SWEDEN | COPENHAGEN | Cruise
After the sojourn at Copenhagen, we headed off to the next Scandinavian behemoth….SWEDEN!!! Early morning, we wake up from the luxury laps of the expensive beds we paid for…our first and last luxury booking on a Eurail. After exchanging the Krones with another set of the same….Danish with the Swedish ones…we headed off in search of a hostel in accordance with our exciting night plans at Stockholm. The original Ice Bar, the sunshine on the streets and the glittering water all made it a joy to tour the city on foot. Stockholm, like most of Sweden is a set of islands, all connected, appealing and resplendent in its entirety.
After reluctantly not taking accommodation at a ship youth hostel, we settled in for a cheaper one. We also completed the most integral part of the morning and quite efficiently at that – collecting the passes for the DJ TIESTO show, which was scheduled after a few days. Even though we had pre empted all sorts of things going wrong with that one, to our delight….it all worked out just fine. The rest of the day, which honestly seemed quite a drag as we just couldn’t wait for the high-time, going aboard the cruise, comprised of the following:
1. Visit to the Coin and Currency museum [which had free entry on that particular day of the week]. Also the presence of the World’s Largest Coin, was appealing enough.
2. The discovery of a café run by a Pakistani dude, who apart from serving us a customized pasta delicacy [the best dish on the entire trip], also provided us with an hour long discussion in sub continental mother tongue’s. He also proved to be our savior the very next day, be responding to our fussy dietary needs [read: Jajoo]
3. A million more pictures, till our trustworthy batteries ran out on us, yet again, with all the trust we had, to betray us at the most scenic spots.
4. Running towards the cruise liner, fearing we might miss that one too, going by enough evidence of a 2 month history timeline.
Coming to the cruise, it was a Viking Line cruise one of the famous carriers in that part of the world. It was a two day trip, Stockholm – Helsinki – Stockholm. Another first for us, we were eager, and already flowing, before the latter happens literally.
We make it in time for the boarding and it at first seemed like a culmination of a 5 star on water and an airport. After a brilliant reception and welcome, we managed to find our way to our cabin. Dumped our bags and just went exploring the structure and its insides, the most exciting corners of the ship being the Duty Free shop and the club.
As the night dawned on us, we braved our way to the deck, and when I say ‘brave’, trust me it was worthy of a Red and White Bravery Awards nomination if not winning it out and out. With some of our structures, the wind would have literally blown us out onto the Baltic Sea. It was chilly, and while I write this, I still feel that clip through my neck and hair right now. We then directed our efforts to the edge and given the sleet cover present, it is safe to say we were outta mind, high on momentous glory.
Out comes the multi faceted sandwich, customized to the last detail, and prepared with heart felt warmth by our Pakistani friend from Stockholm and click goes the beer can, one of the many, I must add here, as we conveniently decided, out of the blue [color seems apt as we were on sea]at the duty free shop that we have to consume all brands of beer available that night, and don’t even get me started on the number on sale. Let’s just say it reached quite a ‘high’ figure. So this moment on the deck, which I term as the Globaliz-ing moment of our Trip is for the following reasons:
On a Swedish Cruise Liner
Enjoyin the sumptuous Sandwich made by a Pakistani
Along with a beer brewed in Holland and another in Germany
Somwhere in the Baltic Sea
Towards Finland
And all experienced by an Indian
Unable to find a more appropriate definition and understanding of the clichéd term. It’s special when you experience it, rather than just reading it in texts and glossy covered magazines. After the wind on the face and delight in your stomach experience, we staggered back[ we literally were moving backwards, thanks to the wind] to the interior confinement of modern luxuries. To further the cause we headed straight to our rooms to make sure our trip and purchases from the duty free were in good stead, if you know what I mean. After hasty swigs we left for the club scene, which was trippy in itself, as all rooms were anyways having private crazy parties and to top it all, the club had views of the serene water world outside giving one a kick one, he could never expect to imagine or wonder. Some of my dear friends had to call it an early night, as they could not handle the first experience, of, mixing waves splashing and alcohol splashing in their stomach too well.
For others, well all I can say is, we were there to Livin’ it Up!!! …..Aboard Style….Another dream realizes on this journey of a lifetime….:)
