Moose, Boy Scouts and Bears .... oh my!

We arrived in Stockholm this morning before 10AM.  On our way into the city, we noticed another moose fence.  Is that the sound of you asking what a moose fence is?  Well, apparently they are the hottest thing in Scandinavia.  It's a fence that goes along the highway for miles and miles to keep the bountiful moose off the expressway.  The one in Sweden isn't quite as moose friendly as the one in Norway that had tunnels and bridges allowing the moose to cross the road (yes, this is true).
Why you ask, did the moose cross the road?  Because he lives in Norway.

Stockholm is a vibrant, beautiful city.  We arrived at our hotel and immediately dropped our bags in our room and headed out to find food and the Nobel Center.  Because we loved seeing the Nobel Peace Center in Olso, we really wanted to see where it all started here in Stockholm.  After a delicious lunch at a small cafe next to the Royal Palace (no we did not try to break into this one) we let ourselves wander the busy cobblestone streets.  We ended up in front of the Stockholm Cathedral which was breathtaking partially because of its simplicity.  We went inside and were blown away.

Next we headed to our original destination, the Nobel Center.  What a cool museum.  The current winners are featured in the front and you can listen to why they won and how they were chosen. The museum also features each winner on interactive touch screens. They had a temporary exhibit in the back that was also quite neat.  It was fashion inspired by each winner. There is also a section with items from the winners: letter from Einstein to his sons, etc. My favorite part though was the area that showcased Alfred Nobel and the work that he did while he was alive.  I had no idea going into this that he helped stabilize nitroglycerin so that it could be used as dynamite.  What a fascinating man.

Nobel winners sign the bottom of their dinner chair when receiving their award.  

Einstein Letter 

Alfred Nobel Room

After the Nobel Center we headed back to the hotel to change for the Opera, Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Royal Swedish Opera.  I was planning to wear these adorable flats and stockings with cutouts but that went out the window with any hope of it going above 15 degrees today.  Thankfully Mom decided to wear her running leggings with her dress instead of her tights so I stole hers.  We were not fashionable, but we were slightly warmer.

Sarah taking a rest before the next event.

Opera House

The Opera House itself is beautiful both inside and out.  We had a great view of both the orchestra and the stage (Mom was happy).  After a lively, mostly one sided, debate on what kind of flute the gentleman in the orchestra pit was playing the opera began.  Don't worry we have creepily close up photos of the flute so that we can look it up later - hold onto your seats for that one.







The opera was different.  It was a modern adaption of the original.  We'll publish a second post on what I now believe to be the plot as I didn't really know what it was beforehand.  If you'd like brief synopsis, here goes:  Ornithologists, Voldemort?, Love, Dancing Bears, School kids, Paper airplane fight, and Boy Scouts.  I swear to you that all of these things appeared in the Opera, with maybe the exception of Voldemort.