Fotografiska in Stockholm
On this part of the circuit our boat was rolling a lot and rather feel any more seasick we left the boat at the next stop the photo museum, called Fotografiska.
On the ground floor was an exhibition of images by James Nachtwey. They were of the wars and humanitarian crisis that he had witnessed during his career. In one section we sat and watched a video where he described his life as a photographer and how he had put the exhibition together.
There were other exhibitions on the higher floors and as we walked back down I had to keep stopping to admire the images that were hanging on the walls from various other photographers.
I found lots of interesting books in the shop on the ground floor but a quick check on Amazon UK dissuaded me from buying any.
Walking back to Explorer
Outside we debated about catching another boat and put up with the bumpy ride. The rain had stopped and I recognised crew members walking towards us. Looking more closely at the map we realised that we were within easy walking distance of where Explorer was docked. That settled it, we’d walk back.
We passed a super-yacht and then a ferry. The footpath had a line from the mid down the middle but none of the visitors knew which side to walk!
Leaving Stockholm
Once back on board we dumped our things and went to the Royal Promenade for pizza and beer. We shared a table and chatted to another couple about the ports that we visited and listen to their experiences on RCI excursions this cruise.
Our balcony overlooked the dock and at 4:30 pm we watch the Security Officer pacing up and down. Then we had announcements requesting passengers to make themselves known to Reception. Just then we saw a couple running along the road past security and back onboard. Then we had more announcements. At 4:45 pm another group could be seen running from the direction of the ferry port. The security officer stayed by the gangplanks and then we had more and more announcements.
We were now at least 30 minutes late from leaving and at about 5.05 pm we saw four more passengers run around the corner and through security. It was a pleasant surprise the Explorer had waited so long after the scheduled departure time for the late passengers. They were greeted with cheers, jeers and lots of shouting as they sauntered to the gangplank. The obvious delay in the ships departure had filled all the land side balconies with lots of curious passengers.
An interesting statue outside a hotel that we passed.
Evening, drinks a meal, a film and a sunset
The bane of our life on a ship is always getting clean mugs in our cabin. After our experience on P&O last year we always check them carefully. Our steward must have been busy and we suspected the same mugs were there from the morning and the night before. Rather than complain we simply hid them in the cupboard when we went out for dinner.
After our now obligatory pre-dinner drinks in the R bar we went in for a later dinner. We may be on anytime dining but we did have the same service and the same table now night after night. Our drinks came quickly and we replenished constantly.
I started with the excellent French onion soup, chicken Cordon Bleu and then a slice of Royal cheesecake (which was enormous).
We skipped the entertainment and instead watch the film ‘Sea Biscuit’ on Channel 41 in our room.
