Stockholm - Wonderful City for a break!

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On the train, two backpackers try to evade the conductor as they have not paid for a ticket. They are put off quietly at the next stop.

Waking up in Stockholm, SWEDEN, we walk to the 13th century medieval city of Gamla Stan within the old town. The cobble-stone streets also lead to the Royal Palace where the King resides, and you can view the apartments and Royal treasures. The ethereal paintings on the ceilings are exquisite.

Hand in hand we stroll through Kungstradgarden park, right beside the street named Brigitte Nielsen who was a Danish actress once married to Sylvester Stallone. A coffee tram rumbles past with a giant coffee cup on the roof.

For supper, it is off to a sushi place, and it is the best we have ever had. How strange, fabulous sushi in Sweden.

Next day is a day of rest. I stay in my pajamas until five in the afternoon. While relaxing, Chris heads out to see the Vasa Museum. The Vasa is an old sailing ship that sank in the Stockholm harbour hundreds of years ago. It was salvaged and resurfaced in the 50’s and 60’s, and has been refurbished and placed within a special museum in Stockholm. Chris said that it was a very impressive museum, and gets lost for hours there. He took a great deal of photo’s, and they are shown in the blog.

At supper, we meet a young man who immigrated from Eritrea, Africa, a country with one of the worst human rights records. He stated that people say immigrants should just adjust, but then explains what it is like to arrive to a new culture, not being able to speak the language and the fact that many are suffering from trauma. He told us that when he was a child in Africa, his friend pushed a soldier away who was trying to rape his mother, and the punishment was to have his hand that touched the soldier chopped off. We do not know what many of these people have experienced.

Stockholm is a beautiful city, and Sweden is a wonderful country. I hope that someday we can return.

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