29 August

After the usual rising at just after 0600, I was down for breakfast at just after 0630. The breakfast room was either a ballroom in a past life or was recreated as one, beautifully decorated and evoking memories of grand dances. The usual crew were down early and there was a toaster, so I was in business. Large breakfasts are taking their toll and I am slowing down and eating less during the rest of the day. I’m not sure whether I can still tighten my belt to the same notch.
After that it was pack up and put the suitcase out. The advantage of eating early for me is I can pack my Vegemite and toothbrush in the suitcase that way – if I eat later, I have to have my suitcase out before I get back from breakfast and so have to tote the Vegemite and toothbrush with me (which adds over a kilogram to my pack).
I checked my email, etc., and then packed up in the room. Heading down into the lobby I returned my keys and looked at the art there in a new light as a couple were examining the pictures and the price list for them, deciding whether or not to take any home. All thoughts of becoming an art magnate disappeared once I saw the prices and, with all the others, I headed out to board the bus.
We headed out of Fulan and were headed to Uppsala (yet another spelling mistake I have to correct).
We stopped at a small place for a break (toilet and drink) and had an opportunity to photograph a large horse. Those of you with keen eyesight may notice, in the third such photo, an amazing juxtaposition.
After a short while we were back on the road again and heading to Uppsala. This is really a university town with a lot of history and so we stopped from 1155 until 1330. There was a cathedral (very good, and very colourful and containing many precious items), a museum (which I heard later wasn’t that good, so I don’t feel I missed out), an observatory (which I ran out of time to see), a main street, pedestrian mall and river which were very interesting, an artistic display in a yard (excellent) and some quirky road signs. All in all, another few hours would not have gone astray.
We were all ready to go at the appointed time and headed straight into Stockholm. We arrived before the traffic was too bad and were into the hotel before 1500. Unfortunately this time our luggage was very slow, so while I wanted to do the washing (so it would dry overnight) I had to do the photos and their processing while I waited. By 1530 the luggage arrived and so I settled down to do three lots of washing. By 1605 I had finished, so it was a quick email and photo upload and then the bus took most of us for a guided walk around the old Stockholm and then a dinner in a cellar.
The walk was very interesting, giving illuminating views of what were otherwise just street scenes. The streets were so narrow that we all had to move over to let bicycles through and the guide had to move on before talking about houses which were still occupied. I’m afraid many of the buildings would not pass our current building regulations.
After we finished that, and were at our dinner, I sat with Peter (my seat companion) and a couple from India and we all had an interesting conversation about how what we thought and reality were so different. By 2030 we were al ready to go (the restaurant probably had other bookings) so we were back into the bus and back to the hotel by 2100. I checked the washing (shirts nearly dry, as were pyjamas, but the underwear was all still saturated) and did the rest of the photos and wrote this up and then collapsed into bed.
Tomorrow we look at the new Stockholm (and for some, shop until dropping) and then board the ferry to travel overnight to Helsinki.