To get to Djurgarden, which is on an island in Stockholm's harbour, I walked along a wonderful boulevard, with a wide, tree-lined walking/cycling path down the centre. There are two traffic lanes + a bike lane on each side of the centre section, so it is both beautiful and practical. I saw a lot of magpies here, so I felt right at home.
And of course, all along, there are beautiful old buildings.
When I reached Djurgarden, the wind was blowing hard off the water, so even though it was plus 5 Celsius, it felt more like minus 5. Maybe even minus 10! The park is pretty, with lots of trees and still more old buildings. And there are a lot of museums.
The Viking ship museum.
The History of Sweden Museum (outdoors and unappealing on a cold day!)
The Nordic Museum:
The ABBA Museum. (Yes, you read that right!)
I didn't go into any museums, just walked around and looked at everything. Once you get past the museums, there is a recreational path that seems to go right around the island. Unfortunately, I was so cold by then that I had to turn around. I was planning to continue to another island and from there to the Royal Palace, so I decided to take a ferry across to the island of Skeppsholmen. ("Holm" in Swedish means "small island.")
This is where I got on the ferry -- you can see what the weather was like!
When I reached this island I alternated walking and running, to keep warm. There were some more amazing old buildings, and some great views, but I was too cold to appreciate any of it.
My ferry ticket could be used again to take another ferry to the Royal Palace, in Gamla Stan, but I was too cold (I know, sounds like a broken record) to try to find out where to catch the ferry. I could see the bridge I would have to walk across to get there, so I chose to walk (and run!)
"I'm cold!!"
Saint Nikolai Cathedral -- near the Royal Palace
This was built sometime before 1279.
... and The Royal Palace:
I had about 20 minutes before the Changing of the Guard.
So, I checked out the Royal Chapel first...
The chapel was closed, but I could see and take photos of the entrance area
... and then, because I was so cold and miserable, I went into the gift shop and hung out for what was probably a suspiciously long time.
Everything here was quite expensive, but I bought a small souvenir, some "Royal Blend" tea.
When I was paying I asked about the matches. In a lot of gift shops and souvenir shops, there are boxes of matches with different themes -- the Nobel Museum had matches packaged like dynamite. The Royal Palace gift shop had these:
The sales clerk told me that they are a souvenir of Sweden because Swedes use a lot of candles during the long dark winters. Also, she said, a Swede invented matches. (I googled this afterwards, and she was almost right -- a Swede invented safety matches. So yes, they are a good souvenir of Sweden, and I sort of wish I had bought a box at the Royal Palace.)
And then, finally, it was time for the Changing of the Guard ceremony:
I'm sure it was pretty good, but I was way too cold to really appreciate it. I didn't even stay for the whole thing, but left in search of a place to warm up.
I went into the first nice-looking cafe, where I had this delicious and warming meal of Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce, coffee and a cinnamon bun.
Then I walked back to the hotel.
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