Canal Zones : Sampling Scenery, Grand Cuisine and History on Three European Waterways : Sweden’s Gota Canal

See the world and see it fast has been my travel motto. Planning all-too-brief vacations, my first question had always been: “What’s the fastest way to get there?”

Then friends told me about a trip that sounded strangely alluring: a slow voyage on a vintage steamboat through Sweden’s historic Gota Canal. The trip promised pastoral scenery, short excursions into fairy-tale villages, gourmet Swedish food and four days of going about 5 m.p.h. Seeing Sweden at a snail’s pace seemed like the ultimate challenge for a person who lives in the L.A. fast lane. Could I turn off the ignition and zone out for four whole days?

And this wasn’t my biggest fear. I get seasick just watching the tide go out, and past boat trips had produced disastrous results. Once, I had to be carried off a sailboat after a short cruise around San Francisco Bay.

But I had not seen Scandinavia before and, for once, time was not of the essence. Choppy waters were unlikely in the canal, so this cruise seemed to offer the romance of sailing without the drawbacks.

These thoughts were on my mind as I climbed aboard the Wilhelm Tham on a sunny day last August in Goteborg, a seaport city on Sweden’s west coast. Our steamer would cross lakes Vanern and Vattern, make brief stops in the canal-side towns of Trollhattan, Motala, Forsvik, Vadstena and Soderkoping, progress up Sweden’s east coast, cross part of Lake Malaren and ultimately dock in Stockholm on the Baltic Sea, one of the most beautiful ports in the world. Passengers who choose to do so can reverse the process, boarding the ship in Stockholm and cruising the same route back to Goteborg.

Unlike the cruise ships and ferries that ply other Swedish waters, the three historic steamboats that cruise the canal are the only commercial vessels small enough to navigate its narrow confines and many locks. The boats were custom-built beginning in 1874 to fit these locks, and sometimes it’s a tough squeeze that tests the captain’s navigating abilities.

My anti-seasickness patch was securely in place behind my ear as insurance against mal de mer . My traveling companions smiled indulgently, but wondered aloud whether anyone had ever gotten seasick on a canal. They would soon find out.

It seems now that this cruise on a sparkling white, refurbished, turn-of-the century steamboat was a journey in a magic time machine, a “Back to the Future” adventure into a long-ago era before fax machines, fast food and car phones made life such a breathless race.

Our contingent of travelers, all escapees from the rat race, pulled up deck chairs and began to try to relax. This, after all, was to be a trip for reverie.

At first we snapped pictures compulsively. But as the hours passed, our pace slowed. We were floating through an Impressionist painting, the perfect antidote for stress. The boat sometimes crawled along so slowly that we would get off and walk alongside or use one of several bicycles on board to cycle beside our moving hotel.

The Gota (pronounced Yo-ta) Canal has been called the longest and most beautiful park in Sweden. We could see why.

The scenery that drifted past was so lush it seemed painted against the sky. Waterfowl dipped and skimmed over the mirror-clear waters. When the sun glistened on green meadows and farms dotted with yellow and white houses, the countryside was breathtaking.

Sometimes, when the boat stopped, we would be led on little excursions into medieval villages where we could do some walking and learn about the historic canal we were traversing.

The canal, as it is popularly understood, is a 347-mile waterway consisting of rivers, lakes, coastal waterways and canals between Goteborg and Stockholm. More precisely, the Gota Canal proper is the 114-mile section of the route between huge Lake Vanern and the Baltic Sea.

It was built to accommodate shipping in the 17th Century, and has an intricate system of locks that dates back to as early as about 1610. Work on building the locks continued intermittently through the 18th and 19th centuries. Construction of the original canal locks was not completed until 1832, a feat accomplished by 58,000 men, most of them Swedish infantrymen commanded to work on the project. The present lock system, an updated version, was completed in 1916.

The canal’s complex network of 65 locks provided one of the best adventures of this steamboat cruise. Lengthy stops were required for lock maneuvers, some of them in the middle of the night. With the creaking and groaning of machinery and water gushing outside, it was an event worth waking up for.

(By then, of course, I wasn’t sleeping anyway because the anti-seasickness patches were having a side effect--my mouth was as dry as sandpaper.)

And during daylight lock stops, many of us debarked to watch from the shore their mechanical ballet as the heavy iron gates creaked open and closed, raising and lowering the steamboat, while massive waterfalls poured forth.

At one stop, the captain was mortified when our boat headed for a lock too fast and crashed through a gate that had not yet completely opened. He uttered an exclamation in Swedish that we didn’t think was “Oops!” The good-natured crew smiled through the mishap, and after a brief assist from the local lock operators, we were on our way again.

Since it was designed for commerce, the canal nearly fell into obscurity with the advent of railways. Then canal shipping traffic was further reduced and passenger voyages fell off with the outbreak of World War II. Some of the original passenger steamers built for the canal were sold off for scrap.

But a shipping magnate’s daughter, Britmari Brax, had the vision to rescue three of the historic vessels. Five years ago, she began operating them as tourist boats and business has been booming ever since. She has invested her profits in bringing the boats up to modern standards, and recently converted them to diesel engines. Brax, a friendly, flaxen-haired Swede, was aboard our cruise, checking on her employees and making sure all was well with the Wilhelm Tham. Built in 1912, the boat is the most lavishly refurbished in the fleet, with sparkling new bathrooms and showers on all decks. Its sister vessels are the Juno, which is the oldest, built in 1874, and the Diana, which is the newest, vintage 1931. Each is about 105 feet long and only 23 feet wide.

In such narrow confines, the passenger cabins are tiny, about the size of a small train sleeper, and there are no private baths. Everyone is warned to bring as little luggage aboard as possible to deal with the tiny cabins, and anyone with claustrophobia is discouraged from coming.

“Americans look at our cabins and laugh,” says Brax. “I like the American attitude toward our cabins.”

There was laughter--but also a few grumbles--when we got our first look at our cubicles. One British couple whose two narrow beds were stacked bunk-bed-style, laughed the loudest. “We haven’t seen a double bed since we got to Scandinavia,” they confided. “Do you think they’re trying to ruin our marriage?” The second morning out, we were told to arise early for a “surprise” awaiting us in the town of Forsvik. As our boat pulled close to shore, we saw our special greeting committee. There, on the banks of the canal, a local family was singing a sweet rendition of folk songs. They reached up and handed us little bouquets of wild flowers as we floated by.

The “singing family” is the stuff of storybooks, a quaint relic of times gone by. We found out that the Kindboms, an elderly brother and two sisters, perform this ritual daily in summer, carrying on their family’s 60-year tradition of greeting the boats that come through. The ceremony was created by their now deceased father, who loved to watch the steamboats arrive.

Besides the cultural treats, a highlight of this cruise was gourmet dining. The steamboat line is a member of the Romantik Hotel Assn., a Scandinavian luxury hotel group that stresses grand cuisine. During the four slow days on the water, the smells emanating from the galley became a focus of everyone’s attention. On the day when chocolate cake was on the menu, the aroma of baking was to die for.

Lunch and dinner were served at two seatings in the elegant, wood-paneled dining room. Breakfast was essentially the same daily, a lavish serve-yourself buffet of meats and cheeses, Swedish breads and crackers, cereals and fruit. Lunch usually included the succulent fish so plentiful in Scandinavia. Freshly poached salmon, fried plaice or steamed halibut were on the menu, along with the ever-present herring in an array of sauces. Dinner included a meat or fish dish with a local sauce and, of course, a special Swedish dessert such as lingonberry crepes or three flavors of sorbet on raspberry sauce. At least twice during the cruise, a typical Swedish smorgasbord was laid out with multiple courses of herring, cold meats, a hot entree and an assortment of luscious desserts.

There were flowers on the tables, fine linens, china and silver. The dining room’s beveled glass windows provided a spectacular view of the passing scenery.

The ships hold only 60 passengers, and meal times are cozy with five tables of six, including voyagers from many countries. Our dinner companions included a jovial party of Germans who spoke not a word of English but managed to exchange toasts with us at evening meals, a Japanese couple on their honeymoon and Swedish vacationers, most of whom seemed to have taken the trip many times before.

Brax discourages group bookings for the cruises, although she has made exceptions for special events. One Swedish couple had their wedding aboard and booked the entire boat for their guests.

“We take groups of up to 20, but they must divide into two seatings at meals,” Brax explained. The objective is for travelers to mingle with each other. Groups tend to keep to themselves, she says. Swedes constitute the largest contingent of passengers, followed by Germans, Americans, Swiss, Danes and an increasing number from Australia, Japan, Spain and Italy.

After such sumptuous meals, many of us longed for some exercise, and the shore excursions provided that. Our little walking tours were led by several of the 14 young crew members, many of them college students on summer vacation.

Our crew hostess for all 60 passengers was Emma, a Swedish engineering student whose sweet personality and organizational skills won her a fan club of passengers. Each morning, after breakfast, Emma would gather us in the sitting room to outline--in several languages--the day’s activities and historical background of the area we were passing.

“Are you enjoying the cruise? Do you need anything?” she would ask. Any request quickly was filled by the crew. When the wind blew and some of us retreated to the sitting room, Emma knew it was time to serve tea and cookies.

So skilled was she at supervising the crew and keeping her passengers happy that our group unanimously recommended that Emma abandon engineering and go into politics. The presidency of Sweden might be just the job for her. When our cruise ended she cried, and we were pretty choked up.

At sightseeing stops, Emma, in her fresh white blouse and navy blue skirt, would lead us into small villages dating back to the 12th Century, each with its own remarkable cathedral or castle. Local guides often joined her, giving informative tours of key buildings.

Early in our journey we docked at Trollhattan, just south of Lake Vanern. It is the site of Trollhattan Falls, a natural wonder that had to be tamed for the building of the locks. Motala, a sightseeing stop on the eastern shore of Lake Vattern, is the site of the Gota Canal Museum. It was created by Baltzar von Platen, the Swedish Navy colonel whose treatise on building a system of locks in the Gota Canal persuaded royalty to back the idea.

Just south of Motala, the medieval village of Vadstena is the home of the 14th-Century Swedish St. Birgitta, whose remains are entombed at the Birgittine convent church. (Many American churches anglicize her name to St. Bridget.) A castle built here by King Gustav Vasa in 1545, a massive stone edifice with turrets, is another spectacular testament to history. We walked to it from the Birgittine convent and crossed its moat via an arching bridge.

Our cruise was going along so smoothly, and my dry mouth was so uncomfortable, that by the second day I had abandoned my anti-seasickness ear patch. But this day, during lunch, we drifted briefly into a choppy portion of Lake Vanern. I gazed out the window at the churning waves.

When dessert arrived, I turned a color that my companions would describe as a shade of green that exactly matched the landscape. I bolted from the table and raced out to the rail of the boat. Yes, one can become seasick on a canal cruise, but it’s highly unusual. The patches (reapplied) cured my problem for the rest of the trip.

GUIDEBOOK

Gota Canal Cruises

Getting there: Gota Canal cruises leave from either Stockholm or Goteborg, and SAS Scandinavian Airlines has flights to both cities via Copenhagen.

If the cruise is part of a tour of Denmark and Sweden, travelers can take a ferry from Denmark to Goteborg, then take the boat to Stockholm for the return home.

When to go: This year’s Gota Canal season began May 9 and ends Sept. 27, during which 56 cruises are planned. Midsummer is the best time, with temperatures in the high 60s. September can be cool.

What to bring: Casual clothes, deck shoes, a warm sweater or raincoat. Dresses or skirts for women and jackets for men are proper for dinner, but formal clothes are not needed. Pack lightly to accommodate minuscule cabins.

Reservations/rates: Book through Bergen Lines for the Gota Canal Steamship Co., (800) 323-7436 or (212) 986-2711. It is the only company offering passenger cruises on the canal. Double-occupancy cabins for four days and three nights with all meals, including wine or beer with dinner, range from $1,080-$1,460 per person. Singles are available from $1,445-$1,980.

For more information: Call or write the Scandinavian Tourist Board, 655 3rd Ave., 18th Floor, New York 10017, (212) 949-2333.