7th Port - Stockholm, Sweden

July 16 – Stockholm, Sweden

Today was partly cloudy with a little rain and only a short time in port, about 5 ½ hours.  Definitely not enough time to see very much.  We took the Hop On Hop Off boat tour from the ship to our first stop, which was the Vasa Museum.  The museum has the masts of the Vasa extending through the roof.  The Vasa is the oldest fully preserved ship in the world.  It is a 17^th century warship that was one of the largest (69 meters long) and most heavily armed warships of its time.  The ship sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 after only traveling less than a nautical mile (2000) meters from the dock.  The ship was built top heavy without adequate ballast.  The ship was not found until 1956 and salvaged in 1961.  1000’s of artifacts were found with the Vasa.  The wood carvings on the ship were fantastic. 

Vasa model

We then went on an Under the Bridges Boat Tour of Stockholm which gave us a little history of the city.  The tour goes under 15 bridges and through two locks.  Someone who lives in Stockholm recommended the tour to a couple we met on the ship.  We passed the Stockholm city hall, where the Nobel Prize banquet is held.  The tour was OK, but looking back it would have been better to spend the time walking around Stockholm or taking one of the ships tours. 

City Hall

Royal Palace

After our tour it only left about an hour and a half, so first things first, find a local beer.  On our beer search, we passed the Royal Palace where the changing of the guards was getting ready to take place.  This palace has 608 rooms and is on the waterfront and was built in the 18^th century.  The palace is still used today for state occasions.   So do we watch the changing of the guards or stop for a beer?  We stopped for a beer.   We walked a bit through Gamla Stan, the old town.  We wished we had more time in Stockholm today since we didn’t get to see too much. 

After getting back to the boat, we had lunch with a US couple now living outside Frankfort.   We had a wine tasting.  We tasted 5 different wines.  They were OK.  Jay got to drink most of my wine.  We had a dessert wine that was served in shot glasses, that we could keep, with different Princess logos on them.

Tonight was another Formal night.  After dinner we changed to more casual clothes and went to “The Newly Wed, not so Newly Wed Gameshow” at one of the clubs.  There was a newlywed couple, one married about 27 years and the last couple, from Texas, was married over 50 years.  This show was one of the best entertaining shows on the ship.  The couple from Texas was hilarious.