Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm is an absolute (no pun intended) gem! Our visit began with a visit to the City Hall. This magnificent fortress-like building has become the symbol of Stockholm and is where the Nobel Prize banquet takes place. We continued to the Royal Palace which is the King's present work place (I just put in my requisition for such an office last week). A massive testament to the Baroque, basically a huge compound of rock solid buildings on a hill in the old town, the Royal Palace comprises no fewer than 608 rooms. We walked through the old town to savour the bohemian atmosphere and had time to poke around in the shops and have lunch (we were looking forward to a smorgasbord with Swedish meatballs, but had sandwiches instead). Afterwards we went to the Vasa Museum (super, super cool!) built around the XVII century warship which sank in Stockholm's harbour on her maiden voyage in 1628. The vessel was discovered in 1956 and raised from the seabed in 1961. We loved Stockholm - arriving and leaving the port was a island-filled treat too - here are the pix.