The Baltic Summer 2010 - Stockholm

Second Port of call Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag (parliament), and the official residence of the Swedish monarch as well as the prime minister. Since 1980, the monarch has resided at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm and uses the Royal Palace of Stockholm as his workplace and official residence. As of 2009, the Stockholm metropolitan area is home to approximately 22% of Sweden's population. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden with a population of 829,417 in the municipality (2009), 1.25 million in the urban area (2005), and 2 million in the 6650 km2 large metropolitan area (2009).

Founded circa 1250, Stockholm has long been one of Sweden's cultural, media, political, and economic centres. Its strategic location on 14 islands on the south-central east coast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, has been historically important. Stockholm has been nominated by GaWC as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha. In The 2008 Global Cities Index, Stockholm ranked 24th in the world, 10th in Europe, and first in Scandinavia.Stockholm is known for its beauty, its buildings and architecture, its abundant clean and open water, and its many parks. It is sometimes referred to as Venice of the North. Stockholm is the second most visited city in the Nordic countries after Copenhagen, with 1.1 million international visitors in 2008.

The Baltic Summer 2010 - Riga

The First Port of Call Riga Latvia

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics, and an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava. With 706,413 inhabitants it is the largest city of the Baltic states and third-largest in the Baltic region, behind Saint Petersburg and Stockholm. Riga's territory covers 118.60 sq mi and lies between 3.3 and 33 ft above sea level,on a flat and sandy plain.

Riga's historical centre has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city is particularly notable for its extensive Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) architecture, which UNESCO considers to be unparalleled anywhere in the world.

Leaving Southampton

No Man's Land Fort was a fort built in the Solent as part of the Palmerston Forts. It is 2.2 kilometres off the coast of the Isle of Wight between the years 1867 and 1880 to protect Portsmouth. It was built for a cost of £462,500, a considerable sum if adjusted for inflation.
No Man's Land Fort is almost identical to Horse Sand Fort. It is now a luxury home/hospitality centre for high-paying guests – due to the privacy it offers – with an indoor swimming pool and two helipads. In July 2004, Legionella bacteria found in the hotel's water system forced its closure. The Fort was put up for sale in 2005 and again in 2007, but the company collapsed. In March 2008, Harmesh Pooni, claiming to still be the owner, barricaded himself inside the fort in protest against the administrators KPMG.
On 21st April 2008 in the High Court, Mr Pooni and his Company were declared the true owners of No Mans Land Fort. Mr Pooni agreed to an order for sale, however the Administrators KPMG have failed to sell the property, owing to uncertainty over the title. The Judge was critical of KPMG and their statements about title to the property.

Portugal & Spain

When we were in Lisbon on our cruise earlier in the year I saw this cat jumping out of a door. You can tell by the scratch marks on the paint work that this moggy had used this method of escape more than once. Even though this was at the end of May the locals still had their Christmas decorations up, or maybe they were just a bit early for this year.

As a result of industrial action by the French we had to make alternative arrangments for one of the days, and as a result we went to the Spanish city of Bilboa. There we found the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry. The curves on the building have been designed to appear random. The architect has been quoted as saying that "the randomness of the curves are designed to catch the light".Sited as it is in a port town, it is intended to resemble a ship. Its brilliantly reflective titanium panels resemble fish scales.