Sunday, October 9th:
I am so glad that we had a day at sea after our long day in Berlin. We left Germany and cruised north along the Swedish coast between Gotland and Öland islands. As we were cruising we spotted battle ships along the horizon. The binoculars in our room are pretty good, but we couldn't tell which country they were from. We also saw plenty of windmill farms along the Swedish islands.
[Gelato and football? Yes please!]
Monday, October 10th:
[Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!]
As the sun came up we entered the Stockholm archipelago. The captain told us it would take a few hours to navigate and it was safer to go through the archipelago once the sun came up. It ended up delaying our arrival in Stockholm by a bit, but it's better to be safe than sorry!
We stood out on the balcony and watched the moon set as the sun came up.
[It's a tight squeeze]
[Stockholm is the yellow star]
[Ferry]
[Oscar Fredriksborgs Fastning - Fort from the 1870s]
As we cruised towards Stockholm we saw tons of islands covered in beautiful houses. We even saw some tiny islands with just one or two houses on them. What an awesome place to have a summer home!
[More of my dad's ancestors]
After a few hours of cruising the archipelago we finally arrived in Stockholm. Josh and I got off the ship right when it docked with the intention of going to the Vasa Museum. We somehow missed the shuttles (that are provided by the cruise line) and ended up on a city bus. We were super lost, but luckily the nice bus driver helped us out.
We ended up walking a lot and taking multiple buses, but we finally made it to the museum. We had to be back to the MS Rotterdam by 1:30 PM to start our tour, so that left us with only 30 minutes to explore the museum, catch a ferry, and get back to the ship on time. Luckily, the museum is pretty small, so we made it work!
[Vasa Museum]
On August 10, 1628 the elegant 226 ft Vasa ship was launched. This Swedish warship was built by order of the King as part of Sweden's military expansion. It took two years to build and was set to be the flagship of the reserve squadron at Älvsnabben in the Stockholm Archipelago.
The King was eager to see her launched since Sweden was currently at war with Poland-Lithuania. The ship had major problems though and sank just 1300 meters into her maiden voyage. The ship sank to a depth of 105 ft, 30 people were killed, and thousands of spectators were terrified as they watched the ship go down just 400 ft from the shore.
They tried multiple times to raise the ship, but they were unsuccessful. 30 years after the Vasa ship sunk a team of divers were able to use diving bells to recover 50 of the valuable canons.
In 1961 the ship was successfully salvaged and the remains were placed in this museum in 1988. It's remarkable how great the ship looks for being underwater for over 300 years.
We moved quickly though the museum, took our pictures, and then headed to the dock to catch the ferry. It was a sunny day (no rain!), but the wind was brutal and it was freezing!
[We passed this little guy on the way to the ferry. I don't know who he is.]
[Waiting for the ferry]
[Ferry]
Finally the ferry came and took us across the bay to our ship. We made it back just in time to join my parents and Theo on our tour: "ICEBAR and Old Town"
*Back Story: When Ryan and I were children, both of my parents worked. Instead of sending us to daycare (since we were too young for school) my parents hired Swedish nanny's to come live with us. Most of them stayed for about a year. They usually came over with a group of other 18-20 year olds, so when they were off on the weekends they would go hang out with their friends. Due to my moms annual Christmas letter and Facebook we were able to keep in touch and three of them were able to meet us in Stockholm. I haven't seen them in 32 years, but I was very excited to reunite! Lisa and Jessica came in on October 11th, but Håkan got there a day early and was staying at a hotel close to the ICEBAR.
The five of us hopped on the coach and headed out into the city. We first took a scenic drive around Stockholm and then arrived at the ICEBAR.
The ICEBAR is the world's first permanent icebar. It was created by carving 40 tons of ice from the Torne River by ice sculptors! We were given warm ponchos and coupons for a free drink before going inside the bar.
The bar is -5 C (23F) and everything is made of ice, even the drinking glasses!
[The ICEBAR was celebrating its 20th anniversary]
We enjoyed our drinks (I think mine was some sort of mango juice), took a few pictures, and then headed back into the lobby.
Once we were back in the lobby we returned our gloves and ponchos. I then noticed someone looking at me. He looked super familiar and then it clicked! Håkan! I ran over and gave him a big hug and introduced him to Theo and Josh. My parents then came out of the ICEBAR and saw Håkan too.
We had a few minutes to catch up before our coach headed out. Håkan gave us these adorable Sweden beanies. He wanted to give them to us before we got to the ICEBAR, but I forgot to text him to let him know we were on our way there. Sorry! We had to join back up with our tour, but we knew we would see him tomorrow (along with Jessica and Lisa). So we said goodbye and headed out with our coach to Old Town.
[Mom with her beanie from Håkan]
Our first stop in Old Town was outside the Royal Palace. It is currently being renovated and the outside is covered with a large sheet.
[King Charles XIV John]
While our tour guide was telling us about the Palace the Royal Guards showed up. We got to witness the changing of the guards, which was pretty cool!
[Stockholm Cathedral (pink building in the middle) with Gustav II's Obelisk]
After the changing of the guards we headed deeper into Old Town. The cobblestones were ROUGH and Theo had a hard time with them. I don't think we've seen cobblestones this bad since Brussels.
Our next stop was to see Järnpojke aka Iron Boy aka little boy who looks at the moon! Isn't he the cutest sculpture ever?!
[I just love him!]
Fun fact: In the wintertime Järnpojke can been seen wearing a winter hat and scarf. Too cute!
After saying goodbye to my favorite little statue, we headed to the main square.
[Stortorget - Main Square in Old Town]
This main square is surrounded by colorful buildings, which include the Nobel Prize Museum.
[Nobel Prize Museum]
Our tour guide then gave us some free time to explore the rest of Old Town. My dad volunteered to stay with Theo in the main square, while my mom, Josh, and I went to look for chocolates and the Mårten Trotzigs gränd (the narrowest street in Stockholm).
We found it! It's 37 steps to the bottom and it tapers down to just 35 inches.
I can't get over how freakishly clean these Nordic countries are! They are just beautiful!
We then found some chocolate and headed back to the Main Square to catch up with the rest of the group.
We boarded the coach one final time and took it back to the MS Rotterdam. That night for dinner the Pinnacle Grill was transformed into the Taste of De Librije. We had to pay extra, but it was worth it to get a taste of this famous Three Michelin Star restaurant.
My parents had their reservation at 6:00 PM and then Josh and I went at 8:00 PM.
There were four courses and two options for each course, so Josh and I made sure we ordered different things so we could try everything!
Course 1:
[King Fish - Watermelon, avocado, sesame, radish]
[Oysters on the Beach - foie gras, Oloroso sherry, ginger]
Course 2:
[Lobster Bisque - Alaskan king crab, brioche croutons, lovage]
[Pork Belly - Madras curry, green pea, caviar, goat cheese]
Course 3:
[Baked Pike Perch - Panda, cucumber, sweet and sour, red onion, sorry cress]
[Lamb Neck Confit - Curry, cabbage, couscous, beurre blanc]
Course 4:
[Deconstructed Apple Pie - Jonnie's mom's recipe]
NOT PICTURED
[Lemongrass Caramel - grapefruit, passion fruit, ginger, mango sorbet]
The food was delicious (except the baked pike perch) and it was fun to have a nice date night!
Tuesday, October 11th:
The next morning we took the shuttle bus (so much easier then the city bus) to the Opera House where we met up with Lisa, Jessica, and Håkan. We walked over to a local cafe and got some kanelbulle, which is a delicious Swedish cinnamon roll!
We then all sat in the cafe and caught up. It was so fun to hear all about their families and what they have been doing over the last 30 years! We do keep in touch on Facebook, but it's nice to hear it from people 🙂
Jessica was our nanny from July 1988 to July 1989
Lisa was our nanny from August 1989 to August 1990
and Håkan was our nanny in the summer of 1990.
Jessica then showed us a bunch of pictures that she had from her year with us. She took dance lessons at the same studio that I did, so she had pictures of us dancing together. Lisa, Jessica, and Håkan then all started talking about the car that we use to have and the snacks we always had in the kitchen (Oreos, string cheese, M&Ms, and squeeze juice). It was so funny that they remember all those details!
We then went on a walk around town. As we were walking Lisa asked me about the political situation in the United States. We discussed that, their newly elected leader, NATO, and Putins war in Ukraine. It was so interesting to hear her talk about taxes and how she considers it a honor to pay higher taxes so that everyone can have access to health care and education.
Lisa made us lunch reservations at a small local restaurant, so we headed there next. The food was delicious, but the company was better!
Jessica is a teacher, so she gave us books!
[Dad and Lisa]
[Theo and Josh]
[Håkan and mom]
After lunch we walked back to the Opera House. On the way we saw parades of Royal Guards, policemen, and horses. Some streets were closing and there were helicopters in the air. When we got back to the bay we saw the flag of The Netherlands was raised at the Royal Palace and concluded that King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of The Netherlands were in town visiting the Swedish Royal Family!
[Gotta love the beanies!]
Unfortunately the ship was scheduled to leave Stockholm at 2:30 PM, so we could cruise back out of the archipelago when the sun was still up. We had to cut our reunion short, but I told them if they were ever in the Chicago area to let me know!
[Thank you for the kind gifts!]
We made it back to the ship on time, but there were a few people who were stuck in town because of all the road closures. The ship waited for them and then we headed out!
It's times like this where having a balcony is super nice! We can put Theo down for a nap and then stand outside and watch the beautiful islands go by.
I am going to miss these Nordic countries so much! They are just beautiful and the people are so kind. We have so many other places to see around the world, but if I get the chance we will definitely come back!
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