Friday, August 14, 2026
Nynashamm, Sweden for Stockholm
83F and sunny!
Our port today is Nynäshamn, a coastal town located about 37
miles south of Stockholm. Cruise ships and ferries often dock here instead of
central Stockholm to avoid a time-consuming detour through the archipelago. It took
about one hour to travel from Nynäshamn to Stockholm on our Princess bus today. We opted for Stockholm on our own, which was a
good choice... over 15,000 steps later, she says.
Stockholm is the capital and most populous city of
Sweden, built across 14 distinct islands connected by 57 bridges. It has been dubbed
the "Venice of the North.” As of
2026, Stockholm’s population is approximately 1 million people. I looked and looked for the Skarsgaard
brothers (True Blood, The Vikings), to no avail. We did encounter lots
of tall people though.
After an hour of rolling hills and lots of interesting bedrock,
the bus dropped us off near the National Museum at 11 a.m. and we had 5 hours
to explore the city. We knew that the
Abba Museum was very crowded, so we headed to the Viking Museum. We discovered that there were no ships in this museum
Area of the museums
we did not see
Since I already crossed the barrier
of taking photos in restrooms
in Pompeii in 2024, I thought
I would include this one
Janie with the Vasa Museum
New category: photos of
museums we did not visit
We were told at an information booth that the better option was
Vasa Museum. In 1628, the Swedish Royal Navy debuted Vasa, an
impressive 226-foot-long war vessel, built to display Sweden’s vast naval power.
The ship had the astounding capacity to carry 64 heavy gun cannons, which was
an unprecedented armament aboard any battleship at the time. It was supposed to
be a feat of engineering. But then, it buckled under its own weight and sank to
the bottom of Stockholm Harbor on August 10, 1628, just 1400 yards from shore. Rediscovered in nearly pristine shape 300
years later, it is a very popular sight to behold. Guess what. There were at
least 200 people in line to see it. Note
to self: Buy tickets online before you leave home!
One goal: find a Swedish
cinnamon bun!
Nordic Museum-another
one we did not visit
Since that trek to the area of the museums was about 1.5 miles, we opted for an Uber back to center
city. A sleek Tesla picked us up and what a screen it had. We were dropped off
at a posh Starbucks for a Stockholm mug.
Map of city/Tesla
plus 3-D view of cars and pedestrians
Starbucks
We strolled through a Cultural Festival, much like We Love
Erie Days, only much larger.
This was probably a backdrop for
children's photos, but
no one was around!
A girls' choir with orchestra/
beautiful!
TK took this picture of sportfish-
top fish is a brown trout
bottom: Atlantic salmon
Food trucks-Greek, Brazilian,
Mexican, Swedish, etc.
Finally, we found the “old town,” a delightful area with many
small shops with all things Swedish, as well as restaurants with outdoor
seating. Next time we will start there!
Women's clothing
Children's clothing
A Dala horse is a traditional carved,
painted wooden statuette of a horse
originating in the Swedish province
of Dalarana. The Dala horse has been
widely used as a toy for children.
A symbol of Dalarna,
as well as of Sweden in general.
Toys
Sweden is known for its salt licorice
No Swedish fish in sight
Firetruck!
Boats and bridges!
Before boarding the bus
we opted for strawberries and cream!
In no time at all it was time to meet the bus to return to
the ship—just in time for dinner.
I see three bridges
We are on one of them
Interesting facts:
- Midnight sun: Stockholm is too far south for the sun to
remain above the horizon all night, which is required for a true midnight sun.
Around the summer solstice in late June, the city experiences persistent
twilight, where the sun sets around 10:00 PM and rises again around 3:30
AM, but the sky never turns completely dark. This period is called white
nights, lasting roughly from mid-May to early August.
- Sweden is the largest Scandinavian country.
- Sweden is a Parliamentary Republic and Monarchy (dating back
1000 years)
- It has 26,700 islands
- Two thirds of Sweden/covered by forests
- December 13 is the darkest period of winter.
- Fika—I liked this new word-- fika means a
deliberate coffee‑and‑pastry break taken to pause, connect, and
socialize—usually with others, often twice a day.
- Smultronställe—I liked this phrase too—a Swedish phrase for a
personal place of joy, kept partly secret
TK’s Takes: He saw jelly fish in the water near the Princess
pier—pink! Stockholm was very
clean. As we rode out of the city he
remarked that the suburbs had mostly nice looking apartment buildings, not many
single family homes.
