I spend several days in Stockholm wandering around in this unfamiliar city. Strangely, some store fronts still had Halloween decoration while some stores were already decorating for Christmas. Despite the cold weather, Gamla Stan, the old town, was lovely and lively. With narrow stone streets and old buildings, Gamla Stan was a very charming area to walk about. We walked to the scenic Stortorget, the big square, to see the vivid orange, yellow, green buildings. These buildings were a huge contrast against the depressing winter sky! We visited several shops and immediately I fell in love with these little stuffed mythical creature, Tomte. Tomete, in Scandinavia folktale, watched over farmer's house and children to protect them from misfortune. In modern days, I think Tomete is more like Scandinavian Santa Claus. I bought one, perhaps, this Tomete
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