Day 8: Where is the funicular?!?

After a couple of nice flights, we arrived in Bergen, Norway around 11:30.

We checked into the Citybox hotel (in my mind the least exciting lodging thus far, but still decent). Then, it was find food fast time. There was a Thai place around the corner and it was open so we ate there. Delicious pad Thai!

Then, one of us had this genius idea to spend our one day in Bergen doing this hike that goes from the top of one mountain to the top of another. You ride the cable car up to the top of Ulriken and then hike to Floyen and ride the funicular down. Rick Steves said is was a 4 hour hike. I'm still not sure whose idea this was, but it seemed like a good one since we hadn't done anything like this.

After 5.25 hours....8 miles...1 bad fall by Alison...many wrong turns and endless scenery we finally arrived at that freaking funicular. There were many times I didn't think we'd make it.

1) The signage was terrible. I even spent like $3 on a trail map so we wouldn't get lost. Terrible. The map only covered about half the trip. What a waste. Plus, I am not a topographical map reading expert.

2) We were not properly equipped for this hike. The only shoes I had with me that worked for this type of thing were my running shoes. And I was wearing jeans. And a white shirt. Jeff had his walking shoes on but not great for the slippery rocks (it had been raining earlier in the day). Also there was mud everywhere and I was trying not to get too dirty since my running shoes need to last another month before my parents bring me my new pair. And I didn't want to get my jeans dirty because I needs to wear them again. Not the best attitude/gear to have on a framing crazy hike through the mountains.

3) My fall. Ugh. So, because I was being so cautious I was not being as aggressive as I should have been on some of these rocks. I slipped and fell at one point banging up my left knee (now my knees have matching scrapes after my running fall last week) and pulling a muscle in my right leg or something. It hurt like crazy. I thought I had torn a ligament or something, but after sitting there for a minute or two, I was able to walk on it, but it want pretty and walking today is still a bit rough. All I could think was what would have happened if I had hurt myself. How would I have ever gotten out of there?! Props to my friends who do this hiking stuff on a regular basis. Crazy stuff!

Despite all this ridiculousness and my desire to watch where I was stepping, when I did stop to look around the scenery was beautiful. Lakes, mountains, the town below us. And sheep. Everywhere.

I think it was worth it, but boy did that take it out of us. We saw a bit of the town on our walk home. But that was it. The town looked cute. Maybe something to visit another day, but I'll skip the hike next time.

The cute bus to the cable car.

Finally! The Funicular!

Day 7: A day of NO plans!?

Today I had no plans for us in Finland. We had seen most of the city and there were a few things to do a bit outside the city, but they didn't really appeal to us, so we decided to take it easy.

Started the day with a 5 mile run along the coastline. Then, it was giant free buffet breakfast at the hotel. Then, to the post office and another market (not as good as the one by the water). We had a nice lunch at Ekberg. I had a "soup lunch" which was really a buffet of treasures. Jeff had some crayfish on toast and a dessert.

After lunch, we walked through the market next to the water again on our way to this big church on a hill. But it was Monday. So, it was closed. Like everything else in Scandinavia on a Monday. So, that was a bust.

We also stopped at Stockman's...the Macy's of Helsinki. I waited under the clock because apparently it's a common meeting spot.

Took an afternoon nap and then headed to the beach. It was almost 90 degrees in Helsinki that day and we needed to cool off. We walked over to this great little beach and got in the water a couple of times. But that water was freaking cold!!! It felt good, but it definitely took my breath away when I went all in. Brr! We spent about 2 hours in the sun and sand. Very pleasant.

On our walk back we found a Hullabaloo sign, a cool sculpture and the chapel of silence. 

After getting cleaned up we did dinner at a cute pizza place around the corner from us and then went up to the top of the tower in our hotel for sunset. We got up there a bit after 8PM. But, the sunset didn't really happen until like 9:30. Of course. But, the views were amazing! We also got the Finnish drink known as a long drink (gin and grapefruit soda) and I got a second drink since the sunset was taking so long called a Hugo (Elderflower, mint, and sparkling wine). Delicious!! It was a great way to end our time in Helsinki.

We're at the airport now (took the FinAir bus...great move). We head to Bergen today for our last part of the trip. Norway here we come!

Day 6: The rest of the cruise and many a tour of Helsinki

The boat cruise provided many more exciting adventures. After my last post, we had an amazing buffet dinner complete with all the beer/wine you could drink. Ridiculous. Then, we headed to the night club to hear some international music. It was there we met a young Finnish woman and her brother. The Finnish woman was super fascinated with Jeff. She thought he looked like the lead singer from Muse. She was also likely wasted and drinking even more while she was with us. She discovered that Jeff and I were only friends and that made the brother very happy. He thought I was very cute. Oh boy. So, I got some dancing time with drunk Finnish dude and he continued to tell me I was cute and beautiful and how he liked my brown eyes. Oh and he loved me. Haha.he was trying to get his sister to go to our cabin with Jeff and for me to go to his cabin, but I declined. He was sad. Good stuff.

I slept pretty well on my tiny bunk bed despite the night club music above us and the vibrations of the boats. Then it was time for giant buffet breakfast and departure in Helsinki. Fun cruise. And Jeff's first cruise experience so that was fun. He has no idea what a legit cruise would be like.

Then, it was time for tour 1 in Helsinki. We opted for the Panorama bus tour that left from the ship terminal. This took us all over the city and stopped at the waterfront market, Church in the Rock, and the Sibelius Monument (a tribute to their greatest composer). There was also an audio tour as we drove around. It was a good way to get acquainted with the city.

After that, we checked into out hotel, Sokos Solo Torni. Awesome! Apparently Torni stands for tower and it is the 2nd tallest building in the city center. Our room was huge compared to other places we stayed and we got free breakfast. Deal!

After we were all checked in we headed out to the market and got some crepes/meat pies for lunch. I bought a few treasures in the market and then we were right at the beginning of the Rick Steves' self-guided walking tour, so we downloaded that to my phone and were off. We saw a lot of the same things as the bus tour, but they were up close, so that was better. 

Rest time. Then, it was off on our Sauna Sunset Nordic Walking Stick Tour. So, apparently it's a trend for people to walk with ski poles in this area. I had to try it. So, that was our mode of transport. We walked all around this big lake. Just Jeff and me and the tour guide. He told us lots of good stuff about Helsinki and the area. He was super helpful. We even stopped at a sauna so we could do it up like the Finnish do. The sauna was a bit awkward for me. There were like 25 men and 3 women. The saunas themselves were single sex, but I guess in between the crazy hot sauna time you come out to this open area and hang out. In just your towel. It was weird to me because it was mainly men in their towels. I eventually got enough courage to go outside and hang a bit, but Jeff wasn't out there at the time. I did about 3 5 minute visits to the sauna and then it was time to finish up our tour. Good stuff. I'd recommend this guy. Happy Bike Tours of Helsinki. Yes, they also do bike tours. But, I wasn't going there.

After that we had an awesome dinner at Zetor, a Finnish restaurant with tractors and cows and other things inside. Think like Cracker Barrel with a farm theme. The menu was this giant newspaper and inside was the menu in like 20 different languages. Recommended by our tour guide and we loved it.

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.