Cruise Adventures continued

 

The next ports of call on our cruise—Stockholm and Helsinki, Finland 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden with a population of over 2 million in the city and surrounding area.  Founded in 1200 or so, it’s an old city with a great history and presence today, among the leaders of Scandinavian countries in commerce and progress.  Sweden has a democratically elected governing body as well as a monarchy.   It tends to be a socially democratic country, providing free education and other social services to its population.  This is possible as Sweden (and other countries as well) tends to be homogenous in composition (although not entirely) and small in population.  Certainly Stockholm is a leader in industry and commerce, so this form of government has not prohibited the human tendency towards competition in any way.  Many Swedish speak English along with other languages and their native tongue.

Extremely ‘green’ and ‘clean’, Stockholm provides educational opportunities for individuals from other countries to learn how to control pollution and encourage a healthy environment.  Stockholm is composed of 14 islands and Sweden has a total of about 2400!  Cruising into this port was just beautiful.

  Wait a minute!  This man isn’t Swedish!  He’s Irish!   A fellow traveler, no doubt………..

  There he is again!  Keeps sneaking into my pictures!

It was rainy and we needed a  bite to eat, so we ducked into a restaurant.  The proprietor said, “Come in!  There is plenty of room downstairs.”  So we came in——-to a restaurant the size of my closet.   “Downstairs” involved going down an open spiral, metal stairway with steps approximately 4 inches wide.  When we got ‘downstairs’ we saw this:

  This is an old door leaning against the wall.  In front, a lit candelabra.  There were exactly three electric lights ‘downstairs’ and the rest of the light was supplemented with many lit candles. 

The poor waitress had to run up and down the spiral staircase to get drinks and food for the patrons who were seated either at long, large, rustic wooden table or in smaller wooden tables crowded into the space.   It was a CAVE!

But we all enjoyed a cup of coffee and some apple cake which was recommended by the waitress.  Returning outside, the rain had subsided.  Here I am, dressed as a Munchkin from the Wizard of Oz following the yellow  brick road—fully stuffed and fluffy with two shirts, fleece jacket and rain jacket over the top of that, pockets stuffed with necessary items so I had no purse, with my oh-so-stylish beret cap. 

I also had gloves, which I wore!  It was chilly.

If I’d had a cane and top hat, I would have launched into my Llama Song and dance.  Which would have not been appropriate, but then I was on vacation and who cares?  Maybe they would have cared?  I dunno…….

More in the next post………