STOCKHOLM

14 August

Reluctantly we left this camp – we could have stayed for a week relaxing, but summer is nearly over and the snow is not far around the corner so we need to keep moving.  We headed down to Ringerum and found Lloyds Aunt and Uncle in a very rural environment.  They have a large farm with a couple of houses on.  It was funny as we turned up like they were expecting us but after a bit of discussion we realised that although Lloyd had emailed them they had no idea we were calling past and didn’t know who we were when we pulled up in our campervan.  So funny but all good and we even got to meet Lloyds cousin Andrew (pronounced Andreas) who was doing one of the houses up and we may get to meet again down the track in Czech Republic in a few weeks time if our travel coincides with his visit.

We left the relatives and headed off for Stockholm as we thought we may as well try and head there for the night rather than waste another day travelling there.  It was about a 3hr journey and thankfully a little after peak hour Friday night traffic.  We arrived at the city camp right on the banks of the city river full of boats.  During the summer it is a hard stand for campervans only and during the winter they dock the boats here as the water may freeze.  We arrived about 8 and managed to get the last spot just 5 minutes prior to another camper pulling in and he missed out.  So so lucky – someone is looking out for us that is for sure.  The next campsite is a way out of the city and I hadn’t felt like trying to find it at that time of night.

We pulled up for the night and got an early start the next day.  It was Saturday, so definitely knew it would be busy in the city.  Stockholm had a Kulture festival on for the week so we were lucky to arrive at the end of it.  Saturday was the most spectacular day, not a cloud in the sky and the promise of mid 20 temperatures.  The camp didn’t have wifi, so another day without any connectivity to the world.  We biked the couple of kms into the edge of the old city to save our legs at the end of the day, parked the bikes up and walked around the old city.  I fell in love with this city.  I think Stockholm is my favourite city so far (but I can’t compare with Paris as that is a city that stands alone).  The buildings are adorable and the old city has narrow cobbled streets with quirky shops and cafes.  We ended up buying a little plaque off an eccentric man in an antique store who asked everyone who walked in where they were from and he played music on his piano from their country when they answered him.  In the short time we were in the store we met an Austrian couple whom we asked advice on parts of their country and then a Swiss couple that we did the same with.  Funny where you meet people you can get information from.  We saw a gorgeous painting that we wanted to buy of a snow scene with fairy tale animals.  Some would say a childs painting, but we both could have looked at the painting for hours it was so well done.  There were a few similar ones painted by a Russian artist who was coming very popular around the world, so the gallery owner told us (although we still can’t find the artists name online).  We walked away thinking about it as it was a very expensive painting but we knew we couldn’t keep it in the van and where was it to go if we had it posted somewhere.  We didn’t go back, but that painting will stay with us I think, a bit like the very colourful china cows we saw on the Spanish border that we didn’t buy a few years ago that we regretted, but the paintings were priced from about 16,000nok and the cows were only about 50euro so I don’t think I can compare here.

We saw the Kings palace amongst many other buildings.  The Queen Elizabeth cruise ship was in port along with another cruise ship and consequently there were many people on shore.  As we were walking around the harbourside Scot commented to this fellow about his Chihuahua dogs that he and his wife were walking and we ended up walking and talking with them and stopped and had a drink with them while they had lunch.  Henning and Sonniva (I hope I got the names correct) were a lovely couple who live in Stockholm not far from the café we were at.  Eventually we left them and headed to the Djurgarden area where the ferries come across from the town.  Lots of people sitting around in the sun in bikinis and shorts soaking up the sun.  We walked back to the town and stopped to find out what was happening on a big stage near the kings palace.  We got talking to a lady with a beagle named Helmet who told us the opera was on there that night.  Scot didn’t want to wait the time, but I figured why miss out on part of their music festival when it was for free.  We had some Indian street food and a drink and waited until it started.  There were a lot of people there listening to it.  There of course were no seats left and it was standing room only and no views for those of us who were vertically challenged.  We watched for a while but after walking so far today our legs and feet were aching so we headed away before it finished.  There was also the fact that we hadn’t put the lights we had bought on our bikes and the nights are getting shorter now – we only get light until about 9-9.30 instead of 11pm – shame.

We walked back through the old city and found our bikes and biked back to the camp.

Sunday 16 August

Up early, showered and off.  We were going to take a ferry trip out to the outer islands today, but ended up deciding that we would rather see more of the town and there was another concert on in the afternoon that may be great to listen to.  So we biked back to the old city and then right along the waterfront on the opposite side from the camp stand.  There are such cool buildings down this side and the bikeways were great and flat.  We went and left the bikes back where we did the previous day and walked again up through the old city.  You always seem to find streets you hadn’t seen the day before when you go back.  We stopped for a coffee at the cosy café where they had wifi.  We are very aware that a number of campsites close their doors in the countries we are about to visit around the middle of September.  So we wanted to have a look at a few of the countries we knew we had to visit.  Problem with this is it takes so much time to do this and we didn’t want to spend all day at the café, so this will have to wait a bit.  We are getting a wee bit concerned that we are going to come across countries where we may not find places to stay and we are not good at finding appropriate wild camping sites.  As we near eastern Europe camping outside a camping ground does not fill me with confidence and some countries do not allow it.  We just may have to fly through a few countries, like from Estonia through to Poland quite quickly so that we can see Austria and Switzerland before it becomes a difficult task and the snow comes.

Anyway back to Stockholm.  We headed off along the harbour to the garden where the concert was being held.  We didn’t arrive before it had started so came across a huge amount of people there when we arrived.  There would have been many thousands of people there also in part because it was such a beautiful day again.  The concert wasn’t opera this time, but the orchestra was playing again and the music was a little classical.

When it finished we walked back through town and we needed to find a place with wifi as I needed to book the ferry we need to take on Tuesday from Kapellskar to Naantali in Finland.  It is a vehicle ferry only and is much cheaper than taking one from Stockholm.  They even provide free meals on board which is great.  We stopped at a café and once most of the people had left that were there I went on and booked the ferry, but just as I finished Scot noticed some guy looking like he was watching us and smiling (I hadn’t noticed him walk in), so now I am worried that he may have been scanning the wifi information and may have obtained my credit card details along with dobs etc.  Maybe I sound like a major paranoid, but if I have to cancel my major credit card now we may as well pack up and leave Europe as it is our lifeline (Scot can’t use his as he can’t remember his pin).  So now I have to wait and see whether I am compromised.  And I am usually unbelievably careful with this stuff, but I had no choice.  We have not been able to get wifi for a week now and we couldn’t get on the ferry without booking a day in advance. Internet access has been impossible to get outside of café wifi.  For those who don’t know it is apparently quite easy to scan peoples information in open wifi situations from what I have read (haven’t done it myself).

Anyway, we biked back to the van with me freaking out.  We only have to travel up half an hour from Stockholm to where the ferries leave.  We overnight there and have to be at the dock at 7am ready to board.  We don’t arrive in Finland until 7pm so a long trip, but should be lovely if the weather is like it has been of late.