STOCKHOLM

Eurodam winds its way in the early morning through the Stockholm Fjord among the many islands that make up this archipelago. The planned commentary of this journey has been cancelled as the weather has turned grey and cold with light rain making for a miserable picture. We have another tour with Alla Tours planned for midday to late afternoon and hope for a break in the conditions.

But we are disappointed and hop aboard the tour bus with 15 others and a guide amid drizzling, misting rain. We travel along the embankment fronting the old wharf area which has been transformed into Art Deco expensive apartment living and on by the large fresh water lake that supplies all of Stockholm's drinking water. The city of Stockholm is built across a number of islands and we drive to a lookout for that panoramic, splendid view of the city. But of course it is shrouded in a grey mist.

We then remove our rain gear, re-board the coach and travel to the Royal Palace with its State Apartments, the Crown Jewels (which were not shared with us), the Hall of State, the Royal Armoury and the Palace Museum. There is an impressive changing of the guard as we hear the clip-clopping of hooves of a cavalry of some twenty mounted soldiers make their way into the palace square to relieve their colleagues for the next shift of guard duty. They look very smart in their blue uniforms and gleaming silver helmets with a very serious rifle slung across their chests.

VASA MUSEUM

The misty rain continues to make conditions unpleasant but not unbearable; however our guide makes an executive decision to change the sequence of our tour and drive immediately to the Vasa Museum which of course is all under cover. This is the home of the Royal Warship Vasa, built for King Augustus Adolphus of Sweden in record time between 1626 and 1628. It was the mightiest warship in the Swedish fleet, intended to strike fear into the hearts of enemies. Against the advice of the ship's engineers, the King insisted on a double deck of cannons to protrude from each side of the ship. When it was launched a gust of wind caused the ship to rock and become unstable, swinging like a pendulum. Water rushed in through the cannon portholes, the ship was righted by this ballast and then slowly sank within 20 minutes with the masts just protruding above the surface of the water. A very embarrassing maiden voyage for the King's armament of terror. 

Divers were sent down to retrieve the cannons and the masts were removed. But the ship remained under the Baltic Sea for a further 333 years before a search was conducted, the Vasa found, and carefully retrieved in 1961 from its resting place still upright on the sea floor. Had the wreck lain in salt water it would have been destroyed by sea worms over the decades. Because the Baltic is brackish in nature from the amount of fresh water that enters the sea, the timbers remained largely preserved. In fact, 98 percent of the Vasa now restored within the museum is comprised of the original materials and any new materials are shown in a different colour. It is indeed a mighty ship splendidly adorned with hundreds of sculptures.

We conclude with a walking tour of Stockholm's historical centre, Gamla Stan, The Old Town, which is located across three islands. The largest island is Stadsholmen on which Stockholm was founded in 1252. It is an amazingly well-preserved 13th Century town and one of the largest preserved medieval centres in Europe. Gamla Stan is a charming picture book of narrow winding cobblestone streets and medieval alleyways. For a time, the mist begins to lift and our guide recounts the history of The Old Town as we pick our way across shiny stone pathways polished by the feet of centuries and glistening from the morning rain. (The next day we hear that someone slipped and broke an arm on one of these tours in the Old Town and spent the night in hospital.)

And so we end our first day in Stockholm a little disappointed that the inclement weather will leave us with a diminished appreciation of this city of 2.2 million. There are 100 Art Galleries and 70 museums so there is plenty to see. Stockholm is known as the longest Art Gallery. It is the home of Eriksen and H & M.

Day two in Stockholm dawns with more promise but still heavy cloud shrouds the city. Had it been clear we would have taken a tour to Drottingham Castle and Gardens. After a bit of indecision unsure what the weather will do, we have a short walk around the port area and decide to spend a quiet day on the ship. M decides on a spa on deck nine and I sit under the umbrellas to watch the passing parade. But now there is sunshine and we should get a pleasant passage down the Stockholm Fjord.

The ferry boat that services the many islands in the fjord

At dinner last night we are at a table for six and a trio of Swedish musicians wandered among the tables playing to the diners. A nice touch. Soon or later, I guess, you strike a set of table mates whom you find less than interesting. There are two elderly ladies from New Jersey (north of New York) who are widows and are travelling together. They each immediately ordered Southern Comfort on ice which gave promise of an interesting evening but that I'm afraid was the highlight. Probably in their late seventies or early eighties they represented the quintessential wealthy American grand dames with jewellery adornments typical of that age and class and intent on spending their late husband's inheritance. One had ten grandchildren and one just five and they each still lived in the large family homes where they raised their children. I'm not sure if they have ever really heard of Australia and could not contemplate a visit- much too far away. 

One of the ladies has two very large dogs with a strange name I had not heard before but of the size of a Great Dane. They sit on each side of her at breakfast and are fed toast. One has a habit of putting his nose under her arm then throwing it up so her arm goes around him. Oh, they are such fun! The other has a house with thirteen bedrooms and five bathrooms. She's the one with ten grandchildren. But they were pleasant people of course. The other two Americans were perhaps late fifties and quite odd. She was of Chinese origin but had lived in America for thirty years. Her accent was very thick however and difficult to understand at times although she gave you plenty of opportunity as she never stopped talking (quite loudly). Poor Scott, the partner, couldn't get a word in edgewise even when M asked him a question, she answered for him and when he did speak it was somewhat obscure. We never did find out what either of them did or where they lived in the U.S. I was too busy with the dowagers, anyway. The rather large Chinese/American clearly loved her food. She noted that M had enjoyed her lamb cutlets and, after finishing her meal, ordered some for herself which she quickly demolished. We were pleased when they got up to go to the movie (The Diviner) being shown in the Theatre.

The sail-away down the Stockholm Fjord among the hundreds of islands has been spectacular in bright afternoon sunshine. Many of the islands have quite substantial homes built on them. Obviously transport is by boat and a ferry runs between the islands. If you want to catch the ferry you hang out a flag on your pier. Cruise ships can only travel this route in daylight. Its entrance is very narrow and on one side is guarded by a modern defensive facility. On the other there still stands the fortifications used in medieval times to prevent ships entering.