It's sort of like a Scandinavian theme park? Zoo? Design haven?

Enter under the gates and you can spend the afternoon wandering the old town shops--little buildings have been moved here from throughout Sweden, so the bakery will have traditional pastries for purchase, the woodcarver will be making reproduction chairs, the glass blowing shop turns out all sorts of lovely goods (I especially like the tiny chips of multi-colored glass on the ground outside the shop). The craftsmen are all friendly and willing to tell you something about their skills or the history behind their project. It's all terribly charming.

Should you find that the pastries don't quite hit the spot, there's also at least one restaurant on the premises, with a lovely view of Stockholm harbor that you'd think was reserved for someplace decidedly higher brow.

And not to be forgotten, there's also sort of a zoo of Swedish animals, including wolves and badgers and who knows what.

Do not miss a stop into the Skansen store on the way out. It's the perfect place to pick up awesome Swedish design at practically IKEA prices--especially on sale. I wanted about every third thing, but got a table runner and a Christmas angel chime (which was later mistaken for a throwing star in my carry-on, but that's another story....)

The handpainted wooden ceiling in the thrift shop is worth the stop, but the goods on offer here range from big name Scandinavian design to nautical oil paintings by forgotten no-name artists. There's also a broad range of prices--if I had had more than a backpack and lots of travel left to go, I would have picked up a serving platter or a lamp at unbelievable prices. In the end, all I took away was a little antique plate for about 4 dollars.

At the warm, wood floored cafeteria, plan to share a table with a mixture of Swedish businesspeople, young hipsters, and the (very) occasional tourist. The 75-kr daily special served here (which includes salad, a main dish, and coffee) would be a steal at twice the price. Plus, both lunch and shopping benefit Stockholm's poor.

The Stadsmission also happens to be just across the square from the Nobel Museum. If I had a few hours to spend, I would lunch in the Stadsmission cafeteria, wander through the Nobel Museum and marvel at the rotating display of laureate photos, treat myself to Nobel ice cream at the restaurant there, complete with chocolate Nobel Prize replication (don't forget to look under your seat--it's signed by one of the Nobel prize winners), and then stop into Stadmission's Butik second hand shop. A wonderful way to spend the day--and surprisingly cheaply by Stockholm standards.