Stockholm - Sweden

Well, the sunshine finally departed today, it was a day of overcast and drizzly weather, chilly but not freezing.

Our tour bus was waiting, it was a large coach, very warm, and only 12 of us on board. We were excited to visit this new country. 

Our tour guide was the worst we have come across, and we have done a few tours, he is a representative of SPB tours, we paid US$125 per person.  What a terrible rip off! We did a short drive. Looked over a few bridges, and spent way too long in a queue to see the Vasa Museum, in the cold and rain... Basically it was a very old ship, bringing a $hitload of money into the community. Sergio (our guide) waffled on and on and on.. It was a good opportunity for me to upload the last blog, and get a private call to Rebecca via viber.

I had enough and we were all pretty bored.

But....... It wasn't a palace or a church!! 

Our tour guide showed us the usual sights that we saw already, the Abba museum, then dropped us in the rain in the town square for a free time of 1 hour and 40 minutes.

I went to the office of SPB and went a bit feral.. They could not give a rats.

Warrens notes.. 

There is free education in Sweden. 

Stockholm is made up of 14 islands, the oldest building was built in 1270 and it's called the Nobility church.  

There are 26000 islands in the Archipelago .. 

He did well .. It's why I love him so much xx

Lunch was in an underground prison, 700 years old. It was a good meal, and quite out of the ordinary for us, and warm and cosy. We sat next to people who were sailing on the Serenade of the Seas. They were not so impressed with Royal, really nice people.

Our hosts where very charming, and lunch was a reasonable price.. Well this is where I lie.. Nfi what it cost.. Got a crazy hat for our son in law.. Also nfi what it cost, but he will like it .

After lunch we went to the  pharmacy for Karen to stock up on cold and flu stuff for the trip home. She was certainly looking and feeling very miserable today. The cold weather and crappy tour did nothing to make her feel any better.

Not once did she complain. What an excellent travel companion. Rotten luck for her to get such a nasty cold.

We wandered a bit more around the old town, and rejoined our group for the transfer back to the ship.

Our evening drinks in the Champagne bar were, as usual fun, tonight's was certainly fabulous for Warren! We joined a mum dad, son and daughter in law. The dad was blind, the mum was a vegetarian who just drank her way through dinner!  And the young couple were on their honeymoon, And expecting a baby. It was her birthday.

I am getting off the track here, what I started to say was the old fella was a retired Texas Ranger. He kept Warren enthralled for ages with his tales. It was a great night.

This sure is a grand way to meet some interesting people.