Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm Waterfront

We arrived in Stockholm on Saturday, July 4, to partly cloudy skies and temps in the upper 60's --a refreshing break from the London ''heat wave'' of the low 80's. Stockholm is built on a series of 14 islands connected by 54 bridges. We're staying a short walk from Gamla Stan, the Old Town section where Stockholm was first settled.

Although it dates from before the 1500's, Stockholm is clean, orderly and ''runs like a Saab.'' With it's wide streets, numerous parks and vast public spaces, it doesn't feel crowded, even in the height of the tourist season.




We met up with our Rick Steves tour group on Sunday. The tourguide, Dave Fox, is an American who fell in love with Scandinavia as a high school exchange student in Norway. He went on to study linguistics as the University of Oslo, Norway, and has a healthy passion for the region. You can check out his website at: http://www.davethefox.com/

Royal Palace Courtyard

Royal Palace Guard

Stockholm Skyline


On our first day with the tour group, we took a walking tour through the new and old parts of the city. We visited the Vassa, a restored warship from the early 1600's when Sweden's navy was one of the largest in Europe. In fact, Sweden was such a military power that it controlled much of the eastern Baltic region including parts of Germany, Russia and Poland. Who knew the Swedes were so militaristic? All this time I thought they just drove around in their Volvos listening to ABBA tunes!

Stockholm Waterfront