Today we left our hotel and made one more tour in Stockholm to the City Hall. Stockholm is really a city state as they have a council of 101 representatives from the different districts (islands) that make up the city. Their city hall was,really almost a palace with the meeting chamber and party ballroom. This is where the Nobel Prizes are awarded by the king. Their ballroom is covered in gold leaf because they have a real king not because they have a leader that just wants to be a king. The flag is the Swedish one, which is the same as Norways but different colors. We went back on bus for a 2 hour drive out of the city to visit a site of a Viking burial mound and Runic stone. We have lucked out on the weather so far and that was a beautiful green place. We then drove another hour to view the estate house of Alfred Nobel. He was not only the inventor of dynamite but also many other weapon inventions and the screw propeller. When his brother was killed experimenting with dynamite and he fell in love with a women who was a pacifist, he had a change of heart and willed his fortune to the establish the Nobel Prize foundation. The penultimate picture is of his death mask. Looking at the mask closely, can anyone tell me what he died of? Last picture is just random flowers to end the day here in Karlstadt on a happier note.
Scandinavia 2026 
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