By camper to North Cape (3)

In a square we see many elegantly dressed people, the men all in full naval dress uniform, the women in long red gowns of precious fabrics, going to a wedding. It is 8 pm and we decide to go back to the campsite; tomorrow we will resume our visit of Stockholm, the Royal Castle and the old town. SUNDAY 4 JUNE Stockholm It is hot and we lighten our clothes. We are in the square of the Castle, residence of the Kings of Sweden; accompanied by guides in English we visit it, then we go on to see the treasure of the royal house, the display of the clothes worn by the queen up to 2000, the carriages, the royal chapels, in short, everything. It is 12 o'clock and we are lucky enough to watch the changing of the guard, which thrills us for the soldiers' precise execution.

We are in the very heart of Stockholm, in its most important square, surrounded by colourful houses full of flowers, by open-air bars, by narrow streets all packed with crowded shops selling everything from simple souvenirs to reindeer hides to Lapland-style clothing. Here we go wild buying little keepsakes for grandchildren, children and friends. Lunch break with a sandwich wonderfully filled with salmon, prawns, vegetables, mayonnaise and lemon slices and, to finish, an ice cream with a hot waffle made on the spot. The centre is very small and very beautiful; there is the narrowest alley in Sweden, the largest monument to the King, churches of every denomination, rune stones on the corners of the houses, and the places to photograph are many and all fascinating.

We leave the centre and immediately find ourselves among imposing, important buildings; further on the city becomes modern, with huge streets and frenetic activity. We now decide to see the city from above and take the tower lift, which lets us enjoy a wonderful view of the city. To go up, but also to come down, we pay the ticket and only after we have taken out the money does the attendant let us in. Some clouds cover the sun, the wind blows and it is really cold, so, given the late hour, we take the metro back to the campsite; tomorrow we will get up early because the ship that will take us to Finland leaves at seven in the morning.

MONDAY 5 JUNE Stockholm - Ferry to Turku - Helsinki 218 km and 12 hours of cruising It is 6.30 and, even though it is early, the sun is already high in the sky; we arrive right on time at the port, pay the ticket and board for the cruise across the Baltic Sea through the Aland islands archipelago: the archipelago is made up of 6,600 shards of red granite jutting out of the sea. On each islet there is a little red house and a boat. This is where the Finns spend their holidays; here they enjoy a special autonomy different from the rest of Finland. The view is beautiful, the crossing calm; we spend the time playing cards, listening to passengers singing in a karaoke contest and visiting the duty-free shops. There are dance halls, cinemas, shops, arcades, restaurants... everything you need for a cruise even if it only lasts 12 hours.

For lunch we go wild eating lots of salmon and couscous; in the afternoon we set our watches forward by an hour; for dinner we eat herring and black bread with walnuts and honey. It is 7.30 pm and we disembark at Turku in Finland; the city is pretty but we cross it quickly, wanting to head for Helsinki for the campsite stop. At 9.30 pm we enter the Amstrad campsite on the outskirts of Helsinki, 20 kilometres away; we settle on a nice lawn, do some shopping in the camping shop and then go for a short walk to the metro just 100 metres from the campsite. TUESDAY 6 JUNE Helsinki It is like being in Stockholm or Amsterdam, only much smaller. The city has felt, in the recent past, the Russian influence (it was even a grand duchy of the tsar), since it is barely 200 kilometres from St Petersburg.

Uspenski Cathedral is the largest Orthodox church in the north and, like all Orthodox churches, has the iconostasis at the altar and the separation of the celebrant from the faithful. The main square, Senate Square, offers a wonderful view of the old part of the city; it is surrounded by the Lutheran Cathedral, the university building and the senate building, and overlooks the liveliest and truest part of the city, namely the old harbour. After a visit to the cathedral, we head to the port to see the famous market square packed with stalls of fish and all the typical products of the far north. Here we make a short stop for lunch based on salmon, diced potatoes and roast vegetables, all seasoned with sweet sauces and washed down with a tasty beer. Another enchanted place is the old covered market, full of bargains to savour. With tram no.

3 we do a tour of the centre, stopping where it is nicest. Wide modern streets with Finnish design shops welcome the many tourists who come to the city to see what it has to offer most importantly, namely its many theatres, contemporary art museums and the most advanced electronic technology. In our wanderings we see a stall selling smoked fish; we ask for a piece of each type of fish, so as to taste all the specialities: smoked herring with cheese, smoked salmon with pink pepper, sun-dried fish balls, stewed Atlantic cod, smoked whale with aromatic herbs, mackerel stuffed with spices and cheese; afterwards, back to see the latest technological novelties in telephony. Here is the Nokia headquarters and we see the new mobile phones that will arrive back home at the end of 2006, but we buy nothing given our technical incompetence.

We have spent a full day in Helsinki; now we return to the campsite in time for a hot shower and a dinner of spaghetti with garlic and oil. WEDNESDAY 7 JUNE Helsinki - Puolanka 642 km Today is a day of approach to North Cape, still 1,500 km away. We cross the land of a thousand lakes of southern Lapland and soon the scenery changes: we leave behind the enchantment of the countless blue lakes with their little wooden houses all red (we feel we are in a small Canada) and the green of the woods, and now before us we see plains thick with flowers and grasses for the grazing of reindeer that roam freely and cross the road. We stop near the village of Puolanka, a small village along the road to the Arctic Circle; we find a grassy clearing near a dreamlike little lake and stop for the night.

THURSDAY 8 JUNE Puolanka - Rovaniemi (Arctic Circle) - Ivalo 697 km Behind us we leave meadows and woods; now the ground is sometimes marshy, sometimes bare; we are approaching the Arctic Circle (Napapiiri in Finnish), which represents the gateway to an unknown and fascinating world, and the dividing line is right at Rovaniemi in Santa Claus's village. Along the road we find reindeer grazing and sometimes crossing the road, making us stop. At 10.30 we are in Santa Claus's village square. From 11 to 12 Santa Claus receives visitors and we are lucky because the helpers (Elves) take us to him and he welcomes us right away.. to be continued............. IF YOU WANT TO READ THE FULL DIARY WITH PHOTOS GO TO