Stockholm, Sweden June 17

Friday, June 17. Sunrise was at 3:30am. Our ship took aboard a local pilot to guide us (4 hours) to Stockholm, Sweden, through the numerous thousands of islands that make up the Stockholm Archipelago. Some of the islands are very small and uninhabitable, but most have trees and many are inhabited.

Stockholm is built on 14 islands. After the ship docked, and Swedish authorities gave the ship's passengers clearance to enter Sweden, we took a Hop On - Hop Off boat a short distance to another island where we went through the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a 17-century Swedish warship that was built against ship-builder's knowledge and plans, at the direction of the Swedish King Gustavas Adolphus. The kind demanded that the ship have a second gun deck that put the center of gravity too high. Twenty minutes into the maiden voyage the sails were raised and the wind rolled the ship over, sinking the ship. The ship remained on the bottom of the sea until 1961. The ship was cleaned and restored and is now displayed in its own museum.

We then took another Hop On - Hop Off boat a short distance to Gamla Stan, or Stockholm's Old Town (on the same island as our ship is docked). Until the 1600s, all of Stockholm fit onto Gamla Stan. The cobblestone streets are very narrow. We saw old buildings and churches. The town square has the (large) water fountain that all distances to Stockholm are measured from. Also in that square is the Nobel Museum, where all but one of the Nobel prizes are awarded.

We then walked back to our ship. It rained lightly all day but that didn't stop us from sightseeing and walking.