I love Stockholm!

I haven't really seen a ton of the city of Stockholm yet, but I love it. I know already that I'm going to want more time here - it's really a shame that we got here Friday night rather than morning (damn you, Lufthansa, for moving our flight by twelve hours!) It's been a good stay so far, and lots of fun - Karen and Michelle (who came over from Oxford to meet us) and George (who is in Sweden for three months) and I had a great day today.

Why haven't I seen a ton of the city yet? Because we spent almost the whole day out on a boat today! It was really an awesome day.

Back story: Stockholm is on an archipelago, so it's made up of tons of little islands and connected by bridges. It's set in some lakes that run into the Baltic Sea. It's a really beautiful setting. There is basically water everywhere and this plus the pretty architecture makes for a very cool city. The streets themselves are very nice as well.

Very pretty, very clean! And a shot of Michelle, George, and Karen!

Also, water and pretty buildings everywhere:

We clearly had pretty perfect weather today. It was cool with a breeze but sunny and perfect for walking around - and for riding a boat.

One of the cathedrals and walking along one of the bodies of water. There are lots of boats that have been converted into hotels and businesses along the banks of the water.

Looking back at the main part of Stockholm.

So George has been in Sweden for a month and will be here for another two months; he's coming back to the U.S. in early July. He has spent this first month working on a boat of a friend's father. It's a 1927 wooden boat that was built by a big Swedish company. It's a really gorgeous boat, and George has really enjoyed working on it. He talked with David, the man who owns the boat, who offered to take us out on a ride today.

The boat - which had plenty of space on it for the five of us. I could stand in that covered area.

David was a real character - he was a lot of fun to talk to. We brought wine and lunch, and he served us prosecco. He took us around the islands of the city a bit, and then we ended up going down a canal and out into one of the greater bodies of water outside of the city. Everything was gorgeous! (I'm going to let pictures do most of the talking for me today.)

Michelle and Karen as we were leaving the marina with the wooden boats.

Some of Stockholm as we rode around some of the islands of the city.

Karen and me!

The scenery outside of the main part of Stockholm was really lovely as well. There were lots of houses on the islands because we weren't too far from the city, but it also felt a bit wild as well; Michelle said it reminded her a bit of the islands in Maine.

Riding out.

A lot of my pictures aren't straight because the boat was rocking. In fact I still feel a little bit like I'm in a rocking boat. I guess maybe you have that feeling the evening after you've been on a boat for six hours?

With George - happy to be with my old roommate! And George being weird... 

More shots while we were out somewhere in the archipelago.

Going back into the marina.

All in all, we were on the boat for the whole afternoon and had a great day. We saw a lot of the surrounding area of Stockholm - and we'd been told that Stockholm is best seen from boats! It was definitely a better experience than a tourist boat would have been!

After the day on the boat we walked back to the main part of city and ate in town. The sun was going down as we walked, so it was a pretty (how many times have I used that word in this post?) walk back as well.

Sunset.

Looking back toward Stockholm with a houseboat in the foreground.

So maybe now you know why I love Stockholm so far!

Tomorrow we're going to explore the town a bit more and do some touristy things. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city itself!