Suburbs, and about one-twentieth the population of London. But it is much finer than either of those towns, and is in fact, one of the prettiest towns in the world. Its situation on a cluster of islands at the junction of the Lake Malaren and the Baltic Sea gives it a natural advantage in point of beauty which it is difficult to conceive without visiting the place. The Staden and other islands on which the city is built lie in a line, west and east, but the modern town has extended both on the northern bank of the sea called Normalmen, and the southern bank called Sodermalmen.
We were stopping in a hotel on the northern bank, and after breakfast there crossed the fine Norrbro bridge and came to Staden island, and visited the Palace. The Queen's apartments were magnificently fitted up, and so were those of the King's, the Crown Prince's and the Crown Princess's, But finest of all were the state apartments with the fine "grand gallery" 52 yards long, the great banqueting room 45 yards long, and the magnificent ball room.
Not very far from the palace is the celebrated Ridderholm Kyrka, which may be called the Westminister Abbey of Sweden. For centuries this Church has been the burial place of the kings and the most celebrated great men of Sweden. The remains of the great Gustavus Adolphus rest in a sarcophagus of green marble executed in Italy, and facing that is a black marble sarcophagus containing the remains of the greatest of Sweden's warriors and conquerors, King Charles XII. Both these sarcophaguses are surrounded by banners and drums
