My Trip to Stockholm

So… Stockholm – GREAT city. First, my room at the Crystal Plaza Hotel was small, but very clean and nicely located in the city centre. I got a great free breakfast buffet both mornings and a discounted dinner at the Thai restaurant in the hotel. The people of Stockholm were very friendly and helpful, and all of the people I encountered spoke English and spoke it quite well. Public transportation was fairly easy to figure out, and when I couldn’t figure it out I had the friendly people at the Pressbyran stores to help me find my way. The Pressbyran shops are where you buy tickets for the Tunnelbana, the buses and the trams. I never tried a tram, but I traveled by bus and T-bana frequently.

The first day I ate a reindeer and horseradish wrap on the way to the hotel from the central station, then checked in and took a LONG T-bana ride to a bus for the Drottningholm Palace. It was gorgeous, and the gardens were quite nice. I got tons of pictures and had perfect weather. Afterward, I took the long ride back and did the travel book’s recommended walk around the city centre. I saw Sergels Torg, where there was an international market going on, with lots of booths with food and products from around the world. It was crowded and buzzing with people. I had a delightful time wandering around and taking it all in. The rest of the walk took me around to the major sights of the city, including other squares, buildings, and churches, and even to the sight where the prime minister Olof Palme was assassinated in 1986. My walk ended around dusk, and I was exhausted after walking several miles. I hate to admit where I ate dinner. ONLY because it was conveniently located on the way back to the hotel, I indulged in the golden arches – that’s right, McDonald’s. After some greasy deliciousness, I headed back to the hotel and crashed.

Day two began with another suggested walk from the travel book, around Sodermalm, an island to the south of Gamla Stan (the Old Town), which is between Sodermalm and the city centre. Sodermalm offered excellent views of Gamla Stan, and was well worth the uphill hike I took to get there. I got a little lost after walking up the winding road with the great view, and headed on over to Gamla Stan, where I wandered the streets for a while and admired the old beautiful buildings. I went into the Storkyrkan Cathedral and looked around, then continued my walk around to the Royal Palace. At almost noon, I stumbled upon a growing crowd, which was gathering to watch the changing of the guards at the palace. Apparently, this is Stockholm’s most popular tourist event. I had no idea until I was standing there waiting for it to happen. It was a big show, let me tell you. It took about 45 minutes, and even after it was over, the band marched around the corner and continued playing to the cheers from the audience. I found the narrowest street in the city, and it was not alone – there were many narrow streets along my walk, and I took photos to remember them all! After eating lunch, I headed off on the Under the Bridges boat tour, which was the most relaxing two hours of my trip. They have a recorded guide on headphones that describes the sights as the boat cruises along on both the Baltic Sea and Lake Malaren. It was wonderful! After the tour, I did a little more wandering on the streets of the city centre, and then headed back to the hotel to plan my last day. I ate dinner at the hotel’s Thai restaurant – Szechwan scampi and fried banana with ice cream for dessert – and after a quick walk around the neighborhood to ease the full belly, I called it a night.

Luckily, the hotel let me check out but leave my suitcase in a baggage room. My last day started with a trip to City Hall, a 1.5 mile walk, and a long hike up the tower, which is 348 feet tall. A lift takes you half the distance to the top, but it’s your own two feet that take you the rest of the way. I waited about half an hour in line to get up there, and it was worth the wait. Breathtaking views of the islands. After I climbed back down the tower, I walked over to the Vasa Museum on Djurgarden. This was not a quick walk – about 2.5 miles. I was so tired when I got there, but the Vasa was bigger and more amazing than you can imagine. The ship, which sank in Stockholm Harbor in 1628 on its maiden voyage, was salvaged beginning in 1956 and this museum is practically built around it! It was fascinating. The photos I got do not do it justice. The size in itself is the wow factor, but the story around it is intriguing as well. I went to the Skansen open-air museum last. It is the world’s first open-air museum, opened in 1891 to show industrialized Stockholm and the rest of the world the Sweden of the past. Authentic buildings from all over Sweden were moved into this museum. I stopped for authentic Swedish meatballs for lunch and to rest a while, then I strolled up to see the elks, reindeer, bears, foxes, wolves, owls and a number of other creatures in the Scandinavian Animals section of the museum. It was great fun, but I was extremely exhausted by the time I was leaving there. Luckily I found a bus to get back to the city centre. I picked up my bag from the hotel and got on the bus for the airport. I coughed the entire hour and a half ride to the airport, and spent the three-hour wait for the plane medicating as much as possible for the flight. I finally made it home at close to 1 AM last night. I am fully ill at this point, and quite relieved not to be flying again until next month. Welcome Amoxicillin!