For those of you keeping score, Amy visited the Vasa Museum as Darlene and Brooks had planned for their day, while Darlene and Brooks took the boat ride at the heart of my plans. Julie wanted to visit the magnificent residence of the Swedish royal family, Drottningholm Slott, located about twenty miles outside of Stockholm.
As our boat left the Vasa Museum, Julie and Jay huddled over a map and decided to get off at the next stop. We asked for directions at a tourist information kiosk and were directed toward city hall where we could catch a bus to Drottningholm Slott.
As we walked, we took in the beauty of Stockholm's architecture. Jay had spent a month the previous summer backpacking around Europe with his buddy Tony and become accustomed to seeking his own path. He made his opinion known that taking a bus out of what was clearly a great city would not be his first choice. His preference was Stockholm's Kungstradgarden, described as a lively central square with concerts.
As we got closer to the bus stop, Julie determined that it might be too rushed heading out to Drottningholm, so she abandoned her plan, which of course made Jay happy. We re-routed to find Kungstradgarden. I'm not sure we actually found it, but what we found was cool.
Our first stop was Santa Clara's Cathedral, which serendipitously appeared along our path. Inside the red brick exterior was a heavenly interior of white walls with golden arches. No, it wasn't McDonald's. The arches were functional Gothic arches gilded with real gold. As in churches around the world, Jesus took on characteristics of the local people. In stained glass and paintings, Jesus had Nordic features and reddish-blond hair and beard. Jay noticed an all-seeing eye on the pulpit, bringing to mind Dan Brown and National Treasure conspiracies.
When we saw a large plaza of gray and white triangles with a fountain nearby, we thought this must be Kungstradgarden, but when we asked, people pointed through a shopping center. The day had turned from cloudy to sunny, so Jay decided to buy some sunglasses at a store right across from some golden arches. Yes, this time it was a McDonald's, an outpost of the American way that's always a comforting reminder of home when we find one overseas.
The store wouldn't accept Euros for the 49 Swedish Kroner purchase, and we had no Swedish currency, so Julie bought a pair of sunglasses for herself to reach the minimum for 100 Kroner credit card purchase. I started wearing Julie's new shades and never gave them back.
We came to another square, this time with a farmer's market in progress, where we bought some delicious round strawberries from a Swede who said he'd been to LA once for three days and loved it. Was this Kungstradgarden? It was the street name, but he pointed down the street, and we walked that way. We came to a large park with a cool sidewalk cafe across the street, but after a short time resting on a park bench, we walked on.
We found a long walking tunnel that allowed us to avoid hiking up a hillside en route back to the waterfront, and then we walked along the water back to the hop on, hop off boats. Jay insisted on walking more, saying he would stay in town on his own if we left.
Instead, we walked along the harbor and ended up stopping at a modern glass hut where we drank some coffee before continuing on across a bridge back to the Vasa Museum, at which point we boarded a boat to take my floating tour of Stockholm.I bought a can of Swedish light beer and settled into a comfortable seat by one of the large glass windows. It was about 3:30, and we were supposed to be back on the cruise ship by 4:30. Jay and Julie thought it was too risky to take another lap, even though it was supposed to take less than an hour, so we got off when we arrived back at the cruise ship dock.
We enjoyed a scenic sailaway back through the Archipelago up in Skywalkers, but we had a 6:30 reservation for dinner at Michaelangelo's. This night, we had terrific service to go along with the great food. As an example of the wonderful meals included on a cruise, I started with eggplant parmigiana, followed by seafood antipasti (squid, mussels and shrimp), a special salad served family style and turbot fillet with prosciutto and veggies. As you may have guessed, this was Italian night, so our wait staff serenaded us with “O Solo Mio” and the traditional dance around the dining room.
We were still in the Archipelago after dinner, and of course it was still as bright as day outside. The big show was an encore of the 1920s style “What a Swell Party,” so we simply enjoyed the natural beauty of the cruising view for our evening entertainment. It was a great day, even if it wasn't exactly to plan.
