We had a breakfast from the goods we bought at the supermarket round the corner, then googled local post office hours to see whether we could send our excess luggage home. Found a site which reported Saturday 8.30 to 11am. Walked for half an hour to the nearest PO listed on Google and found a sign on the door in Swedish which seemed to say that from June 6 all POs would not open on Saturdays. On the way back we passed two parcel delivery offices, also closed. Enough with the frustrations. Set off with Margot's email guide to Stockholm, deciding to take a hopon hopoff ferry in preference to a bus. This worked quite well for the rest of the day. It started in among the wooden ships moored at the bottom of our street.
First stop was the Nordic Museum which suited our tastes well.
On the way to the Museum we passed a little museum for Astrid Lindberg who is Sweden's best known children's author and the creator of Pippy Longstocking. The number of prams parked outside indicated what it would be like inside.
In the Nordic Museum there was a wonderful display of arts and crafts and everyday living styles from the last 300 years in Sweden. This dresser was very impressive.
Next stop was the Green Land Amusement Park which was popular with screaming teenagers on the death defying rides. Kept our distance and took the ferry again, travelling past this giraffe which Fred Flintstone could have made good use of.
Stop number 8 was at the cruise ship wharf so a large group got off to get back to their ship and we followed a yellow line to the Viking wharf to check out Monday's departure.
We followed the yellow and blue lines back to our ferry but on the way a bus was parked across it and as we deviated around the front of the bus an officious securiy guard told us "Follow the blue line!"
When Malcolm pointed out to her that we would have to crawl under the bus, she waved us on reluctantly. Hopped back on the ferry at the end of the yellow line.
We got off at the Old Town and wandered through the cobbled narrow streets. Found a selection of model bicycles and bought one to send home. Then came across another St George statuein a small square.
The King' daughter who was saved from being sacrificed was standing watching.
When we reached the palace we took Margot's advice and paid to go into the Cathedral.
Here we found another statue of St George, the dragon and the maid.
The plaque explained why he was important to Stockholm.
Just down the road was the German church with an even taller spire. The stained glass windows in this one were the best we have seen.
 |
| FEAR GOD! HONOUR THE KING! |
We learned about Prometheus and Pandora's box in Gothenburg but in Stockholm we found the box in a shop window.
Further down we came across a troll who had been left tied to a fence.
On a building near the troll we spotted the OTHER mermaid and the troll seemed to be looking straight at her.
Although she appeared to be spoken for. We cut through what Yorkshire people call a snickleway.
Bought an ice cream and followed our sense of direction towards home. Ended up on a little deadend island and noticed a group of three Japanese people studying their map. On enquiry the told us they wanted to get to the station. We pointed out a set of steps leading off the island and they bowed and smiled in appreciation. We neede to go in the opposite direction and were surprised by a group of skateboarders coming around a corner. They continued to come for several minutes, so there must have been about 200 of them. Never seen before or again.
One motorist was very impatient, blowing the horn over and over again and trying to drive through them. Two people in a car think they have more right to the road than 200 skate boarders. We were pretty tired by now and were heading towards the Opera House when we heard singing. As we came round the corner into a large square we saw a huge stage had been erected in front of the Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus was rehearsing the Te Deum from Tosca. We sat down on the stools that filled the square and listened for a few minutes then they appeared to be finished. We looked around and worked out that tonight at 8pm was the Finale performance concert for the Week's Cultural Festival. Before we got up to leave the Orchestra started to come in then proceeded to perform the whole program in readiness for the evening. It consisted of extracts from The Magic Flute, Tosca, Carmen and quite a few other pieces. It was a brilliant concert; one of the best we have been to as the sound system was perfect and the solo singers excellent. Serendipity again. We felt compensated for the 3 frustrations of the last 24 hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment