Saturday 3 September: Stockholm

 It’s been a cold night but the wind seems to have dropped a little this morning. We head off to the metro and make our way to the centre. We get on a hop on hop off bus which is already rather full but we get to see some sights and get our bearings. We get off at the market hall and admire the lush fruit and vegetables, fish of various varieties and tempting stalls selling prepared salads, sandwiches and sushi. We then visit some shops where I’m tempted by a Marimekko jumper and a Stutterheim raincoat. The exchange rate is very favourable at the moment I tell myself! On to the Moderna Museet art gallery on Skeppsholmen island. It’s even free entry! An eclectic mix of modern exotica and some that we recognise: Andy Warhol, Klimt and Picasso for example. We walk back to Gamla Stan for a late lunch at Hermitage, a vegetarian buffet restaurant recommended in the guide book. We enjoy a tasty medley of salads and pasta. We have to wait for a wedding before we can visit Storkyran, Stockholm’s Cathedral. Unfortunately this and some of the Royal Palace is swathed in scaffolding and plastic for reconstruction. Inside it is much more ornate than the Finnish Churches we’ve visited with black ebony and silver altar, an elaborate statue of St. George and the dragon and a 63 stop organ. There is another model of a ship suspended from the ceiling which we discover is a Western European tradition in churches near the sea to give luck to sailing boats 

We return to the campsite to recharge as we are going out for a meal later this evening. 

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