I sleep very intermittently. Out of 7 hours in bed, sleep is only worth about 4 hours. We eat breakfast at the hotel and then catch a taxi to see the Vasa, a Swedish battleship that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628.
The ship is very well preserved. The Baltic Sea is not salty enough to support wood worms. We watch a video and take a tour.
Afterwards we catch a taxi back to the hotel and buy a lovely piece of glass at the hotel shop. Then we are off to catch the Silja ferry to Helsinki. John will be attending the HP conference on board.
We get on board and are directed to a really nice cabin. There is a sitting area with a big window and a king size bed. This is bigger than some European hotel rooms we have been in. The ship itself does not seem luxurious, though, it is more like an overnight ferry with an accordion playing disco music.
We have not seen anyone we know. John and I go down to the Bon Vivant restaurant and have dinner while the ship is pulling away from Stockholm. Beautiful! I order a duck compote and sauteed flounder and John has a veal main course. It is all good.
Later on deck I talk to a 9 year old boy from Espo, Finland. He speaks English really well. Thank goodness everyone speaks it! We also take a ride in an elevator where, after me, John is the shortest person there!
