to do so.



We were left to explore the city on our own again. So off we went.


The first thing we saw was lots of ducks and swans. They weren't a lot of them when we were here before.



I like this shot so I include this here.


The Norrbro Bridge, or North Bridge - is one of the oldest bridges in Stockholm, and one of the first bridges to be built by stone. Since its completion in 1806 it's been one of the most important bridges in Stockholm.


The first time we were here we went to the Old Town part of Stockholm, so this time around we opted to explore the 'newer' side of the city where all the shopping malls and shops were at. Had a look around, window-shopping and such after a dose of our usual meals (McD's).


Lounging around. It was nicer to stay indoor where it was warmer, although coming from Russia we should have gotten used to the bitter cold - in Kursk alone the temperature can drop all the way to -30"C during the peak of winter.


We couldn't stay inside the shopping mall forever so we walked around again. No maps, no directions, just pure instinct.


I bet in summer people were queuing up to get on these boats. In winter though, nobody but us were around here.


Then we went back to the Old Town because I wanted to get some more souvenirs. I like Stockholm so much I wanted to buy more souvenirs. And we still had time to do so.


A Viking statue we found. Sweden is known as the Land of the Vikings.


The Old Town at night.




Then it was time to leave Stockholm to catch our cruiser to Finland. It was from the same cruiser line Silja, but we only spent little time exploring around this ship. Just went to the cafe to grab a bite, the shops to buy something to munch and then headed back to our designated cabin to sleep. It had been two days since we last had proper beds to sleep on so we made use of it - afterward it was a day at Helsinki and a whole day journey back to Kursk.

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DAY 9: 4th FEBRUARY 2008 - Return to Helsinki, Finland.




After disembarking on Turku, the bus brought us back to Helsinki. We reached there in the afternoon, stopping at the Helsinki Central Railway Station before letting us roam the city on our own. This place would be our checkpoint to come back later.


So off we went to explore the city, which we hadn't done the first time we were here. We got our usuals (McD's) for brunch, then it was time to look for souvenirs. First things first, since we hadn't bought any Finland souvenirs as mementos of the trip.


The Svenska Teatren, or Swedish theater - the first national stage in Finland.


When it comes to looking for souvenirs, we had as hard of a time as we had when we were at Hamburg. Luckily a Finnish guy we asked pointed us to this place - Stockmann Department Store at Christmas Street. He said that it's the only place he knows where souvenirs are sold. What's interesting about Stockmann is the fact that it is the largest department store in the Nordic countries (Northern Europe countries Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland).

We got what we were looking for, it was time to do some sight-seeing around town.


Mr.-Ugly-Faces statue. I don't know what are these actually, they were just there along the street.


Some monument. It was just there, no explanation, nil. nada, zilch. Good for the snap-happies, though.


European countries had a lot of statues and monuments. It wasn't really a strange sight, even Kursk had a few statues looking like the one in this pic, but my camera had loads of space to spare so what the heck, right?


I guess in summer this boat/yacht must be in high demand. In winter all it is good at is for travelers like us to snap some pics with.


Found a stall selling souvenirs as we walked around. The deal was good, the stuffs sold weren't as attractive. Just browsed around here, snapped some pics, and left.


The cruiser that took us to Finland from Sweden was like that one in the background.


All of a sudden these guys had caught a duck! Poor duck.


The Green Tram is one of Helsinki's unique landmarks.


Looks like these kids had school to attend to, while we were still on our holidays.


Finland is where Nokia phones originated. We didn't get to go to the manufacturing factory, so we made do by snapping some pics in front of one of many Nokia shops around here.


Finally, a place bearing the name Helsinki.


Then it was time to head back to our checkpoint. Around the same area was the Finnish National Theater. The others were already heading back to the bus while I was still busy snap-happying myself around the square.

Around late afternoon we began making our way back to Russia. Everything went well and we arrived at St. Petersburg around dawn. There we exchanged farewells with our Russian fellow travel-mates, took a group picture (which I still had not gotten up to this date because we don't know whose camera the photo is taken with). The journey back to Kursk took us around 18 hours on bus, something that we didn't look forward to. The bus was a bit cramped and I really pity the larger ones amongst us - even I felt like sardines in a tin can, I can't imagine how they must have felt. We all pretty much slept the whole journey, arriving back at Kursk when it was dusk.

It was really a great trip. Before deciding to join this trip I had earlier planned to go to Paris on my own. But something came up and I was forced to cancel. So I quickly looked for other options and put my name in this trip. I never regretted it. This being my last chance to have a look around European countries before I complete med school, I'm glad that I have chosen this trip to follow it. And more importantly, I had a blast spending time with the younger ones during the trip (in my group of six, I was the only 6th year, the other five were 3rd years), for we didn't get to do it often back at Kursk due to different schedules and hostels and the like.

Ahh...fond memories.