Didn’t get a great night’s sleep last night in the hostel. One person’s breathing cut right through my ear plugs. The hostel also had something like servers in a rack. The whine of the fans pervaded the hostel.
The weather forecast called for rain between 1 pm and 5 pm, with check-in for the ferry starting at 5 pm. I spent some time last night searching for items of interest in Helsinki to visit in the morning. The farthest was roughly 4 km away. I loaded up the bicycle to check out, and learned I could hang out in the common area after I checked out.
After viewing various things, I returned to the hostel to wait out the rain. Overall Helsinki is a city of curves and modern art. I found a display that discussed the newness of Helsinki, a city with less history than other parts of Europe. That said, they charge a lot for everything! 2 pm arrived with no rain. The forecast had shifted to have rain during the loading window. I headed out to wait at the ferry, to be as close as possible, and dreading the part of the loading process of waiting in a line of cars for up to a couple hours, unsheltered.
In the end, no rain fell, and I boarded the ferry without incident. Now being an “experienced” overnight ferry traveler, I had arranged my gear load so I only needed to pull one pannier, and leave the rest on the bicycle. Upon reaching my adorable “piccolo” small room, I did the usual, setting up a clothes line and washing my clothes.
Only to then realize I hadn’t brought an additional shirt with me! The ferry had departed, which locked the cargo compartment. I force-dried the shirt I had just washed by rolling it in each of the two towels provided.
The trip from Stockholm was 15/16 hours. The ferry did not have much lounge space as most everyone had a cabin. I expected the voyage from Helsinki to Tallinn to take 11 hours (based on departure at 7 pm and arrival time of 6 am), but I experienced a very different trip, and similar to whatever other overnight ferries I’ve taken. People (and their dogs) camped out all over the ferry. On benches. Under stairs. In the hallways. I appeared to be in a cabin as the minority. By the time I finished wandering about the ship, my shirt had dried.
Well that didn’t work out as expected. The ferry arrived in Tallin at 9:30 pm. Those who chose an “overnight” cabin stay on board until the morning, explaining any number of oddities. Everyone else disembarked upon arrival. Well, at least I got plans confused in the correct direction and have a place to stay!