Last full day in Stockholm and on to Oslo, Sept 5 & 6

 Sept 5, 2024. Trip to Vaxholm Island

 

Vaxholm 

    Today we caught the 83 Ferry, included in our public transport pass, to Vaxholm. The ferry both coming and going was very crowded and we were lucky to get seats. Unfortunately, we could not get them outside. Today was a hot day for Stockholm, almost 80 degrees and people were eager to get out on the water. The ferry made over a dozen stops, most of them of a minute or so. 

      The archipelago is made up of hundreds of islands, many of them very small. There are a lot of summer houses, some small cabins, some luxurious mansions on the islands. On such a fine day, there were many leisure boats on the water. It is lovely and we imagined having a cabin on one of them.

Our feet in the Baltic Sea at "Battery Park"

        Most people got off at Vaxholm. We walked to find the Magasinet restaurant which Mark had researched. It was excellent; we both had the fish soup - mussels, shrimp, cod and salmon with some zucchini and onions and celery.

We were told by two locals that the restaurant is famous for its menus and certainly the soup was excellent and filling. It had a harbor view and a view of the castle, but construction marred the view somewhat.

      Then we walked to "Battery Park" where there were remnants of old gun emplacements from 1700-1916 eras. Down from the park was a little bay where people went in swimming. We dipped our feet in the Baltic, too, and rested peacefully on a rock taking in the scene of happy people at leisure in the water, in a cafe nearby, lounging on the rocks and benches and boats sailing past. The Swedish have a nice life.

        From there, we strolled back and caught the ferry back, getting "home" around 5. It was a wonderful way to spend a day.  Once again, we walked miles, but it didn't seem like it. (Today- 3.5; yesterday - 5.8)

Battery Park

       Today we met a lot of people, most from Sweden who were happy to tell us about their country. One retired Swedish couple bought a condo on one of the islands and are very happy there. Another couple at the restaurant told us about the food. We met a couple from New York City; the man spends a lot of time in Sweden. Everyone gave us great tips and information.

Nobel Prize Museum

      Tips for future visit: Get the Stockholm Pass that includes museum or discounts to museums and the hop-on, hop-off busses and ferries. We found this out from an Australian couple who met while students at Cornell 30 years ago. (She from Nebraska; he from Nebraska) 

Sept 6 - Train from Stockholm to Oslo

      Today we had permission to leave our apartment a bit later as our train was scheduled for a bit later in the day.

Grillska Huset

      We walked to the square where the Nobel Prize Museum is (have to see that on another visit) and ate at the Grillska Huset. We ate on the deck outside. Mark finally got Swedish meatballs on our last day in Sweden. Barbara had a delicious quiche.

   

 We took the subway to the Central Station and boarded the train for Oslo. It was a six hour trip. 

       We sat with two very interesting Swedish women. They were en route for a weekend in Oslo, meeting up with a friend from university for Mimi's birthday. Mimi is a historian and film maker who had been given a major award the previous day for her part in the creation of a 10-part series on Swedish history. We got a link to the series, but don't know if it will work outside of Sweden. 

     Stella, works in social work at a school. She was born in Tanzania and adopted in Sweden. She speaks Swahili, Swedish and English. She was one of the most positive people, with the belief that you should never say no to an opportunity. Despite a busy job and two children, she was in a Royal Theatre production two years ago as an extra. The play ran for 17 shows and she said that it was grueling and she learned so much about how theater works.  

    Both talked about how Swedish students have totally free education for as long as they want; all they pay for are their books. Thus, they can be lifelong learners and can change their careers easily, something Stella has done already.

New friends - Stella and Mimi

    Talking to them made the time fly.

    We arrived in the dark and walked a very short distance to our hotel, a Comfort Hotel Xpress. It is a good one.

View from our hotel for the night in Oslo