Yesterday - we cruised across the Baltic Sea from Estonia to Sweden. We were not ready for the lovely cruise through the Stockholm Islands. It must have gone on for the last 6 hours. Along the islands and the main coast - it was just endless beautiful scenery of homes - towns - ferries - estates - and boats. We were going very slowly - maybe 5 to 10 miles per hour. It was an excellent preview of the splendid city.
Stockholm has about 1 million people - 2.5 million in the metropolitan area. It is the flagship of Scandinavia. Its organized roots trace back to the 1200s and the Vikings. It has a harbor that meanders through the city. Last night - we took a cab into town. It is about 1.5 miles to the downtown from our ship. Lulu realized she was missing a very important prescription. So we found a doctor open on Sunday night at 8 pm - he did a consolation - prescribed her the meds - and then we went to a 24 hours pharmacy. Lulu is also now registered in the Sweden National Health Program. They gave her a card.
We bought a 24 hour bus pass on the way back - a bus dropped us off right by the ship.
Monday morning Lulu had a list of things to see. First we took the bus and tram to city hall. This is where they award the Nobel Prizes every year. The city hall is a really old all brick building. Inside is the blue hall where the awards dinner takes place. Several American Nobel Peace Prize winners are Barack Obama - Jimmy Carter - Al Gore - Henry Kissinger. It is over $1 million now. Ironically - Alfred Nobel earned his money making dynamite. His fortune grows after his death and awards the prizes.
After that we had lunch downtown in a park - and did some shopping. Sweden is a very progressive country. It could be called a socialistic democracy. They also have a monarch. There are lots of electric cars. They make much of their power with falling water. They have national medicine - and one of the highest standards of living in the world. Their money is the Krona worth about 10 cents.
We were lucky to have bright sunny days with highs in the 60s. Since we are 60 degrees north latitude - the days in the summer are very long - and the winters are cold and bleak. You can tell their architecture is designed toward frigid climate.
Next - was the ABBA Museum. Everyone remembers this pop music groups from the 70s and 80s. It is made of two married couples - that set records for selling their music - they dressed in flamboyant costumes - and had a very strong cult following. They are in the their 70s now - and still produce music and video - but no longer tour or perform. Lulu was dead set on seeing the museum - she even had purchased ticket online ahead fo time because in the summer the museum sells out. It is not designed to handle big crowds.
Lastly - we visited the wooden ship Vasa. In 1628 - around the time of the Pilgrims - the king ordered a giant war ship to be built - 220 feet long - with 60 cannons. It was built in the harbor in Stockholm. They were fighting Poland and Estonia at the time - so the king ordered the ship to the front. Unfortunately - the cannons made it top heavy - and at first wind it did not clear the harbor. It tilted over - and water started running into the cannon ports - and down it went in 100 feet of water. It sat there almost 400 years - the cold water preserved the wooden ship and even several skeletons of the crew. In the 1950s - they started bringing it to the surface. They built a giant museum to house the ship - and are continuing working on it. It has become one of the main symbols of Sweden. It reminds me of the Neo-confederates in America worshipping the side that lost the war. Why celebrate a ship that cost a fortune - and only made it one mile. - and sank. In the information film - they ended with the quip - "if the ship hadn't sunk when it did - we would not have it today."
After - we toured the ship museum - we had to get back to our ship by 4:30 pm. We were cutting it close. We noticed a water taxis - and said we had to get to our ship right away. What a nice ride that was! In minutes he stopped by our ship - dumped us off - no charge - plenty of time to spare.
I am quickly typing this up - to post it before we lose Internet.
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