• We were greeted in Mariehamn, Åland Islands, by ladies dressed in traditional fashions and were served a snack. The Åland Islands are situated between Sweden and Finland at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia. Although its inhabitants speak Swedish as their first language, they are an autonomous, self-governed principality within the country of Finland.

• More evidence we were not in Kansas anymore

• The big attraction in Mariehamn was the Pommern, a 4-masted ship from the Flying P-Line, built in 1903. It was based in Mariehamn for many trips to South America and around the horn to Australia.

• The Pommern

• The Pommern

• The Pommern

• Our guide aboard the Pommern

• On deck

• Captain's dining room

• Captain's cabin

• Officer's dining room

• Below deck

• Ballast

• Ballast

• A small part of a huge sail

• Crew quarters

• Crew quarters

• The kitchen stove

• The woodworking shop

• A mid-century modern house in Mariehamn

• A mid-century modern house in Mariehamn

• Dis-embarking a Zodiac on the skerry of Kobba Klintar

• The old Norse term sker or skerry refers to a rock in the sea, generally uninhabitable. While the skerries in the Stockholm and Åland Archipelagos could be beautiful, this was our most disappointing stop. The skerry of Kobba Klintar was scarred with unattractive pilot station buildings, construction equipment, and faux art. I tried to make the best of the stop with some photos of rocks, algae, and puddles.

• Pilot station buildings

• Pilot station buildings

• One of the pilot station buildings

• A view of the mother ship from Kobba Klintar

• Construction equipment in the 'marina'

• A view across Kobba Klintar

• The artist as art

• On Kobba Klintar. Kathryn stayed aboard ship.