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Sweden - Day 6 - May 5, 2024

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We woke up to the sound of pouring rain. It had been pouring rain the week before we came, but since the day we arrived we had blue skies and 70 degrees. But today - not so. Every morning we had a lovely breakfast buffett and these cinnamon rolls were at every breakfast. This is one of the things the Swedes are known for is their cinnamon rolls. Today we decided we wanted to see City Hall.  City Hall is where they now have the Nobel Prize dinner (the first few years it was at the Grand Hotel where we were staying.)   We called for an Uber and headed out in the pouring rain to City Hall.  We had bought our tickets ahead of time for a 1:00 tour. City Counsel room - the left, the right and the opposition. Outside of City Hall Mosaic Room City Hall front view The Blue Room The Mosaic Room The Mosaic Room up close Picture in the Mosaic room depicting summer Solstice Stockholm City Hall, with its spire featuring the golden Three Crowns, is one of the most famous silho...
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Sweden - Day 5 - May 4th, 2024

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 Did you know that Sweden has 267,000 plus islands?  I thought I heard our guide say 33,000 islands, but when I just googled it - Google says 267, 570.  How many lakes do you think Sweden has?  Well, I'll tell you - 95, 700. Today was another beautiful day weather-wise.  We took the morning to go take in the cherry trees in a nearby park/square.  There were many vendors out selling their wares.  The trees were beautiful. Stockholm, May 4 2024   We walked across the street from our hotel and boarded a boat for the "Under the Bridges of Stockholm" boat tour.  It was set up so you could scan a QR code and listen along as the boat hit certain checkpoints.  I did not have headphones with me, so I put it on a low volume and held it up to my ear. Under the Bridge boat (all inside) Dave and I on the boat tour We start on the Baltic Sea and then eventually enter a Lock where they raise the water and then when it gets high enough we are let out on...
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Sweden - Day 4 - May 3, 2024

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 Today Hunter Douglas had planned our day for us with the group. We gathered in the Hotel Lobby and then met up with a Tour Guide.  Each tour guide was to take 50 people (apparently).  We started walking to the boat.  It was a few blocks to walk.  All of the sudden our guide stopped and took a phone call.  This was her face. After several moments on the phone, she said, Apparently I was to have 50 people, but they sent me off.  (We only had about 12 people in our group.)  She decided to just keep going.   We got to the boat and got loaded up.  You could choose to go to Vaxholm the city OR Vaxholm Fortress.  We chose to go to the city.  We did a little walk about and then stopped to get some coffee.  Every shop here has tons of bakery items and especially cinnamon rolls.  We just got coffee, but there was lots of great food to admire. Street signs in Stockholm Rent bike here (haha) Phone booth minus the phone View...
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Sweden - Day Three - May 2, 2024

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 We slept great and were so thankful to have our luggage.  Hunter Douglas has a big buffet breakfast available for us every morning.  A few years ago when we went to Munich, Germany, there were pretzels at every meal.  Here in Sweden, there are cinnamon rolls at every meal.   This morning we had a Hunter Douglas meeting.  I'm really enjoying this trip as there are far less people than there were in Malta and Maui.  It's made it easier to talk to some of the Hunter Douglas staff that are here.  I thought they did a fantastic job with their meeting and talking about the future.  I took notes and wrote down ideas for marketing and expansion. After the meeting we went to a restaurant that was part of the hotel and sat outside to eat.  Last week, the weather was cold and wet and this week it has been in the 60's and 70's and sunny.  It's absolutely beautiful.  I got what the menu called a "French lunch" which was noodles with p...
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Day Two - Stockholm, Sweden - May 1, 2024

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 Every day can be a learning experience!  Today I googled "purser," "Krona," "Changing of the Guard," "Nobel Prize" We boarded our plane in Denver to Frankfurt.  This trip was "awarded" to us, so we chose to "pay" and upgrade to 1st class.  We were in Row 1.  First class - worth it.  Row 1 - not so much.  We were right by the bathrooms and the "galley."  And the flight attendants don't "sleep."  So even with my Bose headphones on, I found it difficult to sleep due to the constant chatter.  BUT I did catch up on a Peacock series called "Apples Never Fall." There was a gentleman named Jeff who was helping us and he said he was our "purser" for the flight.  Had to look that one up.  He said he'd been doing this for 37 years.  He told me his dad got hired at TWA the day he (Jeff) was born, and his grandfather had worked for Eastern airlines.  (Flashbacks anyone?)  He was fantastic to...
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