Showing posts with label Vasa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vasa. Show all posts

Monday, May 18, 2009

Stockholm Syndrome















I just returned from a wonderful (but much too brief) weekend in Stockholm. I tried to fit as much as I could into the short time. I took the Under the Bridges tour, which took us under 14 of Stockholm’s bridges…the weather was perfect so it was a great day to do such a trip. After the tour, I did a walk around Old Town (Tallinn's Old Town is nicer I think), then stopped in a café for a little break, and walked over to Vasa museum. The Vasa is so interesting…it is amazing the ship was under water for so many years and they were able to raise it intact! The island Vasa is on is particularly pretty…there is a big park and even a café with Palm Trees (ok, they are fake but it was still a little taste of Florida in Sweden). Then it was time to walk back to the hotel to meet Elisabeth (Palombo) for an early dinner. It was nice to be able to meet her, especially since I have been communicating with her regarding the Bonnier GROW program (it is nice to put a face with the name). We had dinner then walked around town a little…I had a chance to see the Bonnier main offices in addition to some other sites that I had missed earlier in the day. On Sunday, I was able to fit in the Panoramic Tour (by bus) before I had to walk back to the hotel and head to the airport. I didn’t make it to Grona Lund (though it did look very charming from the boat and if I had more time, I would have at least gone on a few rides but being from Orlando, visiting a theme park wasn't my first priority) or Skansen or a few hundred other things that I wanted to do (I really wanted to do the hot air balloon trip but you have to book those weeks in advance) so those will have to be saved for my next visit to the city.
I thought some of the street signs in Stockholm were funny. The crosswalk signs and the men working signs all have profile of muscle bound men on them (see picture) and there is one that basically is saying don't drive your car into the water (well, duh! good advice!)