Farewell to Göta canal

Today, we went through 19 (!!!) locks from Töreboda to the west end of the Göta canal in Sjötorp.

A couple of days ago, during the main season, our lock guards had been boys and girls in their 20s. Now 60-70 year old grandpas and grandmas were helping us. We felt like having gone through a time machine *funny*

In one of the double locks, Magda and Erna also got on land to help with the lines. Erna and I didn‘t manage to get back on board. So Erna got on the boat in front of us where the distance between shore and deck wasn’t as large. She enjoyed the taxi ride a lot! I walked to the next lock, which wasn’t far away. There, we got all of our crew members back on board ;oP

Magda and Erna helped so well take care of Wilma. They entertained and even fed her her mash *amazing*

Our city tour through Mariestad turned out to be a playground tour: We visited 4 playing areas in 2 hours!

Usually, churches and museums in Sweden close in the late afternoon. So we were positively surprised that we were still able to enter the cathedral after 7 pm. Inside, we were also surprised to find a public restroom, even with diaper station. The biggest surprise were the kids‘ activities: A corner with dolls plus clothes, (picture) books, small table with chairs, pillows, a carpet to crawl on, and a mouse hunt game – even in English *wow*

The girls were very busy dressing up, feeding the dolls, and putting them to sleep. But we still managed to find all the cute stuffed mice, dressed up as a priest, an artist, an organ player, a chef… We were rewarded with some nice book marks =oD

Through the Göta canal, we had been meeting an old Swedish couple from Gothenburg who visited their grandkids in Berg. They provided us with lots of boating information, like marinas and anchoring opportunities ahead. They guided us from Sjötorp to Mariestad. Since we would go on to Gothenburg via a different route and schedule, it was now time to say good-bye to Lasse and Lilian.