Stockholm

lI've visited Stockholm once before, when thankfully, the weather was better than today. Yet even in the drizzle, the city is unexpectedly beautiful, with its gardens and cobbled streets and rows of fanciful peach buildings crowding the waterfront .

On this quickie visit, we don't have time to explore the city's depths. But we do make it to the City Hall, the extraordinary romantic mishmash of styles where the Nobel banquet is held each year. Then it's on to the medieval "old town'' of Gamla Stan, a clamor of delicate buildings, boutiques, ice cream shops and the "new'' royal palace. (The old one burned in the late 1600s; though the design for a new one was rapidly approved and construction estimated at six years, the project actually took 60 years. (Sounds like some modern cities I know.)

It's beautiful, and I'd love to share photos...but with this connection, I'll be lucky to post a single image.

Good news on the norovirus victim: He doesn't have norovirus. Just a hinky stomach. Bad news: A twisted ankle by another in our group. Let's hope the rest of us can stay out of the infirmary!

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Photo: Gold Room in the City Hall is covered with gilt mosaics. The post-dinner dancing is held here after the Nobel ceremonies each December.