Stockholm, Sweden - July 8th to 15th
Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the most populous urban area in the Nordic countries, with about 2.4 million people in the metro area. The city stretches across fourteen islands into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The city was founded in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl.
Stockholm Archipelago
Because Swedish law guarantees the right to education, even kids living on remote islands are transported to class. A school boat trundles from island to island each morning to collect kids headed for the school on another island. If the weather is bad, a hovercraft retrieves them. If it's really bad, and all of the snow days have been used up, a helicopter takes the kids to school.
Vaxholm Island
We stopped at Vaxholm on our ferry ride back to Stockholm. The name Vaxholm means "Island of the signal fire" and comes from Vaxholm Fortress, which was constructed in 1549 on an islet situated on the main waterway to Stockholm, for defense purposes, by King Gustav Vasa. Vaxholm Municipality is made up of 64 islets in the archipelago.
Vaxholm Fortress
The Vaxholm Fortress was originally constructed by Gustav Vasa in 1544 to defend Stockholm against shipborne attacks from the east. Vasa had other waterways literally filled in so that this stretch of water became the only sea route to Stockholm. Thus, the fortress was strategically situated to defend the city from naval attacks. The fort was able to repel naval attacks from Christian IV of Denmark in 1612 and Peter the Great of Russia in 1719.
Since the mid 19th century, the fort had become very weak and it's military importance has ended. It is said that the great Prussian Field Marshal von Moltke was only ever seen to smile twice. Once when they told him his mother-in-law was dead and again when he saw Vaxholm Fort.