Day 10: Gamla Stan or the "Old City"
On Monday morning we got up and headed into Gamla Stan - the Old City of Stockholm. I will admit - this was my favorite place in Stockholm. I love the tiny narrow cobblestone streets, the shops & cafes in small alleyways, the sense of history and past and the bustling nature of it yet today. 
First we went to the harbor to watch some of the tall ships depart. We saw a few on their way out with their sails down - quite impressive! The harbor was busy with so many of these ships that it made me think of what it must've looked like a hundred or two hundred years ago. That made me happy. There were hundreds of spectators all along the harbor watching these ships. I'm sure when this was how it looked every day, no one even noticed. Funny how that works, isn't it?
Then we were off to the Royal Palace to witness the changing of the guards. This palace is no longer the residence of the royal family but only a place where they have their offices & do administrative work. It is across a bridge from the parliament building (which is across a bridge from where the Prime Minister lives).
The changing of the guards has become quite a tourist event over the past years. Unfortunately this was my view:
I am far too short for such spectacle. Steve & I hung back (he couldn't see either nor did he care to mingle in such close company with the large crowd) and we enjoyed the music (the "music corps" or whatever they're called played quite a few numbers and the drum corps did an awesome drum....song? While we couldn't SEE any of it we could hear it and Bertil stood with his arms raised and videotaped the entire thing for us! What a guy). We also saw the changing of the guard (just one, not the whole shebang" up close and personally and noted at how crabby most of the guards looked.
After that we strolled back through Gamla Stan and had lunch at a cafe in a very fabulous "square." I loved it.
We then walked and walked and walked and walked and walked until I was positively exhausted. We walked down this major shopping pedestrian street...we weren't that intereseted in shopping (!) but that is where Bertil & Maud were taking us so there we went (personally, Steve & I could've just spent hours wandering the winding streets of the old city, taking photographs, relaxing, etc...oh well). We stopped at the department store where Greta Garbo worked before being "discovered." We also stopped at the old Haymarket which is now the home to the most fabulous produce & flower market - I loved it! I was craving fresh fruit (we had very little of it while there...hosts fault? or Swedes? I'm not sure! I think it was our hosts judging by the produce at this market), that Bertil bought me a large bag of grapes. Boy were they good.
Our final stop on this long shopping streeet was a fancy pants yarn/clothing shop which was mentioned here which I wanted to check out. I bought my friend Sarah some lovely birthday yarn and my friend Anna (hi Anna!) some "thanks for watching our cat & house" yarn.
Then we were ready to go home. We had a lovely bbq at Bertil & Maud's house and a quiet evening. It was nice for a change to not be trying to find a restaurant and then trying to decipher what my delicate palate would agree to.
One day left in Sweden.
First we went to the harbor to watch some of the tall ships depart. We saw a few on their way out with their sails down - quite impressive! The harbor was busy with so many of these ships that it made me think of what it must've looked like a hundred or two hundred years ago. That made me happy. There were hundreds of spectators all along the harbor watching these ships. I'm sure when this was how it looked every day, no one even noticed. Funny how that works, isn't it?
Then we were off to the Royal Palace to witness the changing of the guards. This palace is no longer the residence of the royal family but only a place where they have their offices & do administrative work. It is across a bridge from the parliament building (which is across a bridge from where the Prime Minister lives).
The changing of the guards has become quite a tourist event over the past years. Unfortunately this was my view:
I am far too short for such spectacle. Steve & I hung back (he couldn't see either nor did he care to mingle in such close company with the large crowd) and we enjoyed the music (the "music corps" or whatever they're called played quite a few numbers and the drum corps did an awesome drum....song? While we couldn't SEE any of it we could hear it and Bertil stood with his arms raised and videotaped the entire thing for us! What a guy). We also saw the changing of the guard (just one, not the whole shebang" up close and personally and noted at how crabby most of the guards looked.
After that we strolled back through Gamla Stan and had lunch at a cafe in a very fabulous "square." I loved it.
We then walked and walked and walked and walked and walked until I was positively exhausted. We walked down this major shopping pedestrian street...we weren't that intereseted in shopping (!) but that is where Bertil & Maud were taking us so there we went (personally, Steve & I could've just spent hours wandering the winding streets of the old city, taking photographs, relaxing, etc...oh well). We stopped at the department store where Greta Garbo worked before being "discovered." We also stopped at the old Haymarket which is now the home to the most fabulous produce & flower market - I loved it! I was craving fresh fruit (we had very little of it while there...hosts fault? or Swedes? I'm not sure! I think it was our hosts judging by the produce at this market), that Bertil bought me a large bag of grapes. Boy were they good.
Our final stop on this long shopping streeet was a fancy pants yarn/clothing shop which was mentioned here which I wanted to check out. I bought my friend Sarah some lovely birthday yarn and my friend Anna (hi Anna!) some "thanks for watching our cat & house" yarn.
Then we were ready to go home. We had a lovely bbq at Bertil & Maud's house and a quiet evening. It was nice for a change to not be trying to find a restaurant and then trying to decipher what my delicate palate would agree to.
One day left in Sweden.
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