Shopping, Shopping, and More Shopping

We decided to skip the hotel breakfast the next morning. Since Gamla Stan, the old section of Stockholm, was only a short walk away, we figured we'd do some exploring and see what we could find.

It was really pretty, and since it was still kind of early the streets were nearly empty.

I liked how the sun slowly crept down the alleys.  :)

We eventually found some apple pie and coffee at a small cafe, then went back out for more exploring.

We found the Obelisk at Slottsbacken; it's considered to be the very center of Stockholm. I think that's part of the Stockholm Palace in the background.

Another part of the Stockholm Palace. There was a guard standing in front of the door toward the back of the picture.

The backside of Storkyrkan. We spent a few hours wandering through Gamla Stan. There are lots of neat (and sometimes slightly touristy) stores, so we had fun checking things out and taking occasional pastry breaks. We eventually made our way back to the room to drop off some bags, had some tea, then took the metro to a different part of Stockholm and wandered through more stores. We found a place with tasty lamb stew for lunch, then went to H&M, where Mark bought about half the men's section. (Kidding!) 

We ended our shopping day with a couple whiskey samples at the Bull and Bear Inn, then took the metro back to the hotel.

I was all for going back to the delicious meatball place from the night before, but Mark wanted to try something new. We wound up finding a bao restaurant, which was, um, interesting. Bao is a little steamed bun thing filled with various meats or veggies. Some of them were good, but some of the flavor combinations didn't sit too well with me. Mark liked them a bit better, I think, but at least we tried!

We ended the night with a couple drinks and some cards in the hotel bar. I got to try aquavit, which tastes like fennel and dill (Mark wasn't a fan). It was a nice low-key day.   :)