It’s been about four months since we visited Stockholm and, gosh, looking back through the photos was really a treat. I had forgotten how much I adored the Swedish capital, with its jewel-tone buildings, amazing cinnamon buns and unisex fashion. I would go back in a heartbeat.

Highlights of our time in Stockholm included our visit to the Vasa Museum — holy cow, that is one giant, expertly preserved 17th century warship — and the open-air Skansen museum, where we wandered around the old town with some friendly chickens, ate scrumptious old-timey pastries and — most excitingly — saw real-life reindeer! We also found some decent deals on Swedish fashion in the department store Åhléns and found absolutely no deals in the famous Grandpa shop (talk about price shock — very cool clothes though). On our last morning, we took a great tour of city hall, which is where the banquet for the Nobel Prize winners is hosted each year. My photos of the golden, Byzantine-style room do not do the incredible mosaics justice.

If you’re headed to Stockholm, I would heartily recommend our hotel — Freys Hotel Lilla Radmannen — which was very central and had a lovely breakfast. We also had exceptional dinners at the trendy Hattori Sushi Devil — see the photo below with the gorgeous veggie bowl — and Tranan, where Gui enjoyed some spectacular Swedish meatballs (I know because I tried them). Next post: Sigtuna and Uppsala!