Swedish Royal Couple To Visit Arkhangelsk

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, who are currently visiting Russia, are expected to visit the White Sea port of Arkhangelsk on Thursday. Straight from the airport, the royal couple will head for the Solovetsky Islands to tour the local monastery and visit the GULAG museum. Returning to Arkhangelsk after the tour, the king will attend a video presentation of joint Swedish-Russian projects at the Scandinavian Center of the Pomorsky State University. In the meantime, the queen will travel to Malye Korely, a village 30 km away from Arkhangelsk that houses a Museum of Wooden Architecture. Known as an object of federal importance, the museum features log huts, towers, bath houses, barns and many other wooden constructions collected from all around the Arkhangelsk region. During the tour, the queen will be treated to Russian tea with pies and buns served in a northern hut. In the evening, the high guests will attend a reception in their honour on board the 90-year-old unique paddle-wheel steamer Gogol. On the morning of October 12, the royal couple will move on to Murmansk, a Russian port on the Barents Sea.