Arrival in Stockholm

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After a long 26 hour journey I finally arrived in Stockholm. It was quite cloudy on arrival but I did manage to catch glimpses of the countryside - very green, as you would expect.

Arrival (customs etc) was very easy and I was met by my driver as I exited. The airport is approx 40 km from the city of Stockholm but because I arrived around 1:30pm, the traffic was reasonable and the trip only took about 45 minutes. On arrival at my hotel - Freys - I could hear lots of cheering coming from the restaurant/bar and was advised that Sweden was competing against South Korea in the World Cup. Good timing haha. My room is lovely and after spending some time unpacking and settling in, I decided to head off and explore my surroundings, in an attempt to ward off the inevitable tiredness I knew would be coming.

I headed down the street to the nearby shopping mall - grabbed myself a pair of sunnies as i had left mine at home. From there I headed to the waterfront and took in the sights of all the beautiful buildings. I decided I would head to the Vasa Museum, as many people had told me I should go. There is a story about this beautiful warship that was built in the early 1600 which was the pride of the Swedish people. When it launched in 1628 it sank, after only sailing 1,300 meters. Every Swede that tells this story says it with a chuckle. It was a good couple of k's walk to the museum but it was well worth the visit.

This ship is huge! Over 4 stories high. It remained at the bottom of the ocean for 333 years and was only rediscovered in 1956 and then was amazingly lifted out of the water, intact, in 1961. Even with my Nikon using the widest lens, I could not capture the whole ship in one photo.

I wandered back in the direction of my hotel, enjoying the atmosphere along the waterfront of bars, restaurants and cafes. Many people were out in their Swedish football teams shirts and everyone was enjoying the midsummer feels. Speaking of which - this Friday is the start of the midsummer weekend where apparently everything shuts down

My hotel has a nice outdoor bar so I decided to sit and people watch while having a cold beer with some hot chips for dinner. I was still very full from all the food I ate on my flights haha. Belgium was now playing their game in the World Cup and everyone in Sweden was barracking for them, which made for an atmospheric dinner. Back upstairs in my room I did my best to stay awake but fell asleep at 8pm (and the sun was still shining!).

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Photos

First glimpse
Beautiful Sweden on approach to Arlanda airport.

The Baltic Sea
First selfie on the waterfront near Vasabron bridge