As we had accumulated a lot of presents and souvenirs it was a good time to send them home. We went to the DHL office that was closed on Saturday and were quoted 4000 Kroner ($600), so we searched for a Post Office. We were told it was in Ostmalm Square so we walked around it twice and asked two people, both of whom directed us to the building where it used to be. There was a sign at this spot in Swedish with 2 Ostmalm at the bottom so we went back and sure enough found it there. Should have looked more carefully. The PO counter consists of a scale for weighing and a cash terminal. Nothing is for sale, not even stamps. We were told to go to the supermarket to buy the packages, envelopes and stamps for letters. After packing our goods into two large boxes we returned and were given declaration forms to fill out. These were duly affixed and our debit card was relieved of $110 and the parcels were on their way. It was an efficient operation for them, but very inefficient for us. No other postal service we have seen is so anti-consumer in its operation and we do not think this is typical of Swedish society at all. The afternoon went by checking our trip to Helsinki, packing and cleaning and posting off our tax rebate forms covering purchases we made in Norway and Sweden. The owner of the apartment told us he would call in to collect the key at 5pm but as we predicted he had not turned up by 5.15pm so we left the key in the door and took off. It was a nice apartment but we gave it a poor review because of his unreliability. When we got to the ferry wharf we found that the last boat to Viking Ferries left at 5.15, so Plan B became catching a taxi. We were lucky to signal one down quickly and it was driven by a Swedish man who was so interested in what we were doing and in talking about his beloved Stockholm that he forgot to start the meter until 5 minutes into the trip. As a result he charged us less than we would have paid for the ferry and we got there more quickly. When he accidentally gave us $3 too much change we gave it back gladly and wondered about all the signs in Stockholm warning about taxis overcharging. We hit the jackpot with this one. We had two hours before the Amarella left for Turku so started by collecting our tickets and showing ou Eurail Pass to try to get a discount on the 250 Euro price we had paid in March to secure a bedroom on the ship. The girl explained to us that we had bought a luxury suite and hence would only receive 25 Euros refund as it is based on a % of the cheapest fare (sitting up). We were quite happy with that and it gave us a little cash to start us off in Finland. At 7.45pm we boarded the ship and sought out our room 9122. All the doors looked the same but when we opened 9122 we both said "Wow!" Another jackpot. It looked like a suite from a 5 star hotel. Four times the size of the one we had from Rotterdam. Queen size bed.
large desk and double lounge. Fridge with free drinks. Large TV. Bowl of lollies. We kept finding more such bonuses. Best of all were the two large windows facing the front of the ship directly below the bridge.
An even better view than we had on the Manet. The sun was setting and we sat and watched the ship make its way up the channel to the Baltic Sea in the fading light.
Margot and Lennart Oscarsson used to live in one of the houses along the left bank there and we appreciated what a great place it was for a house. Margot had shown us a oicture of the house once but we could not pick it out.
Best departure of the whole trip.
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