Previous to our trip to Stockholm, there were many student riots. Somehow, those riots affected the feel of the city. We were never unsafe, but it felt better to be inside when the sun went down and the ‘cruisers’ came out.
Day 1
Our Hotel
To start our touring of Stockholm, we headed out with Rick Steve’s tour book in hand.
Entering the Old City
Rick Steve’s Walking Tour was great and covered all the basics, even some little-known items as well.
Palace
Palace Guard
City Centre
Back behind some buildings and through an alley-way, we found the smallest statue in the city.
“Boy Looking at the Moon”
The statue’s head was quite shiny and discolored. The tour book said that you rub his head for good luck – many people have obviously done that. Supposedly, the statue isn’t just loved by tourists, but the people in Stockholm occasionally knit neckerchiefs and caps for it during winters.
Rub for Good Luck
The walking tour led us into an open square, where the old drinking well stands at the center. This was the center of all town communication ‘back in the day’.
Town Centre Drinking Well
We stopped in the Miniature Dala Horse Museum. it was actually in there that we learned dish clothes were invented in Sweden. Interesting . . .
Dala Horse Museum
We ventured into the Stockholm Cathedral as we walked, looking for a statue of St. George and the dragon.
Church Entrance
Length of Church
There in the back of the church was the huge statue of St. George. The gold and details on the statue were quite beautiful.
George and the Dragon
As we continued on our walking tour, we walked through rows of homes . . .
. . . on the lookout for eagle crests. These Eagle Crests told the firemen who had paid their insurance, so they knew whose house to save or whose to leave to burn.
Eagle Crest
Tucked into one corner of a passage way, almost hidden, was an ancient rune.
Ancient Rune
That wrapped up our walking tour, so we continued to walk on the shopping strip to explore. On the first corner, we saw the youngest street performers I’ve ever seen. They were quite good, as they belted out many Beach Boy favorites.
Young Street Performers
Rows of Shops
I was quite intrigued by the wooden shoes . . . rows and rows of them. I didn’t see too many people walking around in them though.
Wooden Shoes
Our next big stop was the City Hall, where the Nobel Prize Banquet takes place.
City View
As we made our way there, we ran into the front of the Stockholm Marathon. It reminded me of being in London for the Olympics last year.
Marathon Leaders
City View
The tour of City Hall was interesting . . and in English. We were told the building is used for different events every day of the year. On every Saturday, 40 weddings take place . . . for free. There is quite a waiting list!
City Hall’s Main Hall
As we were leaving, there was a place for everyone to stick their City Hall stickers, showing they had paid for the tour. It was quite the work of Modern Art.
Our last stop of the day was the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a ship built in the 17th Century in Sweden, but on its maiden voyage it sunk within minutes.
The wreck was found and eventually pulled up from the sea floor’s bottom in 1961, after being under the sea for 333 years!
Because of the extreme cold under the sea, everything was well-preserved. The video we watched, said the reconstruction of the ship was 98% original. The 2% not are the ropes they had to replace.
It was interesting reading about the people that were on board, and those they found the intact skeletons for.
Day 2
On Sunday we ventured out to find the chapel to go to church. We gave ourselves an hour, just in case, as it was out of the city. We saw another couple on the metro that looked dressed up for church, as well as a man in a suit. They all got off at the same spot we did. It turns out the couple was visiting and following us, hoping we knew the way to the chapel. The man in the suit, thankfully, was a local so he steered us all in the right direction.
Stockholm Chapel
We had a great time at Sacrament Meeting, wearing the headsets for translation, like all the other visitors. Everyone was so friendly and made us feel welcome.
After church, we took a ferry out to the Royal Summer Palace.
Summer Palace
Front Guardswoman
This summer palace reminded me of what Kensington Palace may seem like to others. People milled around the grounds and inside for tours.
Pond
Grounds
Before we caught the ferry back, we ate dinner on the palace grounds and had real Swedish meatballs. They were delicious, but add the lingonberries with it, they were amazing! They were definitely a highlight of our day!
Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberries
Day 3
Our time in Sweden seemed to fly by. We had a number of things we wanted to fit in before we left. Our first stop was the Pippi Longstocking Museum, Junibacken.
Astrid Lindgren, Pippi’s Author
We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but it was covered on our Stockholm Card, so thought it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.
As we waited for the museum to open, we saw bananas hanging from trees and other crazy things outside, reminding you of many stories from the Pippi books.
Inside the museum was basically a fun kid play-place with all the characters from the author’s books. The biggest was definitely that of Pippi Longstocking’s house. What a fun place for kids!
After we came out of the crazy world of Astrid Lindgren, it was a little surreal to see normal geese walking along the stone path with their babies.
We then took the tram to Skansen, an outdoor working village through different time periods.
Tool Shop
It was a little weird to see the time periods mixing in the streets, though.
I enjoyed walking around the outside of the town where things were a little less settled and rustic.
Outside the Farmyard
Barn Door
Farmhouse Painted Wall
It was a little weird to peek over the water’s edge to real civilization as we explored those in the past.
Modern-day Civilization
Outdoorsman at Work
Dying Yarn
Dyed Yarn
We learned that many storage huts, etc. were built on huts so they could get to them in the winter, when there was a lot of snow. I can’t imagine have THAT much snow!
Storage Shed on Stilts
Reindeer
Moose
Primitive Beehives
We were able to go into the Seglora Church.
Outside of the Seglora Church
This wooden church is very popular for weddings and is still used every Sunday for services.
Changing the Candles inside the Church
I do have to say that I enjoyed Sweden, but didn’t love it like I did our time in England or Denmark. I don’t know if it was because of the ‘free for all’ attitude all along the streets or the plethora of gypsies pan-handling. There was just a different feeling for me that was hard to shake. But, you can’t love every country, right?!
Leave a Comment