Stunning Stockholm

We sailed through the Archipelago Sea in the middle of the night.  Somewhere around 2 am, we welcomed a Swedish captain on board our ship and had him navigate us through the largest island group in the world.  Because it is against the law for anyone other than a Swedish or Finnish captain to navigate such complicated waters if the boat is as large as ours.  I will take their word for it because I was not about to wake at 2:30 to watch the pitch black seas drift by.  But when I did awake - I was mesmerized.  There are so many tiny islands, each with a house or two, lined up on the water.  And each one was more incredible than the last.  The girls were as stunned as I was, and we sat for a good 1/2 hour, not speaking, just watching as the islands passed by.

Finally, we had to head up to breakfast and I took a quick picture of us pulling in to Stockholm.

We dragged ourselves away to fill our tummies, and get ready to head out into the streets.  It was a bright day (as you can see Stinkerbell has a tough time with bright days) and we were so happy to just wander around the sea front until we turned into the alley's of Stockholm's Gamla Stan (Old Town)

Bur first we did some cartwheels.  Because Stinkerbell does them every chance she gets.

Gamla Stan is where Stockholm was founded in 1252.  It is also one of the most well preserved of all European cities centers.  Walking its alleyways and cobblestones streets is almost like walking through an outdoor museum.  It has quaint stores hidden in between homes, and cafes around every corner, and attractions that you seem to just stumble upon.   We were there on a Sunday, before anyone was up, or anything was open, so we had the streets mostly to ourselves to just wander and explore.  Fabulous.

After winding our way around and through the city, we found ourselves outside of the Nobel Museum.  Though it was not open yet, and we weren't sure that it was something the girls would be very interested in, we did stop to marvel at the outside, and then play in the fountain out front.

The Royal Palace wasn't open yet, so we wandered back out of the square and over to Storkyrkan, or the Stockholm Cathedral.  Built some time in the 13th century (1279 is it's first notation in literature) it is the oldest church in Sweden and, for about 400 years, was the only church in Stockholm.  Obviously there are now many more churches around, but the Storkyrkan is still plays an important part in Swedish history as many of the Royal family have been married within it's halls (most recently Crown Princess Victoria in 2010).

The royal boxes that dominate on each side of the aisle.

Outside we found these fun telephone boxes.  They don't work, but they were fun to hide in...

It was just about time for the Royal Palace to open, so we took the short walk back through the courtyard.  About 5 minutes before the official opening, there is a changing of the guard ceremony.  Of course, we stayed to watch.

We were one of the first to enter for the day, so we got right to it.  Up the stairs and into one of the largest palaces in Europe (over 1,430 rooms.  We didn't have time to visit them all but we did get to see the Treasury (no photos), the Apartments and the Royal Chapel (where the Prince got married in June).

The Kings throne when receiving visitors.

This is a recreation of the dinner table that you would not be able to sit and eat at.  Yep, the King would invite you to dinner, and then make you stand around and watch him and his family eat.  For hours.  He would serve upwards of 32 different dishes while you had the honor of standing near.

This is the chapel the was most recently used for the marriage of Prince Carl Philip to Sofia Hellqvist on June 13, 2015.

And that was the last bit of our touring in Stockholm.  We decided to stop for a snack and shop for a few souvenirs.  It was a shame that our shortest day in port was Stockholm because there are so many places we still wanted to see.  I guess it just means that we will have to make a trip back.  Perhaps next summer we can rent one of those beautiful houses in the Archipelago (hint, hint).

We followed the little blue line back to the boat - literally,..

and looked forward to our last day at sea tomorrow.  Dreams of the pool, kids club and lots of ice cream dancing in our heads...