Stockholm Day 2 - June 30, 2013

Today we leave the ship and head over to our hotel, The Marriott Courtyard. In the terminal, a gentleman warned us that certain taxi's are not reputable and we should look for one of three particular taxi's. Did we listen to him? Of course not. We were concerned about finding a taxi that could fit all of our luggage! So - bottom line is that we paid about $110 US dollars for a 15 minute cab ride to the hotel. The hotel staff informed us that we had been "taken". Fare should have been half that amount! Note to self -- "pay attention"!

The hotel was mobbed. At least 7 busses out front and a large group of about 1000 Asians running around like chickens without their heads! :) We couldn't get into our room, so we stored our luggage and off we went to get the hop on hop off bus tour. It was a beautiful 25 minute walk from the hotel, in a park next to the river. We were in love!







We came across this little duck family - Mama and babies all snuggled together for a nap. Awe! Now we are really happy!



So far, our day is delightful. We're thinking about moving to Stockholm! Just look at this little floating cafe! What could be better? Maybe a house boat! Now you're talking!









We make it to the Town Hall, find a WC, and hop on the big red bus for a 3 day tour. :) The only problem is that we hopped on the wrong red bus. So - since we didn't pay yet, we "hopped off" and ran off at the first stop! :)









So - we find the right bus (the one we have a coupon for!) and off we go. Like little children on Christmas morning! Happy as hens. :) How could things get any better? Yay - a flea market and a sausage truck. Now we're trying to figure out if we can afford to live here. Maybe not.









We loved the apartment building pictured above. I wonder if they are pet friendly? Lula and the Weiner's would love it here!

So, now for the highlight of our day - THE ABBA MUSEUM! We are all huge ABBA fans, so this is the moment we've been waiting for! The museum only opened within the past month so we feel so lucky to be able to go.














                                                         


Jane and I actually went on stage with a simulated ABBA and sang Dancing Queen! If I ever figure out how to upload the video, you'll see how great we were! I'm sure we would have been competition for Freda and Agnetha. :) LOL

After the museum, of course we made an ice cream stop!




You can see how happy we still are! It's 3:15 and our bus tour ends at 4:00, so off we go to the bus stop. Giggling like school girls! And we wait, and we wait, and we watch a dozen other tour busses go by. Waited an hour. No CitySightseeing bus in sight. This called for desperate measures. We hop on a green bus and hope the driver doesn't ask to see our tickets. YES. We're on. Amen.

But - we don't go right back to the hotel. We hop off at the train station, go to the supermarket and pick up dinner for the hotel room. Cheese, salami, bread, wine and beer. We still have to figure out which train will take us closest to the hotel. After being on our feet all day, the long walk to the hotel was not appealing. Kos manages to find us the right train. Relieved, we try to look competent. Of course, we're not. The only competent one is Kos! :) LOL

The train stops, we stay seated because it's not our stop. We think. The lights go out. A nice young couple tells us we better get off the train since it's the end of the line! :) Oh crap!
What now. Kos - cool as a cucumber - leads us to another train which brought us closer to our hotel. Not close. But closer. So we walked and walked and walked some more before we made it back --- exhausted.



Maybe we're not ready to assume this lifestyle. Very expensive here. A tee shirt at the ABBA museum costs $53 USD. Nope - we're not moving here.

Location:Drottningholmsvägen,Stockholm,Sweden