Stockholm

Now that we are home I should just finish up the last couple of days of this trip. The Skoda carried us up the east coast of Sweden toward Stockholm. We stopped on the way at the Gota Canal in the town of Soderling. The Gota was built nearly 200 years ago to facilitate boat traffic and commerce between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Today it is a tranquil way to spend 4 days meandering on your yacht through Sweden. Very picturesque village and great ice cream though it was $5 a cone.
Our hotel was on the outskirts of Stockholm which enabled us to park the car for the day and use the train to get into the city. We had a wonderful day exploring the Old Town- Gamla Stan. My Sweidsh is very poor. As an aside, for days whenever we met someone or to buy we were greeted by the person saying "Hey". I kept thinking it was just an affectation because we were American and they were being folksy. Took nearly 3 days for me to get that Hey means Hi. You say Tak for thankyou. In truth most of the time the people thought we were Swedish and it took several attempts to get them to speak English. Definitely the blond hair and blue eyes.
The highlight of what is a great city was the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was to be Swede's mightiest war ship built nearly 400 years ago. It was very tall and had 2 gun decks. So ornate nearly every square foot was covered with black oak intricate carvings of animals, gods, emperors, you name it. On its maiden voyage in Stockholm harbor a wind sprang up about 20 minutes into its trip and it sank! They lost 30-50 people, and over the years it was all but forgotten. In the 1950s a man dedicated himself to finding it and in 1956 they found it almost intact. Took a few years to raise it and restore it but today it sits proudly in its own museum 95% original. It is a fabulous site and we spent nearly 4 hours there.
After a bite at the Taste of Stockholm and a train back we were ready to say goodbye to Sweden. Actually I am never ready to say goodbye to any part of Europe. The weather was perfect throughout the 10 days. Usually in the 60s to 70s except in Iceland , of course, but there it was in the 50s and relatively clear.
One last note on the trip home. This proves what a small world it really is. When we went to Antarctica there was a nice man in his late 80s from Quebec. Traveling alone but one of those characters who was everywhere you looked . Always in the front of the line ,a little oblivious ,but kind of fun to watch. Well I got up to use the lavatory on the plane from Reykavik to Boston and noticed this guy who looked like Mariano sitting a few rows ahead of us. I attributed this mirage to fatigue and did not mention it to Bert when I sat down. As the plane landed and those in front stood up, Bert said "There's our guy!". I knew immediately who he meant. We figured it couldn't be. How could you see the same person in two such out of the way places? Nevertheless there he was at baggage claim. As we were talking to him about how amazing to see each other I asked him where we were going next. He answered either Madagascar or Senegal. I told him he was on his own but then I got to thinking.....