Elaine and I have just completed a quick trip to Stockholm and she does a fantastic job downloading the photos. We took a Viking Lines ship from Helsinki to Stockholm. We left after my class on Wednesday and arrived the next morning in Stockholm. That afternoon we got back on the ship and sailed overnight back to Helsinki. On the ship we had plenty of food and an adequate inner cabin with a lighthouse picture serving as an imaginary portal. We also had a very small shower. (The Prof and I felt as if we were back at the Etap with the tiny bathroom and bunk beds.) A colleague at the university provided us with free tickets for the ship, although the food on board turned out to be a tad expensive.
Stockholm is much bigger than Helsinki and also has a monarchy. Some of the photos are of the royal palace. "Old town" in Stockholm is very lovely with small windy streets and plenty of churches and small boutiques. Stockholm is built on several separate islands and the boat trip into the city is through an archipelago with numerous islands on both sides. We lucked out and had very nice weather while we were there.
Last week I was in Saint Petersburg and still consider it as the most beautiful city I have visited during this trip. The Hermitage was fantastic. Stockholm also has a great museum which we did not have time to visit. It houses the Vasa warship which was launched in 1628 with many cannons on board to fight a war against Poland. However, it was too top heavy and sank within a few thousand yards of its launching point, killing about 50 sailors. The ship was salvaged in 1961 and was almost totally preserved, thanks in part to the low salt content in the Baltic Sea.
Elaine and I are off to Vilnius, Lithuania next weekend where I will make a presentation at a conference. Lithuania was once part of the Soviet Union and is located within a few miles of Belarus which is still run by a dictator. However, Lithuania is supposed to be quite nice and civilized. We will keep you posted.
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