Churches, a submarine, the Vasamuseet, and Master Anders...

So one of the best things about travelling with my parents is that we all have different enough interests that each one of us is attuned to spotting his or her own wacky things -- which has already happened and I'm sure will continue to happen throughout the trip. And while I may point something out -- we all end up enjoying it, and that usually is the case no matter who picks it. You'll see why I'm mentioning this in a little bit.

Last night, I realized how valuable ear plugs really are -- I slept like a baby. So much so that I didn't even hear my alarm (my dad did -- and of course it was playing "Call Me Maybe".....I guess that's better than an alarm that sounds like a horn blowing, right?) and ended up sleeping an hour past the time for which I had set it to wake me up....oops. We had our usual breakfast -- found out that the island, Drottningholm, where the royal family now lives is closed all week for the royal wedding tomorrow -- so we were able to mark that off of our Stockholm to do list.

We decided to start our day by seeing the two main churches on the island of Gamla Stan (the old town). We first saw what's called the German Church, or sometimes St. Gertrude's Church -- which was, of course, beautiful. I think it's probably best to let the pictures do the talking--

Inside of the German Church

Dueling cameras.

Outside! 

From there, we walked to the main square, where we stumbled upon this great little bakery -- how could we resist?! We decided to split a pretzel looking pastry which was covered with sugar, black pepper, and cardamon -- really interesting flavor combination, but it was moist and flaky and delicious. 

Yum! 

From there we went into the Swedish National Cathedral. It cost about $6 to get in -- but I would say it was worth it! It's made pretty much entirely of brick -- but it's slightly asymmetrical which was driving me nuts....definitely bringing out the OCD in me! But it was where the older princess was married in 2010 (the wedding tomorrow is in the royal chapel in the palace) and most other major religious events. While we were there -- we could hear a band playing outside, and it turned out that the Marine Corps band was playing in the huge square in front of the palace where the changing of the guard takes place. It was going on then, and then band was fantastic. They played endless Sousa-like marches and so we went out to watch the guard-changing festivities and music.

Swedish National Cathedral

Marine Corps Band 

Then we made our way down to the water with the goal of catching the ferry over to Djurgarden -- here's where my initial thought comes in. Thanks to my dad, we got in line to walk through functioning Swedish submarine! Apparently they just have open hours today through Sunday for people to walk through and ask questions.....it was really neat to see -- but I can say, without a doubt. that no part of me would ever want to be stationed in a submarine for any length of time. Oh, and Swedish navy officers are really attractive.

The Sub (no photos allowed inside).

After that, we did get the ferry over to the other island -- and walked up a few blocks to get out of the touristy area to find some lunch. We found this little convenience store that sold sandwiches and random vegetables and other things and had a nice little picnic lunch before heading to the Vasamuseet. The Vasa was this enormous ship that sunk after sailing just 1500 meters from Stockholm in 1628. Because the water just off the coast is brackish water (a mix of salty and fresh water), the ship was extremely well preserved. It was brought to the surface in the 1960s and has been worked on ever since. Pretty cool -- and very impressive. 

Stockholm from the ferry

Vasa

The stern of the Vasa 

We left the museum around 5 with the goal of taking the tram back in the direction of the hotel....if only it was that easy. We let about 3 trams go by before we were able to figure out how to push our way on and actually buy tickets...by the time we actually did that, the guy selling tickets seemed to not notice that we got on the tram and walked towards the back..so we got a nice little free tram ride. 

When we left the hotel, we had asked that they make us a reservation for dinner -- we figured that it might be nice to eat dinner out at least one night! They chose a place called Master Anders which was about a 15 minute walk away and not a tourist destination whatsoever. It was fantastic. They serve a mix of Swedish, French, and American food -- mostly just simple but wonderful flavors. I had a piece of tenderloin and then got to choose two sides, so I chose the potato gratin and then spinach with parmesan cheese. I had expected the spinach to be creamed -- but to my (pleasant) surprise, it had just been lightly sauteed in olive oil and topped with shaved parmesan cheese -- so delicious. We all licked our plates clean -- and then ordered some chocolate mousse for dessert (reference the video from two days ago....). Again, it was incredible. A great meal to end our time in Stockholm! We walked home along the water and through the City Hall gardens which were gorgeous, especially with the late evening sun.

Chocolate Mousse 

City Hall Gardens 

View of Old Stockholm 

Another half a day in Stockholm and then we're off to Finland and beyond -- won't be able to write tomorrow because we'll be on a ferry -- but I'll catch up soon! A bientot!