WorldTravelReynolds

The domes kind of look like Russia

When we booked todays tour, it was actually a replacement tour for one that was canceled. We had a tour to ride the Skyview. It’s a gondola of sorts that takes you to the top of the world’s largest spherical building, the Avicii Arena. It goes about 425 feet high but its round and you get a fantastic view of Stockholm.

The reddish brown paint comes from so much iron ore in the country

We thought that ride would be great but guess it had other plans and was not working so we had to book something else. The excursion desk recommended the Archipelago tour.

Loved all the cute houses

The tour took us to Vaxholm, considered the gateway to the archipelago. Had no idea what an archipelago was so had to google it. According to Google, An archipelago is an area that contains a chain or group of islands scattered in lakes, rivers, or the ocean. Ok, so that makes since. It did take us an hour or more to reach Stockholm from the Baltic Sea. The town was so cute in the wooden houses and beautiful tulips.

The cute decorative window panes for lovely

Everywhere there were tulips! And they were huge, the size of my fist and about 2-3 feet tall. Our drive over required us to ride on two different ferries that we just drove the bus on. They are called movers and they just move vehicles from one island to the next. About a 10 minute ride. We stopped and had a swedish meal at a manor house. The main course was deer meat sausage. No thanks!

Corning and China are a major product from Vaxholm

Chuck tried it and said it wasn’t bad. I had pasta and it too was good. When we sat down for dinner, this couple ask if we were the Reynolds. We confirmed and said, how do you know us? I am a member of several facebook groups for Royal Caribbean and there is a group formed for Royal Caribbeans first ever world cruise. This couple recognized me from our picture. We had a good talk about the upcoming cruise and many questions they have are the same as ours. Royal will put out more information on the cruise closer to the end of this year.

The restaurant/store was decorated in a lot of furs and old style.

Cute girls playing miniature golf

The cruise doesn’t leave until December 2023. We cannot wait! Anyway, it was good to meet someone we will be spending 274 days with. After our lunch, we walked around the grounds of the manor and looked at the horses and the countryside. So pretty! This area is known for its porcelain. We walked into a couple of small stores and they were painting porcelain statues. Similar to the gnomes we see in gardens only smaller.

This guy was so friendly and wanted to come nearer but the electric fence wouldn’t let either of us near each other!

Standing in front of a colorful Jersey cow on the property

Lots of red paint. A reddish brown is the main color of the majority of houses here due to the iron ore making it a very durable substance. On our way back to Stockholm we saw St. James Church. I just love the architecture here. Beautiful churches and state buildings.

The ferry for taking us across the archipelago

Tivoli, an amusement park was up and running today. Weather is in the 60’s so I’m sure the kids were loving that. It can get down to -10 degrees (F) here in the winter months. So, we ended up spending a beautiful day in the archipelago aka “bunch of little islands!”

Beautiful homes on the water

Enjoyable and beautiful! Tonights entertainment was an ice show. These skaters simply amaze us how well they skate in such a small place. One guy even performed some backflips! When getting ready for bed around 11 pm, we noticed the ship wasn’t moving and a message from the captain came over the speaker. We cant hear this in our room so we had to open our cabin door. It was just too late to have any announcements.

Another of the many churches in Stockholm

What we heard was that a helicopter was coming to pick up a passenger. Have no idea if they were ill or injured. I’m sure it was something very serious or the helicopter wouldn’t be landing on the bow. Remember that 1 plus hours to get to Stockholm, well, imagine trying to navigate back in to get someone to the hospital. So, helicopter was the only way since we were now back in the Baltic Sea.

Businesses are built in these wooden buildings as well

It took them close to an hour to get here, land and leave. It was an amazing sight to watch. We could see some of it from our balcony and then some glimpses of the bow on our TV screen. It cycles through and shows our location and the bow but only for seconds at a time. We pray the person is well and on their way home. I cant imagine having to be flown off a ship for an emergency in a foreign country.

Vaxholm Fortress built in 1954 to defend Stockholm from attacks from the East. It was featured in one of Pippi Longstocking’s films, Pippi in the South Seas

Tomorrow we are in Tallin, Estonia. We are crossing the Baltic Sea tonight into the Gulf of Finland, very close to Russian territory. Our trip to St. Petersburg was canceled, not unexpected of course! Cooler tomorrow. We’ll need to add another layer of clothing.

May God bless you and keep you safe!

Chuck & Lea Ann