Tuesday 13 July 2010

Keeping cool in Stockholm


We are welcomed to Stockholm, Sweden with clear blue skies and sparkling waters. Remarkably high temperatures remain with us as the thermometer again reaches into the mid 30s. This further enhances the beauty of this city with its combination of modern and grand old buildings that hug its extensive waterways. We explore the cobbled streets of the old town before going in our own directions. Jules checks out the local shopping and the Royal Palace, while I walk across the island footbridge to the Moderna Museet. This is another nice gallery with several significant works by Matisse, Dali and Picasso. We agree to meet in the afternoon and to visit the Absolut Ice Bar which is quite an experience. We sip vodka cocktails from a large ice cube while leaning on a bar totally constructed from blocks of solid ice in a room that was at a temperature of -5 degrees. Although we had been given woolly ponchos and gloves, we could only last 20 minutes and were quite relieved to eventually step back into the warmth of the Nordic sun. The journey out of the harbour was as picturesque as Stockholm itself. The estuary was stunning with giant granite boulders that dropped straight into the clear waters that are set against a heavily wooded backdrop ... picture perfect!

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