Advertisement
Published: August 2nd 2017
Edit Blog Post
We flew to Stockholm from Oakland on Norwegian Airlines. We bought our tickets on sale when Norwegian announced they going to start flying out of Oakland. We were surprised to find our seats were like business class. There was lots of leg room and the seats reclined with a foot rest, we had individual tv sets and free wine, beer and after dinner drinks. This was looking to be a great flight. When the lights were dimmed and we started to nod off a toddler a few rows back started screaming. She continued screaming for about three hours. So much for our great flight.
We arrived in Stockholm and got through customs in record speed. After collecting our bags we took the elevator down to the Express Train into central Stockholm. We could have purchased our tickets from the machines on the platform but we had bought our tickets on line at home. We boarded the train and off we went. A conductor came by and scanned our electronic tickets which were on Mark's phone. We arrived in the Central Station which is large, the trains and metro both come here. There are shops and restaurants on the street level
and a information booth if you need help. Our hotel the Sheraton was a three minute walk from the station. After settling into our room off we went to explore. The city is very clean and walkable. We just walk until it is time to sleep.
On our first day in the City we head to the Royal Palace. We bought tickets on line for the Palace but it was not necessary since there were no long lines. We viewed the Royal Apartments, Guest Apartments and Council Chambers. The Royal Apartments are cozy and feel like a comfortable place to live. Nobel prize winners are invited to the Palace for a state dinner the day after receiving their prize. A long hall used for state dinners was fashioned after the Hall of Mirrors in the Versailles Palace. The Queens bed chamber has lots of tapestries. The Drawing Room is used to welcome guests before a banquet and can also be used for dances. Some apartments that are no longer used as bedrooms are now used as rooms for royal functions like handing out medals or a reception. There is more to see but the tickets are good for a
week so we decide to come back and visit the rest of the Palace another day.
For dinner we head to Old Town and eat at Englen Pub and Restaurant. We ordered Swedish tapas, which included meatballs, fried herring, assorted fish and cheese. We also shared a shrimp stew and we had rhubarb pie with ice cream for desert. The pub had live music which was blues on the night we were there.
The next day were lucky to have family come out to Stockholm and show us around the city. Debbie, Glen and Alex walked with us all over Stockholm, we had lunch in a park that has a garden. It was a locals spot not a tourist spot. We had dinner outdoors on a river looking out over forest. We felt like we were out in the country instead of in Stockholm.
On the 4th of July we took a boat which leaves from a dock across from City Hall to Drottningholm Palace. The boat ride takes about an hour and the views from the boat are beautiful. The Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family built in the 1600s. The grounds
are large and in addition to the Palace there is an exotic Chinese Pavilion and other buildings toward the back of the property. We ate lunch at the Palace cafe which was pricy and Debbie met us at the cafe and drove us to her home. On the way to her home we stopped to visit with her horse which is boarded near the forest. Debbie and her family live in the country in a beautiful house. Alex her son cooked us a great dinner with appetisers, barbecued hot dogs and burgers, salad and fresh strawberries with ice cream. Alex is a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. We enjoyed lots of wine and brandy. Debbie drove us to the local metro station and we easily got back to the city center. We had such a good time getting to know Debbie and her family and they were so generous with their time.
A new day and we headed to Historiska Musseet (History Museum). This museum is free and has lots of interactive activities for children. We bought the audio guide which we recommend. The museum is organised in chronological order starting with Prehistoric times onto Vikings
and ends with modern times. We had lunch in the museum cafe garden, the food was good and inexpensive. We were at the museum for three hours and we skipped the medieval and religious art. We then went back to the royal Palace and visited the Tre Kronor Museum that portrays the palaces medieval history and Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities and the Treasury. Time for a beer so back to Englen Pub.
A new day and we are off to one of the most popular museums in Stockholm the Vasa Museum. The museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th century ship that has ever been salvaged. The Vasa a 64 gun warship sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. I may not sound like something you are interested in and that is what I thought but everyone who had been to Stockholm recommended coming to the Vasa. I to recommend a visit since you will not see anything like this anywhere else. After the Vasa we just walk and enjoy the city. Stockholm is so clean and beautiful with its many islands. We bought a multi day metro pass and it allowed us to jump on and
off the ferries that take you from island to island.
Our time here is at an end but our adventure is not.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.038s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0188s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb