Even though we had a more leisurely call time of 9:30 am today, I still woke up at 4:00 am, as I have done for the last three mornings we’ve been here in Stockholm. We took a ferry ride across Lake Mälaren to Drottningholm Palace, built in the 16th century and called Sweden’s Versaille. It is also the principal residence of Sweden’s royalty, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silva since 1981. Drottningholm Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage site. However, we found out the hard way that Drottningholm is located on an island!

This was our first view of the palace.

Here is a slideshow of some of the rooms and objects I found impressive.

We boarded the bus to return to our hotel in Stockholm and soon came upon a massive traffic jam. Ahead was a bridge which opens to allow seagoing traffic to pass through — and the bridge was broken and not able to be fixed for another hour or so! Remember when I wrote that Drottningholm was built on an island — and this bridge was the only road available.

The decision to return to Drottningholm was made by Sonia, our tour director and the bus driver. By this time, it was well after lunch time and we were hungry so we made a beeline for the cafe. I had wanted to eat Swedish meatballs while in Sweden, so this was the perfect time! I don’t think I’ve eaten Swedish meatballs since my husband died (he was part Swedish and used to cook this dish).

Had the bridge not gone out and had we not returned to the palace, I might have missed out on this delicious dish. We need to put our luggage out for pickup at 5:30 am (!) as we will leave for Bergen, Norway, early tomorrow morning!