Stockholm: Day 1, April 11

We woke Henry up at 3:30 in the morning to get in the taxi and head to Stanstead Airport. We were rather surprised at his exuberance: he jabbered away and bounced up and down on my lap the whole way. We made it through security and onto the air plane with little to no fuss. Sweet Henry slept most of the way to Stockholm but, as he did when we arrived in London, was quite ready to be off the plane when we landed.

A coach took us from Skavsta Airport into Stockholm City, through some of the most glorious countryside! Tall trees, huge rocks, very wild country. Even though it was still quite early, Henry was perfectly content to tell us about everything he saw out the window on our 1 1/2 hour journey. There were only six of us on the coach, and so we occupied the very front seat where Henry had lots of windows to look out.

We met Diego at the apartment we had arranged to stay in, which was about a mile outside of Gamla Stan (Old City). We dropped our things in the apartment, grabbed the camera, and headed out to find some lunch and explore.

There is something about Stockholm that makes it feel very "continental", for lack of a better word. The buildings are huge, beautiful, and, in their own way, regal. Stockholm is actually a series of islands connected by bridges. Narrow streets take you to delightful shops full of wooden horses, woollen mittens, and cozy sweaters. There are over 87 museums in Stockholm! We chose just a few to visit so we wouldn't be overwhelmed (and, let's face it, because we have a one year old!), which was a good idea in the end.

We found a little pizzeria just down the street from our apartment. Henry was DELIGHTED with the pizza and ate half of a huge one by himself. I was starving, too, and the hot margarita pizza was just what the doctor ordered.

Now that we were fed and watered, we loaded Henry back up in his buggy and started off towards Gamla Stan.

I was surprised at the lack of tourist traps in Stockholm. Gamla Stan had the potential to be nothing but kitchy little shops full of plastic horses and "wooden" clogs, but it wasn't. A mess of narrow streets with apartments, antique shops, and hotels, Gamla Stan was pleasantly, well...real. There is one street, considered the shopping area, that had dozens of the stereotypical tourist shops, but overall it was a nice representation of the Stockholm of centuries past. We did find a store full of beautiful sweaters, mittens, and woollen hats in traditional Swedish patterns. I just couldn't resist getting Little Brute a white hat, patterned after the traditional Lovikka mittens. Holy cow does he look adorable in it.

Our first stop was the Nobel Prize Museum in the old Stortorget square. The museum was an inspiring collection of artefacts, video, and explanations of past Nobel Prizes awarded. From penicillin, to Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, to Marie Curie's work on radioactivity, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to some of the most brilliant minds of the past century. There was even a Cambridge oar! Listed on the blade, were the names of some of the most notable Nobel Prize Laureates from Cambridge University including Watson and Crick (DNA!) and Rutherford (Chemist).

I loved walking about Stortorget Square. Brightly coloured buildings, several stories high but only two rooms wide, flanked the museum, which was once the Swedish Academy for Science. We discovered a beautiful old telephone booth around the back of the museum, which Henry was completely fascinated by. They look very different from our red telephone booths here in England!

After wandering around Gamla Stan for a while, Little Henry reminded us that he was quite tired and could use a bit of relaxing at home. We made our way back to the apartment, stopping at the Co-Op for some food (you know, peanut butter, jelly, animal crackers, and chocolate covered raisins. The basics).