A Royal and Nobel Day - Unfortunately No Dancing Queens Though

Today was the day to see the Old Town... the Royal Palace, the Treasury, the Royal Armoury, the Royal Cathedral. I quite enjoyed seeing the royal carriages, also the sleighs! After all of that pomp, I wandered around the cobbled streets for awhile, checking out the old, colourful buildings and the sea. Stockholm really is a charming city, part of that stems from the fact that it is built on 14 islands. Unfortunately, the wind came up and it started snowing.. made it more appealing to be indoors. I was wishing that I had brought some long johns... however I don't have any with me in England.

After slipping and sliding on the icy streets for a bit (I can't count the number of times that I have almost fallen), I decided to head indoors to the Nobel museum. I got there just in time for the free English tour and then I wandered around by myself afterwards. I had read up a bit on the museum and Alfred Nobel before coming. Very strange that a man that made his fortune from dynamite and explosives was the founder of a prize for peace. It was a cool museum, reminded me of all the amazing scientists that I had learned about in high school and since forgotten. There was a special exhibit on Winston Churchill's painting and writing. Someday I would like to read his memoirs about World War II. Having just finished a fantastic book called "Uprising '44 - The Battle for Warsaw" (by Norman Davies), I am interested in Churchill's perspective on the events surrounding the Warsaw uprising. The book was very eye-opening for me. Even after going to the Uprising Museum in Warsaw (which was fantastic), there was still a lot that I did not know.

I capped off the day with a fabulous meal at a vegetarian restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. I asked the woman to suggest something. She described all 6 or 7 dishes on the menu for me. I picked one which she described as made of pasta and potatoes, a special kind of cheese and onions. Funnily, when I got it, I realized it was pyrogies! They were amazing though. So was the "help yourself" homemade bread and hummous. Delicious! I completely stuffed myself.

Now I am back at the hostel to get my backpack, sneak some of the free tea and warm up before heading back out to the train station. I opted to take a night train to Copenhagen as it was half the price of the fast train which would have wasted 5 hours of daytime. This way I can sleep on the way there and save the cost of a night in a hostel too.

The only disappointment about Stockholm? The fact that the ABBA museum doesn't open until 2008.