Friday, June 16, 2006
Day 6
Stockholm Sweden
Currency:Swedish Krona
Language:Swedish
Forecast:Sunshine!
Religion:Lutheran
We were VERY excited to get Sweden. We even went to bed early so we could be up when we docked. Coming into port was BEAUTIFUL! Stockholm is made up of 14different islands. Some are privately owned. Most do not have running water or electricty, but people come out in the summer, and from the pictures you can see why! Instead of ducks being in the water there are white swans. The houses are cute! Each house has their own dock to the water.
We also had an 8:30am bus tour, but then we would do the rest on our own.
Yes, I was a little annoyed that Herb and booked all bus tours, but it was a good way to get a view and the history of the city. It was just a pain to get in and out and wait for the group. But fortunately in Stockholm, we had a fairly small group,
and we had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. To our suprise, we were able to end the bus tour early and get off at the Opera house and do our own thing. So Carl and I got off. Herb had trouble with his hip, which i found out later why he wasn't doing all the walking. But Stockholm, is his birthtown. His father (Far Far) worked as a Lt. to the King. He gaurded the king. There is a LT. standing at the formation of the changing of the gaurd. That's what Far Far used to do.
When we got off our bus tour, we headed straight for the Palace to catch the Changing of Gaurd. It was a bit emotional to be walking up the steps. Feeling Far Fars presence very strong. That sounds strange I know. We were both quiet walking up the hill to the back of the Palace.
We actually got to the bank enterance and one of the gaurds had everyone move aside as a black motorcade came through. There were people in the cars waving and the crowd waving back, we later learned it was the royal family!! Carl did try to catch a picture it should be in the slideshow. We have MANY pictures of the Changing of the Gaurd so I will only post a few.
On the tour we did the Vasa Museum, the main reason for doing the tour. It's a boat that was to set sail and was too top heavy and sank right in the harbor! It's an embarrassing story for Sweden, but the museum is magnificant.
We did the "Walking Street" in Stockholm where I tried Melon icecream, but it tasted more like cantelope.
On our way out of one of Sweden's biggest department stores (compared to Harrods in London), Carl found Pomac. Mom will remember it's the drink that Carl had been trying to find like Martenelli! We looked and looked. We were also looking for Swedish paddles for Christmas (to roll butter) but found out they don't make either one anymore. Anyway, we were on our way out of the dept store and Carl saw it out of the corner of his eye. We went running back. We had to be back on the ship by 5:30 it was now almost 3 and the bus left every 15 min, he wanted to be back on by 4.
There on the very bottom level, which was a market place with just about EVERYTHING, he found Pomac!It made his trip. He managed to get four bottles home!
Another wierd thing in Stockholm was it was graduation, so the high school students were driving around in these big dump trunks wearing white hats and blasting music, it was a HUGE street party!
Stockholm was so clean. I was suprised for such a large city. It was also one of our favorites of course. (oh the first sets of pictures came in dark because it was still early in the morning when we came into Stockholm but if you click on it you will see the better picture! The slide show doesn't do them justice!)
When we got back we played tennis on deck9. It was kinda funny to play it on a moving ship!
Have I mentioned how great our dinner group is?! They are so funny! I will talk more about them on Visby, since Stockholm is so long! But was also had our Dessert Extravagnza which I will try and add to the slide show!
Stockholm Sweden
Currency:Swedish Krona
Language:Swedish
Forecast:Sunshine!
Religion:Lutheran
We were VERY excited to get Sweden. We even went to bed early so we could be up when we docked. Coming into port was BEAUTIFUL! Stockholm is made up of 14different islands. Some are privately owned. Most do not have running water or electricty, but people come out in the summer, and from the pictures you can see why! Instead of ducks being in the water there are white swans. The houses are cute! Each house has their own dock to the water.
We also had an 8:30am bus tour, but then we would do the rest on our own.
Yes, I was a little annoyed that Herb and booked all bus tours, but it was a good way to get a view and the history of the city. It was just a pain to get in and out and wait for the group. But fortunately in Stockholm, we had a fairly small group,
and we had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. To our suprise, we were able to end the bus tour early and get off at the Opera house and do our own thing. So Carl and I got off. Herb had trouble with his hip, which i found out later why he wasn't doing all the walking. But Stockholm, is his birthtown. His father (Far Far) worked as a Lt. to the King. He gaurded the king. There is a LT. standing at the formation of the changing of the gaurd. That's what Far Far used to do.
When we got off our bus tour, we headed straight for the Palace to catch the Changing of Gaurd. It was a bit emotional to be walking up the steps. Feeling Far Fars presence very strong. That sounds strange I know. We were both quiet walking up the hill to the back of the Palace.
We actually got to the bank enterance and one of the gaurds had everyone move aside as a black motorcade came through. There were people in the cars waving and the crowd waving back, we later learned it was the royal family!! Carl did try to catch a picture it should be in the slideshow. We have MANY pictures of the Changing of the Gaurd so I will only post a few.
On the tour we did the Vasa Museum, the main reason for doing the tour. It's a boat that was to set sail and was too top heavy and sank right in the harbor! It's an embarrassing story for Sweden, but the museum is magnificant.
We did the "Walking Street" in Stockholm where I tried Melon icecream, but it tasted more like cantelope.
On our way out of one of Sweden's biggest department stores (compared to Harrods in London), Carl found Pomac. Mom will remember it's the drink that Carl had been trying to find like Martenelli! We looked and looked. We were also looking for Swedish paddles for Christmas (to roll butter) but found out they don't make either one anymore. Anyway, we were on our way out of the dept store and Carl saw it out of the corner of his eye. We went running back. We had to be back on the ship by 5:30 it was now almost 3 and the bus left every 15 min, he wanted to be back on by 4.
There on the very bottom level, which was a market place with just about EVERYTHING, he found Pomac!It made his trip. He managed to get four bottles home!
Another wierd thing in Stockholm was it was graduation, so the high school students were driving around in these big dump trunks wearing white hats and blasting music, it was a HUGE street party!
Stockholm was so clean. I was suprised for such a large city. It was also one of our favorites of course. (oh the first sets of pictures came in dark because it was still early in the morning when we came into Stockholm but if you click on it you will see the better picture! The slide show doesn't do them justice!)
When we got back we played tennis on deck9. It was kinda funny to play it on a moving ship!
Have I mentioned how great our dinner group is?! They are so funny! I will talk more about them on Visby, since Stockholm is so long! But was also had our Dessert Extravagnza which I will try and add to the slide show!
