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Well here we are in the capital of Sweden.
We had our first small blip with the sat nav as we arrived at the outskirts of the city; whenever the maps were uploaded they didn't take into account the fact that one of the main motorways cut a swathe across the road we needed to be on! So it took a bit of old fashioned walking and then even resorting to asking for directions before we found the hotel. Similarly the hotel description makes no mention of the close proximity to this major road- thank goodness for Boots own brand wax ear plugs, especially as on our return to the hotel we found numerous pushchairs in the corridor!
There was a wedding about to take place as we arrived. We caused a few strange looks amongst the beautifully dressed guests.
The walk into the city centre took about 40 mins. The main shopping area could have been any where in Europe but once we had crossed over the river onto one of the many islands that make up Stockholm we got a true sense of why it has been voted one of the most beautiful capitals in the world.
I have to admit to being disappointed with the architecture of the Royal Palace as you can see from my photo it is quite plain and boring. It also seemed to be being guarded by 2 teenage girls playing at dressing up as soldiers; they looked about 14! Whilst I was waiting patiently to take my photo without any people in it, a couple asked me to take their photo even though they'd stood in my shot! Colin kindly obliged and then another couple asked him to take theirs so we beat a hasty retreat before it became a full time job!
Colin had done some research and found a 17th century reclaimed ship he wanted to visit so we set off to the museum but we didn't think we'd have enough time once we'd located it do we will go there tomorrow before boarding the ferry.
Instead we just meandered down the quayside and were stalked by vans advertising a local strip club!
We found a lovely square and sat down to a fish and chip supper with a beer which cost £40!!!! Colin is now refusing to pay for anything and hands over the wadges of Kroner to me and winces when I give him little in return! I've told him that we will probably be able to eat cheaply in Latvia, Lithuania and the Ukraine so over time the expenses will even out; but it hasn't stopped his palpitations!
After our tea we wandered through the old town with it's cobbled streets and 17th century buildings and alleyways it was very picturesque. It was full of ice cream shops and tourist tat shops. Colin succumbed to going into a Viking tat shop but thankfully realised that getting a full sized viking sword around eastern Europe may be difficult so it was with some reluctance that he came out empty handed!
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