Stockholm - Steve Bloom, Under the Bridges & Gamla Stan

Our first stop was to view an outdoor wildlife photography exhibit by Steve Bloom. So many incredible animals, but our favorite was of an elephant swimming in the Andaman Sea.

Next we took an “Under the Bridges” sightseeing boat trip. Two locks separate freshwater Lake Malaren from the salty Baltic Sea. Stockholmers love to play in the water (we saw boaters, dock sunbathers, kayakers, summer homes, kids on plastic floats pulled behind motor boats) because you can swim without getting sick. Key sights included the Grand Hotel, National Museum, Wasamuseet, Light Ship, Skansen, Cranes painted to look like giraffes, City Hall and Riddarholmskyrkan (burial place for Swedish royalty).

After the boat tour, we walked to Gamla Stan. We passed a Royal Guard outside the Royal Palace. The view of the Great Church (Storkyrkan) is a famous landmark.

We visited the Nobel Museum that included a special exhibit of Winston Churchill's paintings. We came out of the museum to find a Blasmasters Big Band / Jazz (mix of teenagers and middleagers) concert in full play. Everyone was enjoying the fantastic music and weather. We admired the Great Square (Stortorget) Fountain from which all distances from Stockholm are measured and the golden organ pipes in the German Church (Tyska Kyrkan).

But even a mix of Chinese / Indian tea at Chaikhana did not give us enough energy to participate in the Stockholm late afternoon Half-Marathon event. It was back to the ship to relax and admire the archipelago on sail away.