A Visit from Family: Gamla Stan

While Timo and AJ were learning about space, the rest of us hopped on a boat to visit Gamla Stan, a very touristy old part of Stockholm.

Timo had the camera, so I relied on my brother-in-law to take pictures for posterity. Unfortunately, he shoots in raw format, and my computer didn't like that. So, the narration of our time there will have to do.

We started our day at the Nobel Museum, which held some interesting exhibits about various prize-winners, some more deserving than others. We then walked toward the palace, only to encounter a parade of sorts. There was a brass band playing near the palace, then it marched a short ways and continued to play. I don't know what was going on, but it was fun to see.

We chose to visit the palace treasury first, a small museum that holds the royal crowns, robes, annointing horns, swords, and more from past kings and queens. It was there that we learned that the first king of Sweden was the great-grandson of Noah. My comment to my sister was that everyone his age was the great-grandchild of Noah, but I think the point was that he wasn't that far down the line when established as King of Sweden.
H and K were hungry before the guided tour was over, so we headed outside with Edith to dine in the palace courtyard. We were soon joined by the rest of our crew, and we made plans for the afternoon as we finished our lunch. We had walked out of the palace grounds when Timo called, announcing that they were done at the science museum. We tried to figure out how to meet since Timo had to drive home and leave AJ with us. While waiting for a return phone-call, we looked around the beautiful Royal Chapel. Anyone can attend the services, and I wondered if the Sunday-morning services matched the splendor of the building.
Meanwhile, Timo and I decided that he would drive AJ over.
We then decided to walk over to the Grand Hotel, since my sister wanted to see the lobby. I had stayed there before, and, while there are some beautiful parts of the building, I don't think the hotel deserves all the hype. Maybe if you spring for a royal suite. After making use of the cleaner facilities and comfy couches, Jaime and company went for a walk, while I paced in front of the building with H, watching for Timo and AJ to appear. Once Timo dropped AJ off, we joined everyone else, and made use of the rest of our afternoon, exploring the royal apartments. Thanks to H and his impatience, I saw more than I would have if I had perused the palace at my own pace. We stayed until closing time, and Edith was a darling to run through the rain for our stroller and umbrellas, which we had left at the entrance.
The rain let up a bit as we headed toward the main street that runs through Gamla Stan. On our way, we encountered a restaurant serving Swedish fare, and I decided we should eat there to allow my family to experience to culinary traditions of Sweden. I opted for a planksteak, which was wonderful, and there were plenty of Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberries served around the table.
After dinner, we continued our quest to explore the main streets and stores of this area. I had wanted to stop in a certain store to buy the new baby a stuffed animal, but we found it was closed. I was disappointed, but we continued to shop, finding a fun clothing store where Ellie bought an uber-cute dress.


We saw a beautiful double-rainbow while waiting for our second bus

 We stayed downtown so long that we missed the last boat back. We found a bus stop, where we tried to figure out which route to take to our hotel. Thankfully, there was a man who helped us. Two busses and a tram later, we were in front of our hotel, ready to call it a night.