I’ve been recounting my adventures while not on the road. After a day in Helsinki. We returned to spend a few days in Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
We arrived at the port of Stockholm in the late morning and made our way to the Hotel to check in and drop off our luggage. We didn’t have any significant plans for the rest of the day so we set out to explore and see what this city had to offer.
I could tell I already liked Stockholm very much. It has this great mix of waterfront, old and new architecture and a lot of greenery. It’s one of the few places on my travels that I felt I could enjoy living in. We strolled along the water towards “Old Town” (Gamla Stan). It was calm and peaceful and I enjoyed it alot.
It also has its own share of “uniqueness”:
As we neared Old Town it started rain and so we ducked into a small coffee shot called Cafe Scheizer to try and wait out the rain. We shared some cake and coffee and enjoyed the brief respite from the rain.
By the time we left it was late in the afternoon and we had enough time to pick up our Stockholm Cards, (Sadly it appears that the Stockholm card has been discontinued) which we would use over the next few days to visit the different attractions and transit throughout the city. We made our way back to our hotel to turn in early so we could get a good start for the next day.
Vasa Museum
Our first stop today would be the Vasa Museum, which is one of the world’s best preserved sailing ships from the 17th century. The ship sank just outside the Stockholm harbor and was resurfaced and placed in this huge museum. We were excited to visit as there is nothing like this in Canada and we weren’t disappointed. The museum is HUGE. There are multiple floors with different vantage points of the ship itself. Along the sides there are many displays of artifacts and background surrounding the ship. We spent a few hours and probably could have spent more if there was nothing else on our agenda for the day.
Army Museum
Our next stop was the Swedish Army Museum. After our experience at the Norwegian Armed Forces museum we were excited to visit the Swedish version. However even though the museum was much larger then its Norwegian counterpart, we found it less interesting. While the exhibits in the Norway were focused on Norwegian involvement in conflicts around the world. This one dove into the origins of warfare and others editorialized the dangers of weapons. Maybe it was the sheer size of the museum or the number of displays, but I found myself skipping through exhibits more than I did in Oslo. Overall there is a huge collection of military artifacts and equipment to see. I personally may have been expecting something different given the great experience we had earlier on our trip.
Fotografiska
Our last major stop of the day was the contemporary photography museum, Fotografiska. There were very cool exhibits inside that spanned the gamut of photographic expression, especially one by Pieter Hugo that I thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately I didn’t take many photos inside the museum. It felt a bit “wrong” to take photos of photos, so I ended up just experiencing and seeing through the “eyes” of others!
Bla Dorren
By the time we left the Fotografiska it was the evening and we were treated to a great evening walk along the water.
Our tummies were telling us that it was time for dinner and after a quick search we found a well reviewed restaurant nearby called Bla Dorren. I ordered the Fried Fillet of Herring and my Sister ordered moose meatballs! It was an amazing dinner. We’d be revisiting this restaurant again before we left Stockholm!
It was an awesome day in Stockholm and I loved it! Can’t wait to see what the next few days have in store!
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