Visitors From Scotland and the US (Pt 1)

So when it came to doing an update, I was fairly sure it would be a quick one as we have had some visitors over the last couple of weeks so felt that we have not seen as many new places.  But as usual , by the time we downloaded the pics we realised we had quite a few.  So appologies to those who appear in this blog, you were warned in the small print when you came on board, that we reserve the right to publish any embarrassing photos.

We had a few days before the boys came to visit so we went back to one of the islands that we have visited before called Ringso.  It is a beautiful island and really nice walks.  We actually met the guy who owns most of the island.  He has 2 businesses, Pony trekking in the summer (using the ponies that run wild on the island) and then fallow deer hunting in the winter.  When we met him he rushed in his house and brought out an empty packet of shortbread to show that he had friends visiting from Scotland.  He also vocalised what many of the Swedish think of Brexit “we feel sorry for the Queen being surrounded by those idiots”  ” and what about this Jacob Rees Mogg (he then just laughed out loud)”  .  I am not going to get into any politics here as this is not the place, but it is fair to say the Swedish think we have lost our minds.  They love the UK.

Boys (and girl) Arrive 

Well almost. We arranged to be at a place called Navekvarn to pick up the kids , but had a day to kill so went into Nykoping (the K is pronounced Sh in many places in Sweden).  We also established that Navekavarn ( the K in this one is pronounced K!) is where many Brits keep there boats over the winter, something to do with the fact that Ryan Air fly in and out of the airport 20 mins away.  We met many nice people including a retired Doctor and his wife from Shetland (he also kindly gave me a lift to collect the kids when they arrived).

Then the kids really arrive.  It was looking pretty windy for the first two days , so we decided to do a walk the day they arrived and then head into Stockholm for a couple of days. We actually spent a night on dry land,  our first since the beginning of April!

We then went in to Stockholm and did the Viking Museum ( which was actually better than I thought it was going to be) and then the big outdoor Museum, which has everything from old buildings , to glass blowing and pottery. Even a Zoo of native animals.  The park also has an open air concert where “Felix Sandam” was singing. Apparently he is well known, although we only saw the last 10 mins.  So if you are ever in Stockholm (and especially if you have kids – of any age!) worth a visit.

The Pottery War Commences (maybe a new TV show in here somewhere?)

Evening out in the big smoke.

On the way back to the boat we missed our bus connection.  It was getting late so we were all getting a bit hungry, so Jenny and the kids went off to find somewhere to eat.  The found a English Pub! Now those of you that know us know that the only place to go to an Irish pub is Ireland and the only place to go to an English pub is England.  However food was required so in we went.  It was actually very good.  It was the Dundee Utd and Celtic scarves above the bar and old boxes of  Whisky that threw me.  So really a British Pub.  What is interesting is the many people in the Baltic see the Union Flag as English.  This is nothing to do with any kind of naivety.  It is because many signs are written in at least 2 languages, one of them being English. This is represented by the union flag (which is correct as it is the language of the UK). So it makes sense, the union flag = English= England.  I had never really thought about it before.

 

 

So once safely back at the boat, we set off to tour a few islands.

 

 

 

 

What no one ever tells you about Sweden is the national obsession with crazy golf.  Nearly every place we have been has a crazy golf course.  So we had to give it a go.  Go ask who won. Go on, Go on.

 

 

The kids then left back for the UK ( delayed 4 hours at the airport!).  And Amy only left one item of clothing (something of a new record).

While we were out with the kids I had a text from a friend Dave who now lives in the US.  He was coming to Europe with his boy Alex and wondered if he could join us for a few days as we started our trip south.  No problem.

So, the day the Kids left , Dave and Alex arrived.  ( see Part 2, coming to a media device near you soon!)