The journey to Åland begins with an early morning car ride into town and the right line to wait in to get off at Mariehamn.
That big boat opens its mouth and we all roll in, cars, trucks, buses included.
We quickly found ourselves on the kid friendly level for the six hour ride, complete with ballpit.Three or four hours of the trip are consumed just getting through the Stockholm Archipeligo.
This is a car ferry we passed along the way near Vaxholm. Mon & I rode this a couple weeks ago on the way to dinner on date night.
The big boat has an area of duty free shopping - a big selling point and money maker for Viking Lines. Go stand next to that perfume Jake.
Mariehamn. We waited for these two competing ferries to leave before we entered port.
When we returned to our car it was concerning that there was water on the car deck. Back in the 90's one of these big boats sank enroute to Estonia and hundreds died. They aren't sure but they think the big front doors opened when they were at sea. Comforting thought.
Pretty big in there.
Åland has a great sea fart museum. Doh. I mean sea travel (sjöfart). This is a classic case of lost in translation.
For being a small museum it was pretty cool.
Rose looking for Jack?
A breakfast tray made up of butterfly wings.
Star navigation charts. One thing that is interesting is that the main way to get to Åland was by three masted clippers until about 1930.
Who knew Houdini was the figurehead of a ship.
We stayed with Per at his Dad's house. It was next to a farm and these cows definitely had a pecking order.
Per was very proud of his new boat, an American Boston Whaler. He had just gotten it when we came.
Nothing like rolling around with your brother in the wet grass... especially when Dad's told you to get up 3x.
Brothers Hasse & Per on a hike. The weather was not the usual.
On the way back to Stockholm we had to wait for the competing company's ferries to unload and load again. I was impressed with how nimble these big ships were.
Both had to pull in, turn around and back in to port.
Then our boat came, along with its sister. They coordinate the boats so that Åland is a rendezvous connection between Helsinki and Stockholm for all the ferries.
When we got home Sammy was inspired and drew an Åland flag. It is similar to Sweden's but with a red cross in the middle of the gold cross.
We had a fun weekend. One thing we enjoyed was a trip to Mariebad, an indoor aquatic center. Click on 'åland pt. 2' above for pictures. One thing I wasn't crazy about was the health requirement for guys to wear skimpy speedo type suits if they use the slide instead of baggy swimming shorts. Huh? Who's not going to use the slide? With some hesitation we borrowed loaners. I guess it would have been worse if I could have actually seen the speedo past my gut. Since I couldn't, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but still... Overall it was a lot of fun. Good family weekend.
This is a car ferry we passed along the way near Vaxholm. Mon & I rode this a couple weeks ago on the way to dinner on date night.
The big boat has an area of duty free shopping - a big selling point and money maker for Viking Lines. Go stand next to that perfume Jake.
Mariehamn. We waited for these two competing ferries to leave before we entered port.
When we returned to our car it was concerning that there was water on the car deck. Back in the 90's one of these big boats sank enroute to Estonia and hundreds died. They aren't sure but they think the big front doors opened when they were at sea. Comforting thought.
Pretty big in there.
Åland has a great sea fart museum. Doh. I mean sea travel (sjöfart). This is a classic case of lost in translation.
For being a small museum it was pretty cool.
Rose looking for Jack?
A breakfast tray made up of butterfly wings.
Star navigation charts. One thing that is interesting is that the main way to get to Åland was by three masted clippers until about 1930.
Who knew Houdini was the figurehead of a ship.
We stayed with Per at his Dad's house. It was next to a farm and these cows definitely had a pecking order.
Per was very proud of his new boat, an American Boston Whaler. He had just gotten it when we came.
Nothing like rolling around with your brother in the wet grass... especially when Dad's told you to get up 3x.
Brothers Hasse & Per on a hike. The weather was not the usual.
On the way back to Stockholm we had to wait for the competing company's ferries to unload and load again. I was impressed with how nimble these big ships were.
Both had to pull in, turn around and back in to port.
Then our boat came, along with its sister. They coordinate the boats so that Åland is a rendezvous connection between Helsinki and Stockholm for all the ferries.
When we got home Sammy was inspired and drew an Åland flag. It is similar to Sweden's but with a red cross in the middle of the gold cross.We had a fun weekend. One thing we enjoyed was a trip to Mariebad, an indoor aquatic center. Click on 'åland pt. 2' above for pictures. One thing I wasn't crazy about was the health requirement for guys to wear skimpy speedo type suits if they use the slide instead of baggy swimming shorts. Huh? Who's not going to use the slide? With some hesitation we borrowed loaners. I guess it would have been worse if I could have actually seen the speedo past my gut. Since I couldn't, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but still... Overall it was a lot of fun. Good family weekend.
4 comments:
what? no speedo pics? I feel like I'm missing out!!!!!
:-P
Oh, you are.
Sounds like a great trip!! What a cool ship...though unsettling to think the hatch "accidently" opened at sea!!!! Glad you were able to get away!!!
Yeah, I was looking for the speedos too. I think you through that in to see if we were paying attention.
Post a Comment