Stockholm

I can't say I had any preconcieved notions as to what Stockholm would be like. Ja, it's north and the family I married into are direct decendants of Swedish/Norwegian/German immigrants. So at least I knew they could get the spelling right (you have no idea how much of our mail is to the Olsen's).

We flew in on a Friday night and by time we arrived to our hotel, we were just hungry.
Kendra, who loves potatoes in any form, opted for the "Swedish" meatballs with mashed potatoes. She loved the potatoes AND the meatballs - we all had a meatball! I tried the salmon sampler - Excellent start to vacation.

What I hadn't realized or thought about in regards to Stockholm was it's landscape. I knew it was on the water but honestly, did not realize that it consists of many islands/peninsulas connected by the waterways (St. Petersburg is the same). So your best option in many cases is to catch the water taxi's.

Gamla Stan - the Old Town:

Headed to the Vasa Museum:

The museum is build around a wooden warship that had sunk in the main Channel in Stockholm about 400 years ago - on it's maiden voyage no less. Conditions in the Baltic are prime for actually preserving such wreckage instead of it experiencing great decay. The wreckage was found in the 1950's at which point they worked at salvaging this remarkable ship. 95% of the ship as it is in the museum is original - some pieces have been replaced as needed and they are evident as was the purpose of the restorers - to keep the integrity of the preservation. Definitely a must-see if you are visiting Stockholm. We also visited the Swedish museum (use to highlight more of life re: Nordic countries but now focuses primarily on Sweden). We enjoyed it as it wasn't crowded and we could go at our own pace. Then have some ice cream!

The Vasa Museum itself is an incredible building - to the right:

Stockholm had it's crowded squares:

And it's quiet streets:

Taking a break to consult the map:

Note: This is after dinner, about 9:30 (loved the light so late at night)

Enjoyed our day and are headed back to the hotel:

Gracious yet energetic City:

That we leave for THIS:

Our first cruise! Home for 8 days and 7 nights. Next pictorial will be the departure from Stockholm - takes 4 hours to cruise from the port of Stockholm into the Baltic Sea itself. It was beautiful!!! I'll take you there............