I am so happy to update my travel blog again. I have been updating my blog on my life in Sweden with so many activities and my occasional gastronomic adventures. I did not have many opportunities to travel as I have to balance between work and saving money too. Cost of living is expensive in Sweden.
The last time I travelled to another country, it was to Estonia in January this year. That was 4 months ago. This time, I travelled to another Baltic country which is Latvia! There are 3 Baltic countries i.e. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Here is a short explanation on why they are labelled as Baltic countries.
The Baltic states, also known as the Baltic countries, Baltic republics, Baltic nations or simply the Baltics, is a geopolitical term used for grouping the three sovereign states in Northern Europe on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The term is not used in the context of cultural areas, national identity, or language. The three countries do not form an official union, but engage in intergovernmental and parliamentary cooperation. Source from Wikipedia.
I did not choose this country but I followed my friend who was yearning to go on a trip during the long Easter weekend. In Sweden, Easter is a long holiday with Friday being a public holiday as it is Good Friday, and the following Monday is a public holiday too as it is Second day of Easter. So, I worked half day on a Thursday as Friday is a public holiday. In Sweden, one works half day on the eve of a public holiday. As it is a long weekend, one can expect many transportation fees to skyrocket unless you buy the tickets 6 months before. This was, however, an impromptu trip, as I had planned to hike during the Easter weekend, but the temptation to go to another country overrode that. Haha! I choose ALWAYS to go to another country over any other activities, if the tickets are affordable.
So, Latvia it is. There were 4 of us on the trip. We booked a Tallink ferry ride to Riga which is the capital of Latvia. It is fantastic that there are ferry rides from Sweden to the neighbouring countries such as Finland, Estonia and I am sure there are others which I am not aware of yet! Our ferry ride will take 16 hours from 5pm till 11am the next day. The itinerary is this -- Ferry to Riga -- 1 day in Riga -- ferry to Stockholm. 4 days, 3 nights (2 nights on the boat, 1 night in Riga).
Day 1
Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 1.
18/4 Day 1: Afternoon ferry ride (5pm) from the harbour (Frihamnen - Hamnen means 'the harbour' in Swedish) in Vartaterminalen (The Varta Terminal).
Must-Incur Costs
(1) Ferry ticket: SEK695 per person. The entire cabin costs SEK1390 and shared between 2 of us. We booked a C-class cabin. It can fit 4 persons (2 persons sleep on the top).
Optional Costs
(1) Dinner at The Dining Room: Crayfish EUR13, Corn-feed chicken breast EUR20, Still water EUR5.50
(2) Chocolate drink at the Seaside Cafe SEK30
The Story
18042019 Afternoon: At 4.30pm, we met up and walked to the harbour. One gets off at Gärdet (pronounced as 'yar-that' train station (the red line). There were lots of folk getting off at this train station and everyone was heading towards the harbour with their huge luggage (to buy alcohol on the ship which is significantly cheaper than the ones in the liquor store, Systembolaget). It was a 15-minutes walk from this road junction at Tegeluddsvägen till the harbour check-in.
We checked-in at one of the self check-in machines and got our tickets. As you can see from the photo below, this harbour is for ships headed towards Helsinki (Finland), Riga (Latvia) and Tallinn (Estonia). This ticket is also our cabin key. The WiFi password is stated on the ticket too. WiFi is non-existent on the lower decks and weak on the ship.
Our cabin for the night. We were on the lowest deck. I could feel the ship swaying when I slept that night. That is my roommate who is the organiser of the trip. There is a toilet and shower head too. I did not use the shower facilities. It felt a bit unstable standing in the toilet.
After leaving our stuff in the room, we proceeded to go the highest deck to catch some sun. It was very sunny today with 17 degrees. There were lots of Latvians on the ship. I could see that they were not Swedes. Of course, there were tourists like us too but the number of Latvians outnumbered us.
The 3 of us on the trip. My friend in the middle came with her son and he took our photo. Both of them are from China. I do not have a very powerful command of Mandarin so I could understand 50% of what the middle friend said as she uses such high-level of Mandarin which is actually their daily usage. Thankfully, the friend on the right uses simple Mandarin for me, and also translated some of what the other friend said to me. Oh my Mandarin!
My friend wanted to try a fine-dining restaurant on the ship. I have never tried one before. There were not many diners yet, as it was still early at 6pm. We got a window view and could see the archipelago as we sailed past them.
Check out the prices in the menu. They are not cheap, but I consoled myself by saying - It is a trip. I am not here often.
We got complimentary bread and butter.
I took crayfish as a starter. I have never tried crayfish before. Crayfish is a popular dish during Midsummer in Sweden. Now, I have googled the significance of crayfish during Midsummer.
A long time ago, Swedes who loved to party, found the calm half year between midsummer and Christmas for too long, so they came up with the idea of squeezing in another party in the end of the ummer or early autumn: the crayfish party. With the crayfish party, Swedes celebrate the end of the traditional annual ban on fishing for crustaceans between 1st of November and the first Wednesday in August. Since 1994 there is no ban anymore. No reason for Swedes to stop this beloved sticky-finger tradition. Source from Hej Sweden.
And to understand what is a crayfish.
Crayfish, also known as crawfish, crawdads, crawlfish, crawldads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, mudbugs, or yabbies are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters (to which they are related). Source from Wikipedia.
Here is my main course - Corn-fed chicken breast with fries and chimichurri (sauce that originates from Argentina and Uruguay) butter (garlic herb butter). I just found out yesterday that corn-fed chicken is expensive as it is more healthy.
My friend had 180g pepper steak. Well-done steak. I found it a bit chewy. This costs EUR29.
Me trying to pose with the sun on my face. Oh, that is my expensive still water in the photo. Gosh! I thought still water was tap water. I think I will not order drinks anymore in a fine-dining place.
We left the restaurant and walked around the ship. I thought the ship will be different from the one I experienced last summer - a day cruise on Viking Line but it was exactly the same - with numerous restaurants, duty-free shopping, games arcade. We stopped at Seaside Cafe where my friend wanted to have a cup of tea. I took chocolate drink because I was starting to feel the chill. It was a very expensive chocolate drink.
One of our conversations were was it more worth it to take a ferry to Latvia or a plane? A plane ticket did not cost as much. A return ticket costs about SEK800 and takes one hour from Stockholm to Latvia. My friend added that one needs to consider the transport cost to the airport - taxi ride for SEK250 or bus and train ride with the SL card SEK31 (if it does not exceed 75 minutes). Plus an overnight stay - it costs SEK195 per night with our AirBnb. So, in total, it would be SEK1440 (2 nights in the AirBnb since we spent 2 nights on the ship, and if one takes the taxi to the airport).
Wait, IT IS cheaper by ship - my total cost for the return ship ticket is SEK1195. Longer hours, yes. But it is a different experience altogether. Ok, I don't feel as bad anymore!
That was the closest photo I could get to seeing a sunset.
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