With the conference over, we had all day to do as we pleased.
We spent the majority of our day in Gamla Stan (the Old Town) and spent a little time in the evening walking to the island of Skeppsholmen.
We started the day by visiting Storkyrkan, a cathedral built in 1279 that sits next to the Royal Palace. It houses the famous statue of St. George & the Dragon and is also the site of royal weddings and ceremonies. It was stunningly ornate!
Our next stop was the Royal Palace. Most of Sweden's prized historical posessions are housed throughout the palace. We toured the Royal Chapel, the Royal Apartments, Gustav III's collection of antiquities, the Treasury Museum, and the Tre Kronor museum. They have so many great things on display, but by far one of my favorite collections was the Royal Attire and Royal Crown Collection.
Although the Swedish royals no longer live in the Royal Palace in the city, it is still guarded on all perimeters by atleast 10 guards 24/7. The changing of the guard ceremony occurs everyday at 12:15. It was quite crowded, but we were able to see it from a distance. It was quite a ceremony!
We also toured the Riddarholmen Church also in Gamla Stan. The Riddarholmen was built in the late 1200s & is the only remaining medieval abbey in Stockholm. Many Swedish monarchs and aristocrats are buried in tombs inside the Riddarholmen Church.
We left Gamla Stan and headed across the harbor to tour the impressive City Hall. The City Hall building is set-apart from other buildings in the Stockholm skyline by its tower with 3 gold crowns on top. We took a guided tour of the building including the banquet and reception halls where the Nobel Prize laureattes and their guests gather every December for the Nobel Prize ceremony.
We left Gamla Stan for the day and walked to Skeppsholmen Island. On the way to Skeppsholmen we walked by the af Chapman, a ship turned into a guest hostel.
On Skeppsholmen, we walked to a church and took shelter there while it rained (again!). We walked to Kastelholmen, an old castle/fortress built on the edge of the island. We couldn't go inside, but it was neat to see from the outside.
Day 4 was definitely a packed day, but we were able to see so much & had a blast!!!
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