Flexibility & Public Transportation
Flexibility while traveling is the key to success. Today (hopefully you've figured this out as the last blog was for Thurs in Stockholm and this one is for Fri in Stockholm) we decided to use public transportation from the ship to our scheduled Segway tour. We're on own own. Once off our ship, it took us awhile to purchase bus tickets at the bus stop only a few hundred yards away. After getting our 24-hr bus/metro ticket, off we went on bus 76 to what we thought was where we would find our tour. After arriving 15-min early, we discovered we were at the wrong place. Ugh. The place we booked was 30-min away and no way could we make it.
Carla worked her magic at the tourist information center where we were, called the Segway across town and was not only able to change our time from 10am to 1:30pm, but was able to add Ric to the Segway experience. After several days of tours, Vicki planned to stay onboard, read her book and rest.
So off we went to catch another bus to Gamla Stan, the old town with narrow cobblestone streets and shops. Karen studied the map carefully, led us to the bus stop and told us when to get off in old town, which we originally planned to see in the afternoon. While the girls shopped, the guys walked along enjoying the sights.
After an hour or so, we had lunch in a small cafe then made our way to the underground metro.
Again, Karen led us to the station and told us which stop was ours. After exiting the metro, we walked about a 1/2 mile and found the Segway shop about an hour early to ensure this time we were in the right location. We then hung around a nice park across the street and enjoyed relaxing in the sun until our scheduled time.
The four of us have experience riding Segway's but this was a first for Ric. After a refresher course we were good to go. Ric took a little longer but got the hang of it and off we went. We rode thru a park, thru a forest of trees and along a gravel path near the water with periodic stops.
In a few spots kids were diving into the lake and enjoying small beaches. Like yesterday, the weather was perfect around 60 degrees, but for Swedish kids, no problem. We had a great time and Ric said he'd wished he had one of these when he had the motorhome.
Our tour ended around 3:30 and we had to be back onboard by 4:30. The Segway office looked up the bus schedule, showed Karen how to get to the correct bus stop and said we "should" make it by 4pm. The walk to the stop would take 15-20 minutes and the bus would take 10-15 minutes. Of course it started to seem we might not make it due to things like; are we going the right way, is this the right bus, traffic, etc. Then at one point a car cut off the bus - which is actually 2 buses in tandem - and the driver had to slam on the brakes which scared everyone on the bus. The driver came on the loud speaker and, in Swedish, apologized and asked if everyone was ok. A little shook up, but all were ok, just startled. We know what was said because we asked a Swede. In Sweden, over 90% speak english. Oh yea, we got to the ship bus stop at 3:58 as advertised.
At 5:30 we met up in the bar with another couple who became friends with Mike and Carla on another cruise. Our dinner reservation for the eight of us was 6pm dinner in a private restaurant, the Tamarind. The views from the bar and restaurant on the 11th floor are great as we set sail.
Dinner was great but we all seriously over ate. I guess we'll need to do a few hundred laps tomorrow (Sat) on the promenade deck as it is a sea day.
PS. The next blog may not post until Mon or Tues.
Carla worked her magic at the tourist information center where we were, called the Segway across town and was not only able to change our time from 10am to 1:30pm, but was able to add Ric to the Segway experience. After several days of tours, Vicki planned to stay onboard, read her book and rest.
So off we went to catch another bus to Gamla Stan, the old town with narrow cobblestone streets and shops. Karen studied the map carefully, led us to the bus stop and told us when to get off in old town, which we originally planned to see in the afternoon. While the girls shopped, the guys walked along enjoying the sights.
After an hour or so, we had lunch in a small cafe then made our way to the underground metro.
Again, Karen led us to the station and told us which stop was ours. After exiting the metro, we walked about a 1/2 mile and found the Segway shop about an hour early to ensure this time we were in the right location. We then hung around a nice park across the street and enjoyed relaxing in the sun until our scheduled time.
The four of us have experience riding Segway's but this was a first for Ric. After a refresher course we were good to go. Ric took a little longer but got the hang of it and off we went. We rode thru a park, thru a forest of trees and along a gravel path near the water with periodic stops.
In a few spots kids were diving into the lake and enjoying small beaches. Like yesterday, the weather was perfect around 60 degrees, but for Swedish kids, no problem. We had a great time and Ric said he'd wished he had one of these when he had the motorhome.
Our tour ended around 3:30 and we had to be back onboard by 4:30. The Segway office looked up the bus schedule, showed Karen how to get to the correct bus stop and said we "should" make it by 4pm. The walk to the stop would take 15-20 minutes and the bus would take 10-15 minutes. Of course it started to seem we might not make it due to things like; are we going the right way, is this the right bus, traffic, etc. Then at one point a car cut off the bus - which is actually 2 buses in tandem - and the driver had to slam on the brakes which scared everyone on the bus. The driver came on the loud speaker and, in Swedish, apologized and asked if everyone was ok. A little shook up, but all were ok, just startled. We know what was said because we asked a Swede. In Sweden, over 90% speak english. Oh yea, we got to the ship bus stop at 3:58 as advertised.
At 5:30 we met up in the bar with another couple who became friends with Mike and Carla on another cruise. Our dinner reservation for the eight of us was 6pm dinner in a private restaurant, the Tamarind. The views from the bar and restaurant on the 11th floor are great as we set sail.
Dinner was great but we all seriously over ate. I guess we'll need to do a few hundred laps tomorrow (Sat) on the promenade deck as it is a sea day.
PS. The next blog may not post until Mon or Tues.
Ahh....beautiful pristine Stockholm...especially enjoyed reliving the early morning views as the ship glides past the many small islands and into port. So glad you are enjoying your adventure! Looking forward to more posts as your journey continues. Love to all!
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