Sweden – Stockholm by Land and Sea

June 24, 2025

We are headed on foot to the old town area. It has stopped raining for now!!!

The old town area is were the iconic brightly pained row house are along with the royal palace and the Nobel Prize museum. We got to old town before the tour groups so we got to walk the hilly area before it was swarmed by tourist.

The royal palace entry is up a steep hill and I could just image ornate horse drawn carriages reminisent to visit the king.. The guards in their little towers are reminiscent of Buckingham Palace. The King only uses the palace for state occasions now and the family lives on one of the many island surround Stockholm. The palace church was ornately beautiful.

Then we headed to the water front for a 3 hour cruise on the Archipelago to explore the natural beauty and diverse landscapes of the thousand of islands that surround Stalkhom. As we departed the city centre we were outside on the back of the ship and experience an incredible view of the city. We lasted about an hour on the deck all huddled in blankets then headed indoors for the rest of the cruise.

We we returned from our boat we headed to the Vasa Museum. Vasa (or Wasa) is a Swedish warship built between 1626 and 1628. The ship foundered and sank after sailing about 1,300 m (1,400 yd) into its maiden voyage on 10 August 1628. It fell into obscurity after most of her valuable bronze cannons were salvaged in the 17th century but in 1961 she was found and restored. The ornate ship was intended as not just a battleship but as a floating embassy for the King. 95% of the display is original with only the supporting pegs replaced.

We were running late to pick up laundry that had been dropped off yesterday so we chose to use an Uber that tuned into a comedy of errors that will a story we will remember and laugh about in the future. First we had the wrong address so we were taken to a place that was nowhere close to where we needed to be. Then after sorting out the correct address with the driver who spoke limited English we were stuck in traffic as the clock ticked down and we were getting very close to closing time. Finally we got close and the driver did a U turn in a very narrow place that included the bike line. As he backed up we heard a thud and then a woman appeared at my door yelling at the driver. He had back into her!!! We quickly got out of the car except for me because my backpack was tangled in the seatbelt….lol!! Two cops were quickly on the scene so we left Ernie to deal with the situation and we headed off to the shop to retrieve the clothes. We got there with only minutes to spare. The good news is that the biker and her bike were fine and we have clean clothes for our adventure tomorrow!!!! Travel does not always go as planned.

Tomorrow we are headed out on a day trip to learn about Vikings!!!