Sunday, June 20, 2010

One more day in Stockholm and the Vassa


Here's where we ate in Old Town, a very quaint little alley way.

I forgot to tell you about our flight. Interesting. We flew on Lufthansa and our initial flight was delayed almost an hour because the runway was too hot. Then, when we got ready to land in Frankfurt, the plane touched down and imediately went back into the air again for a second approach. Pilot claimed windshear problems. Scary.Okay, so a little more on the hotel.  Security is very tight. We had to use our room key to make the elevator work. We also had to use the room key to make the electricity work. Now, that's a really novel idea, one our hotels in the states should adopt as it forces you to conserve energy. Can't leave without that key so naturally, the lights all get turned off when you're not in the room.

 
The next day, our guide Frits (I think I spelled it wrong in an earlier post - oops) took us to see Drottingholm Palace, a former Royal summer residence. It was supposedly built in a day for the queen's birthday, but it's very oriental in decor. 










Afterwards, Frits arranged to drop us off at Old Town again so we could take the ferry to another island to enjoy the Vassa Museum. I do believe that seeing the Vassa and the drive through Norway was my favorite part of the trip. The museum is home to a 17th century sailing vessel that sank shortly after her maiden voyage. The warship was incredibly ornate, designed to strike fear in the enemy. Too bad the designers failed to add enough ballast.

Mom and I walked the entire way back to the hotel, which turned out to be a bit longer than we expected but it really allowed us to see a lot of Stockholm.

3 comments:

Linda LaRoque said...

I think I would have enjoyed seeing the sailing vessel also. Interesting about the hotel. I hope you have pictures as I'd like to see it too. Love the colorful streets.

Ciara Gold said...

Hey Linda, I took tons of pics of the sailing vessel including all the info blurbs they had posted everywhere. I figured I'd add those to my research stash.

Linda LaRoque said...

Great idea on pictures of the posters. I wondered if this was a research trip.