Day 5: Final hours of Stockholm Card and a trip to Helsinki

Last day in Stockholm today. I woke up at 6AM to do my 11 miler. Ran along the water of 3 different islands. Some sections were prettier than others. Lots of trail running and of course ridiculous hills at the very end. But, I made it.

After my run, we did breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the SkyView. SkyView is a little glass pod that goes up the side of the largest spherical building in the world. It was cool. Not sure I would have paid for it if it wasn't included in the Stockholm card, but it was neat. And close to our hotel. For other folks it might be too far out of town, but definitely a unique experience.

After SkyView we checked out of the hotel and figured out our way to the ferry terminal where we were to store our luggage for the day before our 4:30PM cruise to Helsinki. This wasted way too much of our precious Stockholm Card 24 hours, but it was necessary and we used tons of public transport getting there, so worth it. Angry Alison may have come out a bit as it was hot, I was thirsty, carrying a heavy bag and missing out on prime touristy time. But, I survived. And so did Jeff.

Then, we did the guided tour of City Hall. Impressive place. This is where they hold the Nobel Prize Banquet. Amazing stuff. Three big rooms: Blue Hall (where banquet is held), Golden Hall (where they dance after) and the city hall chamber where the city council meets. Good stories about this place and definitely worth seeing.

Then, we headed to the Nobel Museum on foot. Our card had expired, so we walked it the rest of the day. We got to see some of Galma Stan which is the cute old part of the city. My parents would love it.

We made it to the museum in time to do lunch in the Bistro. We didn't go into the museum since our card had expired, but the Bistro was awesome. The bottom of all the chairs are signed by previous Nobel Prize winners, so we had fun with that. We also had the Nobel ice cream which is served at the Nobel Prize banquet. A beautiful dessert.

After that, we walked toward the ferry terminal and passed the gay pride parade on our way (it happens to be gay pride week in Stockholm). Crazy stuff. Awesome parade.

We made it to the ferry terminal in plenty of time. Stood in a crazy long line for a while until we noticed the 3 windows to check-in for our particular ferry had no lines. We walked right up and checked in. SO, if you take the ferry pay attention. Don't follow everyone else and stand in a ridiculous line for no reason.

Viking cruise to Helsinki has been a blast so far. Minute to Win It in Swedish, Country music and a ridiculous buffet with free wine/beer. Jeff's first "cruise" experience. I think he is most impressed with our tiny 2 bunk cabin. It's TINY! We're enjoying it.