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| Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
IN THE aftermath of the (overnight) St. Petersburg cancellation, Stockholm became the overnight stop (although even that changed - "the best laid plans"). But since we were to be there for the better part of two days, perhaps it is fitting that I do this in two separate posts.
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| Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
THE REAL reason, though, for separate posts is that there were really two separate parts of this stop. For the "cruisers" among us, the distinction may not be obvious. But for anyone who is a photographer, it certainly was. And I spent a couple hours on the way in and again on the way back out, up on deck with my camera. As I say often, there is something special about being up high on a cruise ship deck and offshore from a photographic perspective. And this post will be more about the photographs than anything else. One thing I learned by standing up on the top deck during this passage was just how much rural area - and beauty - Sweden has, once you are outside the major metropolitan areas like Stockholm.
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| Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
TO GET to Stockholm by water, there is only one way; a long, narrow, winding 55-mile-long passage from the Baltic Sea into the city. I have tried numerous searches to try to find a name for this passageway. It resembles a river or very wide canal, much like the passages out of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, to the North Sea. I simply cannot find a name. If a reader knows different, I would love to be enlightened.
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| Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
THE CITY of Stockholm is mainly a group of islands, and much like the other "Nordic" ports we visited, has multiple harbors and cruise docks. Boat traffic is a major mode of transportation to and from the city, and between Stockholm and other destinations. There are at least two major Ferry/cruise lines that make regular trips between Stockholm and Helsinki, for example. These generally an overnight, and the boats are basically mini-cruise ships, with berths and a dining room. Based on the traffic we saw along the passage it appears to be a pretty popular thing. It was fun photographing these transit ships, especially in the background of the passage.
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| "Transit" Cruise Ships between Stockholm, Helsinki, and Tallinn Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
THE TRANSIT ships moved faster than us, which gave me the photographic advantage of watching them approach, overtake and get out in front of us in both directions.
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| Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
AS I mentioned in an earlier post, another thing I noticed and was intrigued by was the common sight of cross-passage open ferries. I am thinking they were all a part of an official sanctioned system (or contracted for), as they all looked similar. They were all (even the one in Warnemunde) yellow colored. They had a similar, barge-like, open deck design. Again, I found them quite photographically interesting.
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| Car Ferries along the Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
AGRICULTURE PLAYS an important role in Sweden's economy and culture. While there seems to be some slight variance, most (internet) sources indicate that Sweden is the 5th largest country by area in Europe. When you look at a map, after Russia (which could basically encompass all of Europe with plenty of room to spare) the next 4 or 5 countries appear to be similar in size. In population, however, Sweden ranks 15th in Europe. Most of the productive agriculture in Sweden is in the southern roughly 1/4 of the country (3/4 of the country is blanketed by forests). Sweden's growing season (especially north) is very short, and conditions are just not very amenable to serious agricultural pursuits. Less than 10% of Sweden's land is devoted to agriculture, and the primary products are livestock, with dairy leading the way, and to a much lesser extent, cereal grains. It seemed to me that there was a fair amount of farming present along the passage; perhaps because of the water's moderating influence on temperature and climate.
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| Farming along the Passage Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
I SAW some nice farmlands along the way. Some were livestock operations (evidenced by the "marshmallow" hay bales), and some devoted to grain production.
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| Farmland along the passage Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
THERE WAS also evidence of wealth and leisure. Dotted along the passage were numerous small settlements or developments which appeared to be vacation homes (or perhaps commuter homes for persons who work in more populous areas and commute to work). There were nice piers and some pretty nice pleasure craft moored at these settlements.
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| Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
THE NEARLY 3-hour sail in (and back out the next day) provide a lot of color and a lot of landscape to shoot and I made as much of it as I could. This was certainly a pleasant part of the cruise. We would come into port on the east side of Stockholm about mid-morning. We did not have any particular plan for the first day. We would take the shuttle into the center city and find the old city of Gamla Stan in the heart of the city. Next up: Stockholm.
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| Stockholm Passage Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved |
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