Day 21 – In Stockholm, Departure for Ronne, Denmark

 

Day 21 – In Stockholm, Departure for Ronne, Denmark

This day dawned clear and bright with views of the city from our ship burnished by the rising sun.  Our sense of Stockholm improved greatly as we rode the HOHO bus to the old town (Gamla Stan) and walked around most of the area.  Joe and Toni rode the bus all the way around the city and found that interesting, despite fogged up bus windows (it was cold!).  We had hoped to experience the Nobel Prize museum, but it was closed.  The Parliament buildings and Royal Palace were also closed, but walking around them was inspirational.  Just wandering the cobbled streets and narrow alleys was actually more interesting, and we headed back to the ship feeling like we better understood Stockholm as a diverse city.

Our ship required 3+ hours to traverse the large expanse of waterways and islands leading to the Baltic Sea.  It was another gorgeous afternoon, and we spent much of the time on an upper deck of the ship enjoying both the weather and the views.  It was completely calm, giving us spectacular reflections of sky and clouds.

After some rumination Ben sees an aspect of travel that affects what we see and how we see it.  With HOHO bus as a defining example, a quick experience from a distance may give you an overview of a place but provides very little detail or nuance.  The character and functionality of a place is hard to discern.  Wandering by foot in a place, sometimes without a specific goal, opens a new “window” on the people and the societal aspects.  Even seeing a place with a guide tends to put an insulating layer between you and people and place -  although the information imparted by a guide or a bus narrative is also useful.  As Rick Steves is fond of suggesting - get an overview first and then take the time to slow down and get into the details and subtleties of a place.  Unfortunately, the restrictive schedule of cruise rarely allows you to do both, particularly in a larger town or city.  We were able to do both in the small towns of Norway and in Tallinn and Aarhus, among a few others.

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