So we had a wonder round the rest of the ship (quick look in the duty free) and then back to the cabin for food. Some people went to have a boogie, but I was so tired, I just headed to bed. In order to take up less room for when the other 3 girls returned, I took a top bunk. My god it was scary! I used to sleep in a bunk-bed as a kid, but it had a rail to stop you falling out – this didn’t! I was convinced the boat was gonna start tipping in the night and I would fall out. So I clung to the wall for the night. I survived.
We were woken by a Finnish man knocking on the doors, opening them to shout Huomenta in at you and then closing it again. On the third Huomenta he wanted to take the dirty sheets so we had to get up. On the fourth he seemed surprised we were still there “could you, slowly, erm, get out” Haha. So we left…
It was 6:30am Swedish time. The sun had barely risen. It was -2°C. So after dumping our bags, did we decide to go find a café to keep warm until the town woke up too? No, instead we wondered around the old town. On the way, we found the first of many churches, which we entered through a door that said “no entry for public” on the other side. But we were already through by then… oops.
The next church was closed (all winter!) but I love its church spire. It was hollow and metal, and I’d never seen anything like it before...
We then went further into the old town. I had completely lost my bearings by this point, so was just walking around taking it all in. We went through some narrow side-streets and saw some interesting buildings, but eventually we decided that nothing was open, and we were freezing, so we went and found a nice café.
After the café, we headed off in search of the Royal Palace. We had sort of walked past it earlier, but headed in the wrong direction. So we went back for a proper look and wondered all around the outside. It was beautiful. Although the guards were a little strange. They would talk to you if you stepped inside their little black line marked around their huts, and they were watching you and everything going on around them. Very different to the Beefeaters of London. The Palace opened at 12, so we wondered off for a little while until it was open but come back as we decided we would like to look inside.
So we went to a beautiful church next to it. My favourite church of the trip (I told you there were many). I don’t know what it was about it that I liked more than the others, but it was very charming. The interior was a bit bizarre in places. The most beautiful part though was the area where you could light a candle. Instead of just placing it on the side, you could place it in a giant spherical globe…
We then went to a few tourist shops, and headed back to the Palace….
2 comments:
Great post! Takes me back to when I was in Stockholm in May 2007 and I remember the church with the hollow metal spire too! Also that square in the third photo with the Dutch-style architecture - lovely. I remember having lunch at a restaurant on that square.
I wouldn't like to guess how cold it is at this time of year though - even in early May it was freezing at night.
Looking forward to the next part of the diary :)
It shouldnt be long before I get it posted.
It was pretty cold. Cold enough to snow anyway! :)
And that square was really nice, but there was a christmas market going on, so felt a bit full (I thought it was scaffolding for building works at first, hehe!) But there were some beautiful little side streets too.
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