Last night we walked to the wrong hotel to meet the rest of the group joining us on our Baltic cruise (in honor of my girlfriend’s 60th birthday). While waiting at the reception desk, the male member of the couple ahead of us offered us Hop On Hop Off tickets to tour Stockholm. He and his wife had to cut their trip off unexpectedly and he didn’t want the money to be wasted.
What a lovely thing to do! So, today, we toured Stockholm on the top of a double decker bus under blazing blue skies and sunshine. Here are some shots of the city:
In addition, we went to the VASA museum. Whoa! This ship blew my mind! According to Wiki, The Vasa Museum (Swedish: Vasamuseet) is a maritime museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Located on the island of Djurgården, the museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th century ship that has ever been salvaged, the 64-gun warship Vasa that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. This ship is massive and spans six floors. It’s a daunting example of bad engineering. Simply put it wasn’t wide enough to float without tipping over.
Then we toured the old town, which is located on the island of Gamla Stan. This is my favorite part of the Sweden visit so far. I love the cobblestone streets, the narrow alleyways, and the bustle and music everywhere.
For dinner that night, we went to The Grand Hotel to experience what’s been called the best smorgasbord in the world! For the first time ever, I had tried snaps. The hotel makes its own brand of snaps, the 1874 Grand Aquavit, spiced with caraway, anise and fennel. The food and drink, the ambiance, the company, and the service proved superb and worthy of our last night in this incredible city!
Next up – Finland!
Hey Cindy, didn’t see this until now. Thanks so much for reading the post (never sure if anyone finds it interesting)!
Thanks so much for sharing loved hearing about your trip and seeing the pictures!