Day 4: Stockholm

Hello World!

We have spent our first full day in Stockholm (we will be here until Tuesday morning). Unfortunately, we were not able to do much sightseeing today, as I (Jackie) was in a conference from 8:30 to 5:30.  The conference is Mobile HCI 2011, and so far it has been pretty interesting. It is being held in an old distillery on the water in Stockholm (many things are on the water here, as the city is spread over 14 islands on the south-eastern coast of Sweden), which is really cool inside. This evening, the conference reception was held in Stockholm City Hall, where they hold the Nobel Prize dinner every year in December. We took a boat across the lake to City Hall, which was arranged by the conference (see picture of us in front of City Hall). The reception was in the Gold Hall, which is covered in a gold mosaic depicting the history of Sweden (we calculated that the 10 Kg of gold covering the walls is worth more than $18 million USD). We have included pictures of the room below.

During the day, Daryl got some Kroners, checked out cell phone costs, and did a bit more sightseeing. He spent some time in Gamla Stan, the Old Town of Stockholm, and caught the changing of the guard at noon in front of the Royal Palace (see pic below). This is one of only two days (including tomorrow) that we will have to spend apart.

Tomorrow, I am making a presentation on my MIT/ABB work at the conference and then the true vacation begins. I will be happy to start relaxing fully, but I will miss my Swedish friends (who will head back to Vasteras tomorrow evening after the end of the conference). Maybe we will be back in January to start full time jobs :)

Anyway, till next time...