Arrival in Goteborg

Travel is exciting, but can be very tiresome, particularly when you are flying halfway around the world, in my case from Minnesota to Amsterdam, then to Goteborg, Sweden. Of course the flight was nearly eight hours, then a three hour layover in Amsterdam before flying to Goteborg, where I am tonight. The time change does a number on your body, not to mention the long hours of sitting and waiting. So it's great to finally get to our launching point for this next cruising adventure. Tomorrow morning we embark on a little vessel called the Diana with Gota Kanal, a company that has been operating three passenger ships since 1874. The company's oldest vessel, which is the oldest existing passenger vessel still in active service, is called the Juno, and I had a chance to visit this beauty today after we arrived in Goteborg.

The journey to Goteborg was uneventful, and as I had hoped, everything went smoothly, and now here we are at the Comfort Hotel within walking distance of our boat the Diana. I'm traveling on this whirlwind adventure with my father-in-law, Richard Sandbach, and I can see that he is going to enjoy this trip very much. After we arrived in Goteborg, at around 11:30am, we were told that check-in at our hotel was not until 3pm so we stowed our luggage and walked around the water front to see the three Gota Kanal boats tied up, among a few other interesting boats and ships. I'm looking forward to getting a good night sleep tonight so we can pack up and board our boat tomorrow for a 9am departure aboard the Diana.

From Sweden to Italy

I hope you'll take he time to subscribe and follow me on this site so that you'll see the latest content I'm about to add in the next couple of weeks. April 28th, I leave for another trip starting out in Sweden with Gota Kanal. I didn't realize until recently, there was a canal cut across Sweden with locks for small vessels to make the transit from east to west or vice versa. On April 30th, I'll board the Diana with Gota Kanal in Gothenburg for a four night transit to Stockholm. According to the Gota Kanal website, the Diana will journey through one river, eight lakes, two seas and three canals with 66 locks. It sounds exhausting, but I am told at Borton Overseas, right here in my back yard, the journey is remarkable and one of the "must see" experiences in Sweden.

Upon our arrival in Stockholm, I'll have two nights to visit this charming city. I plan to explore the maritime museum where the massive Vasa, a royal warship that sank on it's maiden voyage in 1628 and salvaged in 1961 and currently preserved. I can't wait to see this huge wooden ship and the museum in Stockholm. I plan to produce a video and share my experience with our Cruising Authority audience. Again, please follow me on this blog so you'll be able to track my progress.

After a two-night visit to Stockholm, I fly to southern Italy where the Silver Spirit awaits. I'll be online throughout this voyage aboard the Silver Spirit posting updates to this blog, hopefully with photos, and I'll be using the internet service onboard provided by MTN Satellite Communications. I can't wait to board the Silver Spirit, explore her decks, and experience the fascinating excursions in this part of the world. The problem is that I'm traveling without my wife to these romantic, historical, Italian destinations, rather; I'll be traveling with my father-in-law who will help me with my videos and camera work. Sponsoring this cruise event is Luxury Only, one of the largest and most respected cruise-only companies that specializes in planning luxury cruises with Silversea.

During this whirlwind journey, you'll enjoy the usual excellent commentary and videos, but I'll also produce specialized content exclusively for our new Premium members at www.cruisingcollective.com so be sure to subscribe to get the exclusive additional content. I look forward to this trip and especially having you follow what I'm doing right here on this blog. Don't miss out on this Cruising Authority Adventure!