Stockholm is beautiful!

So, for last weekend's adventure I decided to check out Stockholm. There are still heaps of things that I want to do around Uppsala, but hey it's light here until 9pm so I can probably do them after work!! So Stockholm it was.
It's only about a 40 minute train ride away so I had just planned to go for the day when I got a call from my friend Lovisa who suggested we meet up in the evening and stay the night at her grandparents' spare flat in the middle of the city. Great plan! And extra exciting to see Lovisa too.

So I arrived in Stockholm just in time to make my way down to the old part (Gamla Stan) and see the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace. Ace! There were about a million people there but it was fun to hear the marching band and see the guards doing their best to look serious.

You really can't see much changing going on here but, trust me, they did!

This guy kept shouting at everyone who came near him. Maybe he was scared someone would want to steal his beret...or his white sock things....

Then I spent a bit of time wandering around Gamla Stan through the narrow streets checking out all the lovely old, brightly coloured buildings. I took a tour inside some parts of the Royal Palace and saw the dining hall where they host the Nobel Prize dinner. And I also saw lots of pretty crowns and swords at the treasury. It's pretty cool to be in a place with a royal family.

Very funky old buildings!

And narrow, cobbled streets

This lovely looking building is actually a public toilet!

Stockholm is made up of lots of little islands joined together by bridges or accessed by ferry. It's very very pretty and reminds me in some ways of Venice. It doesn't have as many little canals but it does have lovely views across the water and a whole lot of nice parks. I went for a walk around one little island that had boats parked all the way around the edge and lots of parklands.

After that I was feeling pretty pooped, so spent a couple of hours lying on a park bench in the sun looking out across the water. It was beautiful.

It was a gorgeous day!

In the evening, I met Lovisa at the train station and we went for dinner at a pub nearby. I had my first real Swedish pub food (baked potato with a kind of seafood thing on top). Then, in true Swedish fashion, we had a couple more drinks at Lovisa's grandparents' flat and then went out dancing. It was a great night. Swedish night clubs are funny - so crowded that everyone is kind of dancing on top of each other. Fun though.

The next day, we had a late brekkie in town and then caught the train back to Uppsala. I apologise to everyone but I haven't any pics of Lovisa or Mattias (her boyfriend). I forgot! But I will get some soon I promise as we will definately catch up again.

I'd like to spend some more time in Stockholm too - maybe hire a bike and ride around some of the bigger parkland areas. A plan for next weekend perhaps??