ScandiNarv

 Monday Aug 5th

So Sea Cadets did kayaking, which meant I was a waste of space, so left early.
Packed and sorted everything and got tired of waiting so caught the earlier i.e. 10.30 304 to Cardiff.
Flixbus had changed the bus stop so my usual routine was disturbed. Disoriented but managed to find the St Mary Street Mc D and had supper, even got to the new bus stop before the really heavy shower.

Tuesday

Bus was on time and I got quite a lot of sleep on it. 4am arrival at Heathrow and it was relatively busy. Picked up lots of newspapers before boarding, had an escape row, so bag had to go overhead. Water attempted to kill someone - it does like falling out of the side pocket. Good doze on the plane but I was a bit surprised at how time had flown. Midday by the time I was in Centraal.

    Got my 24hr ticket £8.30 (The airport supplement cost half as much again £12.04 ) Arrived and checked out Arlanda Express which was £15.87. Breakfast at Mc D. Went to City Hall as the 89 left from near there. Impressive and nice to sit in the shade reading a paper while waiting for the ferry. Nice trip, stocked up at the supermarket and the 16.20 ferry back was cancelled so it was the 1700 arriving around 2000. wandered over to the 80 ferry and completed the trip to Ropsten. T line back for supper. Thought I had an hour to wait but the train was in the platform and I am on board and settling in for another night in a seat. Departure was at 21.54.

Wednesday

Survived the night quite well. Did get worried that we would not make the connection at Boden Central as we were running 20 mins late but in the end we got there at 11am and I had time to visit the station waiting room and replenish my water bottle. The subway had a nice mural.

   Have reversed direction at Kirula. The terrain is pretty flat and uninteresting. The mines were not as intrusive as I expected. No electric on this train, or the plug at my seat is not working, but I do have a single seat. The little terrier next to me likes yapping as people pass.
    Scenery got much more spectacular as we got into Norway, but there were a lot of snow sheds. Made up time and got into Narvik on time. Checked in to a nice room, receptionist was nice, recognised you as a person.
Went out for a wander but there wasn't a lot to see, it's spread out. I did splash out on a small pizza. Thought I might try the cable car in the morning but it doesn't start until 11am. Sully SC Committee was the usual waste of time.

Thursday

The breakfast buffet was surprisingly busy, I got there just after 7am. Nice but everything was small, glasses, cups, rolls, croissants and the usual problem of plates and cutlery vanishing as one tries to get the next portion. However I enjoyed it. Time passed pretty quickly on the computer and I wandered off to the station to catch the 10.30 train. Spectacular scenery for the first hour but then 19hrs of not a lot. Hot true, a lot of forests and grassland or lakes, going to a distant horizon. The train was 30mins late into Boden but they held the Stockholm train for us (it was a connection).

Friday

Sleeping was not easy, but I guess that I did. Arrived at 06.30 and my favourite Mc D didn't open until 8am so I had to use the station Mc D. Also checked out the Arlanda Express and purchased a ticket for Sunday.
    Then off to the ferry which left at 8am. No 84 to Alstaket and back. Beautiful, hardly any wind and we passed a ferry coming in. Back in city by 10.30. I was trying to go for a ride on the Tram but they were terribly crowded, the service was very variable.
     Went in search of a loo on ferries, I was wrong there weren't any - ended up on Skeppsholmen which was quite interesting, I might look closer. The loo cost 5SKR or 38p. From there it was back to get the tram ride and by the time that was in progress there were only a couple of hours left, so visiting a paying museum would not be cost effective.

    In the end I ferried to Slussen intending to visit the city museum but bottled out. Wandered back through Gamal Stan wondering at the tourists. Happened on the Royal Palace just as they were changing the guards (2pm) that was fun. Then Nybroplan for the No80 which left at 14.25 not my expected 14.30. That got me to Robsten just in time to catch the 76 bus down to the ferry terminal. Check in was a dream, and I was on board by 4pm. This time I have a double cabin to myself (was 4 berth last time). A shower and change of clothes was very welcome.
    I have now purchased the fridge magnet and apparently breakfast buffet is 21 Euro, so I might indulge on Sunday morning. (but by on Saturday I bought Bananas)
    It has turned quite dull outside so I might have an early night. The forecast was for rain but it has been a beautiful day.

Saturday

And I struggled out of bed to a wet day, but it had eased by the time we got tied up and I put my Helsinki travel card (9Euros) to good use catching the No2 tram to Mc D for breakfast and internet, checked in for Sunday flight and transferred funds. Then it was No4 Tram back to the harbour and a boat out to the Island Fortress of Suomenlinna.

Komoot suggested a trail around the island which I sort of followed but some parts were closed and other parts missed being alongside the sea. It was very windy at least F7. Time seemed to be vanishing as I got the boat back wanting an icecream so it was McD again for a milkshake and then back to the boat via a grocery store. Time seemed to have slipped away and I didn't go into any museums.
    The boat has now sailed, I went up to the bow and encountered some of the strongest winds I have known, could barely keep on my feet and had to use the grab rail. Would have liked to have known what the wind velocity actually was - we were steaming into 30kts I guess so must have been near 50kts. Not much of a sea or the stabilisers are doing a good job. Nice to be rocked to sleep.

Sunday

Didn't get as much watching of the scenery as I should have but did get into the front lounge for the last bit, where we stopped following the Viking boat and went to our berth.

  Things went quite smoothly from then on. Boat docked around 10am and I made the 10.30 Metro single ticket £1.94, 10.45 Arlanda Express £15.87 for a pensioner. Airport security was a very short wait, even if I had to take the squeaky trainers off. Flight to Helsinki was a little delayed in an Airbus 320 but I made the connection in Helsinki and even got an exit stamp in my passport. This was an Airbus 350 with more seat pitch and entertainment screen.  At Heathrow by 5.15 and through electronic gate with no problem. Flixbus 18.30 was only 15 mins late but I was able to get an update from the web. Got into Cardiff pretty much on time 10.15 and brother gave me a lift back to Barry. I might have made the 10.29 train and the 304 bus showed as having run at 23.10 so could have done public transport all the way.

Monday 12th August

Thought I would finish off with an all you can eat breakfast at the Toby Carvery but it was closed. 2mls of walking for nothing and the surface is taking forever to copy the photos to a drive.

All photos are at:- https://photos.app.goo.gl/nkuNuMzAzGxL9G43A