Friday, May 20, 2016

A Wonderful day in the Stockholm Archipelago City of Vaxholm


Friday, 20 May, 2016:

Since there is no American football today, then it must be . . .
TRAVEL FRIDAY!!!

First up was the a ride on the 565 bus to the heart of Stockholm.

My initial goal was Stockholm's Strömgatan waterfront area with a walk through . . .

. . . Kungsträdgården

Charles XIII
King of Sweden and Norway

 Lion Protecting the King

 Good Profile

 The Three Crowns of Sweden

She's got an Allé named after her?

 Her Allé is Green

Why is this man smiling?

Once at the waterfront, I found the boat that would whisk me off 20 miles into the Stockholm Archipelago.

My Craft Awaits

Laurie and I first sailed through this Archipelago back in 2010 on a cruise ship from Stockholm headed to Tallinn, Estonia and St. Petersburg, Russia.

There are approximately 24,000 absolutely gorgeous islands in the Archipelago, so I was excited to revisit at least a part of the island system.

The boat ride, courtesy of the
Waxholmsbolaget Line, was GREAT

We were headed to Vaxholm about a
third of the way into the Archipelago

On our mini-cruise, we would pass many interesting sights.

 The Gröna Lund Tivoli
Amusement Park

The af Chapman is now a Hostel

Stockholm in our wake

An old Windmill without blades?

Island homes

Quaint Bath House

The Ferry from Tallinn, Estonia 

Finally, we arrived in Vaxholm on the island of Vaxön.

The Vaxholm Fortress

King Gustav Vasa ordered this fortress to be built in 1544 to protect Stockholm from invaders. The Danes were repelled in 1612 and the Russians were turned back in 1719.

 Laurie's Dad Bill would have
turned 90 yesterday

He was always extremely proud of his service in the Crescenta-Cañada Rotary Club in California. 

 The tower of Vaxholm's City Hall

Vaxholm's Crest

Vaxholm's City Council Chambers

Ceiling Art in the Council Chambers

Great Gavel

 A small fishermen's village

AWESOME!

Boats everywhere you look

I don't know if I'd drink
milk from these cans

 Spring

The Archipelago is soothing

Nice House 

I think that this style of home
architecture is called Fiskarebostad

Relaxing

Quaint

Quaint plus

Time for the quick ferry ride
to the Fortress

Bird Pooped Cannon

View of Vaxholm from
the Fortress island

 Come on you Russians,
I DARE YOU!

 The WC's hearts was a nice touch

People live in the Fortress

Strike Up the Band!

Old Sea Mines

The Fortress' Inner Courtyard

Blue Wheels are Good

Good Luck sneaking
past the Fortress

 Helmet without a Soldier

Mortar

FIRE!!! 

The Military History of the Fortress
lies within these walls

I just liked it

 Soldier from King Gustav Vasa's
day would be my guess

Captain Morgan was Swedish?

Who knew?

 Museum Cannon

Not sure why these are in
a Military Museum
  
A Swedish Soldier
holding off the Russians

It takes a village to fire a cannon

Nautical Instrument of some sort

Strange looking weapon made in 1893

 Wait, is that Miami Dolphins
OT Laremy Tunsil?

Communications Device

Big Old Boat

I like decorated bikes

 The things you see for sale
in beautiful downtown Vaxholm

What a great, great day on this beautiful little island but it was time to head home on another Waxholmsbolaget ferry which would need an hour to get us safely back to Stockholm.

We docked in front of
Stockholm's Grand Hotel

I was still feeling good, so a stroll through the Gamla Stan district was called for.

 It's Good to be the King!

 The sunny weather brought out the
people of Stockholm on a Friday night

 A Naked Man and a Mermaid

Why not?

Some Stockholm streets
are quite narrow

Great Beard

Not easily impressed

Church spires dominate the
Stockholm skyline

 Old Chair in a coffee house

Stockholm Bloodbath Building
on the left

The old blue chair is from the coffee house on the ground floor of the Bloodbath Building.

Kungliga Slott
The Royal Palace

Another Church Spire

I liked the shadow effect

Water by the Parliament Building

A fönster is a window
  
Damn!
I'll miss the Bollywood Dancing
in Stockholm tomorrow

But only because of the FANTASTIC
Warriors Spring Party

The day will include games by all three of the Warriors squads, U11, U13 and U15.

I'm not sure how accurate the step counting app on my iPhone actually is, but according to it, I took 24,222 steps today in walking 10.93 miles/17.6 km and climbing 11 flights of stairs.

WOW!

No wonder that I'm a bit tired tonight.

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