Good morning Stockholm! Aug.13 and 14, 2017

Sunday morning...
We  arrived in Stockholm and were eager to get to the ship so we could get  back into town and explore Stockholm on our own.

The transfers we purchased included a driver to pick us up but unfortunately the driver was no where in sight:(  We waited... then called and they said it would only be a few minutes so waited and called again...over one hour later he showed up.  We usually take the ship's transfers or jump in a cab but this time thought we would try another way.  We did save some money but I don't think we would do it again.  The ship's transfer system is dedicated to just that - getting you to the ship.
We checked in quickly and back to town we went -330 Kronas for a cab to the old town. This is the land of swedish meatballs, Ikea, Pippi Longstocking, ABBA, Volvo, H&M and let's not forget Stieg Larsson, the author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!

It was a little cool and rainy but we had fun walking through the old town- our destination - the Photography Museum on the waterfront , where the Irving Penn exhibit was on - Resonance-Photographs from the Pinault Collection, and it was fabulous.

24- hour room service was perfect for our late return to the ship and because the ship stayed overnight we didn't have to worry about getting back in time for sailing.

Stockholm’s old town and cobblestone streets look straight out of a fairytale. We took a tour "Land and Sea" and enjoyed the different perspectives.

Monday...
Here are some pics from our day

Like a fairytale...

Some fun facts

• Stockholm was built on 14 islands, connected by 57 bridges, earning the Swedish capital the nickname "Beauty on the Water."
• This waterfront capital has as little as six hours of daylight in the winters and as much as 18 hours of sun in the summers!
• The Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine and literature have been awarded every year in Stockholm.  As for the Nobel Peace Prize? That honor is bestowed in another Scandinavian capital: Oslo.
• If a local invites you to join him or her for a fika, they're really just asking you if you'd like to take a coffee break. (Usually there's also some kind of pastry involved.) This is particularly interesting for us at TTAND support since we have a Fika Program!
• Sweden’s national treasure, the global furniture chain IKEA, boasts a huge store but there is a larger one  that opened in 2014 in South Korea’s Gwangmyeong. 
• Sweden’s literacy rate is 99 percent, so it’s no surprise more than 4 million books are borrowed from Stockholm’s libraries 
• Swedish commuters love their bikes: approximately 70,000 cyclists cross Stockholm’s city borders daily. 
• Mamma Mia: Stockholm has an entire museum dedicated to ABBA. While visitors can get a glimpse at some of the 1970s band’s gold records, wardrobe pieces, and gadgets, the true goal of the museum is to let you “experience the feeling of being the fifth member of ABBA,” by trying on clothes, singing in the Polar studios, and even channeling your inner dancing queen by getting on stage with holograms of the band.

Next stop Helsinki, Finland

Until tomorrow...
Penny
xxx