Day 5: Stockholm
Ha! No rain! No wind, no sun. This morning is our last opportunity to have a leisurely start to the day. As from tomorrow  we are required to have our cases at the door for collection by 6.30am. The rest of the tour group were bussed to the Vasa Museum at 8.00 but we joined them at 10.00 as they went through to tour the picturesque Old Town which is what is shown in postcards. The cobblestones are very pretty but require great care to walk over. Our next stop was the magnificent City Hall opened in 1901 and built to copy Italian architecture. It is here that the annual Nobel Prize presentations and banquet is held. The Swedish Council comprises 101 people and meets here every two weeks on Monday afternoons. The piece de resistance is the Gold Room decorated entirely in gold mosaics. You can be married in this and choose a long ceremony of 4 minutes or a short ceremony of 37 seconds. That's all it takes I guess. The Swedes have a minimalist, no-fuss, Lutheran style which is so evident throughout the city.
Instead of joining the group to go to a banquet at Skansen which we had visited yesterday, we chose a dinner cruise on Lake Riddarfjarden. Oh my goodness. What an experience! The weather settled and turned on the most picture perfect scenic thrill for us. Yes, cold, but we were inside a beautiful dining cabin with a bottle of Prosecco and the most glorious food. I ventured into the classical deer meatballs, boiled potatoes. Loganberries and pickled cucumber. YES. I could live like that for the rest of the trip. Peter was not so brave and just watched me with caution. I have taken way too many photos, each more enchanting than the last. Truly the best way to celebrate the end of this chapter of our Scandinavian adventure.