If I had a few weeks to explore Scandinavia, I’d like nothing better than to island hop my way from Denmark to Finland. But since I only have a few days here, I figure the next best thing is to dip my toe into the Baltic Sea by way of a cruise along the Stockholm Archipelago. So to Nybroplan (“New Bridge Square”), a bustling area bordering the districts of Normmalm and Östermalm, I go to catch my ride. Here, on one side of the harbor there are beautiful buildings like these…

and this cool one that houses Gucci (hey, when you are directions-challenged like I am, you have to rely on landmarks to get, er, less lost…and if it helps to mark them by fashion houses, then that’s just bonus :D):

And on the other side rows of chain hotels, shops, and apartments that drift above the waterway…

Here’s our ride today, which fills up quickly with tourists from around the world:

We leave Stockholm’s skyline behind,

and one of the first exciting things we see is at the Nacka Strand, a series of commercial complexes built along the waterfront. It’s a sculpture called God Father on the Arch of Heaven and it’s quite amazing, but from the boat it looks like this:

All I’ve managed to capture is the water sprout. But you can see a cool photo here. The tour guide tells us there’s a similar sculpture on DjurgÃ¥rden and I think this might be it:

I stumbled into those photos during the tram ride back and forth on Djurgården, which is one of my favorite islands so far (more on this in another entry).

The guide also tells us that there are more people in Sweden who own a second (vacation) home in Sweden than any other population in the world. Well, I can certainly understand that when along the waterway you can find islands of all sizes with homes to fit all pocketbooks and personalities…

After almost three hours on the boat, we scatter in different directions but no doubt all in search of food. What is it about the sea air and wave motions that seem to stimulate our appetite? Tell you what, I’ll go scout for some local food and let’s meet back here when you’re hungry for more photos from Sweden.