Stockholm Part 1

We left a rainy Uppsala around 9am.  From the Central Station we were to take a train to Stockholm Central.  For 49kr each way it was an affordable and only 30 minute ride. 
The rain had stopped when we got out in Stockholm.  I had been wearing my sunglasses on my head with an optimistic outlook on the weather.
A guy on the train had laughed and told us we picked a bad day.  I disagreed and I was right.
While back in Uppsala the rain had continued and gotten worse, Stockholm only had a few dark clouds.
We left the station in direction of the Riksdag.  Crossing the bridge we were afforded good views of both the Riksdag and the Tower from City hall on the other side. 
As far as main objectives I wanted to see the old town, the palace and a museum or two.
If you have been to Stockholm you know this is not hard to do.  We were hoping not to spend too much money but were otherwise open minded.

We started by just walking around the Riksdag and towards the Palace. We checked out the gift shop in the Royal Palace. 
Since we just arrived I avoided buying any postcards.  This was a good choice since only steps away were countless other stores. They were filled with similar gifts and souvenirs for nearly half the price.
After buying a few cards we walked the narrow stone streets of Gamla Stan.  Every turn has another narrow ally or road and most were filled with pedestrians.
We found a place to stop for lunch. It was a nice coffee shop with an amazing selection of desserts - A perfect place for Fika.  Coffee cups were spread across a table with a copper urn in the middle.  Free refills.  They also had a small menu mainly of different sandwiches and salads.     Old paintings and photos of the royal family filled the walls. 
After filling up we decided to head back towards to water. We agreed that our first stop would be the National Museum.
The  first section we toured was applied art and Swedish design.  It was full of seemingly regular objects that were innovated by Swedish design. I could not help but relate some of the displays to those in IKEA. It was interesting to see some historical pieces but I was not too interested in a chair or a cup that happened to be of Swedish design.
Other rooms held an impressive collection of paintings and sculptures.  An exhibit called the four seasons gave a nice look into the Swedish landscape. Many of the photos of winter reminded me of Canada - particularly one of children tobogganing.
Another room held some names that even I knew: Renoir, Monet and a Rembrandt in the adjoining room.  In full disclosure there was quite a collection of Cezanne, but the name didn’t hold much meaning to me. I was later enlightened of his significance.
After leaving the museum we were not sure what to do next.  I knew I wanted to go inside the Palace but was unsure if the others did too.  We flipped through a guidebook until I finally gave my suggestion. Although this meant walking back the way we came, we did not have much choice...