Reminiscences 2025
The trip ended in Stockholm, but I have few recollections of what we saw. 
One was the City Hall, where Nobel Prize winners received their recognition. There are some interesting murals on the walls. 
Another was the museum housing the 17th Century Vasa, a ship sunk in the 1628 and resurrected in the 1960s. It’s a reminder that Sweden, which has pled neutrality in the 20th century, was one of the great powers in the past. Ask Peter the Great about the Great Northern War, which brought Swedish 
troops deep into what is now Ukraine. And brought Peter to consider resettling the capital from Moscow to a new city on the Baltic. In any case, it’s the only intact vessel from the 17th century.
And finally, I do have pictures of the Old Town. We probably got the standard tour of the city.
By this point, we were ready to come home–but also to go on further cruises; no packing and unpacking was nice, but the lack of free time would bedevil me.
Here’s what I had to say at the time in summarizing the trip:
Great trip, full of medieaval and majestic–St. Petersburg is full of the
lavish wealth of Russia, all squandered by the Tsars on themselves, while
most of the other cities spent time between Sweden and Denmark in the
early period, then the Knights, then Sweden/Poland, and finally
Germany/Russia. Saw a wonderful performance in St Pete by Cossacks, the
same wonderful folks who helped me be an American.
Helsinki was a treat, but these northern Scandinavian countries are
wealthy!