All of us wanted to get an overview of Stockholm as an urban center made up of many islands connected by bridges and ferries, and one way to do that was on the 2 1/2 hour boat cruise through some of main channels. In theory, this “cruise” made sense, but in practice – while we did see a few of the picturesque vistas and grand houses that line the shores of some of the islands – the boat was very overbooked. On what was a generally sunny, warm day, people who arrived early to board got the far-too-few seats that lined the outside rim of the boat, and the rest of us were either relegated to the innards of the boat either standing or sitting – looking through windows if we were lucky – or resigned to sit and eat inside and bag the view altogether. We made the choice initially to stand wherever we could, squeezed in nooks and crannies in order to not block the view of the seated chosen ones. Fortunately as the tour moved on some seats did open up. I did not give the tour a good review…
All that aside, the archipelago is quite beautiful. Each of the main islands seems to have a little of its own unique character – and with an extensive local ferry system it does make it pretty easy for locals to move about for commuting either by land bridges or by these water taxis. We could see that some waterfront areas are definitely getting developed with higher rise office buildings and condo complexes, but there are also some majestic old hotels and aged factories dotting the coastline.
After the cruise, we parted ways with the younger set who went on to explore some clubs and check out the scene in downtown Stockholm. We instead went to the home of a new friend…On the flight from Munich to Stockholm when we were arriving for this trip, Andrew sat next to a very loquacious German man, Christian, who definitely could rival Andrew in being open, warm and inquisitive! It was a bromance at first chat. By the end of that short flight, Christian had invited us to visit him and his family once settled in our exchange home – and so we did. Christian and his wife, Maria were delightful company. They have two young daughters who were quite shy but we were clued in to bring with us some “sweets” and that seemed to break the ice and a bit of the language barrier. They live in a lovely suburb of Stockholm in a condo complex that looks industrial from the outside and super Swedish modern on the inside.
We took a walk down to a lookout spot near their home and a lively marina area that we hope to revisit before going back to the US.
We walked through an apparently very famous old hotel in the area where well-known celebrities have stayed.
We got along so well that I hope they will come stay with us in Carlsbad so we can return their hospitality!
Until next time….
Esther
Living La Vida Loca 