Christmas Market in the Old Town

Stockholm is sometimes called "Venice of the North" as it is built on 14 islands. There is water everywhere and Stockholm is a very pretty city. Compared to the US most buildings are old and Gamla Stan/the Old Town (which also is built on an island) is from the 13th century. According to Wikipedia "The town dates back to the 13th century, and consists of medieval alleyways, cobbled streets, and archaic architecture. North German architecture has had a strong influence in the Old Town's construction."

I remembered that Gamla Stan has a Christmas Market every year and a couple of days ago, when the sun was shining for a change, I decided to be a tourist for a day.
The market takes place on Stortorget - a large square in the middle of Gamla Stan - and there were quite a few booths with food, clothing, and Christmas decorations. I did not buy anything as I do not have any space in my luggage, but I enjoyed looking at all the things that were for sale.

Then I took a nice stroll through the cobbled streets and alleyways. Despite the old houses, people live in this part of Stockholm. It gives Gamla Stan quite a nice feel with a mix of apartments, restaurants, and stores.

This is a very narrow alley - it is only about 3 feet wide. Fascinating really.

Sweden is a monarchy and the Royal Castle is also situated in Gamla Stan.

As the day was sunny I decided to take a walk along the water where there are lots of boats. These are used mostly in the summertime and go to different parts of the Stockholm archipelago that consists of about 30,000 islands. Some of the boats are restaurants and have entertainment.

The white ship is actually a hostel called Af Chapman.

And when I was on may way back to go "home" I saw several big moose as decorations. As it was still daytime they were not lit but I am sure they look nice at night :)