September 15th - our day of travel
We had to leave VERY early from home to get to the airport early for our 8am flight to Houston. Flight to Houston was good. After a short layover, we flew on to Newark, New Jersey. It was neat flying into Newark because we could see the skyline of Manhattan, the tower that replaced the twin towers and we saw the Statue of Liberty.
We steeled ourselves as we got off the plane for the horribly long trek we knew was coming to get to our next gate for the flight to Stockholm. Imagine our absolute shock when we arrived at Gate C75 and our next flight was out of Gate C74. It was almost too good to be true. We even questioned the agent, "Is this really right?!?!?!?" He laughed and said yes it is.
It was at this point that we met John and Angie, who arrived from their flight at a different terminal so THEY did have a long trek to this gate. They got to the gate with hardly any time to spare. We were surprised at how small and crowded the plane was to cross the ocean. 3 seats on either side and very narrow. But the flight was good, the food was decent, and that's half the battle.
September 16th
Tired but happy, we arrived in Stockholm's airport. We got on a Flygbus for the hour drive to downtown Stockholm's Central Station and from there we caught a taxi to our hotel.
It was with total dismay that we found that the hotel doesn't have a reception and the code we were given to open the door to the hotel would not work. We are very very tired and just not ready for this kind of hassle. Eventually someone opened the outside door so we slipped in with them. Someone who was getting on the elevator told us that is how it works at this hotel - guest's access codes don't work until the check -in time of 4pm. We just felt sick about the whole situation. We knew our room number so we go to the floor our rooms are on, but there is another access door there and again, the code won't work. We have visions of spending 6 hours sprawled out on the floor and stairs trying to get a little rest and none of us were happy at all at that prospect.
Then, a little later, we run into the same people on the 5th floor that we ran into earlier down below. They said we were welcome to use the bathroom in their room, which we gladly accepted. So, that got us into the hallway where the rooms are. When we left their room, we thought we'd let Guillermo and John into the hallway and then we'd camp out at the end of the hallway - which was preferable to sleeping by the elevator and stairs. But when we got back to the door to let them in, Guillermo said someone who works at that hotel had miraculously come by the 5th floor and he had given them a new access code to one of the rooms. Our room. So, the code did work and we all entered that room as if we had won the lottery. We put our luggage aside and unfolded the two fold-out couches. John and Angie crashed on those and we crashed on our beds and stayed in those spots for the next 6 hours!!
That evening we had dinner at The Flying Dog restaurant and went to bed early!
September 17th
Today we took a Hop-on Hop-off bus around the city, had lunch in Gamla Stan - where someone grabbed Bill's backpack off the back of his chair and RAN! We were just eating peacefully when all of a sudden Bill and Connie jumped up from the table and started running out of the restaurant. I thought they had seen someone fall or something. Guillermo ran after them and as Bill was shouting Stop! Thief!, that alerted some guys who then tackled the guy to the ground. They held him there until the police arrived. So, fortunately, Bill did not lose his backpack. Of course, after that we were all a little more diligent about how we placed our items while eating. Later we did the Hop-on Hop-off boat, too.
September 18th
We went to Djurgarden and while the other couples visited the Vasa Museum, Guillermo and I walked back across the bridge, looked at the boats and then had a nice snack in a cafe along the river. The weather was so nice and we just enjoyed sitting there with our coffee, hot chococlate and dessert.
View from the bridge that goes from Strandvagen to Djurgarden - this is one of our favorite spots in Stockholm.
We just love strolling down and looking at all the boats.
Enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery at the cafe along the river.
Then we walked through the park along the lake to the Biology Museum. That was a very interesting museum and we are glad we visited it.
Beautiful flowers in Djurgarden across from the Biology Museum
This is how it is in the Biology Museum. Nice 360 degree painting panorama with birds and animals placed in their habitats. Then, with a paper, it's like going on a treasure hunt trying to find each animal and bird in each window section.
Then it was time to meet the others at Skansen. This picture is from an old farmhouse in Skansen. Just wanted to show how the swings were for babies back then.
Nice windmills in Skansen
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