I chose to drive for a number of reasons (to take a heavy pile of comics home was just one of them), and on a nice day the Swedish countryside regularly invites to take it easy. Brahehus, north of Jönköping, is one of those places where you can combine a coffee, a stunning view (over Vättern in this case), and an excellent excuse to stretch your legs. It's a looong trip.

Gamla Stan (The Old City) is among the things a first-time tourist like me has to visit. It reminded me a bit of the old town in Nice: narrow not-too-straight streets with old houses in various ochre-like colours - but Gamla Stan has some grandeur that Nice is lacking. It is an island that can be reached over many bridges (and over the water of course), and fortunately the traffic is kept out of most parts of the island. Pedestrians Paradise (like entire Stockholm actually).

The island is dominated by Kungliga Slottet, the Royal Castle, which used to be the residence of the Royal family. I was able to witness a rather cute version of a changing of guards. Among the other important buildings are Storkyrkan (the Big Church) with an obelisk in front (this obelisk was a present to the people of Stockholm, to commemorate their help during the war against Russia), or Tyska kyrkan (the German church).

And if you're not interested in all that, then there's Västerlånggatan, shop next to shop, cafés and restaurants blended among them and filling the narrow side-streets.

Riddarholmskanalen and some heavy traffic separate Gamla Stan from Riddarholmen, where many of Sweden's legal bodies have their home. I saw few tourists (one group glued around Jarl Birger's statue, hardly any more), which is odd given the wonderful view one has over Riddarfjärden, and on Stadshuset. The white boat, Mälardrottningen (Mälarqueen) is a floating hotel-restaurant, by the way.

On the rock of Södermalm Fjällgatan in the East, Guldfärdsterassen in the center, and Monteliusvägen in the West give a smashing view over what lies North of Södermalm. In the East one has a great panorama with Gröna Lund, Djurgården and Kastellholmen fighting for your attention, Gamla Stan won't let go of you in the center, and in the West Stadshuset and the houses on Norr Mälarstrand each want to leave their impression.

This is what struck me the most in Stockholm: due to the 14 islands and the many wide and narrow waterways in between them, there are wonderful views just about everywhere, and all of them very approachable. There are even several elevators taking you up all along the northern side of Södermalm, if your legs don't feel up to it.

Västerbron (the Western Bridge) gives a wonderful panorama over Riddarfjärden, with Kungsholmen on the left, Gamla Stan in the middle, and Södermalm on the right. Through Rålambshovparken (where I had köttbullar med lingonsylt och gräddsås, what else?) you reach Norr Mälarstrand, where you can return to the center while being tempted by terraces luring you with aromas of coffee or a meal.

Stadshuset, or the town hall, is the place where the Nobel Prize Banquet takes place on the 10th of December every year, but on a sunny Sunday like when I was there, the garden in front, overviewing Riddarfjärden and Gamla Stan, were far more appealing.

So from there I went, via a big detour through Norrmalm, to Skeppsholmen. I'm not that interested in (window)shopping, but on Drottningsgatan and Kungsgatan I had the impression I was the only one. I wonder if there's something wrong with me ;-)

Skeppsholmen is the home of af Chapman (the white three-master), which is both a hostel and a famous landmark. Further you'll find a couple of museums, one of which has an open-air part, with some unusual objects, colorful, moving, or both. Great to see kids gaping :-) From there Kastellholmens Bron takes you to Kastellholmen, which, as the name says, has a Castle, next to some nice views on the next-door island: Djurgården, with Gröna Lund most prominent in the foreground.

On Monday I thought I'd have the boats on my own, while the Swedes went to work and the tourist had left the country since the season is well over. I made a little stroll around while waiting for the boat (tip of the day: for taking pictures of Gamla Stan it's better to go there well before noon, the light is better). I guess every tourist hoped for the same. Gosh, some of them are rude, or loud, or both, while queueing (or anytime else I reckon).

I took the "Under Stockholms Broar" (Under Stockholms Bridges) tour, an almost 2 hour trip around many of the islands of Stockholm (more info). My impression: Oh Waow! Interesting information, great views, lovely trip. Tip of the day part 2: if you want to take pictures, don't sit behind someone with a budgie-yellow coat (like I did), your pictures show mostly the reflection of the budgie-colored coat. And tip of the day part 3: if you want to talk to your neighbour, take your headphones off. That way you won't need to yell to each other. Yes, I mean you, I think the entire boat knew you're from Minnesota, and here on a conference.

Tip of the day part 4: sit on the left side of the boat, you get the best views. The gentle pace of the boat gives you the time to let all those panoramas unfold themselves for you, and it's kinda fun to see the underside of the bridges you walked on earlier. I already know that the next time I'll come here I'll be taking one of the boat-trips again.

One of the things one is supposed to see is the Wasa Ship, which has its own museum. At first I thought that a museum dedicated to one ship only couldn't be much, but since they repeated that during the boattrip I thought "oh heck, I'm here now, why not?". Am I glad I decided to visit it! That ship inspired me with awe, entering that museum alone is grandiose.

In 1626 the building of this ship, which was supposed to become the largest warship, commenced. In January 1628 it started its maiden-trip - and a few hundred yards further it capsize and sank. 333 years later it was lifted from the sea-bottom, carefully conserved, and now it can be admired in a specially built museum.

I was very impressed. Over 4 floors one can admire the ship, and get a good view of the sheer size of the vessel, or respect the craftsmanship that is displayed just about everywhere. And in smaller rooms one can get a good impression of how life on board such a vessel must have been.