Stockholm

We arrived yesterday after a 12 hour cruise aboard the Viking Line from Turku and, not having much experience with cruises I was very pleasantly surprised. Didn't think cruises were going to be my kind of thing but now we're looking forward to more, especially the Hurtigruten down the Norwegian coast near the end of our trip.

Not our boat. It's going the wrong way. Ours looked the same though.

Definitely not our ship. This one belongs to Silja Line but it's got giraffes on it and that means Sue needs a photo.

We read our Kindles for a while (I'm chugging through Tolstoy's War and Peace and Sue has just finished a novel based in St Petersburg), dozed off for a while and had a sumptuous buffet on board. Raced up to the sun deck a couple of times when the scenery demanded. 

Typical archipelago scenery

Ditto

It seems to take for ever to get clear of the Turku Archipelago and reach open water. Stopped briefly at Åland where we had wanted a stopover but couldn't get any accommodation because there was a kiddies football carnival on. (Shouldn't they be at home watching the world cup??)  Before we knew it we were gliding into the Viking Line's terminal in Stockholm and wondering how to get to our next AirBnB accommodation. Lisa, our host gave us some instructions but a taxi was easier.

Coming into Stockholm

Stockholm Harbour. Can you see the giraffe disguised to look like a shipping container crane?

Lisa's apartment is bang in the middle of Stockholm on Sodermalm Island, which makes it very handy for walking to some places and also close to the metro. It's a Bohemian area with lots of students and arty types, plenty of little cafés, bars and restaurants. 

Gives you an idea of how Stockholm is made up of so many islands.

A young couple who just happened to be heading out the front door as we did were only too happy to chat and show us around, pointing out bus routes, metro stations, eating spots, the supermarket and, of course the grog shop. In Sweden there is only one chain of grog shops, the Government run System Bolaget, with limited trading hours and a predetermined range of stock. Yes, Australian wine is available. Prominently displayed in one litre milk-container like cardboard cartons is "Aussie" and I noted there was even a choice of two styles: "Kangarouge" (a marketing coupe de grace) and "Flamingo Blush" (very puzzling, perhaps Budgie Blush would be more appropriate). 

We caught up with Magnus, an old family friend who, as a schoolboy, stayed with Sue's sister Heather and family as an exchange student many years ago. He now has a family of his own and, despite being packed and ready to drive 560kms  over to Gothenburg for midsummer, took the day off to pick us up, show us the sights and have lunch. Traditional midsummer fare includes pickled herrings (several different ways) and schnapps. What else!

Sue and Magnus

Love all those spires along the rooftops but hard to get a shot without tram lines overhead.

The Nordiska (Nordic) Museum

A must-see attraction in Stockholm is the Vasa Museum. Vasa means "wheat" which was a feature of the then Swedish royal family's coat of arms. Built to be the star of King Gustav Adolf's Navy the Vasa sank 100m into her maiden voyage in 1621 (and without an iceberg in sight). There were lots of excuses but essentially she was too top heavy and too narrow. Fortunately the Dutchman who designed and built her escaped severe embarrassment by dying before she was completed. She sank straight down, sitting on her keel, masts out of the water until they were cut off below the water line. Then she was forgotten about for over 300 years until rediscovered and salvaged in 1961. She is the only example of a 17th century ship in such good order.

The Vasa

The figures along (both sides) of the bow are all Roman emperors (nineteen in total). Only Augustus was not represented as it would not do to have arguably a greater man on board than the King of Sweden himself.

Just across the small bridge below our apartment is Langholmen island, a formal penal settlement. A stroll around this now sparsely populated little island revealed lovely little homes and cottage gardens. Quite a surprise in this big city.

Quaint cottage on Langholmen island.

Ditto. A little bit of country in the middle of the city

So with Magnus having departed with his family for the west we took a long walk to the City Hall, the venue for Nobel Prize dinners. Great views from one of the many inter-island bridges but even better from the top of the city hall tower.

We kept seeing these campers going round the corner beneath our apartment. So this is where they were headed. A camper park bang in the middle of Stockholm

Inside City Hall. The 'Blue Room' in fact. The Italian architect said he wanted blue but the Swedes said 'No, we want plain brick colour!' This hall is the venue for the post Nobel Prize Award dinner. 1300 sq meters and 1300 guests for dinner. Nobel Laureates and the royal family have 70 centimetres each whereas the plebs get only 60 cm. Hmmm, not so squeezy!

The Golden Hall. We were surprised and delighted to see the whole interior surface covered with tiny mosaic tiles, as in the St.Petersburg cathedrals. The mosaics depict scenes from Swedish history, various saints etc. Hard to get the pics I wanted as guided tour group leaders kept moving us along.

The Lady of the Lake, a prominent character of swedish folklore.

Great views from the city hall tower. Riddar Holmen island in the left foreground, has a beautiful church, the tower of which bears some resemblance to the Eiffel tower.

We walked to city hall tower from our apartment way back in the top left of the picture.

Closer view of Riddar Holmen and Gamla Stan islands. The latter is the site of the old town and the Royal Palace.

Back at ground level

The Riddar Holmen church

Wandering around the old town, looking for somewhere to eat lunch. Where's all the people?

Just round the corner and here they are.

This is the square in front of the (closed for midsummer public holiday) Nobel Museum, in the old town. Beautiful colours.

Singing for their supper.

The Royal Canal boat tour was highly recommended and with perfect weather it did not disappoint.

The address one must have if one is a mega wealthy ex tennis player or rockstar is Strandvagen. 

New high density living replaces old dockyard facilities, much the same as in Sydney and Melbourne

There's that giraffe again in case you couldn't see it before. It sits alongside the dry dock where the Vasa was placed after refloating.

Stockholm's Luna park precinct. Swedes claim it as the oldest amusement park in the world. We'll let you be the judge of that.

This three masted former sailing ship at the end of Strandvagen is now a fully restored, upmarket Youth Hostel. We didn't stay there.

And to finish this post, we thought we'd share some of the funny signs that tickled our fancy. 

'nuff said!

Outside an Apple repair shop. Very clever.

Not a sign really but a neat box for storing everything that would otherwise go under 'M' for miscellaneous!

Um, don't get this one. There's another one with two little peeled potato kids as well.

You don't say!

The Swedes do have a sense of humour. More to come later...

Turku and Turku Archipelago

Turku (Abo in Swedish)

From Helsinki we caught the (moderately) fast train from the main station, the one with the Jugendstil statues out front. Hardly another soul on the train although a few did get on later. Still had lots of room to stash our luggage. Two hours later we arrived in Turku and set off by foot to find the hotel. Only about 1.5km from the station so it was pretty easy. Our bikes were waiting for us downstairs along with panniers and helmets. We rearranged our gear into the panniers, hoping we'd packed enough to cover unexpected weather before heading for a look around the town.

As the old capital it has quite a bit to see and there was a nice little pub/eatery precinct down on the river. A few old ships have been converted to floating restaurants. Spotted a nice little bar in the sun and their burgers looked great. Seventy five bucks later for two burgers and two beers, we decided to call it an early night. The chips were awesome though! Bright and early next day we saddled up and rode off toward Nauvo.

Turku Archipelago Cycle

A quick look at the route. Day 1: 50 plus km from Turku to Vastegard. Day 2: about 48km from Vastergard (via Nauvo) to Naantali. Day 3: Naantali back to Turku.

Our three day cycle route in the Turku Archipelago

Leaving Turku

Tick! We just got back from three days in the saddle touring around a small part of the thousand island archipelago of Turku. Definitely Worthwhile. Wish I’d taken some knicks as my bum now knows exactly where the undies seams are. Oversized ‘comfy’ saddles are a misnomer. They are not comfy. Still, it was fun and the scenery was beautiful. We departed Turku on Sunday morning for the 60km ride to Nauvo (Nagu in Swedish). Great bike paths here keep you away from the traffic for much of the route but we did rejoin the main road in a few places for the many bridges and at a couple of ferry crossings. It's hard to appreciate that you are in the middle of an archipelago until you get on a ferry, otherwise it seems as if you are just crossing bridges over rivers and the land is all connected.

Typical view from one of the many bridges

Stopped at a lovely little cafe which was once an old sailor's cottage dating from the late 1700s.

Blazingly red geraniums

Lovely quiet bike paths

On a ferry

Koff beer!

Greeeeeen!

Large outhouse or small barn?

 Sunday night we stayed at a B&B called Vastergard, run by Tom, the guy who hired the bikes. A well earned couple of beers at the end of the ride was followed by a walk around the local area. Spuds and wheat are in abundance as the Finns make the most of a short growing season so every spare bit of flat ground has some sort of crop planted, adding an incredible emerald green tint to the entire landscape. Tom cooked up a delicious meal for us (and the other four folk staying the night) before we collapsed into comfortable beds. The eternal light did not keep us awake that night.

More crops

More beer

A little stroll around B & B Vastergard before dinner

Our B & B at Vastergard. Note the bike loft. I counted over 50 bikes.

Day two was to be a bit easier, on paper at least. Only 49 km but a block headwind all the way and dropping temperatures added to the challenge. Then there were quite a few hills and, of course, the heavy bikes with their’comfy’ saddles and funny upright seating. I did find myself day-dreaming about the Merlin back home with it clip in pedals. 

Waiting for the ferry at Nauvo

Open wide!

Nauvo recedes into the distance as the M/V Ostern takes us to the next island

Seili Island has an old wooden church and was once a leper colony. The last leper died in 1785 so it became a lunatic asylum (as they were called back then). Sadly, not enough time to leave the boat for a good look.

Another stunning view from a bridge en route between Nauvo and Naantali. Blue waters, green forests, red buildings and white swans. What more could you want?

At the end of the second day's ride we stayed at a lovely little town called Naantali, the capital of summer holiday destinations. Many folk sail their yachts here for the weekend, tie up then head for the sauna inside the Tourist Information Centre. We got somewhat lost looking for our hotel as we rode around around the old town with its quaint painted wooden buildings and narrow alleyways.

Finally, a well earned shower and then a stroll around town for some photos. We enjoyed a seafood buffet and live music that is popular with the locals. At 8pm the traditional evening Vespers was sounded from the clock tower of the cathedral. It’s a tradition going back more than 100 years.

Naantali's old church, built in the 1400s.

The old town at Naantali

Ditto

Ditto again

View across the Naantali marina to the old church

Just before this morning's ride and it was getting cold and windy. Apparently snow is falling somewhere else in Finland

Day three’s ride was a short trip back to Turku. Much colder and even a few spots of rain. Soon it warmed up though and the waterproof gear was put away. A tailwind also blew us along at a much more respectable clip. Perhaps we'll avoid the burgers tonight.

Koff goes with pizza

Tomorrow it's off to the port bright and early to catch the M/S Amorella for the 12 hour trip to Stockholm, where we stay for 4 days.

Until next time...