Wed April 30, 2025
Hi All! We had a great day in Stockholm today. While it was sad leaving the ship (mostly because they spoil us so much and we now have to fend for ourselves!) it was fun exploring this stunning city of Stockholm.
We were off the ship by 9:30 AM and caught an Uber and were at our hotel by 10. We’re staying just across the bridge from the Old Town so it’s very convenient to walk into town. We got lucky and our room was ready early so we got semi unpacked and ventured into town to explore. That is one of the many nice things about cruising, unpack once and you’re set! Oh, and our room has a killer view of Stockholm. Sweet!
We caught the ceremonial changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. Love all that pomp and circumstance! And we had more luck since today was the King of Sweden’s birthday so he was there in person and accepted lots of flowers from little kids. So cute! There were also more bands there than normal due to the King being there. Great stuff!
After that we walked thru the Gamla Stan (or Old Town) of Stockholm. It is really charming with lots of shops, restaurants and bars along with all the big buildings and sites. We did a little shopping (I’m looking at you grandkids!) and lots of walking.
We then went back to the hotel to finish unpacking and get everything situated in our room. After we chilled for a while we ventured out for dinner (where’s our Atlantide and La Terrazza when we need them!!!).
Our hotel is on the island of Södermalm which is considered the Bohemian section of town. Yes, we’re hipsters now! We walked to the main square and saw literally hundreds of young kids with white captains hats on. We were told they are all seniors in high school and this was the first day they could wear them. Funny tradition! Also tonight everyone here celebrates the coming of summer on April 30th with bonfires around town. That sounded too crazy and was too late for these old geezers!
We then kept walking looking for a place to have dinner. We were both craving a good burger so we Googled it and found one with good reviews close to where we were. The place was called Franky’s and they had the best burgers and fries. We then found out it was the #2 ranked burger joint in Sweden! Our luck continued!!
We then walked back to the hotel and crashed. We really enjoyed our first full day in Stockholm! Happy Hump Day to all!
The Wandering Italian 