Swans on the river that runs through the centre of Stockholm
Saturday was my last full day to explore the city, but I was pretty tired and sore from all the walking the last couple of days. So I decided to do the city bus tour around Stockholm, to see the sights. The bus picked us up near the opera house. The river running through the city had quite a collection of water birds - ducks, geese and such - and while I was waiting for the bus, I got some pics of the local birds.
The swans were pretty cool, but the collection of different diving ducks was making me regret not bringing my longer lens with me. Ah well, you can't win them all, and all that gear is a pain to pack and carry around. Given that this was the only time I regretted not having the lens, it was probably the right decision in the first place.
More swans.
The bus tour was pretty good, and covered a lot of the city including some new things that I had not seen in my wandering. I spent most of the day driving around the city. Despite the "hop on hop off" option, I never really got off the bus. It was mid afternoon when the bus got back to the old city, and I was ready to go watch the Liverpool game.
I walked back to the bar, and was a bit dismayed to see that it was very full. The previous name was still on, and I managed to find a seat at the bar. I ordered some food and a drink, and enjoyed the game. At 4:00 the Liverpool game came on, and I got to watch my boys put in a great performance and win the game easily. It was a good time, as the bartender was also a Liverpool fan, so I had someone to cheer with.
It was starting to get dark after the game ended. I walked back to the hotel, and relaxed for a a little while before getting ready to go out again. It was a nice clear night, and I had some ideas as to some night shots that that I wanted to go try and get. The various shots were spread all over the city, so I ended up walking a lot. I probably spent close to 5 hours out and about that night, and was completely beat by the time I got back to the hotel that night.
The Royal Palace, at dusk
I have no idea what this building is, but it looked nice.
The rounded, back side of the Swedish House of Parliament.
The old city at night, from the overlook.
I think this might be my favourite view of the old town, especially at night.
The ghosts were out that night in the old town.
The front view of the Swedish Houses of Parliament, at night.
The Royal Palace
Sunday was my trip back to Vancouver, with a short stop in London for the transfer of planes. My first flight was at 11:00, so it was a pretty reasonable start to the day. Given that I was going to be spending a good 15 hours on various planes, I decided to go for another run before packing up and heading to the airport. Rather than the south side of the water, I went along the north side this time. I cut the run a little shorter this time, but it was a pretty nice little run.
My run on Sunday was a bit shorter, and I took the north side of the park for something different.
It was a bit of a rainy day on my last day. It made the run a bit... refreshing.
One of the many museums near where I was staying, and along the way while I was out for my run.
After the run, I showered and packed up and headed to the airport. The trip home was pretty much uneventful. As you're moving with the sun, I find that flight back from Europe lets me get a lot of work done, and this trip was no exception. It made it a productive trip home.
My flight home went through London, and while my layover was very short, it did give me a chance to have a proper British pint. Another Waterlogue-processed image.
Just after take-off, I noticed what I think is Windsor Castle as we climbed out from Heathrow.
I don't normally have window seats on my flights, so i don't often see what were flying over. In this case, as we were between Greenland and Canada I happened to look out and was amazed by the sea ice. From 37,000', that's a big channel through the ice.