Kall, Kall, Kall

Annie Lennox didn't know the half of it. Stockholm was cold, cold, cold this past holiday weekend. As such, all did not go as planned. The "wandering about, sightseeing, and taking pictures for 4 to 5 hours a day" part got shortened considerably. The main reason being that the air temperature in conjunction with the wind was appreciably lower than my supposedly well-swaddled body. It was just plain bitter. That's what 10 years living in Southern California will do to you. As Ah-nold might say, "it thins your skin like a little girly man." Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Luckily Swedes enjoy their saunas. Oh yeah, 60 degrees Celsius warmed up this thin-skinned SoCal transplant just fine.

I did manage to see a few sights and take a few photos. An interesting and beautiful part of the city is Gamla Stan ("old town"), which is located on a small island. The top image was taken from the relative comfort inside Storkyrkan, the oldest church in Stockholm. The bottom image is the changing of the guard ceremony outside the Royal Palace.

It was sunny most of our stay, but we left as the snow began to fall. The trip back was a bit hairy as we drove through several heavy snowstorms. Winter has reasserted itself here in Sweden.