Greetings from Stockholm

Today was our first day in Stockholm. That is, if you don't count yesterday, when I spent the entire day having quality time getting to know all the ins and outs of the airport from the time I arrived at 10:30 am until DS's plane arrived from Manchester at 10:10 pm (except that his flight was canceled so he had to fly through Copenhagen and didn't arrive until 1:00 am today). What can I say? It's an airport.

Today, though, was a day of fast trains, city buses, subways, sights, museums, and aching feet.

Here's the fast train:

Here's a lovely shot of downtown Stockholm across the water -- of which there is plenty, given that the city is built on several hundred tiny islands:

Here are some pictures of museums:

into which we did not go. The museum in which we spent most of the day (and took most of the pictures) will be getting its own post.

After dark, ie about 4:00 pm, we made our way to Stockholm's Old Town, a cobblestoned island called Gamla Stan. We toured the Royal Armory (or, as they call it, the Armoury) and the Christmas Market, by which time it had begun to snow. Interestingly, this did not change the status of the weather, which remained "perfect." Not much wind, and brisk without being uncomfortably cold.

In between those adventures, we wandered the city in search of the subway stop where this was filmed:



We found the right place,

but alas, the keyboard had vanished. Still, the expedition allowed us to travel by subway and wander several other interesting neighborhoods. DS commented that it could have been Philadelphia. I demurred, feeling that although one of the large boulevards we walked did bear a passing resemblance to the Ben Franklin Parkway, many of the architectural touches were so quintessentially European: the high, wide doorways; the external downspouts; the sequential numbering as we walked up the street (as opposed to odds and evens facing each other). It didn't feel American; which is to say, it was somewhat exotic.

Trudging through the snow as the flakes got bigger, we found our way back to the train and made our way home(ish):

reflecting on our wonderful day.