Stockholm, Sweden

What a beautiful day in Stockholm, Sweden. The temperatures these last few days have been wonderful, in the low to mid 70's with sunshine.

 Cruising into the Stockholm is so beautiful.

  
There are about 30,000 islands, inlets and rocks from just outside of Stockholm to the Baltic Sea. It's a long, slow, beautiful journey.

  
So many of these little islands. We were following another ship in.

  
Some of these little islands have houses on them and some have cute little lighthouses.

We had purchased Hop on - Hop off tickets through the ship and when we docked we went out and got on the bus. It took us into the city and we rode it around for over an hour. What a beautiful city.

  

  


We rode around and enjoyed the scenery.


We got off and headed to the old part of town and there was a Farmer's Market. All the fruit and vegetables were so pretty and you could smell the strawberries as you walked by.




The arches at the Royal Palace.


We came across this cute little gallery and found a beautiful watercolor to add to our collection.

  
More pictures of beautiful buildings.

  
A little walkway between buildings and a view across the river.

  
After walking around for a couple of hours and doing some shopping we got back on the bus and headed back to the ship.

  
It was a beautiful day and we didn't get to see as much of Stockholm as we would have liked. We definitely want to come back.



Back at the ship I saw this sign.

  
Our ship and our position in Stockholm.

There is a library on the ship where people leave their books for others to read. A day or two ago I noticed that the books were gone and we saw a sign up so we stopped by to see what it said... here it is.

  
So there you go......

The staff on the ship have really taken every measure to keep the Norovirus from spreading and we were told that they have it under control but will continue to keep up with the precautions for the rest of the cruise. It's a real pain when it comes to the buffet because you can't touch anything yourself and there is plastic wrap around all the counters and they are sanitizing everything all the time. But I understand and wouldn't want it to be any other way.

We're in our room chilling and glad that tomorrow is a sea day so we can rest. It's been a very busy four days and we're pooped. Only one more port, Copenhagen, Denmark, the day after tomorrow.

That's all for tonight.

Helsinki, Finland

We arrived in Helsinki this morning and when I looked out the window of our room I saw a lot of construction and trucks and other stuff. Not a great view at all. Many of the ports we've been to have been working ports but this is just about the worst one yet.


We took the shuttle bus into Helsinki and when we got off the shuttle and there was an independent doubledecker sightseeing bus there and we decided to get on and see what there was to see.


Our selfie on the bus.

  
Our bus.

  
Our first stop was Sibelius Monument. It is a monument to Finland's most famous composer Jean Sibelius and is the most popular tourist attraction in Helsinki.

  


This face was suppose to be Jean Sibelius. Not very flattering.

  
Again there are lilacs everywhere. So beautiful.

 
A look down a street in Helsinki.

  
Our next stop was the Church in the Rock. The Church in the Rock is what it is called but it is the Temppeliaukio Church. As you can see it is built right into the rock.

  
It has glass between the rock and the top and the top of the dome is copper.

 
It really was beautiful.

When the tour was over we were dropped off in The Market Square, a bustling market with food, crafts and boat tours everywhere.

  
All the vendors were under the colorful tents.

We also took a walk to two interesting buildings which were close by.

  
This is the Uspenski Cathedral, which is located near the South Harbor. It was built in 1868 and is the largest orthodox church in Western Europe. We were not able to go inside.



  



The other place we wanted to see was the Lutheran Cathedral. We did not have a chance to go inside the cathedral.


Also in the square was a statue of czar Alexander II.

We always look for small watercolor paintings by local artists. Today in the market area we found such an artist and really loved his work and purchased two paintings.


This is the artist and a painting of his youngest daughter.

We walked back to the shuttle bus pick up area and then back on the boat.

  
When we got back to the port I finally saw a sign for Helsinki. There were no other signs anywhere saying "Welcome to Helsinki" or anything. There was a large metal building with a concrete floor where vendors were set up selling local items. Not very inviting though.

When we got back to the ship we went to our cabin and dropped off our things and then up to the buffet on the 14th floor. We are still in Norovirus mode and they've tightened up even more. You can't even pick up your plate anymore. The staff have the plates behind the serving tables and they will hand it to you. It's sort of scary, but Jim and I continue to be fine and continue to wash our hands at every available opportunity.

We're on our way now to Stockholm, Sweden.