Day 11 - Stockholm, Sweden

Today we cruised into the waters toward Stockholm. This city is located inland amongst many archipelago islands. There are many beautiful houses situated throughout the islands build on the hillsides and on many of the granite rocks. Nearly all have boat houses with boats sitting in the water. There are woods everywhere and the sun never really raises high in the sky. Sunrise was at 6:30am and sunset is at 6:45 pm. Stockholm is the capital of Sweden where the waters of Malaren (Lake Malar) rush into the Baltic Sea. Stockholm is a series of 14 islands among open bays and narrow channels. There are many parks to walk and relax with a combination of skyscrapers and medieval streets and waterside promenades. Gamla Stan, situated on the island of Stadsholmen is Stockholms old medieval town that emerged in the 13th century. It is the home to the present Royal Palace. With the Palace was the apartments and armory. Changing of the guard is done every noon on weekdays. I was lucky to see a parade going down the center of town of the Royal Guards. Mom and Dad went on a tour and saw City Hall, the Palace, and the Vasa. I chose to walk the city today. I walked down to the Royal Palace, then joined the Hop-on/Hop-off Bus Tour. This took me on a wonderful sightseeing trip throughout the city including the suburb apartments. We only had a short time in this port. We arrived at 9:30am and departed at 2:30pm. Not a lot of time to enjoy this wonderful city. Today was absolutely gorgeous too. No rain… YEAH! It was a little cool, but the sun was out and shining brightly. Walking kept the blood pumping (and hopefully calories dropping) so it was comfortable. Oh yes, I wanted to tell you a little about the Vasa. They built the Vasa as a grand warship in 1628. It was one of 4 ships to be built in the Stockholm shipyard. Large amounts of timber went into the building of the ship. Oak being the principal wood. Many people came the day they planned the maiden voyage of this grand war ship. It was a beautiful August afternoon, she had four sails set as she left the docks. As she left the shelter, a breeze caught the canvas. She heeled, righted herself, then heeled again hard over to port. The water gushed in, and she sank swiftly in 110 feet of water in the harbor. At that time it was impossible to raise the sunken ship so it laid for many years at the bottom. The wreckage of the Vasa was not discovered until 1956. A many was diving and found a piece of wood. So he sent several divers down to see what it was. They were amazed at the amazing war ship and the detail of the carvings and elaborate decorations. The divers had to sift through 40,000 cubic yards of mud. The hull was amazingly well preserved. The ship is now a museum and the wood is constantly kept preserved.
You know, each place we have been to has its’ own uniqueness. I hope you are enjoying what I have to share with you. We are now cruising out of the bays, past the archipelago islands heading out to Copenhagen. Let’s hope the seas stay calm. We had a roly-poly night again last night. Sometimes I wake up thinking we need bars on the side of the beds so we don’t fall out. Well, time for dinner (again!). Maybe I’ll just go play bingo.