I really enjoyed Tallin. It really is a nice city, but it was time to leave. I was going to get a ferry over to Finland, but because my Schengen time is starting to running short, I decided to catch a ferry to Sweden instead. The ferry leaves at 2200 and the earliest you can be there is 1800 so I had an afternoon to kill. I didn’t have to be out of the accommodation until 12 so I had a lie-in, a lazy breakfast and an even lazier mug of tea before I motivated myself to pack the bike. I left the accommodation at 1155…
The ferry-port is at Paldiski, which is 50km west of Tallin. After a quick ride around Tallin I decided to hug the coast to Paldiski, riding down the B-roads and tracks along the coast. I got to Paldiski about 4pm and in the main – and only – supermarket I popped-in to get some snacks for the overnight ferry. There was a pizza parlour at the supermarket, so to kill some time I sat down for a lovely pizza and some drinks before heading to the port. Just before the port there is a fuel station so I stopped to top up with fuel just in case it was cheaper than Sweden. As it turned out, fuel is much cheaper in Sweden, around £1.20 a litre…
The ferry crossing was great. The cost for the overnight crossing, including an inboard cabin was 164 euros. The cabin and the ferry was excellent, and they even had a duty-free shop where somehow a bottle of whiskey followed me to my cabin.
Arriving in Sweden the next morning, I went down to the vehicle deck but couldn’t find my bike, so climbing lots of stairs to the upper vehicle deck I still couldn’t find my bike so going back down again to the lower deck – I found my bike just around the corner from where I was first looked. Old age, eh…? Getting off the ferry was quick and easy but it was a bit of a shock to the nervous system as it was 12 degrees and raining. Stopping briefly to put on my waterproofs, I headed for Stockholm.
I was in the city centre of Stockholm by 8am. It was Sunday and the city was still asleep. I am staying with my son and his partner, and they live about 25k outside but I didn’t want to arrive too early so I had a ride around the empty streets for a while, then stopped to admire the view over the harbour. Eventually I headed west to the archipelago and was meeting my son by 1030. I’ve been to Stockholm several times so I’ve done all the museums and touristy things, so this visit is going to be catch-up time.
