Ramble on...

Traveling from place to place
With a few destinations in mind
We take in all sights and sounds
As we begin our journey by losing sleep

Near the land of midnight sun
We have heard of the vikings land
Now they are called Swedes
We saw their capital place

A small place finely arranged
Small enough to walk most places
We met its oldest abodes
And their newest King and Queen

Under the cold April night sky
A big fire was lit
With flames licking the sky
While all country welcomed spring

At the end of the Archipelago
Lay a small island, Sandhamn
A cruiser took us to meet it cold winds
Blowing in from the Baltics 

We saw that ship which was stillborn
Vasa did not cross the harbor
A big failure in marine history
Resurfaced to live forever

Little ones playing by a pond
Men and women strolling by a lake
Cars running with people everywhere
Restaurants serving food with lingonberries

Time has come to move on
To that city most visited by people
Where every corner is stained with history
And a pointless metal structure is the star

A million snaps by the Seine
March to see the triumphant arch
Window shopping en route to Concorde
Statues, Fountains, gold and glass domes at many place

The snake is long with innumerable people
Looking at an easy way to the top
We toil up the stairs till we can
Then take the easy way to top

The lady with a smile, maybe
Faces of the four seasons
Paintings within a painting
Darkness in a lost paradise

Elsewhere its early days of civilization
Pots and jewellery with patterns from heavan
Mummies and statues smile as we walk past
Codes and king of Babylon on stone

Walk through streets back to our beds
Being amazed at the perfections from past
Food from home refreshes us to present
Aching bodies lie on bed in world of dreams

Now its time for recent local history
An emperor takes a long cold rest
With god and others watching him
Near the stillness of many war stories

Center of the city, a cathedral nearby
Gothic wonder beautified by stained glasses
Ride north through the city's gut
To see the sacred heart now growing darker

As the mothers chant their prayer
In voices lulling us to a peaceful nod
Clouds have moved up from the horizon
Raindrops fall in the open spaces

Wetness creeps in slowly
As we get in to the underworld
Drying up as we ride back
To get wet again by the time we rest

A big palace few miles from the city
Gleaming gold welcomes all
Another long snake not quite 7 miles long
An hour goes by before we get inside

Richness everywhere, paintings and furnishing
Many rooms with names we don't remember
Needs and use unknown
Pompousness surrounds all around

People walk with stuff in their ears
Stories from past made  alive
Many characters heavenly and not
Some stand out many forgotten

The infamous king and queen
Who ruined lives and thus were ruined
Their heads taken away from their life
Up in the air for all to rejoice

Swarms of people in the closed space
Looking around with katchaks all the time
Entrapped in the regal roominess
Feel the need for fresh air

So we ran out like that Queen
To the gardens with their perfect greens
In the yonder we see fountains sprouting water
As music plays from secret corners

Still the shutters click away
As we walk to see another royal abode
Reason enough for her beheading
Simple and pleasant to sight it is

Back in city we meet an old friend
She who has someone inside
We laugh and talk for a few hours
Then we part in happiness

The time has come for us to head home
Memories and joy to carry back
Do we go back with happy hearts
Or does the toughness of life worry us

More happy with the thoughts of past
Than anxious of things to come
Learnt some from the places
Need to learn more when at home