I'm not sure where it originated, but I have long imagined Stockholm to be a collection of squares, of monochromatic blocks of designer stores, sleek and clean.
![20120716_142057-700_9133 20120716_142057-700_9133](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/0f2bfb0cef8abaeb51a901e5a3efb5ac/20120716_142057-700_9133-900x900.jpg)
Instead, it was the full bodies of water that opened the city up, that cleaned our lungs and grabbed the sun to glitter in our eyes. We breezed across the full channels of the city on the water.
![20120716_143028-700_9152 20120716_143028-700_9152](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/c4459a0fcb83b46e6372b0c19b3acd94/20120716_143028-700_9152-900x900.jpg)
They were wide and teaming, and what I will remember about Stockholm was how they held us up, and moved us forward, and underlined rows of strawberry and cream and muted blue homes.
Unlike the acrylic buildings I'd imagined, colored blocks of houses stood loud with their roofs bracketing the sky.
![20120716_113541-700_9076 20120716_113541-700_9076](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/633e8bd038069f82c77428a22164dd46/20120716_113541-700_9076-900x900.jpg)
We stayed in the old town island of Gamla Stan, and scooted between the different neighborhoods this way:
![20120716_142628-700_9150 20120716_142628-700_9150](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/8a7cdf6d5d9dc47ce6d7e83de5910c80/20120716_142628-700_9150-900x900.jpg)
We'd walk down the hill past the palace and step onto the boat:
![20120716_114119-700_9083 20120716_114119-700_9083](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/b77a6422da998f9810a13945d1df73e6/20120716_114119-700_9083-900x900.jpg)
But, I get ahead of myself. Because before that there was breakfast. I could mark my trips in breakfast. Stockholm? Yoghurts. Cheeses. Meats. Swedish pancakes and jams and butters. Eggs in every variety. Breads so jammed with seeds there was no room for bread. Brownies. Cheese that tasted like toffee. Fresh orange juice. We piled it on wooden trays, and stood straight to fit into the little elevator, to come up on the roof.
![20120717_102948-700_9398 20120717_102948-700_9398](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/db0de3e7bf4c55f9db79e009d31fb178/20120717_102948-700_9398-900x900.jpg)
![20120717_103913-700_9416 20120717_103913-700_9416](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/152e5b72da9b604df2ced6fc43c6675c/20120717_103913-700_9416-900x900.jpg)
Where we ate among these happy folk.
![20120716_192543-700_9382 20120716_192543-700_9382](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/d07029ec145767dff63a545ca847cdfe/20120716_192543-700_9382-900x900.jpg)
And of course, it was European---why did I expect otherwise? Cobbled and spired, old and ornate with tight streets. As we passed, I tried to remember the cutest cafes (usually they had red geraniums).
Scandinavia languages are earthly, impossible to imitate, and thick---they look like what they mean. I am here. I am huge (my translation!). Finngrundet.
![20120716_141907-700_9125 20120716_141907-700_9125](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/0715dddbe20a4af8d356539d68520584/20120716_141907-700_9125-900x900.jpg)
Being such a water-laden place, boats were prominent.
![20120716_144950-700_9187 20120716_144950-700_9187](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/7bbb7e888bd41ade172a1d0565d08201/20120716_144950-700_9187-900x900.jpg)
The city's most famed museum, the Vasa, houses a boat nearly 400 years old that sunk on her maiden voyage and was preserved until the 50s in mud at the bottom of the Baltic.
![20120716_142256-700_9138 20120716_142256-700_9138](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/5c160278e25c8a6d48bf6649e5ffd5fe/20120716_142256-700_9138-900x900.jpg)
![20120716_131637-700_9106 20120716_131637-700_9106](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/c6a4d308e67e43fd3c679744d50ad321/20120716_131637-700_9106-900x900.jpg)
![20120716_125831-700_9100 20120716_125831-700_9100](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/9b9889bee600bd6e5fac3a6b1039596b/20120716_125831-700_9100-900x900.jpg)
Sailors were apparently 5'3" or under so the ceilings were just my height!
![20120716_132647-700_9117 20120716_132647-700_9117](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/5be1272f527d9996f05c284928ac6624/20120716_132647-700_9117-900x900.jpg)
![20120716_125526-700_9092 20120716_125526-700_9092](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/20845157bd4fbabcd7e30efbe54e2c87/20120716_125526-700_9092-900x900.jpg)
What I never can get up the gumption to do is take photos of food. But the halibut with butter and horseradish----oh, oh so yum. (Reindeer also featured prominently on menus . . . )
And the rest of the city---I leave you to look. It was charming.
![20120716_192629-700_9383 20120716_192629-700_9383](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/d4ac48e043fe0b1692fe164a7d414a8c/20120716_192629-700_9383-900x900.jpg)
(Ancient nordic gravestone in the side of a retail shop---how cool is that writing?!)
![20120716_191442-700_9364 20120716_191442-700_9364](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/87f7c2902c08eb72cd664f75690d080c/20120716_191442-700_9364-900x900.jpg)
Can you tell who took all these?
![20120716_185444-700_9339 20120716_185444-700_9339](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/4e6691b5e8b590b31bcc3d485fa16146/20120716_185444-700_9339-900x900.jpg)
![20120716_172511-700_9257 20120716_172511-700_9257](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/92fa2e03cf51a1ddea6223bc952040b3/20120716_172511-700_9257-900x900.jpg)
![20120716_172615-700_9260 20120716_172615-700_9260](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/93828cdebbc18894db05f807d21f6bc1/20120716_172615-700_9260-900x900.jpg)
![20120716_172208-700_9254 20120716_172208-700_9254](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/3c5f88e6947cbf60a9e32f552208ebb7/20120716_172208-700_9254-900x900.jpg)
![20120716_144021-700_9169 20120716_144021-700_9169](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/8d44cfc8bce4a689000e6b92f75659ae/20120716_144021-700_9169-900x900.jpg)
Open, and fresh.
![20120716_150857-700_9201 20120716_150857-700_9201](https://media.walkandalie.com/images/c1f0b2dd2a277976856f24c886b2a22e/20120716_150857-700_9201-900x900.jpg)
Hejdå for now!