We began our final day in Stockholm by heading back to Gamla Stan to see the cathedral, which was partially closed during our first visit on Saturday.
The cathedral traces its roots to the 13th century and has served as the site of major events in Swedish history over the years (namely coronations, royal weddings and royal funerals). I liked the relatively bright interior and the "St. George and the Dragon" statue, which commemorates a 15th century battle versus the Danish over Swedish secession.
Our final stop was Drottningholm Palace, which is a bit outside of Stockholm to the west. The palace serves as the private residence of the Swedish Royal family and is partially open to the public. Here's the view of the palace from the lakefront.
The palace dates to the 16th century, though it had to be restored about a century ago following years of being in disrepair. We weren't permitted to take photos on the inside, which was very ornate as would probably be expected from any royal residence. And as with every palace that we've visited during our travels, Emilie objectively commented that she prefers Versailles.
After we toured the palace we walked around its gardens a bit, which offered a nice view of the palace from the other side. I waited about 10 minutes for the guy in the photo below to move, but he apparently liked his spot.
Rather than taking the subway back, we decided to catch a boat in order to make the most of our final hours in Stockholm. As a result we had a very nice view of the palace from the lake as we departed.
The boat ride back was nice, though it got a bit cold as the clouds came in and blocked the sun. This didn't seem to bother the many locals out enjoying the summer day lakeside, as their definition of cold seemed to be much different from ours.
I particularly liked the houses along the water with private docks.
And here are a couple of shots that I took as we returned to Stockholm to collect our stuff from the hotel and head to the airport.
