April 3–4: trip to Stockholm

For one weekend, we paid a lightning-round visit to Stockholm.

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Walking around the harbor, both of the Stockholm ferries (Viking and Silja) visible, the Viking ferry at the Katajanokka port and the Silja, which we would be taking, at the port near Kaivopuisto in the southeastern part of downtown.

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Here it is, the Silja Symphony.

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The promenade, in the heart of the ship. I hadn't been in a ferry/cruise ship like this in years.

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Departing from the harbor, the cathedral prominent on the skyline.

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Passing by the Mariella.

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There goes Uspenski!

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The eastern part of the Katajanokka port; our apartment block is hidden from view but not far beyond the line of houses to the left.

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An intimate retreat.

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And another.

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Some remaining ice.

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We crunched right through it.

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Suomenlinna, the island fort of Helsinki.

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Oblique view out.

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Up on deck. It was on this very ferry ride that my camera lens started messing up; some part of the lens motor had slipped or worn or something, and it eventually got the point where I had to pull on the lens while it was trying to move into position in order to avoid a lens error. The vignetting that you see at the corners of this picture and the slight blurriness are from the lens being beyond the correct wide-angle position. Once I had to extend the lens manually, I at least found it possible to put it back to the correct wide-angle position, but it moved out of that position easily. Since I had to work that way from about late April to the end of July, I got used to it. I was thankful that the camera continued working at all.

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The duty-free shop, with the Nordic favorite, licorice, right up front here. (Salmiakki, or salty-tasting licorice, is particularly prized. I've gotten more and more used to it the more times I've tried it, but it's still kind of nasty.)

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The promenade at the magical daylight/artificial-light equilibrium time (DALET, I will refer to it from now on, if I need to do so). (EDIT July 2013: never mind, I ended up calling it isobrightness everywhere else.)

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The newly clear sky the next morning as we arrived in Stockholm.