TIP-TO-TIP: HALF-DAY ON ÅLAND, ANOTHER FERRY RIDE, STOCKHOLM, AND HOME

Our ferry didn’t leave Mariehamn until 2:30 pm so we had all morning to enjoy the town, after eating breakfast, checking out and packing the car. We walked back up the shopping street (where everything was open!) and over to the Maritime Quarter again, where we toured the little museum, visited some shops and the Beacon. It was sunny and hot and beautiful along the water. We came back down and did some shopping in town as well. I found a Moomin charm for my country charm bracelet (had already bought a little silver reindeer horn to symbolize being in Sápmi), and a few other small things.

Then we went to Ålands Art and Culture/History museum. The art museum section is quite small but it was very nice, and the history museum was excellent, even if we did start at the wrong end and only realized when we came to the bronze age information that we were going “backward” in time. 😀

We got back to the car around 1:30 pm only to discover the right passenger side car door WIDE OPEN. Nothing was missing at all, but it was sure a sweaty couple of minutes. I must have left the door open without even realizing it, and Anders didn’t see it on the Tesla app until we were almost back to the car anyway.

The ferry left for Stockholm on time, and we had another 5+ hour trip watching the end of the Finnish archipelago go by and a short time out on the open water before entering the HUGE archipelago outside Stockholm. How these giant ships manage in the tight channels between the islands is amazing, and how anyone ever found their way with small boats hundreds a years ago is mindboggling to me. There are approximately 24,000 (!!) islands in the Stockholm archipelago!

These 2 windows in the floor of the boat deck really freaked people out, especially women, for some reason. I have vertigo, so I also struggled a bit to make myself walk over them!

We landed in Stockholm at 7 pm and drove 20 minutes to our downtown hotel, checked in and dropped off our bags, and then walked 15 minutes through the quiet city neighborhood of Östermalm to meet Anders’ niece Sofia and her boyfriend for dinner at Artilleriet. They brought Erik’s dog Milton with them, and we ended up walking back to their tiny studio apartment for coffee afterwards before we walked home to the hotel and crashed.

The next morning we had the last of the yummy hotel breakfasts (and it was an excellent spread!) and then we got back in the Tesla for the last stretch of 8 hours down Sweden and home. We stopped at a supercharger right at lunchtime, and had delicious Massaman curry and then popped in to the Team Sportia outlet next door so Anders could look for a fleece jacket, and I ended up with 3 pairs of sneakers on super clearance sale!

We got home about 7:30 pm or so, and were greeted by hugs from Karin who said we are never allowed to leave her by herself in the house for that long…which is rich considering she was just gone for nearly 6 months to Italy and is going to be gone AGAIN for the coming ski season, haha! She went and got sushi for dinner, and we unpacked everything. It was SO nice to be home after such a great trip, sleeping in our own bed. 🙂 Big item checked off Anders’ bucket list and I am super pleased to have seen so much more of my adopted country, AND to have added Finland to my visited-countries list!

We’ve already ended vacation and been back to work for relatively stress-free week. Hard to believe that July is nearing its end. I could use another week off, for sure!

Mood: accomplished
Music: Phoenix—Summer Days