We went to London...

 Woops....I mean Stockholm, to visit the queen!

One last day day of our trip!

We safely arrived in Stockholm this morning and drove to Obbe & Patty's.  After hauling in our things and visiting a bit, Patty took us to Cervera, a store nearby that sells kitchen/dining things, and has some beautiful glassware, towels, and such made in Sweden. (and sigh...It's just as well that both my $$ and suitcase were limited!)

We came back here for lunch and then mid-afternoon Mavis took us to  Drottningholm, which is the palace that is the home of the King & Queen of Sweden.  The flag was flying, so they would've been in residence.  We only walked around outside in the extensive gardens, which must be amazingly beautiful in the summer.

One thing that was really fun for me to see was the chestnuts.  I'd never seen any before, and the ground was covered with them!  Some still in their outer shell, which I'm dissipointed I did not get a picture of.  It's green & prickley!

 (Ugg, I am constantly noticing these smudge spots on my lens!)

(Dalayna, this one is for you....)

The trees were awesome, and we had a hoot being goofy.  You can see all sorts of "people" when you start looking close!

 

And did you notice all the flowers that are still blooming, and how green it still is?  And how chilly it obviously is since I'm all bundled up in tights, coat, scarf & hood??!

From there we went to Atle & Anita S's for supper.  They are Obbe's parents.  Stefan joined us there for supper, too.  He leaves later this week for Australia. 
  Atle & Anita's house is on one of the small islands that make up Stockholm, and they're perched on a cliff side with an amazing view out over the water & islands, just beautiful.  The inside of the house is beyond describing -- a combination of museum/antique store/china shop -- a lifetime accumulation of possessions both ornate and whimsical.  It'd take a long time to actually "see" everything that's there! We enjoyed our visit and wonderful meal there, and I'm very disappointed that I didn't get a picture of our lovely hosts!

 

As you can see, in this part of the city the streets are very narrow.  What we would consider one lane.

 And on top of that there is parking along one side, so what do you do when you meet a car from the other direction?

(the car on the side that has no parked cars pulls up onto the sidewalk to let the other pass--Thank you sir!)

 This is the only picture I got of the outside of the house, it got dark soon after we got there and I didn't have another chance.

 Beautiful view from the back patio!

 

And from the living room windows!!

  We're back at Obbe & Patty's for the night.  We plan to leave here at 7am to go to the airport.  Hard to believe that if all goes well, in 12 hours I'll be on an airplane headed back to the U.S.A!!  This has been a wonderful experience-- a wonderful privilege,  but we're missing our families too & both Ruth and I are looking forward  to seeing everyone back home!