The ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm turned out to be a mini-cruise of sorts. I was expecting a no frills "transport" experience with bunks but the boat itself was a retired cruise ship and had all of the things that go along with it. There was a promenade deck with restaurants and shops, a buffet (at €37), a sundeck, car decks, a casino, and of course a tax free shop. The tax free normally wouldn't mean much but since alcohol is so heavily taxed in the Scandinavian countries, people were going crazy. The boat departed at 5pm and by 9pm the trash bins were filled with empty bottles and you couldn't throw a casino chip without hitting a drunk person. I later found out that some people just use it as a party boat and take the immediate next return trip and drink themselves silly both ways. It's pretty affordable in that regard. My shared 4 bed female cabin was €44 one way and quite comfortable, but I had a had time finding it at first because it was located on level 2, even below the two car decks. So it was dark, damp, but not dirty.
I arrived in Stockholm at 9:30am and went directly to my host's place in Munso/Ekero, about an hour outside of the city. Everything was super easy but I'm just going to complain once more about the insane costs in Scandinavia. A metro ticket costs 36 Kroner, which is the equivalent of a little over 5 USD - an one way ticket, not a day ticket! Sofia, my host, is an illustrator and graphic designer and is spending the summer in Ekero at her family's summer cottage. It's a quaint, cozy home surrounded by fields, walking trails and a couple of nearby lakes...and it is very primitive.
There is running water inside the home but no bathroom and no hot water. So we have to walk around to the outhouse and use the toilet there. It is basically an octagonal hut with a big wooden platform/storage drunk with two holes carved out and removable lids. Sofia says the waste just decomposes and once in a while they go around the back and pull out the drawers and give the goodies to the farmer next door :) Of course there are no showers, so you can rinse yourself with a hose, bathe in the nearby lake, or boil water if necessary. Not the most convenient place, but I really love it.
Staying here is really helping me unwind and enjoy tranquility at its best. The first day was a bit rainy so I sat around and read and learned to play her little yellow ukulele. Then yesterday was perfect weather so we put up the hammocks and literally hung out for a couple hours just taking in the sun. Took a bike ride through the countryside to the lake and swam in the freezing water, picked some wild chanterelle mushrooms at viking graves and cooked them for dinner. Helped her make a compost bin, picked wild strawberries, watched a movie.
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