Stockholm Highlights

The Ferry Ship
We caught the ferry from Turku, on the west coast of Finland, to Stockholm, Sweden on the night of the 18th, expecting a large passenger boat. What we got instead was more like a mini cruise ship, complete with multiple restaurants, a huge duty-free store, casino, and movie theater. Our cabin was rather cozy (read: TINY) but comfortable.

Changing of the Guard

To our surprise, we learned that Sweden has a royal family (and we saw their pictures everywhere on postcards), and, though they no longer live in the Stockholm Palace, it is still their official residence and therefore guarded by the Högvakten, the Royal Guard chosen from members of the Swedish Armed Forces. We were lucky enough to witness the changing of the guard at noon while we were exploring Gamla stan, the oldest part of the city. We found a YouTube video of this event for your viewing pleasure.

The Under the Bridges Boat Tour
Stockholm is composed of several islands and two peninsulas. It's therefore easily divided into large areas, each with its own character - Djurgarden, for example, is a National City park, and previously-mentioned Gamla stan, or the "Old City," has cobblestone streets and medieval architecture. We took this boat ride around the city and even happened across a Swedish submarine.

Skansen

An open-air museum that was founded in 1891, Skansen is a recreated pre-industrial village, including farmhouses, windmills, a marketplace, a manor, an old railway, and a Nordic zoo. We were particularly amused by one peacock who had made his way to a sidewalk, who, upon running into a group of tourists, attempted to scare them away by displaying his plumage. Unfortunately for the rather-flustered peacock, who was growing more and more agitated by the second, his display only drew a bigger crowd. We did feel rather bad for him and do hope he has figured out the reverse psychology required to get rid of humans.

The Open Market
In the Södermalm district of central Stockholm, we wandered across a huge open-air market. Underneath their long white tents, merchants were selling plates and glassware, jams, honey, chocolate, sausage, cheese, herbs, clothing, fudge, and even olives. Many of them seemed to be foreigners, especially French vendors of cheese and sausage. We did try a very interesting dessert that was essentially a very long, tubular marshmallow covered in chocolate and coconut.