Stockholm, Sweden - Part II

As promised, 

here's part two of my Swedish photo diary. 

This time, we circled around central Stockholm,

stopping by the market to grab some picnic necessities, 

and checking out the gym where Crown Princess Victoria met her now husband Daniel Westling.

Are you familiar with the story?

Vic was apparently bored with the workout facilities at the royal palace,

so she joined Balance gym, enlisted her future husband as her personal trainer, and the rest is history. 

Well if that's not motivation to work out more, I don't know what is. 

We also stopped by the Stockholm concert hall,

which is where the Nobel Prize awards for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and economic sciences are handed out every year on December 10th.

Have you ever wondered why there is no prize for mathematics?

To be honest the thought never crossed my mind, 

but I'd like to share the reason with you anyway, since I found it to be quite amusing. 

You see, Alfred Nobel was married once... 

He was a smart man, and he knew how to hold a grudge. 

Poor thing was so heartbroken when his wife left him for another man, that he never fully recovered. 

Never remarried either, and instead put his life into his work. 

So what does this all have to do with mathematics? 

Well it just so happens that the man who stole Alfred's wife happened to be a mathematician,

so you do the math. 

That afternoon we decided to take the ferry over from Slussen to Djurgården,

an island that's home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small residential area Djurgårdsstaden, yacht harbours, and extensive stretches of forest and meadows.

It must have been the kid in me, but one of my favorite museums we visited there is the Junibacken,

a children's museum that is devoted to children's literature, but especially to Astrid Lindgren, 

who is best known for writing Pippi Longstocking, Karlsson-on-the-Roof, and the Six Bullerby Children.

After all that walking I was extremely excited for our dinner reservations at Ekstedt,

a Michelin star restaurant owned by the inventive and laid-back top TV Swedish Chef Niklas Ekstedt. 

The young chef takes it back to basics by ditching electricity and gas in favor of burning wood as the only heat source in the kitchen. 

All food is cooked directly over the flames of a fire pit, 

and in fact, the only thing powered by electricity in the kitchen is the ice cream machine. 

Diners choose between a four or a seven course tasting menu,

and to be honest, I was slightly hesitant at first...

Would multiple courses filled with smokey flavor be too much?

It definitely was not too much, and I am so glad that we checked it out. 

The menu changes rather frequently to keep up with the seasonal favorites,

but one thing remains constant - every course is delicious. 

My personal favorites of the night were the hay flamed sweetbreads and the flambeéd peach, doughnut and salt caramel ice-cream. 

Highly recommend a visit next time you're in Stockholm!