The ship Diana, on the Göta Kanal - Thursday, 25 August

Geoff
This morning, we went by taxi to the quayside on the island in Stockholm where Gamla Stan is. Unfortunately, the taxi driver was unable to get us as far as we wanted to go as some roads were closed and the traffic was chaotic. He was most apologetic. The reason was due to a state visit by the US vice-president, Joe Biden. So we got out and walked the couple of hundred yards or so.

Our destination was a boat on the quayside, the Diana. It is not a big boat. It was built in 1931. It is 31.66m long and has 28 cabins on three decks. They are small cabins. A lot of them have bunk beds. Think railway sleeper compartments and that will give an idea of their size. Ours is a little larger and has two single beds (which are very comfortable). Each cabin has a wash basin but certainly no en suite. On each deck are loos and a couple of showers.

On the middle deck is the dining room, in one corner of which is the ship's library, comprising a selection of books about Sweden and the canal, mainly in Swedish but some in German and English. There is a walkway around the middle deck and, at the bow end, an almost vertical set of steps up to what is called the shelter deck. There is seating up there and it is under cover. However, we can't walk all the way round as the captain's bridge is at the stern end.

We set off from Stockholm this morning and will be travelling for six days along the Göta Kanal, arriving in Göteborg (Gothenburg) next week. We had a stop for one and a half hours this afternoon at the coastal village of Trosa, the old part of which was rather quaint. We cast off again at 6.30pm and we are due to moor for the night at Stegeborg around 1.30am. We are out in the Baltic at the moment and don't actually enter the canal until the middle of tomorrow morning. It is quite choppy and I'm feeling just a little bit queasy!

Amanda

G dutifully booked a taxi to take us to pick up the boat! We still had a little way to walk because the centre of Stockholm was clogged because of a "State Visit" we believe it was Joe Biden, the US vice president. Our taxi driver was very apologetic and tried all sorts of different routes, but ended up having to drop us as near as he could. Having boarded MS Diana, built in the 1930's, unpacked in our neat little cabin, and been welcomed with coffee, pastries and fresh fruit platter, we settled down on deck to enjoy the first day's cruising through the Stockholm Archipelago and Lake Malaran to the Baltic, and then down the coast through small rocky islands until we stopped at 5pm at Trosa. The total relaxation was interrupted only by an excellent two course lunch. There is a set table plan, which we will stick to, and we are seated with four others - retired sisters from the London area, and a couple originally from Scotland but living in Canada for the last thirty years - the  only other passengers whose first language is English. They will be excellent lunch and dinner companions for the next few days. The boat is not quite full; we are 43 passengers with a capacity of 48.

At Trosa we had an hour and a half to explore at our own pace, and a Heritage trail of about 2 Kilometres to follow if we wished, which we did. A picture postcard little town, with a number of old buildings, most of which now seem to be hotels and restaurants. And a welcome leg stretch.

A welcoming glass of bubbly, an excellent three course dinner and a spell sitting out on deck, and it is time to turn in. We don't dock at our next stop until 1.15am, and the sea has been a bit choppy. This is where I think we are fortunate to be on the Main Deck, which is the bottom deck, and has much less roll. It is, however, quite warm. There does not seem to be much breeze coming through the open porthole!