I have to start this post by reminding you that george and I lost our luggage on the flight to Copenhagen - we are still in the clothes we have had for the past two days....our first stop is in Sweden. We decided to forgo the guided tour - all the guidebooks said that everything worth seeing in Stockholm was 'walking distance'. This phrase is another that was redefined for us - walking distance is quite a different thing when you're dragging along two grandmas and a baby :)...but we survived - and yes, you'll see another picture of us dragging our sleeping son along...he's slept in many countries around the Baltic now!
Ellis in a shirt we bought him...sleeping on my shoulder as we exit into Stockholm...
A 300 year old ship they found in a 'bog' - it seriously felt like we were in the Goonies movie...it's pretty spectacular - with amazing carvings - turns out it never really went anywhere...the windows on the sides were too low and it sank on it's way out of dock...
we took a ferry from the Vasa to avoid the 'walking distance' that felt too far...and saw this cute little amusement park from the ferry
the 'old town' part of Stockholm...very cute - cafes and shops
if you can't practically smell the waffle cones by looking at this picture, your sniffer is broken...they smelled SO good - but I'm convinced that waffle cones are a bit like coffee, garlic, and fresh bread - the smell is SO tempting - but the taste is something different entirely - I wish my tastebuds worked as well as my nose - or in such vibrant ways. After all that explanation...the ice cream was very good and Ellis got his first taste...and fell in love with it...
Marta in Stockholm...this is her pose for every picture - 25% sideways...very cute!
Not sure what he's smiling at...the Swedish peeps, I guess! He probably saw that they all looked like his mommy...
the gelato at the ice cream place - amazing! - so here's why you needed to remember that we lost our luggage - on the way out of Stockholm, we got caught in a DOWNPOUR - seriously, the sky opened up and dumped water on us - Ellis was holding out his hand and tongue, thinking that he was in the shower...we got onto the bus looking like someone had turned the hose on us - it was just SO the end of the rope - no clothes, exhaustion, and now our only clothes were wet - I couldn't stop laughing...crying...laughing, and really praying with all my might that our clothes would be in our stateroom when we got back...they were, thank goodness, or I may have had a nervous breakdown!
on our way out of Sweden, we passed literally hundreds of islands...all with little houses on them - some of them couldn't go anywhere without using a boat - they were so cute, so isolated! George and I stood and watched them and really couldn't imagine what their lives were like - so different from how we grew up - but kind of appealing...a completely slower, contained lifestyle.
That was Sweden...on to Finlandia :)
