Archipelago, Sweden

Day 5

Today I decided to go on a cruise throught the Archipelago.  It was a little different than I expected, but it was still fun to see more of Sweden.

I passed this fountain the last couple of days on my walk to me various destinations and I think it is pretty cool.

In the boat.  S/S Stockholm

One of the many small islands just out in the middle of nothing.  I think I will own one of these one day :)

50% of Sweden;s population have summer homes.  Thats mostly what I saw on this tour.  I got some great ideas for Delta!

We stopped for a few minutes at Vaxholm

Missing Delta!  At lease we don't have to wear all this gear when we go wave running.

This one is so cute.  They have a dock and a boat you can't see from this picture.

My Fav. right in the middle.

I forgot about my panoramic feature until now.  I should have used it more.

Took this for my dad.  It reminded me of him... probably because he has a bright green one that he is in love with.

So tonight I made it back to Enkoping.  After only one wrong turn I found my hotel.  I have been exhausted every night.  I took a strole down the street to a pizza resturaunt.  I couldn't read the menu so I just told him I wanted a small pizza with cheese and peperoni.  He looked at me and held up a jalapeno pepper.  I said never mind.   Just cheese.  He looked at me funny and said cheese and tomatoe's???  I says sure, cheese and tomatoes.  When I got my pizza, sure enought it was cheese only.  No wonder he looked at me funny.  He must have thought I was asking for cheese only, no tomato sauce.  I'm glad we got things cleared up.

The pizza was okay... no Pizza House, that's for sure.  I have been loving American food!  After a couple days of trying new things, I went straight for the Burger King when I saw it in Stockholm.

Three more days till I get to see my husband!!!  It has been a long week without him.

Stockholm, Sweden

Day 4

Days two and three were much less eventful.  I worked 10-12 hours both days.

I made it here to Stockholm from Enkoping (Where Packsize Tech AB is) by train, it was a 45min ride.

 My Hotel in Stockholm.  Nicer then my hotel in Enkoping.  Notice there are no sheets on the bed.  Is that sanitary?

 On my way to Gamla Stan

 I love all the water and bridges not to mention the beautiful buildings.

 Here comes the parade.  THe Changing of the Gaurd at the Royal Palace





They march to the Royal Palace.  This is no High School marching Band.  These guys are Legit.  I was very impressed.  Only the parts of their bodies that needed to be moving were.  For example the drummers only moved from their elbows down when they were not marching.

They did an awsome little show after The Changign of the Gaurd.  They played some fun songs.

First stop on my self guided tour in my tourist book.  Statue of King Gustav III

Next stop, Obliesk, and behind it, the Cathedral.

This is the smallest statue in Stockholm.  It honors Stockholm's Orphans back in the day.

Thanks to the tall buildings and narrow there was a lot of shade for me most of the day.

Oldest buildings in Stockholm (year 1400)

Inside the Cathedral

St. George and The Dragon - A symbol of Hope

Huge Painting of The Last Judgement

The Alter





In front of the Royal Palace

I went on a Tour of the Royal Amory.  It was pretty sweet.  I loved the cariges.  They were pretty cool.  There were weapons dispalyed and old clothing the Kings and Queens wore- Reminded me of the movies, like Ever After.  There was also modern day clothing that has been worn by recent Kings/Queen/Prince/Princess.  There were some beautiful dresses!

Vasa Museum

These totally creeped me out!  They look SO real.  They are made from actual skeletons from the people who dies on the ship below.

Seriously, Creepy

This ship sunk 20 minutes into its Maiden Voyage because of a gust of wind.  It has been on the harbor floor for 333 years and was resurected in 1961.

This theme park looks like a lot of fun... Maybe next time.

Paris?...I think YES!

DAY ONE

 I am in Sweden this week for work, training the Packsize employee's here a little more about SAP (Our new accounting software)  I am here with my boss, Brent.

We were notified a few hours before our flight was to leave to Amsterdam that  there was a delay and we needed to find another flight.  We hopped on a flight to Paris.  We delayed our connecting flight to Stockholm, Sweden so I could see some sights.

We Landed in Paris after an 11 Hour flight (3 am MST) and we took off on our adventure. (Keep in mind I was dead tired on this short trip, I was awake for over 30 hours yesterday)

Hello Europe!!!

First Stop... Eiffle Tower

So Beautiful.  Something I have always wanted to do, but never thought I would.

Standing Underneth

Views from the First and Second Level.  Hicked up the stairs and because I am considered a youth, my tichet was only 3.7EUR (about $5)  You have to take the elevator to the top, but I was told the view is best from the second level anyway.

There are a lot of large gathering squares like this.  I am standing in the square here in the first picture with the Eiffle Tower behing me. (first level)

 From the second level.  Still a ways to go to the top.  Maybe another time.  Remember my body thinks it is 4 a.m. and I had just hiked 994 steps.

There are so many historic/famous buildings out there.  I wish I had time to learn about them all.

Second Level



Next we got Ham and Cheese Creps for lunch.  The pronunciation sounds like "Craps".  We walked the streets of Paris (and rode a lot in the subway) and found a few more sites.

Seine (Sin) River

 I think this is where there government is.  Check out the hats the cops have to wear.

 Notre Dame.  I loved LOVED this!  It is an old cathedral built on top of a Temple I believe

The Arcitecture is so detailed!  I was VERY impresses.  This is Adam (left) and Eve (Right) and below are the Angels looking toward Heaven (left) and Demons chained, on their way to hell (right)  I may be off a little here.  I need to look up the story again, it's facinating.

The same detail was on the interior,  It was beautiful.

Check out this side view.  Parts of it were built in different time periods so different artchitecture styles were used.

And finally, we did spend a lot of time in the Subway (nasty!) so I though I better throw a pic in there.  There were several people singing or playing their instruments for money on every train.

Other things I learned about Paris

• It's Dirty and it stinks in some places
• Lots of Grafiti
• You must speak French if you go.  Lucky for me, Brent is fluent.
• The city is HUGE!
• The French like to make a statement as they did with the Tower