I'm finally getting around to updating my blog with all the latest news from Sweden! We have to time-travel back a week to pick up where we last left off, so hold on to your butts, the flux-capaciter is fluxing and we're approaching 88mph. Anyone?
After working our way through Stockholm, fighting the rain and cold just to catch a couple of sights, we hopped back in the car and headed over the cruise ship for our one-night adventure out to Aland and back. Maddis, who is on the board of directors for our club for no other reason than she just loves volleyball, is sort of our "team mom" as well and takes care of all international players. Apparently past foreign players have "complained" that they never got to go on a boat while they were in Sweden, so she took it to heart and arranged a cruise for Dave and me. She, her commonlaw Joran, Dave and I set sail Sunday evening about 6.
As I mentioned, it was only a one-night cruise leaving Stockholm and floating out to Aland, the half-way island between Sweden and Finland. It's officially a part of Finland so yes, I have made it to a surrounding country for a visit! I was shocked, however, at the size of the ship, it being such a short trip. A full-size cruise liner, I couldn't get it all in one picture. This is the bow, and I probably only capture about 1/10 of the total size. Pretty crazy.
We had a room on one of the top levels, not down in the slums with the work crew. Ha! Naturaly though, the rooms were tiny for two large volleyball players. Somehow we both managed to fit on our beds, but were so close together I might as well have been the little spoon. There was a duty-free store onboard so we grabbed a couple of beers and snacks before dinner. Dinner was interesting. The live entertainer, si
nging American classics from Sinatra to Clarkson, was giving me the eye all night. We all had a good laugh! Ya, hilarious! But the food was even more interesting. I started with a 3 Salmon appetizer. The first was sushimi, the second lightly seared, the third pickled - all raw. MMMM. I enjoyed each down to the last sliver. I followed it up with some reindeer. I'm not sure, but I could have sworn it wasn't cooked. It was really, really tender, and very, very lean. I enjoyed it, but it lacked seasoning, so I was happy when the last bite came around. The mashed 'taters it came with were delicious!
nging American classics from Sinatra to Clarkson, was giving me the eye all night. We all had a good laugh! Ya, hilarious! But the food was even more interesting. I started with a 3 Salmon appetizer. The first was sushimi, the second lightly seared, the third pickled - all raw. MMMM. I enjoyed each down to the last sliver. I followed it up with some reindeer. I'm not sure, but I could have sworn it wasn't cooked. It was really, really tender, and very, very lean. I enjoyed it, but it lacked seasoning, so I was happy when the last bite came around. The mashed 'taters it came with were delicious!Just when I t
hought I was getting my sea-legs we went for a drink in the club at the back of the ship. I had my first Irish coffee that was WAY too strong. They say the back of the boat is usually the calmer place when experience some ocean turbulence, but we were bouncing all over the place. I was worried I was going to be sick, especially as we watched the little Christmas dance show they put on. I'm not quite sure how to explain the lack of talent that comes out of Sweden. The show couldn't even match that of "The Batman Stunt Show" at Magic Mountain, or "Phantom of the Opera" at Superior St. School. Amongst the 20 dancers maybe one had rhythm and I won't even comment on the singers. Sheesh.
hought I was getting my sea-legs we went for a drink in the club at the back of the ship. I had my first Irish coffee that was WAY too strong. They say the back of the boat is usually the calmer place when experience some ocean turbulence, but we were bouncing all over the place. I was worried I was going to be sick, especially as we watched the little Christmas dance show they put on. I'm not quite sure how to explain the lack of talent that comes out of Sweden. The show couldn't even match that of "The Batman Stunt Show" at Magic Mountain, or "Phantom of the Opera" at Superior St. School. Amongst the 20 dancers maybe one had rhythm and I won't even comment on the singers. Sheesh.After a drink Maddis and Joran retired for the night, leaving Dave and I to conquer the small crowd of senior citizens. Apparently these cruises are great for young people on the weekends, but given that it was a Monday night, we had some trouble finding people our own age. Luckily, Dave randomly knew one of the waitresses who had once been a tour guide in Portugal where Dave played a few years back. She introduced us to some of the rest of the the staff including some of the awful singers and dancers. Funny how it always comes full-circle. We stayed out at the "disco" with the other 20 people, most of which were staff, until about 3am, beforing calling it quits for the night. It was a most classic evening, full of sloppy drunks and late-night sandwiches. What are you going to do?
We had breakfast the next morning as we rounded Aland, then did a little exploring about the ship and before we knew it we were back in Stockholm. We had to make it back in time for practice. Yay!
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