Stockholm Part 2b

Ok the fourth and final chapter of my trip to with my family is here! This is about Sunday and other than our trip on the ferry we did not do soo much on Sunday. We did get up a little earlier in order to get to the ticket office. But there was a huge line and so we were unable to take the first trip of the day and the second one was sold out so we settled for the third trip a 1:30. We knew that the store that sold the jackets did not open til noon so we took the tram as far as it would take us to another island. That island was primarily comprised of a park as well as Tivoli. There was a small castle on the far side but we did not have enough time to see it. Also there is a place like Old Sturbridge Village or Plymoth Plantation but a Swedish version but we decided that was unnecessary to see because we could do that in the US and we wanted to do other things. We wandered around the park for a little bit again enjoyed the glorious weather that we had. We came across this little play ground with a very interesting see saw. It was a see saw that could move in all three directions. It could move up and down like a classic see-saw as well as rotate and sway side to side. So my dad and I gave it a try because it looked strong enough to hold us, which it was. At first we just went up and down and then we realized we could make it a ride by going up and down and then spinning it at the same time. If you timed it right with the bending from side to side it would whip one person around at a pretty good clip. My sister who was initially too cool to play with a kids toy wanted a try. So my dad got off and the two of us really got it moving. But we realized we had to go back because it was almost noon and my store was gonna open so we left the park and rode the tram back into the city center. We got to the store a little early so we checked out a church that was nearby. The the store opened. I got my jacket I wanted and my dad found another that he liked so he got that as well. With our new purchases we made our way back to the boats to grab a french hot dog before it was time for the boat tour. It is a little unclear why it is a french hot dog other than the bun looks a little like a mini baguette but the french dont agree with its name.

The boat tour was nice. It was 2 1/2 hour tour of the Archipelago. Unfortunately the best place to see the stuff was outside on the bow deck but you could not hear the person on the speaker talking about the stuff that we were seeing because the speakers out there were horrible. Still I decided to spend most of the trip out there taking pictures and soaking in the sun. Mostly we passed by small islands with a few houses. Some of the houses were pretty cool And I have some of the best ones in my opinion shown in the pictures below. It was cool to see that part of the city that was not as metropolitan like the rest of the city. For only a few minute boat ride away it was like being on a lake in New Hampshire not like being in what the Swedes call "The Capital of Scandinavia" In fact it was very hard to believe that we were in an ocean or sea at all. Never have I been on an ocean where I could see land on all sides.

This is obviously not a house what it is I am not sure but it was big and beautiful

On of two very cool and unique houses overlooking the water that two brothers built

A classic style estate from long ago, note that the red walls and green roofs are because of copper. Apparently that was a resource Sweden has a lot of which is why many of their older buildings are red and the roofs were made of copper which oxidizes and turns green like this house

On the way home on the tour I got some last great shots of the big houses on the water that the nobles lived in. Apparently they used to be right on the water but at one time a king decided he did not like the nobles and made them give up much of their rights and powers as well as building the road in front of their property and taking some of the buildings which he turned into centers for the arts. For instance the Royal Theater is at the end of the street with all the big houses below:

Some beautiful buildings that the wealthy used to and probably still inhabit

A close up of one of the buildings the flat brown things in front are trees that had their tops shaved off...

After the boat tour we returned to the crowded narrow streets of Gamla Stan for some shopping which we were rather successful at and then went to another part of the city to check out some landmarks we had not yet seen. Below we have a Drick Coke sign and the planetarium. My dad thought that they have forgotten the 'n' hahaha and added a 'c' silly. Remember we are in Sweden so that still means Drink Coke...

Drick Coca-Cola, enough said

The planetarium

After we went back to the hotel and them went out to look for a place to eat dinner. After dinner we walked around the town for a while and then finally stopped by a seven 11 for some Ben and Jerry's. Yea interestingly enough they are the only American ice cream company that can be consistently found in Scandinavia. Yea Vermont!