Fika and faith in humanity...

Back to traveling! A stop in Stockholm was next on our itinerary. It was a bit chilly and rainy and I got super clever and paired my new jumpsuit with a scarf... that is actually a dress. Ingenious, right?

I've always been really into the idea of Sweden. Blame the "American Girl" series. I was super drawn to the stories about Kirsten as a child and since she was Swedish, I kind of grew up with a desire to visit the country.

Since we were on a cruise, we didn't have a whole ton of time in each port, but I was happy with everything that we got to do. We also got lucky, because our ship was supposed to dock at a port about an hour away from Stockholm, but due to weather, we ended up right in Stockholm. All we had to do was follow the handy blue line that the wonderful office of tourism had painted on the sidewalk from the port to the city.

Our first stop was the Vasa Museum to see the gigantic old ship that sank in Stockholm Harbor in 1628. I don't really have words for the ship, other than to say that my photos do not do it justice. I highly recommend a visit to this museum if you should find yourself in Stockholm.

To decompress after the museum, we stopped for "fika," the Swedish equivalent of "going for coffee." I know this is getting wordy, but I wanted to share a quick story about our fika break. I was heading out the front door of the cafe to find a table outside while SB waited for our cappuccinos. As I was wandering outside, an older lady fell down across the street. Immediately, 3 young Swedish gentlemen flew out the door to help her up. I pulled a chair out and offered her a blanket while one of the guys got her a glass of water. She sat with us while we had our fika and wandered off back on her way down the street. It was incredibly refreshing to see young people (I can say that because I'm getting old) taking care of people other than themselves.

After this restoration of faith in humanity, we spent a few hours walking the winding, cobbled roads in the rain.

... and then we got cold and hungry and went back to the boat to get warm...