Was rudely interrupted from my sleep on the overnight ferry by crewman simply opening my locked door and shouting something in Swedish and Finnish, I presume. He did it to everybody and I guess it meant “get up!” They needed to clear everybody out as soon as possible upon landing at 6:30am. I nonetheless had gotten over seven hours sleep and felt much better. Shaved quickly, but didn’t have a shower-- didn’t want to deal with the deluge of people.
Got off ferry with masses of people and found an ATM to get kroners. Sweden doesn’t use the euro. Needed to get to the train station and was sure to ask the bus driver at the ferry station if he was going there. He was extra nice and also pointed out points of interest along the way. Got to the train station, saw lots of stuff about buses, but not trains. Had to ask at info desk.
Turns out this was the main bus station, but main train station was one level above. Excellent! Train for Uppsala was about to leave, so I ran to it and hopped on. I was alone on the train car. Conductor checked my EurailPass-- it was OK. Arrived Uppsala way too early to check in, but wanted to go to the hostel just to check it out. But first I found an internet center at the station and got on the internet for a while, then stashed my stuff in a locker.
I finally went outside. See the photo of the statue outside the train station. I didn't try to look up the girl's skirt, but who knows what I might have found, considering that the guy on the bottom is STARK NAKED and it is very crudely obvious!
Hostel was supposed to be 300 meters away, but wasn’t. I tried going in the opposite direction and still couldn’t find it. Had to ask for help at building with “samaritan” in its name. Turns out it was more like 600 meters in the original direction-- I did a lot of extra walking. Turns out you couldn’t get inside until 4:00pm, anyway, unless you were already checked in and had the entry code.
Walked all over Uppsala. Boy, they sure do have a lot of bicycles! Checked into the hostel. Had to pay extra for sheets and towels. This small hostel had several bathroom and shower areas-- two or three private bathrooms with a shower and one larger area with multiple showers and toilet stalls, all unisex. Bought 10 air mail postcard stamps. Not cheap! Finished writing seven of ten postcards I have. Hopefully, will finish all by tomorrow. I’ll beat them home, but it’s the thought that counts! [Mailed seven on 14 July and the rest 15 July]. Went to bed.
--END 12 JULY--
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