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On
Thursday, July 17th, the Noordam was docked in Stockholm,
Sweden. While there was a wide array of shore excursions
available, I decided to tour afoot on this particular day
again. The Noordam was docked across the Strömmen
from the city center of Stockholm and there were a few options
available on how one could get there. Upon disembarking the
ship, I had the customary photo taken by the ship's
photographers. In a very timely fashion, I managed to catch
a water taxi that was just about to head into the city center. |
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water taxi sailed to the city center by means of the Nybroviken
and it was fairly easy to navigate upon being dropped off.
According to my own logic on how I wanted to explore the city, I
decided to walk inward and begin at the Stureplan. The
Sturebadet was affected by a fire in 1985 and then was restored to
its 19th century glory thereafter. |
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After
having explored more of the distant areas of Stockholm, I decided
to move toward the city center itself. For the first time in
a long time, I had to admit that I had gotten lost off in the
outskirts of Stockholm but with the maps that I was carrying, I
was able to finally navigate myself toward the city center.
In a short amount of time, I was walking down Hamngatan and
Klarabergsgatan where a
lot of the major stores are located such as NK (Nordiska
Kompaniet) and Åhlens.
Eventually after having walked down Hamngatan enough I found
myself at SergelsTorg which is a large, open space where locals
and visitors pass through. |
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A
side street of Stockholm. |
Åhlens
Department Store. |
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| Finding
proper currency for each respective city did become an issue from
time to time. Prior to having flown to Europe from Seattle,
I was thinking that the Euro currency would alleviate most
challenges. It turned out that most countries that I visited
were not part of the Euro and I did need to find currency
exchange. The Noordam did offer currency exchange
services just off of the Front Office. In Stockholm, I
needed to go to the central train station where I found an ATM to
get currency. I then needed to find a currency exchange to
get my remaining money exchanged back prior to returning to the
ship. |
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After
having seen the central train station, I got the urge to take public
transportation to get to more of the surrounding areas. I had
heard a lot about Gamla Stan before leaving for Europe so I made that
next on my list. Taking the T-Bana
was very easy and user friendly. I found the trains to be very
modern and of the same format as that which I had seen in Berlin,
Germany. Despite not being able to understand much of the
Swedish language on the intercoms in the T-Bana, there are also graphic
displays that state the upcoming destination.
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Immediately
after ascending from the T-Bana at Gamla Stan, I began to see some
wonderful architecture and a different flavor than that of the
downtown area. There are many charming side streets and
beautiful façades to enjoy. |
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| Architectural
beauty abounds with every new glance. |
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In
a very timely manner, I had just caught the opportunity to view
the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. I could not
have timed my arrival much better than I did! After having
viewed such a ceremony in Copenhagen, I was very interested to
compare and contrast with this one. The process is all very
similar but noting the outfits and processes was great. The
Royal Palace was rebuilt in the beginning of the 18th century due
to the previous Tre Kronor Castle having had a fire. The
Royal Palace is the official residence of His Majesty the
King. The King and Queen have offices here along with the
offices of the Royal Court. The King uses the Palace for his
official duties and for entertaining guests and visitors.
I watched the preliminary actions of the guard changing and then
walked around a bit to get some photographs of the surrounding
area. |
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A
few glimpses of the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace in
Gamla Stan. |
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Just
off in the distance I could see the prominent
Riddarholmskyrkan. It is Stockholm's only remaining medieval
abbey and was built in the late 1200's for the Franciscans.
This church has been a burial place for Swedish kings and
aristocracy for more than four centuries. |
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| Östermalms
Saluhall |
Kungsträdgården |
People
watching near Nybroplan. |
A
scenic park near the Nybroplan. |
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popular tourist attraction in Stockholm is the Vasamuseet (Vasa
Museum). The centerpiece of the city's most popular museum
is the massive royal warship Vasa, which capsized in
Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage in 1628. It was
rediscovered in 1956 and restored to 95 percent of its original
appearance. |
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Taking
the water taxi to and from the Noordam and Stockholm was
quite a scenic and pleasurable ride. It offers the
opportunity to see various sites from a different perspective than
that on land. On the ride back to the Noordam, I was
able to see the Gröna Lunds Tivoli which can be somewhat compared
to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen but on a smaller scale. |
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| The
Water Taxi Ride from Town to Ship. |
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| Staff
Assists Disembarking Guests. |
Noordam
Docked alongside Stadsgården. |
Myself
and the ms Noordam in Stockholm. |
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The
culture of Sweden definitely continued through the afternoon and
into early evening. Karen, Joanne, and I attended 'Swedish
Meatball & Akavit Sailaway' on Promenade Deck aft. I had
never had Akavit or its Norwegian counterpart so I figured that now
was the time. I coerced Joanne and Karen into doing the same
and it was quite the experience. We learned that it is much
better to just down it instantaneously versus drinking it slowly. |
Sail
away was scheduled for 5:00pm and I knew that I would want to be on the
open decks for this. I was advised prior to sailing that the
departure from Stockholm and the voyage through the Archipelago Islands is
not to be missed. I was very happy to not have missed it as it was
quite the experience. It was fascinating to pass through narrow
channels and even pass other larger ships within these areas.
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| Scenic
Cruising through the Stockholm Archipelago |
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This
evening's dinner theme was the traditional Holland America Line
'Dutch Night'. We arrived at our dinner table to find our
respective hats available to wear for the evening. Some wore
theirs throughout the dinner and some (i.e. me) wore only for a
photo opportunity. Later in the evening was another Holland
America Line tradition : The Dessert Extravaganza. While I am
not much of a person to eat chocolate, etc. late at night, Joanne
and I decided to pass through the Lido Restaurant to get a few
photographs. |
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On
this night, along with many other nights of the voyage, there were some
great opportunities for sunset photographs. Karen, Joanne, and I
managed to get some great shots of ourselves out on deck during these.
After
having left the Archipelago, we had a mere 145 nautical miles to sail on
our way to Visby, Sweden. I had elected to take a shore excursion
the following morning which congregated in the Princess Theater so I
needed to have retired at a relatively manageable hour this evening.
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