Stockholm

We arrived in Stockholm around 7pm Monday evening, by way of Madrid and Copenhagen. It was really neat to fly over Scandinavia and see all of the hundreds of little islands. It looked just like the maps portray. Many people refer to Stockholm as the “Venice of the North” because it consists of 14 different islands (in a rather small area of space). While we were in town we only covered one island.

Our hotel was in an area called Arlanda, which was about 25 miles from the city of Stockholm, so we did not go into the city until the following day. Surprisingly we were able to fall asleep around 1am and sleep through the evening until about 9! We quickly learned that the sun never really goes down in Sweden. The sun was blaring until about 10pm and was up again before 5am. Even though the sun went down, it never really got dark. This was a very strange phenomenon, that I am glad we didn’t have to experience for too long!

We woke up around 9am on Tuesday, had breakfast at the hotel, and then started our journey into the city. There was a FREE shuttle from our hotel to the airport, and then from the airport we boarded the Arlanda Express Train into Stockholm. This train took us directly from the airport to Stockholm in under 20 minutes. It was a great way to travel, although not as cheap as one would hope…..then again, nothing was cheap in Sweden!

The Arlanda Express to Stockholm

 Figuring out what we are going to do in Stockholm.

Going into Stockholm

We got into the city around 11:30 and started wandering. The first thing we wanted to see was the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace. This started at 12:15 so we had about 45 minutes to find where we were going. We saw some beautiful buildings on the way! Unfortunately we didn’t get to the Palace soon enough to see much, but Kevin was able to get some decent photos and video with his camera (good thing, because I was too short to see anything!).  

Overlooking Stockholm from the Royal Palace

Standing with one of the many guards at the Royal Palace. They were much more friendly than the guards at Buckingham Palace!

The beginning of the "show"

Up close and personal!

Getting toward the end of the "show"

The Swedish Flag and the canons - don't worry, they were not fired!

After the “show” was finished we walked around the area called Gamla Stan for a bit. We saw some beautiful buildings and did a little shopping. There was a street called 

that is full of tourist shops, so we spent a bit of time there. After some shopping we had some lunch – an Asian Buffet – and then we walked some more. We didn’t get to see too much of the city, but we got a nice glimpse. I wish we had more than a day to explore, but I will take whatever I can get!

Lots of people and shopping on Vasterglanggatan Street

Trolls and Vikings were everywhere!

 A very cool viking statue in Gamla Stan - The Old City

This building is called Stadshuset - aka City Hall. This is the building where the Nobel Prize Festivities take place. 

This is called Riddarholmskyrkan, which is best known for royal burials. I just thought it looked nice!

This is Storkyrkan - a 700 year old cathedral used for Royal ceremonies.

The clock tower attached to Storkyrkan. 

Another view of the tower

We had some trouble sleeping on Tuesday night, due to the lack of darkness, but it was well worth it! We took a taxi to the ship around 10am, and our driver was wonderful! He spoke great English and gave us a little history tour of the city on the way to the port. We got back to the hotel around 2pm and went straight to the airport, although our flight did not leave until 5:30pm.

This trip was a first for both Kevin and I, so I am glad we were able to do some exploring together! Kevin often stays in his hotel room the first time he is anywhere, so I am glad he was comfortable to do some wandering. Most people we encountered spoke brilliant English, so that was definitely helpful! It was a very interesting city, from what we saw, and I would love to go back again!