Baltic Cruise: Stockholm and the Archipelago

My parents Dave and I decided to take a Baltic Sea cruise. Why? Because it's a great way to see places like Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersberg, Riga, Gdansk (though admittedly i knew nothing about this city) and the island of Visby, all in one trip. And they are not so expensive. So, we signed up. 

We met up in Stockholm and decided to spend 3 days there so my parents could get over their jet lag (though they never seem to be bothered by it anytime I've seen them do an overseas trip) and we could check out one of our favorite cities. Dave and I visited Stockholm in the dead of winter (in a previous post) and fell in love with the city. I was so excited to see it in the height of summer. In fact, we were in Stockholm on the longest day of the year. Which was really SO COOL. It never really got dark and the weather was perfect, everybody was outside walking around and enjoying life and I simply fell in love with the city all over again. 

Lots of people looking impossibly Scandinavian, including these very blonde twins in their cute dresses and hip shoes. Only a woman who looked like that can pull of black rubber wells with a print sundress and not look awkward. 

First order of business was to take a boat tour of the city. It was also a good time for everyone to catch up on their sleep (not long after this photo was taken). 

One (of the many) things that I LOVE about Stockholm is that nature is never far away. People picnic, hang out, and swim off the rocks on the side of the bay. The water is clean and accessible to the public and the residents are hardy and willing. 

One of the pretty historic plazas in the old town- Gamla Stan. The green, red, and yellow buildings are pretty famous. So, we thought it was a good idea to get a photo taken in front of them. 

Stockholders like a nice outdoor cafe/bar like the rest of us. And lucky for them, even in the most touristy areas they feel very authentic and cool and serve quality fare. 

And they have nice geraniums. 

I don't know what this box thing was but I thought it was cute and my dad was feeling silly. 

One of the many charming spots perfect for a sit and a sip of something. 

We took another tour on the edge of the city, where there is a big park surrounding a beautiful lake and the royal family has a palace. We stopped for a snack and were VERY pleasantly surprised that what we found was NOT any cheesy, packaged ice cream and sketchy hotdog joint. Instead we found THIS. A charming, beautiful cottage run by a very pleasant woman who baked, (BAKED!) her own cakes and tarts and made, (MADE!) soups and sandwiches and fresh lemonade and brewed coffee and teas. 

IT was truly delightful. And I found that you get a lot of this in Stockholm–quality food and drinks that are homemade and served at tourist attractions. They don't seem to succumb to the duked-down and cheapened crap that most tourist places serve. So wonderful, and reason 1,267 why I love Stockholm. 

My parents reflecting on the beauty of Stockholm, and that delicious piece of cake they just ate (above). 

My dad, trying to look stern. 

I don't know the story of this cat with the flower wreath but I saw it all over the place, including on the tour boat. I liked it, a lot. 

We also visited Svensk Tenn, the design company founded in the 20's by Estrid Ericson, who was only 30 years old at the time (amazing). Estrid was the creative director, who believed in mixing the "high end" with the "low" and that the magic is in the small details of a space. I love the overall vibe and aesthetic of the store. it feels very elegant but also very real and creative. 

Estrid hired the designer Josef Frank, designor of trippy but elegant patterns for fabrics, and mod yet soulful furniture. I had heard of Josef Frank but never heard of Estrid Ericson before. I'm glad to have learned about Estrid. She seems like a very cool and inspiring person. 

My cute parents, at the Svensk Tenn store. Yellow is not my mom's favorite color but she likes sunshine a lot and she still looks great here, as does my dad. 

Later that evening (actually, I don't remember where in the sequence of days this was but no matter) we went to a classic, iconic restaurant for traditional Swedish food. 

This was not at the restaurant, though you could order something like it. These lovely salads were found in a DEPARTMENT STORE cafeteria, and they looked amazingly delicious. 

We noticed that the Auburn, New York-based band Manowar was playing in Stockholm later that summer. Small world. 

One of many cool bikes that inhabited the streets. 

Here my dad is showing us where he is from (Latvia). 

Cool street car, fully functioning. 

And on in the cruise terminal, registering and getting our pass/necklace which we would have to wear for the next 7 days. 

My dad was pretty excited to be onboard, looking at the sea, drinking a beer, and most of all, being with family. 

Right off the bat the scenery was gorgeous. The archipelago reminded me of islands of Maine, if they were altogether, winding along in one big, charming chain of awesomeness. 

To see the giant ships meandering among the islands, and getting so close to them was pretty incredible. 

We were so close that you could hear the music the residents were playing. This guy (behind the tree to the left of the flag pole) was blasting "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey, as he painted a wooden chair. I'm not making this up. It was the best. 

When it got too windy we would just go inside one of the lounges and watch from there. Not bad. This place became a regular hangout for us. 

Lisbon

Lisbon has some very unique features which made it a really fun city to visit. Let's start with cable cars. Some only went up and down steep hills (of which, Lisbon has many- apparently there are 7 major hills upon which the city is built). Others toured throughout the city neighborhoods. The most popular and scenic route is car #28 (write that down if you plan on going to Lisbon). Some of the cars have a single compartment with passenger seats and some have 3 or so separate compartments which are stepped, 

to fit the slope of the hill. 

I liked how the cable car tracks accentuated the hills and curves of the streets, 

especially at night. 

The cars provided good people-watching, as well as opportunities to be pick-pocketed, which we luckily managed to avoid. 

It's kind of amazing that we didn't get pick-pocketed while doing this (see Dave in the mirror?):

Another feature of the city was the mosaic sidewalks. They are hand-set with chunks of stone- the black are basalt and the white are limestone. The work requires lots of skill (even silky curves are made with the chunks of stone) and it doesn't pay well (surprise!) so there are fewer and fewer people able and willing to do the work. The sidewalks also have a tendency to be slippery in the rain and the stones pop out frequently and cause tripping hazards. Regardless of those negatives, I think they are gorgeous, and so distinctive. I read it's a uniquely Portuguese thing and other Portuguese territories or former colonies (Madeira, Brazil, etc.) have the same sidewalk treatment. 

Rio has a pattern like this along Ipanema Beach (haven't been there, 

but maybe someday)...

Another really cool thing about Lisbon is that many of the buildings are covered in colorful, patterned ceramic tiles. I've never seen that before. From a distance the buildings just look colorful and shiny...

… but when you get closer you see that the color is from individual tiles. So many colors and designs- I didn't see any repeats. And when the sun shone they glistened. So pretty. 

Two very Lison things: tiles and "Pastel de Nata" a delicious creamy, custard-filled pastry. We sampled many of them.

Of course a big draw for us to come to Lisbon was the fact that it's on the water. Not really on the ocean, but on the mouth of the Taugus river which flows into the Atlantic, 

a few kilometers to the West.

After one rainy day we were THRILLED to get some SUN. 

In Luxembourg we miss the sea, but we miss the sun even more. 

The sun was a bit blinding for Alejandra. Her pupils were saying "whaaaa? the sun???"

Fish, especially sardines, are very important to Lisboan cuisine, and iconography. 

 

 Thanks to a friend of Alejandra's we found a superb little canned fish shop where you could sample any of the canned fish they had on display. You simply picked out what you wanted and they opened the can and served it with a slice of lemon and delicious bread (seriously, the best bread I've had in Europe- reminded me of the bread that my friend Barak used to make for the restaurant Cafe Uffa in Portland, Maine). You can get sardines, cod, mackerel, and other fish items, in olive oil, with hot peppers, pickles, tomato sauce, without skin and bones, etc. 

I also loved the packaging of the canned fishes. Overall I thought the graphic design of Lisbon was top notch- in the restaurant menus, store business cards, food and beverage packaging, signs for museums, brochures, t-shirts, postcards, etc.

One morning (well, not really morning- it was noon) on Sunday we saw a group of people gathering around this doorway. Everyone was drinking something out of a small shot glass. 

Turns out it was an after-church shot of Ginjnha, a sour cherry liquor. It was like limoncello, only made with sour cherries. Very sweet and strong. You could get it with or without the cherries. we got the cherries, but in the end none of us ate them because they were very, very strong. Besides, it was 12 noon on a Sunday. 

We were told to visit the Alfama neighborhood because as my friend said "it's the soul of Lisbon". Just from strolling through in a couple of hours, I have to agree. Winding streets, packed with modest houses leaning into each other; steep staircases, orange trees, and friendly residents hanging their laundry made it very appealing.

Some street color.

We also went to Barrio Alto which was a bit fancy in parts. Lots of great views here.