Out on the water

We had breakfast here at the hotel with Sarah before she headed off to class. Breakfast was nothing short of crazy and somewhat picked over. A large bus of Asian tourists clogged the buffet lines, and business people who are staying at the hotel shoveled down plates of eggs.

Rachel and I showered and took the T to Kungstrgarden, where we hoped to catch a ferry to one of the nearby islands. The one we'd initially hoped to catch had already left, so we settled for a general Archipelago tour that took us around all the islands of Stockholm.

On the water, we enjoyed the second straight day here of clear skies and sun. We spent time cruising around Saltsjon, which is a salt-water inlet of the Baltic Sea that many of the islands reside on. But then we went down a man-made channel to the western part of the city that took us into Lake Riddarfjarden, which was fresh water.

During the voyage, Rachel feel asleep for a few minutes because a lot of sun came into the cabin and sort of baked the room, making it feel warm and cozy as we looked out on the brisk Scandinavian waters. While she slept, I put on my coat and went in back where a couple other passengers were snapping pictures.

While I did take some pictures of Parliament and the Palace as we passed Stockholm center and Gamla Stan, the more rural parts of the trip interested me the most. The deciduous trees, now in their prime peak of autumn and hanging comfortably but not lazily over the water, ran flush to the shore in some places. On one side of Lake Riddarfjarden, I saw luxury apartment buildings that epitomized the Swede's long celebrated reputation for elegant, yet simple design. They were held up by long white pillars and had square decks overlooking the water. On the decks were slightly curved, wooden deck furniture.

We finished the tour and got off the boat around 1 p.m. before heading for a cafe in Central Stockholm (right near the bridge to Gamla Stan). I had a light sandwich and Rachel had a pumpkin soup. Believe it or not, we ate outdoors, as have many people the last few days. From what I've learned of winter here, I truly believe they'd rather bundle up and enjoy the sun while they can.

There won't be much more of it.

At the height of winter here, the sun rises around 9 a.m. and sets around 3 p.m. While Sweden gets rewarded with a sun that stays up to 11 p.m. in the summer, the locals here in Stockholm tell us the winters can be very depressing.

After lunch, we went to the Nobel Museum expecting to see a nice celebration of all the brilliant minds who have won the prize. Instead, it was somewhat of a dud. The layout was poor. It had very little helpful information and very few displays that really put the Nobel prize on the pedestal it deserves.

But, we've been lucky the entire trip with our choosing of activities, so we didn't let it perturb us too much. We walked around more of Gamla Stan that we'd missed yesterday and then back to Central Stockholm and down Drottinggatan.

We stopped in a small, uniquely Swedish restaurant with moderate prices that Rachel and I booked a reservation at tonight. We just woke from a much-needed nap and are going to head over there soon.

P.S. We're still in disbelief the Yankees lost. But bring on Cleveland! Gives us something to look forward to when we come back Thursday.