Playing catchup post-vacation:
I’ve got a deck chair near the bar on the top deck (I think) of this enormous cruise ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. Never been on a boat like this so particularly fascinating. The entrance to the boat was like entering a huge shopping mall/casino floor/theme park with glitzy shops, costumed greeters for the kids and those cheesy photo booths where you have to have your photo taken (presumably to be sold to you on the way
My little windowless cabin reminds me of a room in a Tokyo business hotel. A small pod. There appear to be a lot of young people/potential partiers nearby so who knows if I will get any sleep. There are a lot of families with kids and kids activities. I just want to sit and look at the scenery so we shall see. I watched a low-wattage floor show, watched people shop in the duty free, ate over priced pasta and struggled to maintain WiFi.
Dirck left around 7:15 a.m. with Russ. (He had to run back and get his phone which he left at our Airbnb. Fortunately I heard him call my name thru the courtyard window.) Francine and I spent a few hours at the fantastic contemporary photography center Fotografiska in north Sodermalm, which had some great exhibits including one with work by Linda and Mary McCartney. We ate a pizza tartette (fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella on pastry dough ) in the hip cafeteria. Hated saying goodbye but I’ve gotten better at it with so much practice.