Day 8: On a Boat!

Another gorgeous day in Stockholm! Today we were able to do a bit more exploring in Gamla Stan (Old Town). All morning we walked around the narrow cobble streets and between the tall colorful buildings that made up this historic area. It was nice to view the area in the morning because the space was lit in a whole new way and it had a different sort of charm. We were even able to get in on a couple of different tours of the ornate area cathedrals.

We next headed across the canal to another island where we met with Emily and a large group of professionals at the firm Landskapslaget. The group we met with was very energetic to have international visitors and put together a great presentation on the firm and their projects. They provided us with a lovely lunch as we talked about their projects and how their firm was organized. We were able to gain a lot of insight into how a firm works in Scandinavia, and I thoroughly enjoyed walking around the firm and talking to Landscape Architects about their design process and their thoughts about practicing in Stockholm. Overall the group we met with was extremely friendly and helpful. After leaving the office we wandered around the island and discovered a hiking trail that provided unique views of the Stockholm city skyline.

We took the metro back to the hotel to collect our bags and hop on the taxi to get to our ship. When I pictured going on an overnight boat trip to Helsinki, I didn’t imagine we were going to be on a huge cruise line. Our ship, “the Symphony,” was enormous. We were greeted by photographers as we entered the ship to snap a picture of our first steps on board. Then, we walked into the large promenade deck where there was live Irish music being played and we were inundated with options for food, dining, and shopping. We dropped our bags off in our little cabins and went out to sit on the deck and wave goodbye to strangers on shore. Most of the night was spent out on the top deck, watching all the little islands and lighthouses pass by until it got dark…..at around 12:00am! It’s crazy how long the sun stays up. We headed back to our cabins for a good night’s rest to get ready for our whirlwind tour of Helsinki Finland in the morning.

Alyssa