When we last joined our intrepid traveler, he had just concluded at lovely couple of days in Sweden, taking in Stockholm, enjoying the weather, and concluding that Sweden is superior to Denmark. These occupations suitably concluded, he planned to board a ferry to Finland for the next segment of his week-long trip with the DIS architecture program. It is at this point that he stopped referring to himself in the third person.
...So there I was, outside the terminal for the Viking Line ferry, and somewhat unsure which was the boat and which was the building. The ferry was enormous; it dwarfed the terminal building (and most of the Stockholm skyline, for that matter). It was a full-sized cruise ship -- despite the fact that we were only traveling overnight -- the kind of ship so large that one wonders how they possibly get it moving, or keep it floating, or build it in the first place. Large.
We passed a bit of time in the ferry terminal (very much like an airport) before the time came for us to set sail. We piled onto the ship along with several hundred (thousand?) Swedes, Finns, and assorted foreigners, all excited for our journey to Finland. After a few minutes of searching, we settled into our berth, which was tiny, despite the size of the ship. The room was basically a large closet with a bathroom, four fold-down beds, and a porthole-shaped picture of a lighthouse on the far wall -- intended to give us an ocean theme while reminding us of just how far away we actually were from the outside. The room would have been claustrophobic had we actually had to spend any time in it, but lucky for us, our only moments there were hazy from the other activities available on the boat.
Around 8:00, the ship set sail on the open seas, and we made our way for the buffet. Despite its many attractions, I think the most appealing aspect of the Viking Line ferry is its all-you-can-eat -- and drink! -- buffet. For a group of students mostly confined to meals of pasta or other foods easily prepared in a shared kitchen, the wealth of foods available was a welcome treat. And as for the beers and wines on tap, we got our money's worth.
By the end of dinner most people were suitably sated and sloshed, and as they closed down the buffet (by that time our group was the only one in there; it seemed that the other passengers were not as committed to a Tuesday night of oceanic revelry), we marched directly to the duty free shop to stock up on provisions. I purchased a 24 pack of Karhu; my purchase was based solely on the awesome bear pictured on the box, and I was not disappointed. Over the next few hours, I also took the opportunity to overuse the phrase, "Toss me another bear (beer)" as frequently as possible.
So, fully outfitted with a night's worth of provisions, we set out to explore the ship, and immediately made our way to the top deck. By this point most of the crowd was feeling the effects of overdoing things at dinner; it was a sloppy scene indeed. People chatted, slid across the deck (it was safe, really), and we helped ourselves to a round of shotgunning on the Heli pad. It was a classy night.One thing that was really fascinating about being up on deck was realizing how close we still were to land. I remember walking up the stairs to the top deck and looking off to my right, only to notice an island close enough to be bathed in light from the ship. I could have hit it with a rock if I had one. Through the night, the ship continued to weave between islands and archipelagos, and it's a wonder it could even fit. How our enormous heap of metal managed to squeeze between the islands -- and not ground itself in shallow water -- is beyond me.
Over time certain members of the crew filed ("filed" implies far more control than they were exhibiting) back down into the boat, and to their beds, eventually. The rest of us hit the nightclub, where we made the mistake of challenging a group of Russian teenage girls to a dance-off and immediately had our asses handed to us. Undeterred, we danced for a while longer before throwing in the towel and retreating to our bunks for the night.
I use the term "night" liberally, as we had to wake up at 6:00 AM in order to make the 6:30 breakfast and 7:30 docking, which, due to the time change from Sweden to Finland was actually 5:00. Needless to say, we did not sleep much. Anyway, I woke right at 6:00, showered, and made my way to breakfast, where another buffet awaited me. I ate my fill of Scandinavian breakfast foods (on the trip I got extremely used to eating sandwiches of bread, butter, ham, cheese, cucumber, and tomato more or less every morning), returned to my room to pack up, and bounded off the ship in Turku, Finland.
Thankfully, I felt fine from the night before, although my busmates were not all so lucky. The on-board bathroom saw a lot of action that day.
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