Sunday | June 19, 2016
This morning, we are sailing into Stockholm Sweden, a breathtaking maritime transit. We sailed past some of the 24,000 islands and skerries in the Stockholm Archipelago, most of which are uninhabited and notable for their rugged rock formations and dense, old growth forests.
At 9:00 AM, I attended a lecture, for residents only, by Barry Middlebrook, the ship’s internet consultant. I felt somewhat badly for him, because the audience was prepared to be hostile. But he spoke for more than 75 minutes explaining the ship’s internet system, and why things aren’t working properly. There were a few notable points that deserve mention. Our satellite rotates 22,236 miles above the earth. It sends signals to the EMC headquarters in New Jersey, which then transmits those signals to a fiber optic connection at its headquarters in Florida, where the internet is accessed. The ship is planning to increase bandwidth every year, but the average resident, like the average citizen, uses 50% more bandwidth every year than he did the previous year. Most notable of all for me is the fact that there’s been no increase in the operational IT staff on the ship since 2002.
At 3:30, we went to a friend's apartment where they were hosting a Sail Into Stockholm party. They did a nice job renovating their apartment during dry dock, but for $800,000 in reno fees, I would expect nothing less!
The views as we sailed into Stockholm were wonderful.
At one point, we passed an old fortress.
Then we passed many tiny islands with one or two houses on them.
I have to believe that for the nine months of the year that is winter here, many of the waterways are frozen solid and people get back and forth to these houses on ice skates or snowmobiles.
Two of the crew members are from Sweden and they pointed out the city highlights to us. This old hospital is now a retirement facility for the elderly.
This old, formerly mothballed grain mill has been turned into a useful building in the last 10 years.
The skyline is appealing.
The national Museum peeked out over the lush trees.
It being my first time in this city, and wanting to see all I have read about in Stockholm, I boarded the tender and spent a few hours walking around the city. Once again, bicyclists are everywhere, blondes abound, and the people seem generally friendly.
Not having any particular direction, or really knowing where I was going, I wandered the streets aimlessly. Ancient historical buildings, now turned into hotels, seemed to have stories they were dying to tell.
A square featured several restaurants with outdoor tables, and people enjoying beer and watching one another.
Streets here seemed indistinguishable from the small streets one can find in virtually any European city.
And an old church is a staple in most well-heeled European cities.
The changing of the guard is always a nice ceremony, anywhere.
Who would’ve guessed that I would run into a team of monks wandering the street.
This particular shopkeeper must have been concerned about theft because he parked his bicycle on his roof.
I returned to the ship whereiupon I made my way to Tides for a Father’s Day dinner. After I ordered what seemed like it would be harmless enough, Buffalo mozzarella as an appetizer and osso bucco as an entrée, the chef emerged from the kitchen to explain to me that the osso bucco was prepared using a wheat based gravy - and I was supposed .to be gluten free that month. Alas, I changed my selection to a 20-ounce bone-in ribeye, always a great trade!
Also this evening, a large contingent of our friends returned to the ship after their 6-day trip to Moscow. I'm definitely doing that next time we're in this part of the world. Back in the apartment, I watched some of the last round of the U.S. Open. I would have liked to have seen game seven of the NBA championship finals tonight, but with a late start time in Los Angeles, that would have been about 3:00 AM here, something that did not appeal to me at all.
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