Under the weather under the bridges

The weather has improved but my cold has deteriorated. After another restless night it was a relief to get up around 6:00am. It had already been light for a couple of hours. Today sunrise was at 4:47am and sunset will be 8:30pm. I was sticking to my plan of heading out early so I could get pictures with better light and fewer people. I figured I should make the most of the morning when I was likely to feel my best. 

I managed to get out the door by 7:45am. Because I'll be using the metro a lot over the next few days I bought a travel card which allows me to travel as much is I like over the next 3 days. I had a problem with both the money cards I had on me though. The terminal wouldn't accept either. It got me a little worried that something was wrong, but I was able to use my travel card successfully later in the day, so all good. 

When I got to Gamla Stan it was deserted. Such a contrast from yesterday. My plan had worked and I could photograph anywhere I liked. Of course, the pictures took on an eerie feel devoid of people. I'll post my favourites in separate blog post. 

After finishing with Gemla Stan I wandered towards where the tour boats depart. On the Internet a company advertised an "Under the Bridges" tour starting at 10:00am so I made that my mission. Turns out that there is a strike on which would affect the tour and the first would depart at 11:00am. I bought a ticked and wandered a bit more. 

I have found that all old cities have some really interesting doorways. Stockholm is nothing special in that regard, but I made it my mission to try and take some shots of the more interesting ones I found today. I'm going to put them in another separate post.

While waiting for the tour I came across one of the gardens nearby with a mass of blossoming trees. 

And this curious sculpture. 

Along the waterfront are some imposing facades as well as a huge variety of moored boats. 

Closer to 11:00am I got in line to board the boat. I was hoping to sit outside for maximum photo taking flexibility. Unfortunately the outside area of the boat was so small that I didn't manage to get out there and had to put up with photographing though the glass. In hindsight, it was probably better for my health. After all, I think sitting outside on the cruise in Copenhagen contributed to this cold.

The shores of the Baltic Sea and lakes around Stockholm have a huge variety of different buildings and terrain. 

I even saw some wildlife on one wharf.

By the end of the tour I was feeling pretty awful so I decided to make my way back to the apartment. It was only 1:30pm and the weather was beautiful. I felt guilty for wasting it but I had still done a lot. 

I took the metro from Kungstragarden station. I was aware that many of the metro stations have elaborate artwork/installations but this was the first I had seen. 

I had to change trains at Fridhemsplan where I discovered more. 

After having some soothing soup I went to bed for a couple of hours. I spent the evening writing my blog while listening to English on the Sky News.