I had so much fun exploring the old town. There were so many views like this. I ended up taking so many pictures here. And to think, this was all slated to be torn down during the modernization of Europe after the destruction of WWII. However, Sweden didn't have any destruction, due to maintain its neutrality during the war.
This was the view looking left out of our hotel. A huge tall ship, with beautiful architecture behind. Stockholm is made up of lots of islands, so naturally there are boats everywhere.
What an amazing ending to our whirlwind Scandinavia tour. We finished with three nights in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Stockholm. The Swedish capital escaped all of the destruction that WWII brought to the rest of the European capitol cities. Because of this, so much of the historic architecture, and so many of the old buildings remain. I was shocked to see photo worthy buildings as far as the eye could see, in every single direction.
Day 1: Our hotel, another small luxury hotel of the world recipients, was the Lydmar Hotel. You could tell that it was the residence of some lord and lady, now turned into a boutique hotel. It was right across the water from the Royal Palace, and right next to the National Museum. I really felt like I was right in the middle of Stockholm while staying here. It had an amazing buffet breakfast with some of the best latte art yet. It was a late breakfast crowd here so I usually had the place to myself for a while. As usual, I spent the first day walking... and walking.... and walking. It is something I always like doing in a new city. And it turns out that Stockholm is a great city to walk in. I discovered so many cool parks, historic buildings, statues, cafes, and beautiful gardens. I walked for hours and I feel like I barely scratched the surface. Luckily we have a big kayak trip and a city bike tour coming up to explore even more of this amazing part of the world. I ended up finding live music in the park, part of a Swedish metal music festival. Then I popped into a pizza joint for a cold Swedish beer and dinner. I finished off in Old Town, getting lost on purpose in a maze of alleys and side streets.
Day 2: I made sure everyone got a big breakfast because today we are going on a big kayaking adventure around the archipelago. We met our guide, Magnus, who drove us for about 45 minutes outside of the city to our starting point for kayaking through the archipelago. The Stockholm archipelago is comprised of around 30,000 islands spreading into the Baltic Sea. Exploring them by kayak is one of the best ways to experience this serene location. Many of the islands have cute little red cottages on them. Some have saunas built at the end of the docks, great for taking a cold dip into the Baltic Sea and then warming up again.
Magnus was a terrific guide, giving us more information than we ever knew we wanted about the area, and Sweden in general. His background was equally wild, from teaching soccer to the royal family, to being friends with Bill Clinton, to climbing Everest, to setting up winter time ice skating races through the archipelago for 20,000 participants. And here he was, taking our little group on a kayak trip, complete with one of the best camping picnics you could imagine. It turns out Magnus is also quite the chef, and he whipped up a homemade cod fish stew among other things, on one of the little islands we paddled to. We had beautiful weather for our kayak trip, although we did have pretty steady winds and waves that made it a bit more advanced. Everyone did great though, and luckily we avoided the hurricane force winds the day before. Back at the hotel we managed to get caught up in a national soccer match, Sweden verse Denmark. Sweden won 1-0, so you can imagine the jubilation around town.
Day 3: After another amazing breakfast buffet at the Lydmar, the group headed out for a misty ride through the city on bikes. We had another amazing guide today, that did a wonderful job of giving us the big picture. She talked through how religion and wars ended up shaping the Sweden that we know and see today. It was quite educational, and we covered a large part of the city. She took us through the old town and out past the Vasa museum, which we would explore later today. Then we went out to the old royal hunting grounds, which is a forest and garden that is open to everyone these days. We made a very nice, albiet quick, stop for a traditional fika. This is more than just a coffee break. It is a Swedish tradition of slowing down, connecting with others, and taking a moment of calm in your day. I couldn't think of a better location than in this garden green house with this group. It did start to rain on us as we sped back through town. It was a great ride and a wonderful way to see a bigger part of the city.
In the afternoon, some of us went to the Vasa museum. This entire museum is built around an boat. This huge vessel was built for the King of Sweden in 1632. It had over 500 sculptures and two levels of canons. The sheer weight and size of this vessel was awe inspiring. But the story of it is even crazier. This vessel sank, 1000 meters out from the dock, on its maiden voyage! All that work, down at the bottom of the harbor. And that is where she sat for 333 years! Luckily, the ecological conditions in the harbor were not conducive for wood eating worms and other creatures that usually break down wooden shipwrecks. When they finally raised her, 333 years later, the Vasa was in remarkable condition. Now she rest in a museum, built just for her, and while some of the metal bolts and such have been replaced, the ship is still 98% original. We wondered around the museum for hours, checkout out all four levels of the ship and exhibits.
This evening was our last night all together. We made reservations at this cool spot in the middle of old town behind the palace. It was called Osterlanggatan #17. It had everything from Swedish meatballs to fish and chips. The wine was amazing, and the company even more so. Everyone went around the table and talked about their favorite parts of the trip and things they learned along the way.
Map of our wonderful kayak through the Stockholm archipelago. It was a bit windy, but our group managed quite well. The kayaks were pretty heavy duty, making them quite sturdy in the water, but heavy to carry on land. We stopped on one little island for a very nice picnic lunch.
Our last dinner together for our Scandinavia trip was at this wonderful restaurant called Osterlangcatan 17. It was in the Old Town part of Stockholm, just behind the Royal Palace.
Our guide, Magnus, for our archipelago kayak adventure. He had some incredible stories, from climbing Mt Everest, to coaching soccer to the Norwegian royal family, to ice skating through the archipelago in the middle of winter.
I had to snap a pic as we left our final dinner spot in Stockholm.
This is a canon from the Vasa ship that sank in 1628. It was found 333 years later and inspired the entire ship to be salvaged and put in a museum.
The amazing Vasa vessel. It sank in 1628 in the Stockholm harbor on its maiden sail. As it listed over, water poured in through the gun ports. However, because it sank in the shallow harbor, that has very low salinity and low oxygen, the ship was still in amazing condition 333 years later when it was raised. If it had been a better ship, maybe we couldn't enjoy and learn from it today.
We didn't get a flat calm day in the archipelago for kayaking, but it was sunny and beautiful, and we avoided the intense wind the day before.
This ship was so big that I had a hard time trying to capture the entire thing in a picture. Look at the tiny people down next to the ship. The museum had to be over four stories just to fit the Vasa.
Kayaking amongst the islands of the Stockholm archipelago.
This looks like the perfect start to a day in my view. Breakfast at the Lydmar Hotel, listed as one of the small luxury hotels of the world.
Members-only entrance to the spa beneath the Grand Hotel.
Still trying to get a full view of the Vasa. This was to be the King's crown jewel of the royal fleet...but it sank 1000m off the dock on its maiden voyage. Woops.
The crowds were big in Stockholm's Old Town district during the day, but it quieted down at night.
Entrance gates and arches to the island where the Royal Palace is located here in Stockholm.
A few nights ago we had talked about how good the pizza was in Naples, Italy...and then I stumbled across this Napolese pizza restaurant here in Stockholm. It was almost as if I manifested it with my mind!
Here is our biker gang photo. Mary is in the lead as we bike through the old town on our Stockholm city bike tour.
Team orange! I hope people didn't think we were a Danish cheering squad as we biked through Stockholm. We had a great tour that took us all over the Swedish capital.
Old town in the fading light. I loved it when the street lights starting coming on.
This was the view from my room on the 5th floor of the Lydmar Hotel. It seemed that any direction you looked, here in Stockholm, you could see amazing historic architecture as far as the eye could see.
My room had a bit of a 'loft' vibe to it, with the slanted roof. It was quite comfortable.
Terry and Mary outside the city gates.
The Vasa had over 500 hand carved wooden statues on it. Add that extra weight to the two level of canons and you have a recipe for disaster.
A very popular square in Old Town, Stockholm. The Nobel Prize museum is here, and it is the site where a Danish king took over by killing all of the Swedish nobles.
Cute cafes lining the streets of Old Town, Stockholm.
Curious side streets and amazing steeples.
We made it to the royal hunting grounds on our bike tour of Stockholm. Now it has been turned into a beautiful forest and gardens for people to enjoy. We stopped here for a Fikka, which is a Swedish tradition of taking a break for a coffee and cinnamon roll.
Deb leading the way for our biker gang.
The National Museum was right next to our hotel. This interesting artwork was out in front.
After kayaking through some windy and rough water, it was time to take a Fikka.
To say that the carvings on the Vasa were ornate, and intricate, would be an understatement. This is a closeup of the stern of the ship.
As I was walking past the Royal Palace I noticed this guard. Their boots looked pretty silly...like moonboots. And I noticed that they don't have to stand at attention like the Buckingham Palace guards in London.
More views of Old Town, Stockholm.
Besides some Mute Swans, this Barnacle Goose was about the only birds we saw of interest here in Scandinavia. I was pretty shocked by the lack of wildlife, especially the lack of interesting bird life.
My first afternoon in Stockholm, I just walked all over town. This overpass was so beautiful with all the decorative flowers.
No matter how far I walked in one direction, I never left the old, amazing architecture. Stockholm has got to be one of the greatest cities to immerse yourself in by walking.
Our hotel, the Lydmar Hotel, pictured on the right.
Magnus, our kayaking guide, points out where we are and where we are going in the Swedish archipelago.
Mary and Terry, enjoying nice conditions in the lee of this little island.
While exploring the Old Town, I came across this little pastry shop with a secret underground vault. I couldn't believe that no one else was down here.
Just walking through Stockholm.
Another amazing steeple here in Stockholm. This is when the winds started ripping through the streets. Awnings started to rip apart, bags where flying away, branches were breaking, and I thought that the side of a building under construction was going to just tear off.
View from our jumping off location for our archipelago kayak adventure.
Magnus taking our picnic to the next level. Here he is cooking some homemade cod stew on a camping stove on a little island in the middle of the archipelago.
Reading for kayaking adventure!
A beautiful statue in back of the huge Stockholm library.
A view of ancient palaces that are now boutique hotels and museums. The Lydmar, our hotel, is 2nd from the right.
As always, keep traveling. The world is at your fingertips.
- Dai Mar