Scandinavia: Stockholm

The day begun around 9am, when the boat docked in the port. Unlike in Helsinki, the weather in Stockholm was about as summer-like as weather in Scandinavia can get, meaning a light jacket will suffice. We began by paying a visit to the Vasa museum, the home of the 17th century Vasa warship. Whilst there we also went onboard a steam-powered 1915 icebreaker and a light ship from 1903. After that we hurried to Gamla Stan to see the changing of the Royal Guard. After witnessing a fairly amusing set of guards playing instruments whilst riding horseback, we took to the main square to have a look at the stock exchange building, where the Swedish Academy meets to elect the Nobel Prize winners in literature. As it is with trdelnik in Prague, one can't go around Stockholm without treating oneself to at least one cinnamon roll. Thus, our miniature exploration of the old town with its medieval stone streets and buildings with facades in fifty shades of ochre was motivated entirely by the desire to find a cosy cafe and smother ourselves in cinnamon buns. Personally, I am not a big fan of cinnamon pastries, which is why this bun was the first cinnamony thing I ate since the trdelnik in Czechia two years ago, and while I enjoyed it, I am now done for a while. It was around 2pm and we had the rest of the day left to wander around the city, so instead of going out of our way to visit the Fotografiska museum in Södermalm, we instead went to Norrmalm down Drottninggatan (Queen street). We generally spent the rest of the day drinking coffee in litres, marveling at the abundance of H&M shops (though, strangely enough, I did not find any interesting clothing there?), and wandering aimlessly down unknown streets eating ice cream, which gave me a great opportunity to observe the locals. As a southern European, I was amazed to see how dressed up everyone was, as there had not been a single soul wearing leisure clothing. People there are also incredibly active and interestingly enough, there are people running at all times of the day, despite it being work time. Towards the end of the day, the city is covered in the migration wave of cyclists, who got off work. Be careful or you might get hit.