Here's a fisheye shot of Stortorget (“Big Square”), a plaza in Gamla Stan, the oldest part of Stockholm, and certainly a highlight for any visitor. During our visits, we have eaten (or at least drunk) in the coral-colored building behind the fountain, the goldenrod hued building with the crimson awning, and the burlywood building on the left. To conclude our color-coded tour, the peachpuff-colored building on the right is the Stockholm Stock Exchange, called Börshuset. This building also houses the Nobel Prize Museum.

Some of the buildings here are hundreds of years old. And in 1520, 82 Swedes were beheaded right in this square, at the command of the Danish King, Christian II. (It sounds unbelievable today, but Denmark and Sweden actually were at war then.) They say heavy rains followed the beheadings, causing “rivers” of the victims’ blood to run through the streets. Hence, the event is known as the “Stockholm Blood Bath.”