Merchant's House at 23 Vene

Almost opposite the church is the Linna Muuseum at 17 Vene.

The museum building has been heavily restored, whilst nearby at 23 Vene lies an unrestored Merchant's House.

St Nicholas' Church

I walk back into the 21st century and pick my way through some offices which I only later learn were once the HQ of the local KGB. I pass a Russian Museum and a tattoo parlour before coming upon the Russian Orthodox Church of St Nicholas.

Laboratooriumi

I find myself in Laboratooriumi. It is so quiet. There is nothing modern here at all. Grass grows in cracks under wooden doors. The old colour-washed walls are grimy and woe-begone. I am totally alone and feel in a time-warp. Is this the fifteenth century I'm stood in?

Towering above the end of the street is the spire of St Olav's Church. At just over 400ft it is the tallest of the city's spires. In the 1500s it was the tallest building in the world at that time.

Riddarholmen Church

Behind us is the magnificent steeple of Riddarholmen Church. It was the final resting place of the Swedish kings and Stockholm's only preserved medieval monastery church. With the one exception of Queen Christina, all succeeding rulers of Sweden from Gustav II Adolf (d. 1632) to Gustaf V (d. 1950) are buried in the Riddarholmen Church.

Back over the Level Crossing

A rather non-descript road with a small park at one side leads us back to a square containing a neo-Gothic church. We are very tempted by the strawberries and cherries on a stall outside the greengrocer's.

We resist them and pass down some streets of rather quaint old houses before continuing to the level crossing. I notice that the frequent trains on the line are in fact double-deckers.

We are quite tired by the time we get back to the ship.

Gefion Fountain

Back on the bus we move on to the Gefion Fountain and the English St. Alban's Church.

The last stop on the tour is by the famous Little Mermaid, but the place is so thronged with tourists and coaches parked three deep, we decide not to stop. In any case it is only a short walk from the ship for those who wish to visit it later.