My journey from Stockholm to Turku was much different than the monarchs and pirates took from previous centuries. My journey was a regularly scheduled ferry service, which takes about 11 hours. Rather than a warship, I boarded a cruise ship, with a bow that opens up for automobiles to drive into! The route navigates through an archipelago; it requires occasional course corrections to avoid striking land. Given how well today’s technology keeps a ship from rocking back and forth, I am sure my journey was quite calm compared to the ships of the past.
Viking Grace
Apparently, only a portion of passengers uses this service for the intent of going to Turku. It happens to be a popular party and shopping venue due to no tax on alcohol or goods purchased on board. The duty free store offers shopping carts because shoppers tend to stock up here. Where was the duty free shop on Jack Sparrow’s ship? For what I thought was a simple ferry service, I was quite surprised to see the varied goals passengers had on board.
View from the top deck of ship, the small dot up top is the moon
I planned my arrival in Turku to be quite easy from a logistics perspective. The harbor is about a twenty minute walk into town, however there is one hostel right next to where the ship docks. It is an old luxury cruise ship, permanently moored in Turku. I booked it as “cabin on boat with window.” Turns out that meant I got a private room to myself, a pleasant surprise. More importantly, it is also less than five minutes away from Turku Castle.
Castles in this part of Europe do not evoke images of fairy tales and princesses. These castles were built from a more practical than grand perspective. However, this is what gives them their own unique charm. Turku Castle has an army of docents, dressed in medieval garb, throughout the castle to point you in the right direction because it is purposely designed to be difficult to navigate in case of intruders. In its heyday, many parts were divided into separate compartments, not connected internally to one another. These areas were only accessible by a wooden gangway from the interior courtyard, again to make intrusion difficult. On one occasion, I even ran into a false stairwell. My favorite part was the dungeon pit. It was literally a hole in the ground about four stories deep, only accessible from one room, with a small entrance. It made Alcatraz look like a luxury hotel.
My first city in Finland was a success. I have moved on by bus to Tampere and will be arriving in Helsinki sometime Thursday.
// Oliver – Day 51 – Finland