Stockholm

What a beautiful day in Sweden! The sun was shining and a cool breeze was blowing as we cruised past one beautiful island after another on our way into town. It was really stunning scenery. Lots of snug little cabins tucked into forested coves.
























You can thank Bill for the great shots above.

Then the rustic feel gave way to city scenery.



by Bill


As we got into the port, we got off the ship and on to a smaller "hop on hop off" shuttle boat that takes you around to the sites.











Old town had picturesque streets, the Nobel Prize museum, cold beer, and good ice cream. The most interesting ice cream flavor was "licorice and salt". Sorry to be a wimp, but I just got vanilla.



Bill bought some art from the artist who runs this gallery. He was from Iceland!



It was a lovely warm sunny day, perfect for tramping around town.


Narrow alley with an extremely long staircase!



photo by Bill
At the royal palace we witnessed the changing of the guard with a short band concert,






photos by Bill

then off to the Vasa Museum.
The Vasa is a ship that was built in Sweden over 300 years ago in 1628. Although very huge and ornate, it was poorly designed and sank in the harbor in less than an hour where it lay, unrecoverable, for centuries. In 1959 they located it and started the process of hoisting it up in one piece from the bottom. After years of restoration the ship and many of its contents are on view. It's really an amazing sight, as 98% of the ship was preserved. The ropes, however, are all reproductions. The huge exhibit hall is kept in dim light with carefully controlled temperature and humidity. If I understood correctly, they sprayed the whole ship with glycerin for 17 years to replace the water in the wood so it would not crumble.


Below is a model that was made to illustrate what it looked like with all it's sails in original condition. It had over 50 cannons and a tremendous amount of carved wood ornamentation.


Somehow they were able to ascertain how they were painted.



There were several preserved human bodies on board. Their shoes and clothes were still intact somehow, even after more than 300 years! They made realistic reproductions of their faces based on computer analysis of the skulls and DNA analysis. They looked so real. It was spooky.



We returned to our ship and watched the action in the harbor. An incredible number of boats, ferries, cruise ships and even jet skies! I couldn't believe they didn't collide!


Lastly, two colorful reminders of my day in Sweden.



elves!







Now we are off to Wismar, Germany.



photo by Bill