Fantastic Ferry to Finland

Today in sacrament meeting I had the head phones on listening to a young elder translate.....but not in Danish...he was translating from Swedish instead.  He did a great job.  Also attending that particular meeting was the missionary couple who work with the YSAs of Stockholm.  They will be at Festinord too.  We didn’t have much of a chance to visit with them, but I will take every opportunity I can to find out how they are doing and what they are doing for the Swedish YSAs. 

After church, we returned to our very rustic bed and breakfast establishment, packed up and went into Stockholm.  

We thought we would have several hours to look around.  We started out by driving into one of the largest cemeteries I have ever been in.  Much of it was acre after acre of headstones shaded by majestic trees, but a good portion was untamed forest.

 

We drove around for a few minutes as the skies darkened, and then suddenly we saw a crash of lightening and almost simultaneously heard thunder.  Rain came down in sheets….it was the most dramatic rainstorm I have been in.  At one point we saw a small river of water washing down the street.  We came across a young couple soaked to the skin…dancing in the rain!

This was just as the rain was beginning and you can see how this young man in a hoodie is dwarfed by the trees.

What looks like mist is actually a heavy rain.

We finally left after a lovely long tour and then continued toward the city center to find out where the ferry would depart from.  We got stuck in a long slow-moving line of traffic….and as we entered a very long underground tunnel, we were moving even more slowly.  We got to a point where the water was too deep for most cars to try, so we v-e-r-y slowly merged into one lane.

We found the ferry terminal, parked and decided to just go inside and wait there until it left.  It had taken so long to get there that we didn’t want to risk getting stuck in traffic again and missing it.

It was fun to finally board it….it is very big.  We were given a room on the 9^th level.  It is about 6 feet by 10 feet, including the bathroom, and it has a big pseudo-porthole on the wall (a mirror).  The beds fold down.  I am happy to report though that it is private and we have our own bathroom.  I am soooo relieved about that!

We stood out on the deck for the first hour and watched the islands of Sweden go by.  It is beautiful.  We went inside and had dinner in one of the 9 or 10 restaurants on board, and now we are going to head off to bed.

 

We should arrive in Finland about the time you all will be going to bed….9 p.m. for Arizonans and 10 p.m. for Utahs and Wyomingans (?)

What a great day!