Is there a city that could be cooler than Stockholm? Probably, but of all the cities that I have visited in the last six weeks, this one is my favorite. With ferries buzzing here and there, public transportation and a host of rental bikes positioned everywhere in the city, it is easy to get around. The long evenings with museums open until late add to your days agenda. The Old Town sports a town square that could not be more charming where one can enjoy the sounds of a guitar. His notes soar to the heights of the old stone building and descend to your delight, soothing your weary body and calming your soul. The town square was full of tourists, but this music was so melodious that the crowd seemed to have come under its spell and all was quiet.

It was a holiday our first day here. Shap and I have now experienced three national holidays and two or three religious holidays. I can no longer keep them straight. We were treated to marching bands, and the King’s horse brigade. Swedish flags flew everywhere and people lined the banks of the many canals, lakes and the Baltic Sea. A particularly sunny day and warm the Swedes were rejoicing and taking advantage of it in a climate that hosts a lot of cloudy, raining days.

The ferry system is great; your bus card also allows you to get on the ferry. From our hotel we can grab the ferry and zip over to Old Town or the Amusement Park where many interesting museums reside. The Vasa museum, which holds the largest sailboat ever made in 1628, was built around the boat. It sunk almost immediately upon launching due to a squall and the weight of the cannons. The King and all the townspeople were there watching as it slipped into the harbor in full sail and within minutes keeled over and sank, killing 50 people. Imagine the reaction to that debacle? It was raised between 1958 and 1961 and eventually this museum was built.

A storybook museum was also part of our agenda, or at least a few of us. This proved to be as charming as you would imagine, complete with a troll hanging out observing everyone that passed by.

The Nordic museum housed a collection of Swedish history through the folk art and traditions. Replicas of rooms through the ages, folk art, textiles, jewelry, all of it was fascinating. Since it was raining most of the day we did spend our time in the museums gathering a lot of visual information. There are many more that we can visit and we look forward to exploring the city for one more day before we take off.

Traveling for six weeks has been a wonderful experience for us. The combination of traveling alone as a couple for four of the weeks and then as a group of seven for the remaining two weeks has been a great time for us. We accommodate each other very well, allowing for individual preferences. Most interesting for me is to see the influence of art and architecture transcending from one country to another. Also the indigenous tribes of many country seem to have experienced the same profiling against them as the American Indians. But they have not only survived due to their ability to keep the stories alive, but also because the younger generations demonstrated their power to take back the culture and let it become alive again. The Sami’s of Norway, Sweden and Finland have their own parliament and elections, although they are still under the rule of their country. We think that the U.S. is the only country to have treated our indigenous people poorly, but we are not alone.

Oh My God, I just looked out the window of our hotel and there is a party on the front lawn with a silver duvet covered bed accented with pink cushions, and a “woman” (not sure about that) in 4 inch heels, a lace body suit with just a corset over it and enough make up to convince me that she is a he. Meanwhile everyone else is walking around kind of frumpy looking. Can’t figure out what is going on but it sure is interesting.

Tomorrow we are back to Vermont, to my Green Mountains and my family. It has been a great experience but I will be happy to settle down, to no longer live out of my suitcase and enjoy the summer to come. Thanks for following the Smith’s.