TUESDAY 21ST - STOCKHOLM

What a fascinating place. To get there, we had to sail through the Stockholm Archipelago “with more than 30,000 islands, ancient fishing villages and centuries old towns, inviting coves, cliffs and soft sand beaches”. It took four hours for the ship to get from the port of Stockholm to the open sea.

There were numerous waterfront properties in idyllic settings. Obviously a boat is an essential means of transport.

Water is a constantly recurring theme in the cities we are visiting. Finland claims to have the most fresh water in the world.

 

Stockholm is constructed on a series of islands. The island on which the old town is located is described as a cork restricting the flow of water from the vast lakes to its west to the Baltic Sea to its east. Even restricted, the flow is significant. Where else can you fish for salmon in the middle of a city?

Because the port is some distance from the city, we once again used the Hop On Hop Off bus to get around. When its communication system is working, it is a valuable source of information and is an easy way of working out what is worth seeing in a strange city. It is also considerably cheaper than the ship's excursions.

We happened to be in the right place, the Palace, at the right time for the changing of the guard.

Unlike other cities we have visited, Stockholm's islands are quite hilly giving an opportunity for some great views of the city and waterways.

 

As you would expect, tours by boat are readily available. Unfortunately we didn't have time for one but still got an understanding of the waterways.

 

Stockholm definitely deserves a longer return visit.

Once again, the weather was extremely kind to us – 21 degrees and sunny.

Tomorrow we are at sea. Friday, we are back in Germany at Keil, followed by Arhus in Denmark on Saturday We then return to Amsterdam before heading north for the Norwegian segment of the cruise.

 

As usual, we had to have our obligatory beer. One in every country.