Day 16 - Gamla Stan (Old Town), Stockholm

Talk about feeling at home!  Up and refreshed from a great nights sleep on a Swedish bed, then off for frukost (breakfast) smorgasbord.  Fresh bread you carve yourself, cheese, roast beef, tomatoes, cukes, salami, hard and soft cooked eggs on the cold smorgas, then the hot smorgas of scrambled eggs, bacon (american-style),  but NO SILL.  Amazing.   No fish - couldn't believe it!  Then there is coffee (strong), fresh fruit compote, yogurt, and Swedish coffee cake.  Ahhhhhhh.  What a meal!  We made extra open-faced sandwiches (Swedes never make a sandwich with bread on top, only on the bottom) for dinner.  One $98 dinner was enough or we'll be out of money before the first week is over.

Then off to our HO HO (hop on, hop off) BOAT!  Stockholm is actually 14 islands, so no need for a car.  We enjoyed a few stops in the boat before exiting at Gamla Stan to see the old town ... back to 1200AD.  Our first stop was Vasterlanggatan, one of the most exciting shopping streets.  Paved with old cobbles, the old buildings rise straight up, side by side, for 3 stories.  One street, Marten Trotzigs Grand, is so narrow that you can touch both walls with your hands as you go up the stairs.  This area I remember visiting when I was 20 and a summer student at the Uppsala University.  The buildings are a beautiful red, orange, yellow color, and the smells from the bakeries are wonderful!

Next stop in Gamla Stan is the Royal Palace, to see the Crown Jewels (seriously beautiful - we had a 1:1 tour from the guard, think he was smitten with Diane and was impressed that I actually knew Swedish history).  Got to see the three choices of crowns that 30 year old Crown Princess Victoria will get to choose from for her coronation day.  Interesting fact:  There is both a Kings Crown and a Queens Crown, but the most recent Queen (back in the 1800's) decided to be a bit of a feminist and elected to wear the Kings crown for her coronation!  The coronation robe was last out of it sealed case in 1976 when Carl Gustav, the current King, was crowned.  The entire red, crown encrusted cape about 15 feet long was only draped on a chair during his ceremony as it dates from the 1500's.  1,100 little ermine (sp) animals gave their life for the edging as well as the full inside of the robe.

Crown Princess Victoria was married one year ago on June 18th.  Her personal tiara worn on her wedding day is not on display.  However, the guard told us that the "Queens Crown" was placed on the chair next to her during the wedding.  Daniel, her "commoner" husband had no crown (obviously), but during the wedding, **poof!** the Prince Crown (a 1907 issue) appeared on the chair next to him as he was no longer a commoner.  Scepters, orbs, crowns, swords - diamonds, pearls, saphires, rubies, emeralds.  Wow!

Next, off to the room where her wedding reception dinner was held.  How convient that when one is the crown princess one doesn't have to be bothered with finding a suitable room for the occasion.  This one holds a sterling chair, statues, vaulted ceilings, chandelars, and a loft for trumpeters (no wedding reception is complete without trumpeters).  Sweet.  I could totally see the room set for the reception that was televised.

What next?  Well, her church of course!  Walked a few hundred yards to the entrance to Storkyrkan (Cathedral) which has been the scene of all royal weddings (except Gustav V, great-grandfather of the current King Carl Gustav).  It's a fully maintained Gothic cathedral and is the oldest building in Gamla Stan.  Diane walked right up to the altar where Crown Princess Victoria had walked to her Daniel.  Showed her where the Kings and Queens from Norway, Denmark, Austria, etc sat with the Swedish King Carl and Queen Sylvia.  Still can't exactly figure out what happened to my invitation to the wedding, but this was almost as good!

Well, it was now 6pm, and the last HO HO boat picked us up.  Good thing too, because the 75 degree day was now about 60 and threatening rain.  Oh no.  This is the last boat and it doesn't go to our island.  Oh no.  It's raining.  And cold.  And Diane is wearing shorts and a beater.  Well, we'll have to walk.  Oh no.  We've walked to the wrong island.  Back again.  Wet.  Cold.  Wind.  We probably walked a mile in the rain.  Love being a tourist.

Hot showers, dry hair, smorgas awaiting us - all is good!  Oh, when you order a beer, they set out several for you to choose from:  three different alcohol contents.  The mid is 3.5 (like a Bud), and the 5.0 is like a Guinness.  I stick to mjolk (milk) or coffee!  (Sorry - no spell check on this blog entry today - I've got to get some sleep!)