Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Baltic Cruise Day 3, Stockholm

This morning we arose at a more normal time, around 5:30, and took our time with getting ready and eating breakfast. By 9:30 we were on the boat to Djurgårten, to see the Vasa Museet, a museum that houses the royal ship that sank in 1628 and was raised from the sea floor in 1961. It has been restored, and still has 95% of the original wood intact. This thing is HUGE. It is almost a football field long, and about 20 meters wide. Turns out, it was one meter too narrow. The Vasa sank on its maiden voyage, lasting about 20 minutes and 1000 yards, at which point a brisk wind arose and heeled it over, whereupon it took on water through the gun turrets, and sank. Amazingly, for the time, only about 30 men lost their lives, including the captain and the man who controlled the rudder. There were a lot of boats in the water around the ship, and they picked up the ones who could get out. Oh, and two cats died, which we know because two cat skeletons were in the ship when it was salvaged. No rat skeletons were found, meaning either that the cats were very efficient, or that rats can swim. It turns out that the king of Sweden was at war with his cousin, the king of Poland, and he wanted to impress the Poles with his prowess at sea. He ran short of money, so could only build one of the four ships he planned, and that was the Vasa. When the builders of the ship did a stability test, they knew immediately that the ship was not seaworthy. The test consisted of having 30 men run back and forth across the deck 10 times to simulate a storm. The ship master stopped the test after 3 circuits, afraid that the ship would sink at the dock. No one had the courage to tell the king about the screwup, and in classic bureaucratic fashion, the ship designer, who had died before the ship was finished, was blamed for the disaster. A sister ship was already under contruction when the Vasa sank, and the builders widened it by 1 meter. It sailed successfully for 30 years. What a difference 33 inches and change makes! From today's viewpoint, however, we don't have even a spinter from the second ship, while we have the entire Vasa, in a museum, with a truly delicious story of regal arrogance and government incompetence. But I digress. After the Vasa museum, we went to the tiny islands of Skepps-Holmen and Kastell-Holmen. They were once the home of the Swedish navy, and trust me, that meant the Swedish navy was not very large at all. After walking all over the islands, we headed back for our hotel, stopping along the way at a Barcelona-style tapas restaurant. I don't know how Catallonian the restaurant was, but the steak I had was pretty good, and we watched the downpour outside from a dry vantage point. The restaurant had blankets available, and Denise availed herself of one for a while. When the rain died down, we shopped in a store that reminded us of Bloomingdale's, in that there were several floors of over-priced items for sale. Back in the hotel, we napped while the rest of the storm passed, then went out again to shop some more, ending up at a hotel near ours that promised authentic Swedish food, "like 1904." Why 1904, I don't know, unless that was when the hotel was built. It was telling that the sign was all in English, leading us to think it was just for us tourist types. Denise had a hamburger that looked suspiciously American for authentic Swedish cuisine, and I had steak tips that were luscious. We're headed for bed, having tried to watch the Olympics with Swedish commentary. Most unsatisfying. In the morning, we'll putz around and then head for our ship, the Marina. We are supposed to embark at 1:00 PM. Bon Voyage, and all that! Good night.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Baltic Cruise Day 2: Stockholm

We slept in today.  At least, I did.  But we still made it downstairs for the complementary breakfast, which was excellent.  All but the herring.  I'm not going to say much about it, but I could not use my knife on other foods after using it on the herring. After breakfast, we searched for, and finally found, the bus stop for the tour line we took yesterday, and this time I stayed awake the whole time.  The city was established in the 1200's.  The Swedes are proud to say that their country has been at peace for over 200 years.  Not bad. Next, we boarded a tour boat, which was much more enjoyable than the bus, and quicker from place to place.  The boat ride was a "hop on, hop off" tour just like the bus was, so we disembarked on Djurgården, an island that was once the king's private hunting ground.  (Don't you like how I put in the little circle over the "å"?  iPads are amazing!)  We entered Skansen, a 75-acre outdoor museum that was established in 1891 to showcase Sweden's history.  It is a fabulous place, especially for those with small children.  There are quite a number of refurbished buildings that have been moved from other places in Sweden, including a church, several farmhouses of different centuries and levels of wealth, a small zoo with animals native to Sweden, and some nice restaurants.  We had a wonderful time, especially since each structure has several docents who were extremely knowledgeable about their locations.  They were all dressed in period clothing, as well, and as everywhere else, they spoke flawless English. We had lunch in one of the restaurants, and let's just say they do a better job with history than with food. After several hours in Skansen, we went to Junibacken, also on Djurgården.  It is a children's museum Denise wanted to visit because of its association with Astrid Lindgren, the author of the Pippi Longstocking books.  Her work is celebrated through much of the museum and bookstore.  The museum was opened by the Swedish royal family in 1996.  We got in for free because we were too late for the Story Train, which is the main attraction.  It was all very cute, and made us wish for the presence of grandkids. From the museum, we walked back to our hotel.  I think we must have walked 8 or 10 miles today.  At least, that's what my feet told me.  At that point, it was time for dinner, to we trudged back to Gamla Stan, the old town (that's the meaning of its name), and found a nice restaurant where Denise had a lovely filet of beef, and I had salmon.  Denise's meal had scalloped potatoes that would make you cry, they were so good.  Our meal made up for the not-so-good lunch. We returned to our room with the intention of watching some of the Olympics.  However, Denise is sacked already, and I'm about to be.  Tomorrow, we intend to see the Vasa Museum.  It's all about a ship that was sunk in 1628 on its maiden voyage, and was salvaged in 1961, then restored to its original glory.  It was a royal ship, and 95% of the current ship is original.  Apparently, there is something about the waters in the Baltic that keep wood from rotting.  Now, one might question the wisdom of touring a shipwreck the day before boarding a cruise ship, but we just won't go there.... Good night.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Baltic Cruise Day 1: Arriving in Stockholm

We left Phoenix yesterday morning, and flew to Newark, NJ. Landed this morning about 7:15 AM at the Stockholm airport, and took a train to downtown, about 30 miles away. They have the train thing down--there is free wi-fi on the train for the whole trip, and the cost was minimal. We both thought the countryside looked like Missouri, all green with trees and farms alongs the tracks. Make that Missouri with pine trees. Everyone we've met so far has been very helpful, and just about everyone speaks English. We have not been to a single shop in which the salespeople or the wait staff don't speak flawless English. And so far, when I hear them speak Swedish, I don't think of the chef on Sesame Street. After we dropped our bags at the hotel, we took a walk. Realize it was about 9 AM on Sunday, so not much was open. Near our hotel there was a flea market in a small square. It looked like every other flea market we've ever seen, except most of them in Arizona don't have stuffed otters and other wildlife available for purchase. We headed toward the embassy area of Stockholm. We didn't see the American embassy, but we walked by the Egyptian embassy, and that of Israel. Anyhow, we kept going until we reached our goal, the English-speaking Anglican church. The sermon this morning was given by a guest pastor, who is Scottish, and is a pastor in the Church of Sweden. She said she was a little confused herself this morning. She spoke from Matthew's gospel, the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. It's nice to go to church in different places now and then, I think. After the service, we walked along the docks and shore, until we got to a restaurant, where we had Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, and salad. One meal was plenty for both of us. Then, we boarded a tour bus, the double-decker open-top variety. Whenever we go to a new city, we like to get these bus tours early in the trip, so we can find out what we want to come back and see. Stockholm is a city of about 1.9 million people, including the suburbs. It is built on about 14 islands, so you are never far from the water. I know these things because I read them before we arrived. Unfortunately, the moment I sat down on the bus, I rested in the arms of jet lag, thus missing everything the guide said. Our tickets are good for tomorrow, so we'll try again. After a nice nap in our hotel room, we headed out again. A note about our room. It is large by Scandinavian standards. We can open both suitcases, although we had to relocate some if the furniture for that. There is a window, which helps to avoid claustrophobia. All the furniture, both our hotel and everywhere else, helps us to understand Ikea. After the nap, we headed for Gamla Stan, or Old Town. The Swedish Parliament and the Palace are located on this tiny island, and it has become a destination for tourists, as it has very narrow streets and very old buildings, along with a great number of shops and restaurants. Think of Scottsdale, older and speaking Swedish, with water. Okay, don't think of that. Never mind. Many of the doorways we saw had inscriptions above them with the dates the building were constructed, and most were in the 1600's. Coming from Arizona, where an old building might be 50 years old, the antiquity of these buildings just boggles my mind. We stopped for dinner in a very busy steakhouse, and ate outside. Denise had salmon with tiny shrimp and mashed potatoes, and I had a cheeseburger. All haute cuisine for us, don't you know. The food here so far has been good, but it is quite expensive. Our dinner with tip was over 700 SEK, about $100. Ouch. It was nice, but not that nice. We haven't decided yet whether to eat at the most intriguing restaurant we've seen: the Taco Bar. There are quite a few of them, all subtitled "A Small Piece of Mexico." I'm thinking, "Maybe not." We might be able to resist their charms. Well, time for bed. The rain is pattering outside, and it is cold outside, but warm in our tiny room. I think I'll sleep well.