Last day in Stockholm, Sweden

 I took one long and last look at Stockholm, don't when I'll be back again. I leave for Finland tomorrow. I took a boat cruise around the city, 'the royal canal tour', it was very nice but too short, only 50 minutes. It went on the waterway around the city, it gave access to places that cannot be accessed on land. I love that the city has this huge park land that was once the hunting ground of the royal family but now its opened to everyone and it is very beautiful. Its home to lots of old trees, birds, insects and other wild life. Its now the playing field for the locals. Its healthy to work hard and yet have beautiful places to relax in, makes for a more productive work force.

 One more thing to try, Swedish meatballs, had them for lunch, very nice!

 Gamla Stan for one last look, busy as usual.

 More street acts.

 I'm sitting in the plaza in front of the Nobel museum and it felt so good.

 A band marched over from the royal palace. It made me cry, I love people in uniform, I love music, I love that I'm in front of the Nobel museum. I remember the previous winners of the Nobel prize, people who made such incredible contributions to the well being of humanity, whether it be the discovery of the structure of DNA(Watson and Crick) or life saving vaccines with the eradication of smallpox and polio, and so many more which I can't name right now. I also remember with disgust the useless loss of lives by senseless killing all over the world. What would the world be like without the contributions made by the Judeo-Christian Western world?

 These were two beautiful Swedes all dressed up and handing out coupons to encourage people to visit Skansen. Skansen is an open air museum that celebrate ancient Swedish life and culture.

Here's a funky shop. I was in there stealing ideas.

I love this bridge, its the bridge where all the rail traffic comes across in and out of the Central train station. Boy, do I know this station? Its the place for trains, commuter trains, metro and buses and anyone wanting to visit Stockholm better be familiar with it!

Goteborg, Sweden

I spent the whole day in Goteborg and was so bored. I spent most of the time in the train station waiting to get back to Stockholm. There was nothing of note that I found interesting. I was having 'fika' when I saw this older lady delivering flowers to a florist in her little van. I thought this was so endearing. I dashed across the street to take these and then dashed back to finish my coffee. Some were taken with my long lens from where I was drinking coffee.

More on Rosendal's tragard

 It was the first hot day since I arrived. The sun is shining and it was quite warm. It was warm in the Lake district but there was a breeze that blew over the lakes to cool things down. Here in Stockholm there was no respite, there were lots of traffic and people.

 Everybody's eating or shopping at the boutique buying all kinds of things. These are mostly whimsical buying. Everything looked so good, impulse buying.

 I bought a cardamon bun for 28seks (USD4.00) It was the best I've eaten so far. I shared a table with a Swedish lady. She found out her sandwich had garlic (pesto) and she was allergic to garlic. She asked if I wanted it. I said, 'sure' 'thank you' and ate it. The bread was really good. They sure know how to make things here.

 The rose garden was so beautiful and smelled so good. I asked someone to take my picture. I said to myself, 'I'm never leaving, just plant me here and I'll bloom where I'm planted.'

This was one of the best days. I love things like this. I dislike cities, even Stockholm!

Rosendal's trargard (garden)

 They were closed the first time I went when I first arrived in Stockholm. But today they were opened and it was crowded. To reach it, take tram 7. There is only one tram line in Stockholm. Then just walk across the park from the last stop of the tram.

 There were a lot of picnickers staking out their territory in the apple orchard.

 I cornered someone and made her take my picture.

 The main greenhouse where the buffet line was. I didn't eat like I did at Leva Kungslador. I just bought a cardamon bun.

There were lines everywhere. They must be raking it in but it was a lot of fun. People were buying everything.

Back in Stockholm

I left Falun this morning, arrived at around 12.30. I got sick on the train and had to take some serious nausea pills. This is the first hot day and Stockholm is crowded. City backpackers' hostel was full and I had to go to an expensive hotel down the street. I'm going to Goteborg tomorrow for the day, I'm going to leave early on the train (4 hours) spend a few hours in Goteborg, come back same day. I still need Tuesday's night accommodation. I hope there's a cancellation at the hostel. I have my ferry tickets for Wednesday for Mariehamm, the capital of Aland. I'm going to Finland next.

In quest of more lupines

They are everywhere, as the bus drove from Falun to Rattvik. This was probably my last chance to view them. My time in Sweden is fast drawing to an end. I'm a little sad. Next stop is Finland and other thrills to look forward to. I go back to Stockholm tomorrow and then its on to Goteborg for 2 days. When I return to Stockholm again I have to make arrangements for my ferry to Mariehamm and then to Turku, Finland. Oh, to say goodbye to Sweden, a place I've come to love, its breaking my heart.

Rattvik, Sweden

The bus services on Saturday is rather sparse so I just picked the closest place to visit. Rattvik is a small village next to one of the lakes. This is the lake district of Sweden and there are summer cottages around the various lakes and Swedish people love their summer cottages. They do spend considerable time in the summer at the lakes. Today was special, it was classic cars week and I've never seen so many American muscle cars in one place before, certainly not in the USA. But here in Rattvik there must be hundreds of them all driving around town and the lakes showing off. It was so crazy.