We were cool today!

Today, we decided to go on a tour of Stockholm's archipelago (the islands). We booked a two and a half hour boat tour. There is a small "game" we play everytime we get on a boat or bus. Buses are sometimes parked such that they can go forward when they leave. Othertimes they are "dead-ended" in a parking spot and have to back out first. So the game is when the bus is traveling, which side is in the sun? When people get on the bus, they would preferably sit on the shady side of the bus. But if the bus backs out and goes in the opposite direction from where it is parked, the sun will switch and everyone who was sitting on the shady side will now be in the sun. Fun, huh?

Well the same game can be played on a boat too. Boats usually pull straight into their slip. When leaving, they back out and spin around before proceeding. Same game...people board the boat and choose seats on the shady side of the boat,but after the boat spins around, everyone is now in the sun.
Anyway, we got on the boat, sat on the shady side, then remembered our little game, checked which way the boat was parked, and then moved over onto the sunny side of the boat. Happy in our superior game-playing skills, we departed. "Oh-no Mr. Bill" (sorry for the reference to the old SNL skits) the boat is driving "backwards" ("Rats, foiled again") We didn't know this was one of those multi-directional boats that didn't care which end was pointing forward. Well, we continued on in the sun for a short time and then in a wide spot in channel, it began a spin. "Hah, victory is ours!" And so our tour begins...and we are cool in the shade!
Actually the day clouded up and it turned into a wonderfully cool day. We chugged along about 25 mph weaving in and out through the islands. I would guess we saw about 50 out of the 30,000 islands that make up the archipelago. Some are very large and are full of apartment buildings and things. Others are small and have a few houses and some are very small with just one house on it, and then there are some that are just a bare rock.

There was a guide who was yakking the whole way giving us the history and culture and facts about the islands. She would say "On the right side..." or "On the left side of the boat..." and so everyone way always moving from one side to the other to get pictures. There was outside seating on benches along the boat and by the end of the tour, some people were all wraped up in coats or blankets to keep warm. For us, it felt soooo good to finally enjoy some cool weather.

After the tour, we had several errands to run and so we started with lunch. We had probably the best lunch or dinner so far when we ate at T.G.I.Fridays (did you figure out what Mom ordered on the food blog?)! We then had our walking route all figured out to find the needed stores--a glass store, a howewares store, a clothing store and an electric repair store. We found all of them and headed home.

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