Stockholm is a large city, some of which is modern, and a lot of the part I like best, the old city. Stockholm is made up of over 700 Islands. So everywhere you go there are bridges and what appears to be streets of water. The first two pictures below show a picture of the Strand which is the popular area and very busy. Notice the unique rooftops of all of these buildings along the Strand. The second picture is of the Strand taken from a different bridge farther away.
In the picture just below you will see this bridge that crosses over some water to yet another island. When you walk through the arches in the building straight ahead, you are walking into the area of the Swedish Parliament. This will also take us into Old Town Stockholm.
Here's a street in Old Town Stockholm. Notice the horizontal pieces sticking out near the tops of the buildings on the left side. These were beams where the merchants would hang a hoist to unload goods that were delivered by wagon on the street.
This doorway is in Old Town Stockholm and the medallion hanging above the door told the fire department that this place had fire insurance so the fire department would put out a fire if the building caught on fire. Conversely, no medallion, no help from the fire department.
This is a refurbished phone booth in old Stockholm. There will be a more modern phone booth in another picture below.
A Swedish soldier standing guard at the Royal Palace.
This is Stockholmes oldest square. We really enjoyed the different roof structure designs and colors of the buildings. It was at this location where we tried a favorite of the Swedes, a delightful treat called a kanelbullar, which is a cinnamon bun.
There's nothing special about this building other than I just thought it was really a unique architectural design.
You have probably seen a hand-carved wooden horse like the one below that Bonnie is sitting on in gift shops. This is very Swedish and this particular horse was in a park for people to climb on and have their picture taken.
Here is that more modern phone booth I promised you, however it is no longer in use
This picture shows the transportation variety in one location. On the far left are the lanes for cars and busses, then there are two paved bicycle lanes then the cobblestone marks the beginning of the pedestrian walkway.
Have you ever seen a boat like this? It is a picnic boat that anyone can rent to go out into the water and have a picnic lunch or dinner.
I mentioned earlier that Sweden was made up of over 700 islands. The next five pictures show some of the islands, many of which are inhabited.
The ship that we took from Sweden to Finland was not just a ordinary ferry. The picture below is taken from inside the ship of the main Promenade on the ship. It felt more like a commercial cruise ship.
We are now in Helsinki, Finland and this building was along the main Esplanade in Helsinki.
Of course being in Europe there are many churches that are very well-kept but are not used for religious services. The one pictured below is Russian Orthodox Church.
The next two pictures are inside the Russian Orthodox Church. Notice the detail in the ornate designs inside this church.
The Lutheran Cathedral pictured below is right near the University of Helsinki. It is very beautiful and ornate on the outside but the inside of it was very plain and simple.
Some observations that we have made while here.
• the number of people who smoke seems incredibly high
• it seems like we are at the epic center for men, women, and teens piercings, tattoos, and unusual hair colors
• the number of women who wear incredibly high heals to walk on cobblestone streets (we saw one bride who wore 6" high heals but couldn't walk in them)
• like it has been for many years, black is the "in" color for clothing
• every pregnant woman we have seen was wearing a black maternity top
• In Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, Mercedes Benz is the most popular car for taxis, hands down. When I inquired about the reason for this, I was told ". . the reliability."
• the Scandinavian countries are very environmentally aware
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