Stockholm dinner cruise

Stockholm

After Copenhagen, we split up.  Matt and Chris headed up the Swedish west coast to the small city of Gothenburg.  The rest of us boarded a short flight and landed in Stockholm, which sprawls over 14 islands along an archipelago on the Swedish east coast.

We didn’t have much time to see the city, so we immediately set off toward the Gamla stan (or Old Town) district of Stockholm.  This district has been around since the 13th century and is sort of the cultural hub of the city.  On our way to the Swedish Royal Palace we happened upon a marching band.

Marching band outside the Swedish Royal Palace
Marching band outside the Swedish Royal Palace

Justin and Lyle outside the Royal Palace
Justin and Lyle outside the Royal Palace

We didn’t spend much time in the Royal Palace, partly because we just saw one but also because we wanted to see the Nobel Museum instead.

Katie inside the Nobel Museum
Katie inside the Nobel Museum

After visiting the museum we headed toward the shoreline and booked passage on a water taxi that offered a hop-on-hop-off tour of the city with various stops along the way.

Katie on the taxi boat
Katie on the taxi boat

For our first stop, we visited the Vasa Museum where a fully restored, 17th century, 64-gun warship is displayed.  The Vasa accidentally sank on its maiden voyage in 1628, and after three centuries on the bottom of the sea it was recovered and a museum was built to house it.  Pictures don’t capture the enormity of the ship and I can see why it makes this the most visited museum in Scandinavia.

Justin inside the Vasa Museum
Justin inside the Vasa Museum
Justin beside a cannon from the Vasa
Justin beside a cannon from the Vasa

Further along on the water tour we landed on the south edge of the city and climbed from sea level to a greater view of the islands.

Katie overlooking Stockholm from the south
Katie overlooking Stockholm from the south

Finally, we booked a dinner cruise that looped from Stockholm out to the Baltic Sea and back.  We only had one brief day in Stockholm and this was a good way to end it.

Boat for the dinner cruise on the Baltic Sea
Boat for the dinner cruise on the Baltic Sea