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     More than a decade ago my wife and I passed through western Sweden on a rail trip from Oslo to Copenhagen. Nearing Gothenburg, we crossed a river where Diane spotted a vintage vessel motoring upstream, passengers waving from the upper deck.

     "Could that be one of the old canal boats you've read about?" she wondered. "Looks like an intriguing way to see Sweden. Let's try it some day." That some day finally came in the summer of '98 and our leisurely meander through the picturesque heart of southern Sweden, from the North Sea to the Baltic was definitely intriguing.

     We strolled along tree-shaded towpaths, through cobble-street villages and across green fields to ancient fortresses, castles, cathedrals, and Viking era archeological digs. The trip was an introduction to a remarkable engineering legacy and a slice of the country's turbulent history.

     From research via the Internet, we learned that the Göta (pronounced "yeuta") Canal Steamship Company operates three historic 60-passenger boats on four and six-day summer cruises between Sweden's two largest cities, Gothenburg and Stockholm. Covering 385 miles, the vessels are lifted more than 300 feet over Sweden's rocky spine by a series of 65 locks, most built between 1813 and 1832.

     We selected the M/S Diana because it offered more shore excursions and tied up at night (the other boats spend two of their three nights underway). The prospect of traveling on a boat older than we are was appealing, although Diana, built in 1931, is the newest of the fleet. We wouldn't reach the actual Göta Canal until the second afternoon. Our trip began with 44 miles of river, and traversed the country's three largest lakes, three early 1800s canal systems, and 50 miles of Baltic archipelago.

     When we arrived for boarding, Diana was moored near Gothenburg's new waterfront Opera House, her single stubby smokestack and riveted white hull glistening in the morning sun. Captain Kenneth Attefors greeted us at dockside, and Eva Bulow, our trilingual guide, pointed us toward the varnished doorway of Cabin A-15 on Bridge Deck.

    Like the boat itself, we found Diana's cozy cabins more functional than aesthetic, about the size of the sleeper compartment we later experienced on a Swedish Rail night train. Terry robes and a basket of fresh fruit added a touch of class to the few cabin amenities: upper/lower berths, wash basin, small folding table and shelves, clothes hooks and hangers. The dusch and toalett were on deck nearby. The vessel made up in first class meals and sightseeing what it lacked in creature comforts.

     Underway promptly at 10:00 a.m., Diana soon left Volvo's hometown behind. During a safety briefing and the first of daily orientations in Swedish, German and English, Captain Ken and Guide Eva introduced several of the nine-member crew including dining room hostess Ylva Sennerstam who would announce meals with a musical gong.

    While lunching on cheese and herb stuffed chicken, we covered a busy stretch of the Göta älv (river), passing freighters, pleasure boats and the 1308 Bohus Fort on the original Norway-Sweden border, scene of fierce battles between the two countries. Passengers were still savoring strong Swedish coffee and their fresh fruit dessert when Diana docked at Lödöse. Life in an 11th century trading center is chronicled here in a new museum that displays medieval artifacts archeologists have uncovered from a culture layer more than 15 feet deep.

   At Lilla Edet, Diana entered the first of six locks on the Trollhätte Canal that would lift us 145 feet to Lake Vänern, Sweden's vast inland sea. Steep cliffs bordered the canal approaching Trollhätten, where warships, trading vessels and freight were hauled overland around picturesque waterfalls for centuries. Today, three parallel generations of locks (1800, 1844 and 1916) give the opportunity to compare lock design over two centuries. We walked along those oldest, now abandoned locks, with water dripping from moss-covered walls into cool, rocky canyons. After dinner of baked salmon, our first night harbor was Vänersborg, a lovely lakeside town founded in 1644. Sculptures in the town square symbolize its seafaring heritage. We dozed off to the chatter of gulls darting over the lake.

   Diana's pre-dawn departure had us far into Lake Vänern by gong-time for the buffet breakfast. We motored through Europe's largest inland archipelago, past stony islets dotted with windswept pines, and skerries polished smooth during the ice age.  A prominent edifice appeared on a peninsula to the south and Diana eased into a dock for a guided tour of Läckö Castle. Built in 1298 as a bishop's residence, the castle saw various sackings and rebuildings over the centuries as its owners fell in and out of favor with the Crown. Its fabulous art collection, lavishly decorated chapel and formal gardens invited lingering.

     Mid-afternoon, at the tiny village of Sjötorp, we squeezed into the first Göta Canal lock. Diana was built to fit these locks and the glove analogy came to mind as her birch log bumpers creaked and groaned -pinched between hull and stone wall. We found "locking through" on the Göta a much more intimate experience than the giant Panama locks or even those on our own Columbia and Snake Rivers. Most passengers went ashore to stroll the towpath as Diana transited eight locks in just over a mile.

     Back on board, tranquility set in as Diana and her passengers found the leisurely pace we would enjoy much of the next three days (canal speed limit: 5 knots). We glided past manicured fields and farm buildings, painted red with white trim, here and there sheep and cattle grazing. By nightfall we had reached peaceful Hajstorp, where villagers celebrate Diana's arrival every other week with an old-time dance party on the grounds of the lock engineer's home. A small band played lively Swedish folk music as passengers joined with locals, two-stepping to rhythms reminiscent of early dances in our own rural west.

     We ambled along the towpath back to Diana where still water reflected trees and smaller boats in the soft light of a long summer evening. As we passed laughing children at play and couples walking hand in hand, we remarked on how Swedes view the Göta Canal and the historic boats as national treasures. This was evident all along the canal when we exchanged waves with bicyclists, fishermen and picnicking families. Several "regular" greeters were memorable. A singing family welcomed Diana to the canal's oldest lock at Forsvik with hymns and freshly picked flowers, a tradition begun in 1915 by the family patriarch, Henry Kindbom. At Borensberg, 86-year-old violinist Weine Hult has missed only one rendezvous serenade since 1980 (the boat was late). An elegant golden cat on a leash strutted a proud welcome on the canal bank at Söderköping.

     Breakfast time on day three brought us to Toreboda. Here a railway bridge rotated to let Diana pass, and Lina, Sweden's smallest ferry crisscrossed the canal with walkers and cyclists. We lined the deck at Tatorp to applaud Guide Eva as she pushed the long wooden arm in a circle to open one of the canal's last two manually operated locks. After we crossed Lake Vättern, Sweden's second largest, a colorful trolly shuttled us through Vadstena's twisting cobbled streets, past antique shops and cottages covered by climbing roses. We were awed by the impressive monastery church inspired by fourteenth-century Saint Birgitta, Sweden's first female saint. Full of medieval carvings, the spectacular church houses tombs of Birgitta, her daughter, Katarina, and other early religious icons. Across town from the church, the moat around Vadstena's gloomy renaissance castle is now a pleasure boat harbor.
Back on the Göta, we secured for the night at Motala, where a monument marks the grave of Baltar von Platen, the naval officer whose vision inspired building of the canal. Under von Platen's leadership, 58,000 soldiers labored 100 million man-hours from 1810 to 1832 to excavate nine million cubic yards of soil and rock.

     The Göta's eastern section brought more villages steeped in history and fascinating lock staircases where escalators of water and stone slowly lowered Diana closer to the Baltic Sea. Parts of the canal were so narrow that trees dwarfed the boat and she gave a sharp toot approaching curves. At many locks, we were met by a trim, attractive blond, barely out of her teens, with bright yellow Slussvakt (lock guard) T-shirt, nametag, cell phone and keys. Each of these youthful gate keepers, university coeds employed seasonally, typically covered several locks, bicycling ahead of Diana for the next rendezvous. At Borensberg we visited the 1912 Göta Hotel for a mid-morning coffee break with waffles, whipped cream and strawberry jam, then browsed local handiwork in the old lock keeper's cottage turned boutique. While Diana navigated the 15-lock series at Berg, we took a pleasant walk to the impressive Vreta Kloster Church and remains of Sweden's oldest abbey, founded by the Benedictines about 1100.

     The Göta Canal ended at the tiny village of Mem, after our two-hour stop in the pleasant old spa town of Söderköping. We ate lunch cruising through a long finger of the brackish Baltic Sea into St. Annas Archipelago. Skargard, Swedish for archipelago, means garden of skerries and thousands of these picturesque islands dot the southeast coast of Sweden . A panoramic view of the islands awaited atop steep narrow stairs in the tower of Stegeborg Fortress, built in the middle ages to protect the inlet leading to Söderköping. Four white swans flew by as we strolled through the fort's pungent herb garden. On one of those remote islands, we raised a glass in a floating pub-in-a-houseboat to celebrate our final evening with Diana.

   Day six brought our last lock at Södertälje, lifting Diana into Lake Mälaren for another history lesson at Birka, Sweden's oldest town. Here we walked through drizzle on ground where Viking era souls lived, farmed and defended their community more than a thousand years ago. A chalkboard at the dock listed a dozen scheduled tours in four languages for day-trippers that flock to this UNESCO World Heritage site by boat from Stockholm. A new museum displays models of the community, and findings from on-going archeological excavations. Leaving Birka, we sailed past the palace home of Sweden's royal family.

     Stockholm describes itself as "Beauty on Water." (A third of the city is water; a third parkland and a third developed areas.) High bridges linking some of the city's 14 islands framed stately buildings as we approached Diana's dock near the impressive town hall that hosts the Nobel Prize ceremonies each December. Luggage was unloaded and a queue of taxis began arriving to deliver an old canal boat's newest fans from a peaceful green world into a handsome, energetic city.

    The Göta Canal Steamship Company offers cruises on historic canal boats via Sweden's "Blue "Ribbon" Route between Gothenburg and Stockholm from mid-May to mid-September. The oldest boats, the Juno (1874) and Wilhelm Tham (1912) make four-day cruises, including six shore excursions. Diana offers six-day cruises, including 11 shore excursions and ends her season with several seven-day golf cruises beginning in mid-August.
    All cabins are equipped with upper/lower berths except Diana's Main Deck (two lowers). Bridge and Shelter Deck cabins have windowed doors opening to the deck, and Main Deck cabins (portholes) are entered from inside corridor. Views from the latter are somewhat restricted. Since the narrow locks restrict the width of the vessels, all cabins are necessarily small, about the same size as a sleeping compartment on a train. All cabins have a washbasin with hot and cold water, but other bathroom facilities are shared. Showers are provided on Main and Bridge Decks, and toilets on all decks.

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