We awoke from a nice nap and checked the time. It was bright outside and the sun was high in the sky - your typical 18:00 in Stockholm. Evan could not be convinced that we had arrived in Stockholm just that morning - he was sure it had “been days”. Finally he asked, uncharacteristically uncertain “Is it yesterday today or is it tomorrow?”
We got dressed and walked out of our little island paradise. Our destination for that evening was Gamla Stan - the old city - on it’s own island that you can see across the short stretch of water in the top photos. Our first stop was the royal palace - one of the largest in Europe, built in the fifteenth century. The kids got their obligatory photo next to the guard.
We walked along the narrow cobble stoned twisting roads lined with shops and restaurants and took a brief photo stop outside the Nobel Prize museum. I asked Evan and Vivian to look smart and this is what I got. Apparently this is the closest they are going to get to the coveted prize.
They dutifully hooked their horns outside the Texas Longhorn Steakhouse but we walked past it and got a very nice dinner at the highly rated Bistro Ruby, followed by hot chocolate at a coffee and chocolate shop.
While I was settling up inside the restaurant, Jo and the kids sat on a bench outside. When I came out she asked if she looked Swedish. Her face glowed in the golden sun and her braided hair looked multicolored. “Yep - very” I replied. “But why?”
“Because people are asking me for directions. They think I am a local”. Three days later, at Nina and Chris’ place in Uppsala after a few drinks we concluded that they must have assumed I was a Syrian refugee, and she was a local social worker helping me with my kids. Not funny, but not improbably unlikely either.
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