With the Stockholm Card you're able to jump on any public transportation and enter hundreds of sights without having to worry about the price of a ticket or tour - it's all included in the price of the card. It was great!
On the train ride to the city center, we notice right away the diversity of Stockholm as compared to Norway. For a week we pretty much only saw people that looked like us. Within five minutes of getting on the train in Stockholm we had already seen more diversity than we had seen in the entirety of our time in Norway. We ended up learning that less than 1 in 5 who live in Stockholm is actually Swedish, which makes sense given the lack of blonde haired and blue eyed people walking around ;)
After checking in to our hotel up in the Ostermalm district, a district which is within the city center but a bit north of the uber touristy areas, we got our usual picnic fare at the local grocery store and took it to the park (Humlegarden) across from our hotel.
Since we had already activated our Stockholm Cards to use the train to get to our hotel (we purchased 24 hour cards) we decided we had better take advantage of them. So, we freshened up a bit in the hotel and then took the subway down to Gamla Stan, the Old Town of Stockholm. We were amused when we saw a giant "California Whopper" advertisement, complete with a stereotypical sunset and palm tree image, in a metro station all the way over in Sweden :)
Gamla Stan is a picturesque little island in the middle of Stockholm (Fact: Did you know Stockholm is comprised of 14 islands connected by bridges and the underground metro system?) where most of the city's historic sights are located.
The town dates back to the 13th century and has managed to keep a lot of its charm - old cobbled streets and alley ways, gas lanterns, colorful rows of shops, beautiful churches and the Royal Palace.
We stopped by the Royal Palace to scout out a good spot for the changing of the guards ceremony the next day and saw the Stockholm Cathedral.
It turned out to be a great evening of wandering around the old town. We even stumbled upon the impressive Riksdag building (Parliament). It seemed as though around every bend or turn there was something new/impressive/cool to see.
And we loved it when the gas lanterns came on. How enchanting the streets became...
Tired from a day of traveling and night of exploring, you can imagine how happy we were to return to our incredible hotel on the Binger Jarlsgatan.
Rested and full (the hotel had a great breakfast buffet - thank goodness for those!), we took a tour of City Hall. The architect of City Hall was quite the quirky fellow - insisting on making things look eclectic to give the perception of the building looking older than it actually is and constantly changing his mind on things.
This is the Blue Hall - no that's not a typo, its actually called the Blue Hall despite being red. Originally the architect planned for the room to be blue and so the people of Stockholm came to know it as the Blue Hall during construction. Then, as I mentioned before, the architect liked to change his mind and he decided to leave the red bricks exposed - hence the silly name. This is the venue where the Nobel Prize banquet is held each year.
The chambers of the Municipal Council.
Our favorite room in City Hall - the hall of reflections.
Inside the Golden Hall banquets and dances are held.
Inside the Golden Hall are 18 million gold mosaics tiles!
After the tour, we walked over to Gamla Stan to see the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace.
After being a bit underwhelmed by the changing of the guards in London a few years ago, Courts and I weren't sure how exciting this one would be....but, we were pleasantly surprised. There was some impressive riffle hand work done by the guards and the band played for almost 30 minutes while marching and changing formations in the square. It was like a free concert, and the sun even came out.
We grabbed a quick snack and then toured the Royal Armory where an incredible collection of armor, clothing, jewels and carriages are housed. You'd be surprised how heavy a real crown is!
The Swedes really know how to roll in style!
One of the neatest things we saw in Stockholm was the warship Vasa. In 1628, the top-heavy ship sank just 20 minutes into her maiden voyage with 450 crew members on board. In 1961, the ship was raised from the floor of the sea and a state of the art museum was built around it.
The intricacies of the woodwork were spectacular. I can't image what it would have looked like just before it set sail when the whole ship was painted in brilliant colors. I'm sure it was quite a sight.
On Sunday morning, before flying to Amsterdam, we took one last walk around the city on the way to get our charms (for those of you haven't traveled with one of us before - we collect charms from each place we have visited for the charm bracelets we've been adding to for 15+ years).
In front of the Opera House.
The front of the Rikstag.
The town is just so inviting and almost whimsical - we had the best time exploring.
So on Sunday afternoon we said our goodbyes to Scandinavia and geared up for 5 days in Amsterdam with Andrew, Geoff Krug and Rob Crane.
1 comment:
I loved Stockholm, but I liked the Gold room the best in city hall. Did you try any traditional Swedish food? I've got some surstrumming that I still need to eat from my trip this summer. Think you're up for it?
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