Sea Bathers Eruption

It was supposed to be a wonderful and relaxing trip to the ocean with our grandchildren, that morphed into a scene from Jaws, with us running and screaming from the water.

Well not running or screaming but definitely walking with an uncomfortable stinging sensation.

Ocean City, Maryland should not to be confused with Ocean City New Jersey although they are both beach side tourist towns.

Both Ocean City's are famous for their wooden boardwalks.

As we discovered, Ocean City, Maryland is a little old and tired with most of its attractions dating back to and still looking like they did in the 70's.

Our grandchildren having grown up with Disney World and the internet, may have been a bit bored but for a while they really enjoyed the ocean.

We arrive early and came fully stocked for a day at the beach. Shade tent, beach chairs, sun tan lotion, snacks and the ever popular boogie boards.

The next few hours were spent gamboling in the huge waves

with bouts of lazing on the beach watching the dolphins playing out beyond the surf line.

As the morning wore on, I began to notice an itching, burning feeling emanating from under my bathing suit. At first I put it off to the sea salt but then our granddaughter started to complain and before long our grandson.  Our granddaughter's itch got so bad, she went back to the hotel for a shower while my grandson and I made a trip to a beach shower and a very personal soaking of our private areas that seemed to reduce the stinging sensation.  After lunch our grandson spent more time surfing the waves.  After a few hours, the stinging sensations returned only much worse this time. Nonie took him to the beach shower where an even more vigorous soaking and scrubbing of his private parts took place, but this time did not alleviate the stinging.  Sadly no pictures so I have added one post stinging.

While this vigorous cleansing was taking place, a kindly man leaving the beach with his kids explained to Nonie that the cold water of the shower would not help as he was suffering from an attack of  jellyfish larvae and only warm water would work. He was kind enough to invite our grandson to join his kids in the hot tub of their hotel that was conveniently located nearby. Returning with the larvae story got us all feeling icky and in need of a warm shower.

Thus ended our day at the beach and how the hotel pool became our friend.

Sea bather's eruption is a hypersensitivity reaction to the larval form, or planulae, of the thimble jellyfish, Linuche unguiculata. ... The rash is caused by the body's allergic reaction to the toxin injected into the skin by the tiny stinging cells or nematocysts of the larval jellyfish. The rash affects areas of the skin covered by a bathing suit.

Doesn't sound so bad when you science it up.

Swedish Hell or Been There, Done That

It was our second visit to Stockholm and while it is a pretty city, it is just a city. So you are probably asking what would bring us back. To explain, read a paragraph from my blog of September 9, 2009 on our first visit to Stockholm.

A short walk from Skansen brought us to the Vasa Museum home to a perfectly preserved ship built in 1628. The ship was constructed in Stockholm for some invasion or other. About one hour into its maiden voyage, it sank. The design was poorly thought out. It was twice as high as any ship of the time but with a very narrow beam. The ballast was made up of round rocks that had a tendency to roll around. The ship had two decks of cannons. As the ship made its way out to sea, a strong wind came up rolling the ship on to its side. The ballast rolled to the listing side of the ship causing the ship to list even more. Water began pouring into the open gun ports. Thirty minutes later the ship was on the bottom of the harbour where it remained for over 400 years. The ship was recovered in 1962 almost intact and placed in a climate controlled environment. The boat contains over 95% of its original wood. It was an awesome sight. We arrive late so only had an hour to appreciate its beauty. Put this one on your must see list.

We were quite gob smacked by our visit to the Vasa Museum. So much so, that with Stockholm only a comfortable 7 hour train from Denmark, we took the opportunity for a second visit. Our train ride from Denmark was fast, clean and on time, reinforcing my reason to hate flying so much. Arriving early in the afternoon, it was only a two stop subway ride to the station near our hotel,.

I had mapped out a route from the subway station to the hotel. This route depended on exiting the station from a very specific exit with our hotel only two blocks away. Mistake #1, we left from a different exit and immediately got lost. Mistake #2, always keep your phone fully charged if you are planning to use the map app. 30 minutes later, we retraced our steps back into the subway station, found the correct exit and were at the front desk of the hotel in 5 minutes. Perhaps it was the fact that the station was nicknamed "Hell" that threw us off.

The Hotell Anno 1664 is housed in a 17th century building. One of the oldest hotels we have ever stayed in. The stairs down to our economy room were made of stone, the centre of the stairs worn out by hundreds of years of guests trudging down to the bowels of the building. The building has carefully maintained its old world charm right down to the bed, which I swear felt like it was from the 17th century. Thankfully, we were only there for two nights.

We were up early and off to catch a public ferry that would take us to the Vasa Museum. The City of Stockholm is situated on fourteen islands and on the banks of the archipelago where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea. The city centre is virtually all situated on the water so public ferries are an excellent option to to see the city.

Once again were were awed by this perfectly preserved ship.

Six hours later we exited the museum and back into daylight.

We can re-confirm that it is a must see tourist destination in Stockholm.

As we strolled back to the ferry, we came across "Vikingaliv A true Adventure", a touristy, over priced kind of pseudo museum exploring the history of the Vikings. I have Irish roots, and have always felt that there might be a little Viking blood coursing through my veins.

Give me a shield and an axe and there is no telling what I might do. We were asked to leave the museum. I guess pillaging was frowned upon. I mean, really, what  kind of Viking museum would have a problem with a little pillaging.

Our next stop was Gamla Stan (Old Town). To quote the Stockholm tourist bureau, "Gamla Stan is like a living, pedestrian friendly museum, filled with sights, restaurants, cafes, bars and places to shop. The Old Town is one of the largest and best preserved medieval city centres in Europe."  Just about every capital city in Europe has a version of Gamla Stan. While big and well preserved it is not the best we have seen. See my blog of August 31, 2009. The Old Town of Tallinn while smaller is, I think better preserved.

Our main stop in Gamla Stan was a visit to the gift shop in the Nobel Museum. I was hoping to pick up my Nobel Prize, but sadly the museum was closed to the public due to a private function.

It was time to bid goodbye to Stockholm. If they want to give me my Nobel Prize they will have to fly me in because I don't think we will be returning on our own dime. There are just too many other European cities that we have yet to visit.

When I have to fly, I do enjoy flying the northern route flown by Iceland Air from their hub in Reykjavik. If you are lucky enough to get a clear day the views are spectacular.

Arriving in Vancouver, we were treated with a fly over of Vancouver. Nothing more beautiful than Vancouver on a sunny day.