I always forget that the second night is the hardest for sleep coming East. I woke up at 1.30am and just couldn’t go back to sleep. So I went out in the hall to work on my blog till about five am. Took this picture at 4am…seriously sunrise at 4?
Sunday was our third and final day in Stockholm. We planned a boat trip to the Archipelago…Stockholm is surrounded by thousands of islands and some are accessible by an excellent ferry system. Since the weather was cloudy with some rain predicted, we chose to visit Vaxholm which is only about 1 hour by boat. It was a great choice …. it is a charming village with just enough to do on a cloudy blustery day. On a warm summer day you might venture further to the more rustic islands further out but this was perfect for our Sunday. We followed a 30 minute walk described in Rick Steves guide and it was spot on. We loved the little museum showing homestead life in a fishing village. Vaxholm was known for its herring trade because fisherman could catch their fish in the morning and deliver fresh herring to Stockholm within 8 hours it took to sail there.
A lemonade stand Swedish style serving a yummy chocolate ball. This twelve year olds English was better than mine.
Of course a couple of times a day we have to make these big decisions on where, what and how much to eat. We tried a herring sampler at a little cafe on the water. I have never tried the creamed herring Bill buys. But these were excellent – fried, pickled, creamed and plain. Herring and salmon are a staple at the hotel breakfast bar at our hotel.
We took the bus back to town. Vaxholm is connected by bridge to Stockholm. We had bought tickets for an evening music concert in a church in the old town and wanted to squeeze in a nap. These 12 hour days will wear you out:)
On our way out I wanted to check out the park next to our hotel. It was a lovely walk through a community garden. But this was not like any community garden I have seen in the US. Each garden was a plotted piece of land with a fence, a garden shed. Some had cultivated gardens while others had grass, flowers and picnic tables. And a few were just wild.
The concert was part of the Stockholm Early Music Festival and we went to the final performance. So I learned that “Early Music Festival” does not mean it is the first classical festival of the summer season (duh). It is a celebration of historical music from Baroque, Renaissance and Medieval times. The performance we saw was in the German church in Gamla Stan and was a combination of religious music representing Islam, Judaism and Christianity composed by a 17th century Pole who converted to Islam. it was interesting…though seeing a Sufi Whirling Dervish spinning around on a stage in a church seemed out of place. I couldn’t take any pictures but found this one on the musician’s website. (Sarband.de)
We had made a reservation at an Italian restaurant in Gamla Stan because the smells wafting into the street were tempting. Paganini was worth the wait! We walked home to work off some of the wine and pasta and it still is not dark at 11pm. Stockholm feels very safe wherever we have been. Even the panhandlers are not very aggressive – mostly gypsy women and girls sitting on sidewalks shaking a paper cup and trying to appear pitiful.
We are ready to start the next leg of our journey to Denmark where we will meet up wit Bonnie, Barb and Les – hopefully at the train station in Malmo Sweden.
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