A Traveler's Photo Journal

We had motored through Lake Vänern during the night.  The sunrise was spectacular, and very early.

Lake Vänern is at 48.3 meters above sea level.  On this day, the last day of the Classic Canal Cruise, we end in Goteborg (Gothenburg) on the west coast, and sea level.  After breakfast we arrived at Trollhättan.   The Trollhättan locks are a staircase of four locks, dropping 32 meters.

There are three lock systems here, the two oldest not in use.  We toured the Trollhättan Canal Museum, watching a very interesting film on the history and construction of the lock system.

The Old Locks

Then we followed the Nils Ericson Walk, a self guided tour of the old lock system, first built in 1800.  The second set of locks were built in 1844.  Once a year they celebrate “Falls Day” and let the water flow over the original falls.  I think they told us it was one day in July.

The Second Locks  From 1844

Even though we’d been watching the lock procedures for four days, I still found it fascinating, and these locks were the deepest ones yet.

The following series of photos were taken as we descended from the top of Trollhättan and into the second level.  The new canal office, on the left as we descended, was built in 1935.

After descending the Trollhättan Locks, we cruised the river towards Goteborg and sat down to our last lunch on the Juno.

On the river we passed one of the Juno’s sister ships, the M/S Diana.  She is the youngest of the three ships, launched in 1931.  It is customary for the younger ship to blow their horn first, and the older ship answers.

At the dock in Goteborg the crew lined up for farewells.

Day Three of the Classic Canal Cruise begins with a cruise on Lake Vättern, the highest lake elevation, then we rise to highest elevation of the trip, 91.5 meters through the Berg Canal, and begin the descent through more locks on our way back down to sea level.

We sailed out of Motala early, 0545, but I was up to witness it.  We cruised along Lake Vättern and made stop at Karlsborg Fortress.  We had planned to take the guided tour, but it was all in Swedish so we walked the parks along the shore.

Cruising again, the Juno passed through Forsvik lock, the oldest lock in the system dated back to 1813.

Entering Forsvik Lock:

This was a beautiful area with the hand dug canal linking natural lakes.  We passed through some very narrow areas, where a crew member walked along the shore and assisted with the sharp turns by using ropes.

The wood-lined canals and lakes are the wildest looking part of the canal.  We passed some sail boaters and saw campers on the shore.  One of the other passengers mentioned that he had heard Sweden refered to as “the most civilized wilderness in the world.”   I really liked that, and it seemed to fit.

Lake Viken:

Lunch was served as we cruised Lake Viken.  Today’s lunch was herring, and you can’t eat herring in Sweden without drinking schnapps.  So lunch was called S.O.S – Smor, ost and sill (or butter, cheese, and herring).

Julia came around with a platter of many flavors of schnapps.  I tried the dill flavored schnapps, one I’d never seen or heard of before.  It was interesting.  We also sang some well known drinking songs.  Although sung in Swedish, they had supplied us with the translations.  I never knew the English words to Helan går before, always singing it in Swedish.

After lunch we passed through Tåtorp, a hand operated lock.  This lock puts us at our highest elevation, and as we cruised through the Berg Canal, there is a obelisk that marks the highest point.  I did look for it, but didn’t see it, as it is made to look like a birch tree, and they did a very good job in that department.

The Hand Operated Lock at Tåtorp:

After lunch we cruised through some very scenic farm land.

In Hajstorp we started to let back down.  We had four locks to go through, which allowed us to get out and walk along the canal again for about 1.5 km.

After the four locks and a stroll, we sat down to another lovely dinner and watched the farmland roll by outside the window.

In the evening we reached Sjötorp and a set of eight locks.  As the Juno was let down through the locks, we got off again for a short walk and a visit to the Sjötorp Canal Museum.  In the last lock the ship was serviced with water and we waited to board.  The sun was setting at about 10:30.

During the night the Juno continued to cruise Lake Vänern.  Lake Vänern is at 43 meters, so in this one day we had already let down 48 meters of altitude through the old lock system, some hand operated.

I awoke at 0400 on day 2 of our cruise, as we made our way through the Söderköping lock.  It could have been the amount of light at 0400 or the noise of the water filling the lock, I’m not sure, but I was awake.  The light was beautiful, and there were few passengers on deck as the water filled the lock and the Juno rose another few feet.

We had quite a few locks to traverse today, starting right here in Söderköping.  As the Juno made her way through a narrow canal, the land around us came to life.  We saw a deer in a field, but few people were out and about at 0500.  As we approached the next set of locks – 8 in a distance of two kilometers – we asked to be let off so we could walk along the side.  This we did, and watched fascinated as the Juno made its way along the canal, gaining altitude with each lock.

I thought that after a few lock ascensions it would become ordinary.  But it did not.  Each time we entered a lock and the old wooden doors closed and the water rushed in, it was fascinating.

We really gained altitude today, rising from the Baltic Sea to Motala –  approximately 73 meters – where we spent the night in port.

After passing the eight locks from Duvkullen to Carlsborg, we cruised through scenic farmland and brought our buffet breakfast up onto the deck.

At just past noon we reached the Carl Johan lock staircase, the longest in the canal system with seven connected locks.  We arrived after a few sailboats that we watched climb the lock system.

We also had a tour of a local church, a nice change from being on the ship.  We walked to the convent of Vreta that dates from 1100.

After touring the convent, we reconnected with the Juno at the Berg lock system, a very scenic area.  The sun was out and it was warm on deck.  We cruised past the first of two aqueducts in the canal, and watched the cars pass under us on the roadway.

We had dinner as we slowly cruised through the countryside and passed the second aqueduct at Kungs Norrby and cruisee onto Lake Boren, enjoying Jerusalem artichoke soup with garden cress creme and rye bread croutons, and broiled arctic char with roasted almond potatoes, sour fennel and white wine sauce with smoked rainbow trout roe and Jamtland tiramisu with cloudberries.

The Dinner Show

We passed the Gota Hotel, built in 1908, in Borensberg, Sweden, where we went through a hand-operated lock.

Julia served drinks on deck after dinner.

After dinner I retreated to our little cabin and miss the Borenshult lock system.  We spent the night docked in Motala.

This trip to Sweden was not only about Midsommar and visiting family.  It was 50 years ago that my sister spent the summer in Sweden with our Grandmother and cruised the Göta Canal the first time.  It was our idea to recreate that trip, on the same ship and the same route.

Luckily for us, the M/S Juno – the oldest continuously operating passenger ship in the world – is still traversing  the Göta Canal.  We had booked this cruise late last year.   The Juno was built in 1874 in Motala, Sweden and is 31.45 meters in length, 6.68 meters in width and has a draft of 2.72 meters.  For our sold out cruise, the 29 cabins held 42 Swedes, 4 Germans, and yes, only 2 Americans.

http://www.gotacanal.se/en/

We boarded the M/S Juno in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan.  We had been warned about the size of the cabins, but they were still smaller than anticipated; two bunk beds, one sink and a “closet” that was two inches deep, enough to hang a few things flat against the wall.  Ok, no problem.  So we put the few items we needed in bags under the lower bunk, and everything else went into the cargo area with our suitcases.

As we sailed out of Stockholm, a cold rain came down in sheets.   Soon the sun was out, but now and then it would rain again.

As I squeezed past the Captain along the railing, he smiled and said “Swedish Summer.   Last year it was on a Tuesday.”  Albert Hakansson seemed like a very nice man, his crew calling him Albert, not Captain.

The Göta Canal is an engineering marvel that began in 1810.  It is called the Swedish Construction of the Millennium.  In combination with the Trollhatan locks, the canal links the east and west coasts of Sweden.  The journey sails through natural waterways and lakes, ninety kilometers of hand dug canals, and 66 locks.  We start at sea level.  Through a system of locks we gain a total of approximately 91 meters.  Lake Vattern is our highest lake at 88.2 meters.  We let down again through the impressive Trollhatan lock system, first designed and built in the 1800s.  The Trollhatan lock system now is very modern, but you can still tour the two older systems no longer used.

The brochure for the cruise says it best:

Old-fashioned luxury.  Historic setting.  High-class food and superb wines.  The good life is yours as we slowly glide through the Swedish landscape on board some of the world’s oldest passenger ships along the unique, hand dug canal across the middle of Sweden created to serve as the artery for the country’s industrial revolution.  This is indeed one time when the pleasurable journey is much more important than the goal to be reached.

On our first day of the Göta Canal Classic Cruise that begins in Stockholm, we passed through the Hammarby Lock and into Lake Malaren.  We cruised past Drottningholm Palace, through Sodertalje lock and into the archipelago.

As the brochure for the cruise states, there are faster and cheaper ways to travel from Stockholm to Goteborg, but nothing as scenic or relaxing.  The meals were stellar and the service impeccable.  Guests dress for dinner and enjoy a leisurely pace.  We were assigned a table for lunch and dinner, the table set with a different beautiful menu for each meal.

 On day one, we stopped in the scenic town of Trosa.  We had two hours to explore, and then boarded the ship again.

 Dinner was served at 7:30 pm.  The ship cruised through the night on the first night, arriving into the Soderkoping lock first thing in the morning at 04:55 the second day.