Did you hear about the one about the Dane, Norwegian and Swede?  They all carried their umbrellas into the bar to escape the rain.  Bad joke, but seriously.  We had a lot of rain on this trip!  And no shortage of it in the last half hour of our two-hour kayak tour through Stockholm.

The tour started out with cloudy skies and maybe a hint or two of some sun.   We had some neat views of Stockholm, including City Hall, but mostly we saw boats.  Really cool boats.  Oh, when we arrived on Saturday, the day before the kayak tour, we arrived during the Pride parade.  There were 45,000 in the parade, and over 500,000 people had come to participate.  It was crazy.  On the kayak tour we passed a Coast Guard ship and it was flying a rainbow flag.  How cool.

Down one canal there was an incredible collection of old wooden boats.  I knew that Kent would enjoy this part of the trip.  And fortunately the sun was out for the wooden boat tour portion of the kayak trip.  But.

But then all of a sudden, the sky cracked open and it started pouring.  Not raining.  POURING.  Hard, fierce rain, and wind and oh the waves.  The waves were crashing over the front of the kayak and I was sure we would swamped.  I was paddling so hard I was convinced I was the only one trying to get the kayak across the canal.  I asked Dave if he was paddling just to be sure he hadn’t been knocked out by the rain and I had suddenly become responsible for getting him safely across the stormy seas.  His laughter indicated that he was still awake.  And paddling.  Everyone wanted photos of this because it was so insane, but no one was dumb enough to try to use (and lose) their phone or camera during the deluge.  I was soaked.  And guess what, I was the only dum-dum who didn’t bring a change of pants!  Wearing wet underwear all day is a particular type of torture.

The umbrellas were working over time, but it was so comical that it almost seemed like, whats even the point.  I didn’t have a dry inch on me.  But this was week two, so we were used to the weather and carried on.  We hit a traditional handicraft store that was incredible, and then made our way to the Moderna Museet and ArkDes (architecture and design museum) before taking the ferry back to Slussen to get the T (they actually call the train the T in Stockholm, so it made it super easy for us!) home.

The neighborhood where our airbnb was located had the cutest little outdoor bar.  We are always saying that we need a wine bar in our neighborhood and when a 7-11 located on a corner in a rounded building vacated we were SURE that someone would open a wine bar there with seats in the curved window.  It is now a bank.  Of course it is.  Because if it is not a cell phone store or a daycare center, it will be a bank.   Well anyway, back to Sweden.

We met a cat outside the bar.  I named her Carson after McCullers.  Because cats are named after Southern Women Writers.  And while we sat at the outdoor bar I watched Carson climb the stairs and walk right into the dining room.  She was removed by a man in an apron and placed on the ground.  Next thing you know she is up on the bar looking as if she is about to start mixing cocktails.  A Tom Cat Collins perhaps.  She was again removed by a man in an apron, but this time she was placed outside the little fence surrounding the place.  I watched her cross the street and head out looking like a lonely hunter.