Friday, 15 February 2008 - Sunday, 17 February 2008
After yet another British Airways delay, we arrived in Stockholm at about 1.30am on the Saturday morning. Given the time of our arrival, it was perhaps not surprising that we breezed through customs, and as we only had hand luggage, we were quickly into a taxi and checked into our hotel by about 2.00am. We stayed at the Hilton, which was perfectly located, just a few minutes walk from Gamla Stan (the Old Town).
We were up by about 10.00am the next morning (or, more accurately, that same morning) and immediatley headed for Gamla Stan, where we had breakfast at a little bakery. It was a beautiful sunny day, though extremely cold, with a high of just -1 (and Cat and I both dispute whether it ever got that 'hot'). In fact, it was so cold that we were both forced to make emergency beanie purchases, as well as an emergency scarf purchase for Cat. After checking out Kungliga Slottet (the Royal Palace) and Storykrkan (the Great Church) in Gamla Stan, we made our way through Norrmalm and then along the harbour's edge to Djurgarden. There, we visited the Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum), one of the best museums either of us have ever visited. It houses the "Vasa", an enormous warship (69 metres long), which sank on its maiden voyage in 1628, after travelling just 1300 metres. It was raised in the 1960s and is extremely well preserved (95% of it is original) because the Baltic Sea is insufficiently saline to contain the tiny shipworm, which destroys wood in saltier seas. Yes, I have become a massive ship nerd. Unfortunately, the flash on our camera was still broken, so the photos I took do the museum no justice and were not worth posting here, but check out the museum website if you want to see some photos (http://www.vasamuseet.se/InEnglish/about.aspx). We had lunch at the museum restaurant, which overlooked the very attractive harbour. We then walked on to Ostermalm, where we visited the Historiska Museet (Museum of National Antiquities), Sweden's largest archeological museum, with a great collection of Viking artefacts. It was then back to the hotel to freshen up, before heading our for dinner at a nearby restaurant in Sodermalm, the Folkoperan Bar & Kok. There, we had a really great meal (including local specialities such as deer, wild boar, and tuna), one of the best we've had since leaving Australia.
The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, before dumping our bags there and heading out for the day. It was another beautiful day, and this time - mercifully - a little warmer too. We visited the Stockholms Stadsmuseum (Stockholm Museum) which provided a brief history of Stockholm, then again strolled through Gamla Stan, though this time to Kungsholmen, where we visited the Stadshuset (City Hall). We then made our way back into Norrmalm, via the St Clara Kyrka (St Clara's Church), and then to the shops in Ostermalm. Cat was very keen to visit Hedengrens bookshop, one of Stockholm's most famous bookshops, because she wanted to buy her cousin Fiona some Pippi Longstocking books (there's a shot below of a very pleased Cat, with said books in hand). It was then past some ice skaters in Norrmalm and then back to the hotel to collect our bags. We caught the metro to central station and from there, the express train (with a top speed of 204 kilometres per hour) to the airport. Another British Airways delay, though not too bad this time, and we were back in London by about 9.00pm, and home by about 10.00pm.
A fantastic weekend, albeit a bit hit and run. We're already looking forward to our next trip to Scandanavia in March (to Norway).
Our hotel
After yet another British Airways delay, we arrived in Stockholm at about 1.30am on the Saturday morning. Given the time of our arrival, it was perhaps not surprising that we breezed through customs, and as we only had hand luggage, we were quickly into a taxi and checked into our hotel by about 2.00am. We stayed at the Hilton, which was perfectly located, just a few minutes walk from Gamla Stan (the Old Town).
We were up by about 10.00am the next morning (or, more accurately, that same morning) and immediatley headed for Gamla Stan, where we had breakfast at a little bakery. It was a beautiful sunny day, though extremely cold, with a high of just -1 (and Cat and I both dispute whether it ever got that 'hot'). In fact, it was so cold that we were both forced to make emergency beanie purchases, as well as an emergency scarf purchase for Cat. After checking out Kungliga Slottet (the Royal Palace) and Storykrkan (the Great Church) in Gamla Stan, we made our way through Norrmalm and then along the harbour's edge to Djurgarden. There, we visited the Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum), one of the best museums either of us have ever visited. It houses the "Vasa", an enormous warship (69 metres long), which sank on its maiden voyage in 1628, after travelling just 1300 metres. It was raised in the 1960s and is extremely well preserved (95% of it is original) because the Baltic Sea is insufficiently saline to contain the tiny shipworm, which destroys wood in saltier seas. Yes, I have become a massive ship nerd. Unfortunately, the flash on our camera was still broken, so the photos I took do the museum no justice and were not worth posting here, but check out the museum website if you want to see some photos (http://www.vasamuseet.se/InEnglish/about.aspx). We had lunch at the museum restaurant, which overlooked the very attractive harbour. We then walked on to Ostermalm, where we visited the Historiska Museet (Museum of National Antiquities), Sweden's largest archeological museum, with a great collection of Viking artefacts. It was then back to the hotel to freshen up, before heading our for dinner at a nearby restaurant in Sodermalm, the Folkoperan Bar & Kok. There, we had a really great meal (including local specialities such as deer, wild boar, and tuna), one of the best we've had since leaving Australia.
The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, before dumping our bags there and heading out for the day. It was another beautiful day, and this time - mercifully - a little warmer too. We visited the Stockholms Stadsmuseum (Stockholm Museum) which provided a brief history of Stockholm, then again strolled through Gamla Stan, though this time to Kungsholmen, where we visited the Stadshuset (City Hall). We then made our way back into Norrmalm, via the St Clara Kyrka (St Clara's Church), and then to the shops in Ostermalm. Cat was very keen to visit Hedengrens bookshop, one of Stockholm's most famous bookshops, because she wanted to buy her cousin Fiona some Pippi Longstocking books (there's a shot below of a very pleased Cat, with said books in hand). It was then past some ice skaters in Norrmalm and then back to the hotel to collect our bags. We caught the metro to central station and from there, the express train (with a top speed of 204 kilometres per hour) to the airport. Another British Airways delay, though not too bad this time, and we were back in London by about 9.00pm, and home by about 10.00pm.
A fantastic weekend, albeit a bit hit and run. We're already looking forward to our next trip to Scandanavia in March (to Norway).
Our hotel
The view from our hotel
Gamla Stan
Cat in Gamla Stan
Adam in Gamla Stan
Kungliga Slottet
The Changing of the Guard at Kungliga Slottet
Views of the harbour on the walk to the Vasamuseet
Cat on the walk to the Vasamuseet
The Vasamuseet
The Stadshuset
The Stadshuset
Cat running at the Stadhuset
Cat pondering the world at the Stadhuset
St Clara Kyrka
Cat at Hendengrens bookshop, with Pippi Longstocking books for her cousin Fiona
Ice skaters in Norrmalm
204 kilometres per hour on the express train to the airport
No comments:
Post a Comment