Stockholm.Sweden

Stockholm ,Sweden.
Early rising as there is a tiny gap in this huge archipelago of over 25,000 Islands ,and I was just in time for the Fort, and the way through. So many homes on these Islands ,they are the suburbs of the city really, further in, but the outer ones are the very pretty summer houses, in the dark red with white trim ,that is the tradition. Cooler day though to be 21o ,on arrival our Captain, like our Father, came on and said it is very cold ,just 14o,there is a cold wind ,and you need your jumpers and your jackets today…! How kind…
A blue line to follow from the berth all the way into the city today, didn’t seem that far, but it was, and there were major works happening, harbour side and simply everywhere in Stockholm ,a huge motorway bridge being torn to pieces we had to walk under…and then all along the harbour as well, cannot imagine what they are doing, but it’s a noisy summer here ,with so many buildings also under repair ,even the huge Palace is partly covered ,and undergoing something. The Royal Family are right in the city, on the Harbour ,The Changing of the Guard happening ,so we saw that, and the Old city we detoured through ,seemed intact.! Felt sorry for those who had not seen it before ,as it’s a beautiful Harbourside city, with lovely mellow coloured buildings, and grand things on a great scale. Further on, I recalled a lovely pedestrian area ,with seating and interesting things to see ,so we found that, but it all seemed bigger today, I guess that’s sign of age, the distances seemed further..!
Had delicious very large coffee, and a Wheat ,Hickory Bagel with Balsamic onions, chicken ,ham and rocket, light and lovely. Their food is so well presented and such an array. Friendly folk ,young people strong , tall and good looking..are we shrinking as a race…hummm I wonder…?? Hopefully not..! The only awful thing are the tattoos that mar their lovely, perfect bodies….! Many of them..
More workings and buildings happening in the inner city ,but we moved on to see so much that was classy ,in their little galleries. I liked the bright designs on the trays. We walked back across the river ,through the Houses of Parliament ,huge arches ,and decorations of all kinds ,from long ago.
Their shop windows are a delight of little collections, back in the Old Town,we walked the cobbles, for a long way, to see the narrow, tiny alleys ,some you can touch the sides from one to the other, these run off the main street ,filled with pretty things and lots of Cafes..curving through to a pretty square where we could see our ship in the distance,…A sit for orange juice ,then the trek back ,through the construction site…and along the Harbour where the Viking Ferries are ready to roll on their traffic ,and sail away, very large ships.
Later, as we are on the pretty Harbour side ,we had a procession of the Swedish Navy, at least 10 ships of varying size, 2 of a very new looking design, came into the Harbour and are now moored right in the city. We see a lot of Military Might in the Baltic, submarines ,and various others, in every Port and at sea, I tend to think that Navy’s may be redundant in wars of today, all over I no time with accurate air strikes, but ,perhaps not, they are certainly all ready anyway..!
Walked for 4 hours today, and the hip will be either make or break, and so far its making it well, maybe I should not even say that.! Then walked up the 88 stairs we have from the gangway ,to our cabin..[Sam counted them early on]! Will be able to have desert tonight.! Our food is very good with so many choices. The sail away will be gorgeous in the evening light.. Two large vessels already passed ,there has to be a line up for the narrow parts, so its many in order…
We had a great show last night the music of Billy Joel and Elton John ,almost better than the real thing, so talented..
Our sail -away was spectacular, positioned in the Crows nest, it gave a great sense of perspective ,to how narrow the waterways actually are, so with nice “sipping’s”, we sat for sometime ,enjoying it all. Some of the Royal residences ,in pretty places along the way , and the most huge copper beaches ,in all their splendour. It is noticeably dry, as is all this part of Europe, with no rain ,of any consequence, for over a month. Right to the pilot station ,there are still little summer houses on tiny rocky Islets..
Off to Gotland tomorrow Visby ,a small, pretty place in the Baltic.Read more