The city of Stockholm sits at the end of a long archipelago comprising of some 24,000 islands and inlets, which we started navigating through in the early hours of the morning.
You could say “I Had a Dream” but was woken by Sylvia taking pictures of each different island as it approached. Due to the fact that we are so far east and north the sun rose this morning at around 3.00am with perfect light for photos.
The ship docked at around 8.00am a little way out of the city meaning a shuttle bus was necessary to reach the city, but we had paid our “Money, Money, Money” the night before so this was no problem.
Most of the historic sights of the city are located in the Gamla Stan, the old town, where you can find the Royal Palace, the Cathedral and several museums. Our first stop was the “Storkyrkan” or Great Church, which in addition to having a superb wooden statue of St. George slaying the dragon….
….is the place where all the Swedish coronations and Royal weddings take place. In fact you could say that this is where the “Dancing Queen” said “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do”!!
Here is where they sit when they attend the church.
The weather today was absolutely gorgeous as Sylvia passed the time with a friendly local troll…..
….as I tried to persuade another to “Take a Chance on me”
After a visit to the Alfred Nobel Museum we wandered the narrow streets looking at the shops on our way to another church where many of the Swedish nobility are buried. Shields showing the family heritage are hung around the various chapels where the remains now lie.
Across the river lies the city hall next to the railway station, the name of which escapes me but it wasn’t “Waterloo”.
By this time it was getting warmer and the crowds were really coming out as we looked over the Parliament building from the Palace Square.
We missed the changing of the guards but did witness one of them being spoken to by an officer.
We attempted to find the newly opened Abba museum, just to say “Thank You for the Music” but as even the taxi drivers did not know where it was we gave up and returned to the ship.
The table tennis was vacant so Sylvia and I had a quiet game when an older gentleman (celebrating his 80th birthday soon) asked if he could take on the winner as “The Winner Takes it All”. Now I like to give the older generation a chance but this was ridiculous, he had me running around to very little effect. Yes, much to Sylvia’s amusement he absolutely trashed me not only once but four times, he really did have me calling out “S.O.S.”. I’ll look out for him the next time.
This evening we sailed out back past the islands….
….some containing summer houses….
….and others more elaborate structures….
….and some that had been over-run by the birds.
Tonight we make our way, through a thick fog that has just engulfed the ship, towards Helsinki, Finland. So “Voulez-Vous” join me tomorrow for the next edition.
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