Wow! What a thunderstorm! Our last night under canvas was a dramatic one, as thunder and lightning ripped through the night sky all around us. Rain hosed down noisily on the tent fabric, a sudden wind shook us, and the lightning flashes seemed to last several blinding seconds each. I’d have loved to see the forks of lightning, but we were literally pinned down in the thick of it as we huddled together until it eventually passed. Packing up in the morning was the first time in the tour that we’d had wet kit to deal with. Having been on the road now for over three weeks, we felt incredibly lucky as we rode down to the ferry terminal as the sun came back out.
Soon enough we were on board and in a different world. Up in the air-conditioned cruise ship, we soon found our way into the buffet restaurant where for the next two and a half hours, we worked our way across the delicious and plentiful breakfast buffet - several times!
The remaining hours on the ferry were spent exploring the vast boat. Being twelve stories high, there was plenty to see, including live music and numerous sun decks. It was too hot to actually be in direct sunlight, but in the shade we could enjoy the views from up high.
So many islands, all littered with cabins and houses...
Our arrival in Stockholm was quite exciting too, as we followed the cars off the boat and into a stream of busy city traffic. Clare was on navigation duties, so I just follow and enjoyed checking out the sights. Within twenty minutes, we’d found our Airbnb studio and as soon as the bikes were locked away, we got into cold showers to cool off.
Feeling freshened up, we went out into our new local neighbourhood (without bikes - very novel!), which happened to be a very cool, pedestrian area, with a fantastic coffee shop. A comfy seat in the shade on the street was just what we needed.
Into the evening, we followed our noses on a walk around the block, which was really pretty.
And purely by chances, found ourselves walking down deserted old cobbled streets towards the water.
Where we discovered a fabulous viewing panorama of Stockholm!
Back at the apartment and all over Stockholm, the air was showing no sign of cooling down overnight. It was hot, but the luxury of en-suite shower facilities felt a real treat.
To top things off, we found an appropriately labelled drink to celebrate the Åland Islands section of the tour.
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