Scandinavia - Thursday, September 3, 2015.

Up at 5:00 (I thought my wristwatch said 6:00) and completed my morning routine. We met for breakfast at 8:30 and planned our attack for the day.  Finally, a beautiful weather day - clear to lightly cloudy and temps in the mid-60's.  We began with a walk to the Nobel Museum, hoping to catch an 11:15 guided tour in English.  We completed some shopping along the way.  Upon arrival in the museum square we noted the milling crowds, all waiting for the opening of the museum at 11:00 and most were English speakers, meaning there was going to be a large crowd.  As the museum is adjacent to the Royal Palace Grounds and the horseback version of the changing of the palace guards was scheduled for 12:15, we decided to divert to the palace.

We wandered the grounds for a bit, and then, around 11:50, made our way to the area for the changing ceremony.  Crowds were beginning to mass - boy, the weather really draws out the tourists as five busloads descended while we were waiting.  This was a long and tedious process; the announcer had lots to say, both before and during the ceremony. And he said it in three languages, which seemed to drone on and on.  Two high points are all that can be listed for this anticlimactic event - 1) your faithful scribe managed to drop a newly purchased art tile to the cobblestone during a fumbled hand off, resulting in a sackful of very expensive ceramic pieces; 2) Deb's feet were hurting after standing on the cobblestones for such a long time, so she wandered around to the back of one of the buildings to take a seat.  As the ceremony ended, the entire procession of horses rounded the building right in front of her, resulting in a series of beautiful photos that were not obtained by the rest of us.

Next we set off to leave the Gamla Stan island and venture into another area of the city. We went in search of the large synagogue in the main area and located it in short order.  Although the building was closed and unavailable for tours, we discovered a marvelous and moving monument to Raoul Wallenberg outside the synagogue in a square leading to the water.  A most fortuitous discovery that lifted all our spirits.

We lunched at an open air french bistro bar and split a bottle of wine, had some wonderfully delicious fromage and jambon omelettes, and learned the difference between a croque monsieur and a croque madame sandwich.

Walking back the long way to our hotel, arrived around 4:30.  We rested up and then set out to our new favorite Under the Chestnut Restaurant for our last dinner in Stockholm - Swedish meatballs, naturally.  After a short walk to settle the meatballs, we retired by 9:00 to read and sleep.  A great ending to our Stockholm visit.

Scandinavia - Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Another rainy day in Stockholm.  Down to breakfast in this new place at 8:00.  Breakfast set-up is pleasant with much the same fare as the other hotels on the trip - scrambled eggs, hard and soft boiled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cereals and assorted breads and pastries plus juice and coffee.  The devil is in the details, though.  Howie will be quick to point out that the cookies are not up to par as the cookies are not nearly as sweet and tasty. Also, there are no fried eggs, and the overall presentation is not as practiced.

Off this morning for a bus tour of the city, followed by a boat tour of the islands (Stockholm consists of 14 separate islands - who knew?) We hiked in the rain to the tour starting point, then stood around for 45 minutes, as the bus was late, allegedly tied up in morning traffic.  However, once on board, the tour proceeded briskly.  It was somewhat hard to hear the prerecorded spiel over the morning radio music the driver was playing until he finally turned it off. 

Off of the one hour bus trip, we were dropped at the boat tour dock.  Luckily, the boat was full and the 16 or so of us coming from the bus were forced to step inside the Grand Hotel for a drying spell, a cup of coffee and a delicious carrot cake topped with scrumptious cream cheese frosting.  The Grand Hotel is truly sumptuous, overly staffed and grand in every respect.  Easily the top hotel in Stockholm's main civic area.

The boat trip proved very educational and informative. Although the narrative on this trip covered some of the same ground as the bus tour, the vantage point from the water allowed a different, and better view.

After the tour, we walked a few blocks to the Moderna Musete, or Modern Museum. We paid our senior citizen fare and then spent two enjoyable hours touring the exhibits, with a break in the middle in the cafe for a glass of wine and beer.  The collection was very good, and we saw some new work by artists we had not before encountered.  Howie was especially taken by some photographs by South African photographer Ernest Cole, from his book Photos of Bondage (sic) published in 1967.  There was also a multiple room/multiple media installation by an artist, Adrian Rojalles (I think this was his name, as my notes are less than complete or legible, that was a real change up for us.

After the museum, we walked back to our hotel for a quick clean-up and then off to dinner.  We ended up less than a block from our hotel at The Back Bar of the Flying Elk - a pub tied to the restaurant we were aiming for, but which was full. A pleasant, though overpriced surprise.  Three kinds of beer and a glass of wine were consumed with the three Umami Burgers and one "pulled chicken" sandwich, all with fries.  We finished with a pair of desserts known as an Eton Mess.  Very tasty and interesting meal.

We then walked for a bit doing some window shopping before landing back at the hotel around 8:45.  Retired to bed or reading as the case might be - a truly touristy and enjoyable day.

Scandinavia - Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Up and packing by 6:00 for another travel day.  Down to breakfast by 7:30 and ready for our cab pick up at 8:30.  A snafu with regard to cab size - not the van we had ordered, but we persevered (and suffered with luggage on our laps) to the airport for our 10:45 flight to Stockholm.

Arrived Stockholm at 11:55. Cloudy and then rain by the time we arrived at our hotel on Gamla Stan (Old City) of Stockholm. After check in at what, to this point is the smallest set of rooms, we left in search of lunch and adventure.  We first stopped at Coran Cafe for a spot of lunch, which included our first Swedish meatball serving, and they were delicious - I see many more orders of this before we leave Stockholm.

On to sightseeing, beginning with the Royal Palace and a tour of the Royal Apartments.  A huge (some might say over the top) display of finery, medals, furniture, tapestry, rugs, etc.  Not dissimilar to a palace tour in England or any other European capitol.  We bought tickets good for multiple days, so we will be back to view other parts of the Palace.

We then wandered for hours along the winding streets and shops of this area, dating back to the 1300's.  Nice shopping and small stores, interesting sites and damp weather.  By 7:00 we were ready for a meal and debated various locations, We reached agreement and traipsed back up a winding hill to the "Yndor Kastanjen" which translates to Under the Chestnut Tree restaurant; yes, there was a chestnut tree standing in a small yard in front of the restaurant. The food looked promising and turned out to be amazing.  Two had a lamb sirloin dish, accompanied by a well made and tasty sausage, with parsnips and sauce, one had potato pancakes accompanied by bacon and a fruit salad, and one had cold poached salmon, accompanied by warm new potatoes and tastefully sauced.  All accompanied by a few bottles of the huset roda, or house red wine, which turned out to be a sublime merlot from the Castille region of Spain.  We all agreed it was a wonderful way to start our tour of Stockholm.  We were back to our hotel by 9:00.