Gayle and I first signed up for our Viking Baltic Cruise. Two years of COVID and another of Putin…read moretook Helsinki (Finland), Tallin (Estonia), and St. Petersburg off the Itinerary. We decided to go on our 2022 Cruise anyway, with a couple of low-ball financial incentives. As a result, 3 stops were substituted of which Karlskrona (Sweden) was the first on the schedule. Gayle and I decided to come on shore (via tender) early and walk around. Although none of the Viking tours included the Marine Museum, we walked right (instead of left) and ended up at this very impressive first class facility. The Museum is on the grounds of a former Swedish Naval base and the curators here did a great job honoring that heritage, including restored ships, smart and informative equipment displays, interactive exercises (e.g. submarine crawling) and even a little WW2 history with neutral Sweden hosting Jews and others escaping from the Nazi's. The Museum also features a nice gift shop and a Cafe. One bonus was as we were leaving, a Navy band (in commemoration of some military date) was playing "Dancing Queen" by Abba. That was a lot of fun and overall the highlight of our day. Our walk around tour of the City was enjoyable as well, but if you're in Karlskrona, you really need to stop here first or on your way out.

My original thought was to visit the Marinmuseum (marine museum) on Sunday, the same day that I was…read morearriving in Karlskrona. This museum closes at 5 pm on Sunday. My train was to arrive at 3 pm. There was no way that I could visit after work, as it closes early. Well, my plan fell apart. I got to my hotel at 5 pm. The good news was that a colleague who has been working at this museum for fifteen years offered to give us a tour. Cool! After work on Tuesday, we walked over to the museum. It was our second time visiting that day. The first time, we hit the wonderful buffet for lunch, which featured Swedish fare. The tour was amazing. My colleague shared so many cool historical details about this naval base and museum. We got to see torpedoes, model ships made of wood that have been preserved for hundreds of years, impressive ship figureheads, submarines, and more. At one point, we entered one of the submarines. It consisted of crawling through two circular holes. I thought that I was going to die. My colleague, who is roughly two inches taller than I was, gave me enough encouragement to get through them. Yes, it was a first for me to say that I was going to die in a museum. I love a good museum. I tend to hit one when I visit a new city. This one did not disappointment. It was fascinating, enjoyable, fun, educational, and gorgeous. I thanked my colleague the following day by giving him a bottle of Canadian maple syrup. He was thrilled. It's the least that I could do. If you are ever in Karlskrona, go visit this museum. It's for everyone and you'll have a great time. (325)