Sweden? OK! 7/4/24

 

Maybe we don't have common sense and don't know when to quit, or perhaps we can pin it on wanderlust.  To us, it simply makes good sense:  Since we were already nine time zones from home, why not add another destination?  And so we did (without it adding significantly to the overall cost of the trip).  We flew from Kirkenes, Norway (top o' the world!) to Oslo (terrible airport), and then another one-hour flight to Stockholm, Sweden.  Still nine time zones away.

We hopped on the Arlanda Express train from the airport to Stockholm's central station, which was a pretty neat ride, with its top speed of 187km/h, almost 120 mph!  Woohoo.  I knew our hotel was centrally located and not far, so we dragged those danged suitcases over cobblestones again (at least some of the way) and eventually found our digs.

Hi Jimmy (red x)!  In front of the huge Riddarholmen Church (taken the next day).  But our hotel is directly behind this church.  We were impressed with the city; Stockholm is clean and beautiful.

When Stockholm was firmly in the works, I mentioned it to our Swedish friend, Annika.  She told us of a yacht in the heart of the city, now a hotel: Mälarrottningen.  Long story short, we booked a room here for three nights, enough time, we thought, to explore the city.  Built in 1924, it was later purchased by Woolworth millionaire Frank W. Hutton, who gave the ship to his daughter Barbara as a present on her 18th birthday. (nice present!) "A movie star, Barbara lived an extravagant life among princes and movie stars and in the '40s she was married to Cary Grant."  So we called it Barbara Hutton's boat.  (Weronika's photo.)

Tiny cabin with bunk beds!  But it was doable and everything we needed, including a window.  Guess who slept on top?

What would Barbara Hutton say?  Get a room, you people!  This yacht is so big it has 61 cabins!

Small, serviceable, and the shower was great.

So, this is our third boat of the summer trip.  First we were on the Magnifique III for the boat/bike tour,  and we just finished up our Nordkapp cruise, and now we're "camping" on a moored boat right slap in the middle of Stockholm's Old Town.  Its only movement is when another boat's wake hits and then it'll gently rock a bit.  Neat-o!

We took this pic the next day, also, but I wanted to show you where we are, red checkmark.  We're parked on Lake Mälaren next to Riddarholmen, (that block of big buildings), which is actually a small islet that forms part of Gamla Stan, (Old Town).  See the giant black steeple of the church?  Using that as a guide, we always knew where we were.  Perfect location for us!