Friday 6 October 2017

Sweden - Wednesday (Stockholm)



Wednesday September 27, 2017


We checked out early after a restful night, but left our luggage to pick up later.  



Fountain at the Royal Palace





The town hall on the right in the distance




We walked to the Town Hall where Patricia treated me with a tour as a 'thank-you' for taking her on my trip.  Not at all necessary, as I like the company, but a nice gesture nevertheless!















After the tour I climbed the tower.  Patricia declined, as she isn't quite into the torture of climbing endless steps....


Going up....


Views from the top









Looking down on the railway station





Afterwards we walked to Central Station, as I was getting quite hungry, in particular after the really strenuous exercise of climbing the stairs.  Breakfast had not amounted to much, as it was not included and I forgot to buy some at the hotel.  At the station we found a nice little restaurant which sold excellent baguettes, so we planned to take one each on the train later in the day, because the trip to Söderhamn was also going to be a long one. 

Next we walked to the tram stop where we got on the number 7 which would take us to the Vasa Museum.  A 'must see' when you're in Stockholm!



The vines on the building turning red. Beautiful.



We had a tremendous time at the museum.  It may have been only one big ship, but..... it took a long time to see it all, including the additional displays. It is said to be better, or at least on par with the terra cotta warriors, and the Louvre.  I am not going to dispute that though, or agree, because it is great in its own right and you can't compare apples and oranges...




A smaller version on display


Details of the painted woodwork



A series of displays about the lifting of the ship (in reverse order - sorry)






Looking in from the outside (people are still working on the restauration)














We finished with coffee and took the tram back.  As the tram stopped at Kungsträdgården we decided to take a shortcut from there to walk back to our hotel.  It proved to be a good choice, because we came across a geocache on our walk, which we could turn into a smiley! ;-)


 1741 - Kungsan (cache)


Not the most interesting,
but an easy find for Patricia nevertheless



After we had picked up our luggage we decided to walk back through this pleasant park.  We had a short rest on one of the benches and just sat there and looked at the passers by, before we made our way to Central Station for the train to Gävle and then to Söderhamn.  







Of course we did not forget to buy a meal for on the train, as we would take a few hours to get there. Well, that was what we thought at the time anyway...

In the end we had to wait for the removal of a broken down train on our line and instead of a 7:24pm arrival we arrived at Söderhamn at around 11:30pm!!!  We had been in contact with Ria on and off, who at first had been waiting for us, but of course had returned home when nobody knew how long it was going to take to get the line cleared. Eventually she got the go-ahead and returned for us to find her waiting at the railway station.  





Finally: the Söderhamn stop at 23:20h

A short trip brought us to Rengsjö and the abode of Ria and Jan.  A short chat and a cuppa and then off to bed, because all of us needed a good rest.  And, hurray, a real bed again!






2 comments:

  1. Leuk Stockholm weer te zien. Herkenbare plekken. Toen wij er waren konden we helaas niet in het stadhuis. Nu toch de binnenkant en het uitzicht kunnen zien.

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  2. Leuk dat ik dat dan heb kunnen delen. :-) Jij bent ook een wereldreiziger! Ik wist niet eens dat je in Stockholm geweest was (of was het weer vergeten, dat kan tegenwoordig ook heeeeel goed gebeuren!)

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