6. Stockholm.

Today's port of call was Stockholm. As scenic cruising goes, the sail in to and sail out of, the Swedish capital is as picturesque as any in the world. For over two hours, the ship meanders along narrow waterways and weaves in and out of the hundreds of pine covered islands of the archipelago. Most of these islands are uninhabited whilst others have just one or two expensive looking summer residences along with equally expensive looking powerboats moored up at wooden jetties.

Crown Princess was berthed a fair way out from the centre of the city and more by accident than design we found ourselves on the first shuttle bus traveling from port to city centre. Having been to Stockholm a couple of times before, we wanted to do something a little different, so taking a leaf out of our Copenhagen experience, we bought tickets for a two hour boat trip around the islands that make up the bulk of the city and its suburbs. This was an excellent and relaxing way to see parts of the city that we hadn't seen before. Unfortunately though, we ended up in a bit of a logjam at the locks and our two hour trip soon turned into three hours and it didn't leave us with much time to do any other major sightseeing. 

However, we did take a quick look in the Nobel museum, we wandered through the streets of Gamla Stan (the oldest part of the city), caught the end of the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace and did a little window shopping along the Main Street. One thing is evident throughout....there is much building and construction work going on.

And so our few short hours in Stockholm came to an end. As I write, we are still sailing out through the archipelago and the trees are so close to the side of the ship that you can almost reach out and touch them. Off now to change for dinner followed by the obligatory Abba theme night.