A few posts ago I mentioned that Oslo was once the poor cousin of the other Scandinavian countries. It wasn’t until we arrived in Stockholm that I truly understood what this meant. Stockholm is a very grand city. Straight away you can see that it was once the epicentre of the nordic countries. It was once rich in trade and now, it is rich in history and culture. All you see are majestic and beautiful old buildings at every turn. You immediately assume everything is a “sight” to see, but many are just office or apartment buildings.
We arrived to Stockholm around 3pm as our flight was delayed. We easily found our way to our Airbnb using the airport shuttle and local bus. Our Airbnb apartment was located in the old town, Gamla Stan. The apartment was incredibly cosy, spread over 2 levels. On the ground level, there was a lounge, kitchenette and bathroom. Downstairs in the basement / dungeon was the bedroom.
Stockholm is made up of a number of islands. We spent our first afternoon strolling around the area we were staying at, Gamla Stan. It really is so beautiful. Narrow curved streets, cobble stone streets, old churches, the royal palace. It was gorgeous. And to finish the day we indulged in a traditional meal of Swedish meatballs at the oldest restaurant in Stockholm. Funnily, the restaurant is older than Australia!
The next two days were spent strolling and shopping and catching up some friends, Tom & Clara. There is so much to see you could easily spend a week walking around and taking in the architecture. We also caught a ferry to a few of the islands.
In terms of major sights, most are museum’s. We did two – the Nordiska Museum and the Fotografiska Museum. The former depicted the Swedish culture and life through the ages from fashion to furniture. The latter is a photograph museum that had a range of exhibitions from international and local artists. It was fabulous and a welcome change from “history” museums.
I want to give a big shout out to the brilliant museum restaurants. You would never eat lunch at a museum in Australia. However, the Swedes have nailed it. They offer a scrumptious lunch along with free salad, bread, tea and coffee. By the end of our lunches we would be bursting.
On our last full day in Stockholm, we did a day trip to a small town called Sigtuna. Sigtuna is Sweden’s oldest town, founded in 980. It is a very sweet town perched on a lake (which is still frozen). The majority of the town actually burnt down but it still retains a number of old wooden buildings on its main drag as well as a number of ruins.
To finish off our stay in Stockholm we did more strolling and shopping. Did I mention there were heaps of record stores in Stockholm!
Erika Does Scandinavia 