Pinch me, I must be dreaming...

That has been a very common sentiment for us lately. Daniel and I just can't believe all of the amazing opportunities we have had since we've been here! We are incredibly blessed, and we thank God for every single blessing. Once again we felt like we were dreaming when we had another great travel opportunity arise for the 4th of July... since it was going to be a long holiday weekend, we took a mini-cruise in Scandinavia, specifically between Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland. My dad's side of the family comes from 100% Swedish heritage, so I figured if we couldn't be back in the great US of A for Independence Day, then the next best thing was to "explore my roots" up north!

We left for Stockholm bright and early on Friday, July 3rd. After the flight, the shuttle into town, and grabbing some lunch, it was already time to head to the cruise ship... thankfully we knew we'd have more time to check out Stockholm once we got back from Finland. The cruise ship was much bigger than I expected it to be... it was nearly as large as the Carnival cruise ship we were on for our 3rd anniversary trip in the Caribbean. And although I am quite happy to be a civilian now and to be done with my time in the Navy, I was actually kinda glad to be back on a ship... I guess there is something familiar about it, plus I love being on the water. That's is one thing Daniel and I have missed in Frankfurt... being near the water, like we were in San Diego. But I digress....

As the ship pulled out, we decided to check out the view, which we knew would be great as Stockholm is located deep within a huge archipelago made up of thousands of islands. Passing all of the islands on our way out to the Baltic Sea made for a very scenic ride. Seeing the Swedish flag flying high above the ship was pretty neat too!

Pretty soon it was time for dinner... while it was the typical cruise buffet, it was also a "Scandinavian smorgasbord" consisting of different types of fish and other seafood as well as salads, cheeses, and of course desserts... but the highlight for me were the meatballs. Swedish meatballs rule! Shortly after dinner, we succumbed to our food comas and fell asleep... at least that way we were well rested for a fun time in Finland the next day!

By 10 am the next morning we had arrived in Helsinki. We even had a pretty nice view of the city as we docked alongside the pier. As we headed into town, we first passed through the Market Square, where, not surprisingly, there was a bustling market. Vendors were selling quite the variety of goods, including fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables (the strawberries were so good!), wood carvings, and even reindeer skins and fox scarves! I guess that's Finland for ya :)

Not far from the market is the Uspenski Cathedral. The church is the largest Orthodox cathedral in western Europe and also one of the clearest signs of Russian influence on Finnish history. As we got closer, we could really appreciate the contrast between the red brick facade and the green and golden domes. Since it's set up on a hill, just outside the church we could also see back toward Market Square... and inside the view got even better. It was much smaller than I expected but very ornate and beautiful. I have to be honest too and say that it was nice to see a different style of church design... after visiting tons of classic European churches in the last year, they all tend to blend together, so this church definitely made an impression.

After taking in the Uspenski Cathedral, we headed toward the city's main square, Senate Square, which is dominated by another church, the Helsinki Cathedral. While it is considered one of the capital's most famous landmarks, standing tall like a beacon atop its hill, its interior was actually pretty plain, not even really picture worthy! The square is also home to the Government Palace, and a couple blocks away is the Esplanade, a cute little park which we also strolled through as we continued to explore Helsinki.

One of Helsinki's most unique sights is undoubtedly the Temppeliaukio, which means the Church of the Rock. The interior was excavated and built into the rock, is topped off by a giant copper dome, and is supposed to have excellent acoustics. I think it is one of the most interesting churches I have ever visited.

Since we had seen quite a number of churches, we thought it was time to check out another type of attraction, so we took a 15 minute ferry ride to a group of islands that make up the Suomenlinna sea fortress, a military stronghold established in 1748. Over the years, the fortress was used by the Swedish, Russian and Finnish armies so there are many fortifications scattered around the islands... today it is largely used as a public park, and it is very quaint and peaceful. It is apparently very popular with the citizens of Helsinki because there were tons of people enjoying picnics and the afternoon sun.

Some people were even enjoying a dip in the water at a small beach, but we decided to forgo the swimming and investigate some old bunkers and cannons near the shoreline instead... there was a view back towards Helsinki from that vantage point too.

Nearby there was a cute little cafe, where we had a late lunch while enjoying the view overlooking the water. On our way back to the ferry, we stopped by a Lutheran church that also has an operating lighthouse in its steeple... there are supposedly only three such churches/lighthouses in the world. By this time, we had to catch the boat back to Helsinki to make it to the cruise ship on time. Overall, I would say that our time in Finland was an enjoyable if unexpected way to spend our 4th of July!

The next morning we were back in Stockholm, and we were excited to see more of the Swedish capital. A friend of ours from Frankfurt, Jered, happened to be in Stockholm for the weekend too, so we met up with him and then we were on our way. Our first stop was the City Hall, which is famous for being home to the annual Nobel Prize banquet. Every year on December 10th, the banquet is held in the grand Blue Hall, which was designed to look like an Italian piazza. The architect originally planned to paint the walls blue but changed his mind when he saw how striking the red brick looked. However the name was already so established during building that it stuck. The staircase leading to the upper level is called Elsa's staircase after the architect's wife... he made models of the stairs and had his wife walk down them in high heels to determine which design was best. Once you reach the upper level, at the far end is the entrance for the guests of honor, which include the Swedish royal family and the Nobel Prize laureates.

As we continued on with the tour of City Hall, we next saw the Council Chamber, with its remarkable ceiling designed to look like a Viking ship. We also walked through the Entrance of Honor, which has a carved stone ceiling... then onto the Prince Gallery, which has frescoes painted by Prince Eugen as well as great views looking out toward the city. The last room we visited was the Golden Room... its walls are covered with mosaics made of over 18 million glass and gold plated tiles! It was literally dazzling.

Once outside we took a moment to admire the tower... the three crowns on top serve as the symbol of Stockholm. Even the exterior architecture of City Hall showcases its Italian inspiration. Right around the corner there is also a good view towards Gamla Stan, the city's Old Town.

Since Gamla Stan looked so inviting, we headed that way next. We wandered past historic buildings as we entered Old Town and soon found ourselves in front of the Royal Palace. By then our stomachs were informing us it was time to eat... thankfully Jered knew of this cool cellar cafe nearby. Once again I had swedish meatballs, and once again they were awesome!

After lunch, we headed back toward the palace to catch the Changing of the Guard ceremony. As I teetered on top of a column pedestal, I did my best to take some pictures of the ceremony... it was pretty impressive. One thing that really stood out was that there was a rather large number of women in the guard, which surprised me. After the ceremony, the band played a concert... and the first song they played was Mamma Mia! I guess anything by ABBA is considered a very close second to the Swedish national anthem :)

We spent a good portion of the afternoon meandering around the charming, quiet streets of the Old Town, and while doing so we stumbled upon Gamla Stan's oldest square, Stortorget, around which the city of Stockholm was built. In another section of Old Town is a statue portraying the legend of St. George slaying the dragon... St. George is supposed to symbolize Sweden while the dragon is Denmark. I have a feeling that the Danes say it's quite the opposite! The rest of our time was spent souvenir shopping... I think I checked about every single store to find the best Dala horse, which are hand carved, painted horses that serve as a symbol of Sweden. I have always wanted one, and now I am a proud owner of my very own Swedish Dala Horse!

Once we left Old Town, we strolled through more of Stockholm... since the city is located on 15 different islands, we pretty much enjoyed the view along the water's edge most of the time. Water infuses the entire city, so it is very picturesque as well as a boater's paradise.

During our wanderings, we made it to the island called Djurgarden, which is known for its parks and museums. At the entrance to one of the parks, there is a bright blue gate with gold accents... it is definitely gaudy but I guess it's their way of proudly displaying the Swedish colors! We soaked up some sun in a park while once again enjoying the view along the water. We also walked by the Nordic Museum and several other museums, but by this time we tuckered out so we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way back, we passed through Sergels Torg, Stockholm's modern central square.

After resting up a bit, we went to a late dinner at a tasty Asian place. When we wrapped up our night around 11 pm, it was just starting to get dark... and when we had to catch the bus to the airport at 5 am the next morning, it was already completely light outside! Those crazy daylight hours during the summer in Scandinavia would definitely be hard to get used to! But Sweden was wonderful, and there was definitely plenty more to see and do in Stockholm than we were able to fit in during our one day there... that just means we will have to go back :)

As always, thanks for reading the blog... it's great to be able to share all of our adventures with you! To continue our July traveling streak, we had another great trip to Spain for our 6th anniversary so I will be posting about that soon. Until then, God bless!