I have never understood why so many countries have national animals that don't even exist in the country - why are there lion emblems everywhere - instead of squirrels and moose?
The tail is carefully positioned to keep the picture "safe for work"
Today's adventure was into Stockholm Sweden, well a tiny sliver of Stockholm - Gamla Stan, the old town area. It is quite nice and well kept area and it also houses the Royal Palace - we watched the changing of the guard and we were wholly underwhelmed by the experience - but, we have seen it now!
The buildings are pretty and I have tried to cut out the crowds, but the day was sunny and there were a lot of tourists milling about and I felt like there were less shops and more eating places than the last time we were here, almost precisely 6 years ago. At that time, we didn't walk quite as much as today (19000 steps) because my wife was five months pregnant - but we still walked.
Rather than the lions, I think they should more aggressively market their Viking history. I don't know if you know my "theory" on why Scandinavians are so good looking, but I think it is a process of "natural" selection from Viking times.
They would travel abroad to places like England and France, raping and pillaging as Vikings do, but also taking prisoners and slaves. Most likely, the strongest fighters would survive and they would take the best looking women from their travels and bring them back to their lands. Over time, this meant that the "breeding stock" got stronger and better looking.
This also explains the looks in England.
True story.
Plausible at least.
Smallsteps is enjoying herself - mostly. She is trying at least, but we have to do some things that she doesn't enjoy either - like go into any shop whatsoever unless it is for her.
If it looks like this, she is happy.
Anything else....
This was taken during the changing of the guards in what the guard who ushered us out of the way called a "ceremony" - it was weird and awkward - but Smallsteps spent the five minutes it took hanging off a pole.
I hope this isn't her future.
Do what you love?
Spring is further along the way too and there is an area not far from the old town that is lined with cherry trees and both this and last time we were here, we were lucky enough to see them in full bloom. It is really pretty and Smallsteps loved it to the point that it was the best bit of her day in Stockholm.
But, there were a couple of disappointing things too, namely lunch and toilets. My wife found a place that has gluten-free cooking and while it seemed decent at first, the food was also taste-free and the "bread" so tough that a chainsaw would need sharpening after cutting halfway through.
The toilets?
Well, they were really hard to find everywhere including in the shopping centers and when they were found, the lines were so incredibly long that there was no chance to use them. In the end, we gave up looking for Smallsteps and caught a taxi back to the boat so she could go there.
This was weird in my opinion - if there are lines like that at upmarket department stores - bloody well put in a few more services, rather than drive people to leave. If we hadn't had to spend 45 minutes looking, we would have spent that time shopping - better for the bank balance at least.
But, now that we are back on the boat, it has been all in all a good trip so far and tonight, we are going to be eating at the infamous "cruise buffet" where people try to eat their money back in one sitting and hopefully, to get to a couple of the events they put on for kids. After the lunch we had, we are actually looking forward to the buffet tonight.
Back to "holidaying" - Talk soon :)
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]