We arrived early in the morning in Stockholm, but it was already light out. It was cold, similar to Copenhagen. Allyn's guidebook had warned us that Sweden was expensive, and it lived up to that expectation. Our first course of business to get to our hostel. I thought Sweden was a really beatiful city. It is right on the water, which adds to the charm but yields a confusing (albeit impressive) combination of bridges and islands. We eventually found the road the hostel should have been on, but we didn't see it. We walked down that road for at least a mile. No luck. Eventually we went back to the beginning of the road where it was marked on the map. No building. But then we figured it out. Our hostel was a boat! The guidebook said the hostel had a "nautical theme," but to me that is a huge understatement for the situation. I think it's pretty cool that we stayed on a boat, but it wasn't a perfect experience. More about that later.

That afternoon we took a boat ride to a Viking Island. It was Bjorko Island, home to the ancient settlement, Birka. The tour made a good package; the two hours to the island was on a nice boat, and the guide told us about the history of Stockholm and several of the islands we passed. We were a little confused about when our tour was. We went through the museum along with a bunch of little kids. Then we wandered around the island, coming across a tiny church and also walking past a couple farm houses that had locals living there. Later we met up with the cutest tour guide who took us for a long walk around the island and told us about all sorts of things like the burial mounds, remains of buildings, and water fortifications. Like the city, the scenery was beautiful.