How to do Stockholm in 3 Days (part 3)

---

Gosh. Last day in Stockholm. I like Stockholm already before I even arrived there. And the city does fulfill expectations. It is as nice as how it’s being portrayed in the guide books; at least in my eyes. The city is pretty. It’s busy enough, but still spacious enough. The air feels clean enough (although of course don’t compare it with mountain fresh air). The weather is on the cool side – even in late summer it feels like using air con. “Active” seems to be the theme of the lifestyle here – everywhere I go, there are people cycling or jogging. This is a city that I can see myself living in; at least for few years.

So naturally, I actually feel a bit sad. This is my last day in Stockholm. From my very long to do list, I’ve covered a lot – but still long way to go. Today’s weather forecast is thunderstorm but the sky is blue! I immediately texted M to suggest him going up to the Stadthuset Tower that I’ve visited yesterday. Actually I was about to go to Vasa Museet, but as the sky is blue – I’ve decided to stop by at the bridge near National Museum to re-take the picture with the giant crown at the bridge. Apparently today it’s under construction so the pathway was closed. But I found a small gap and let myself in anyway. Gah, but too bad I’m the only outlaw. No one is walking my way so I can’t ask other people to take my picture.

I walk to Strandvegen and admiring the buildings along the waterfront. As I was taking picture of the Opera House, a red bus passed by. It said Kaknastornet (bus #69) – which refers to Kaknas Tower. I read about the place before. I know my Stockholm Card is covering it as well. The view supposedly nice, but the location is far and in the middle of nowhere. Should I jump in to the bus? But it’s not in my itinerary… Ah screw it – you only live once. And just like that, I’m on my way to Kaknas Tower. The bus itself is pretty empty. And when I arrived at Kaknas Tower, the ticket guard seemed to be caught off guard when someone actually walked through the door. This place is indeed pretty deserted. Even the souvenir shop looks dusty.

From outside, the tower just looks like another TV/radio tower (which it is). But the view from their viewing deck is indeed gorgeous. It’s a bit far though from the city. But it does give you the sense that indeed Stockholm is archipelago built of many islands. I can even see the horse field down below – it’s so spacious. From afar, I can see Djurgarden & Gamla Stan. One thing bothers me though – they put these small grills around the viewing deck. So you’ll see these ugly grids in your pictures and it annoys me. I went one floor down and the lady behind the counter whether there’s any way for me to take pictures without the grills. She hesitate, pause a bit but then finally said “Well… there’s a key that you can use if you want to. But you need to give us your ID card”. O shoot. After my husband’s passport was lost in Hong Kong few years ago – in general I’d rather leave it in the hotel safebox. Luckily she’ll take my Stockholm Card as guarantee. Yayy! She warned me to close the window immediately to avoid people throwing things down and endanger people down below. Apparently that happened before.

So I enjoy “the key” thoroughly. There are around 8 pigeon holes around the viewing deck and all can be open by this single key. Few tourists started to come – apparently a tour bus just dropped by. Soon enough, they also got annoyed by the stupid grids around the viewing deck. And when they saw me, the girl with the camera and “magic key” – they literally followed me around. They queue behind me, wait until I’m done taking pictures and when I was about to close the pigeon hole, they grin and ask me to pls let them take picture first ha ha… Few of them are Japanese tourists and although my Japanese is a bit rusty I can understand a bit they said “owh, look at that girl with the key”. I feel so powerful ha ha… One of my proudest moments! Using leadership skill carried over from work, to my personal life ha ha….

Next, back to the original itinerary. I’m going back to Vasa Museet at Djurgarden. It’s covered with my Stockholm Card as well. At first I was a bit apprehensive going to this museum because their attraction is basically revolving around one thing – a giant ship. That’s all. But to my surprise, it is mesmerizing. When you walked in – they lit up the room low – because they’re trying to slow down the ship from further decaying. It’s height is about 5 storeys. I’m struggling to take its picture end to end in one frame – even in my trusty ultra wide angle lens. It’s just… fascinating. The color seems to be all dark brown, but apparently it used to be very colorful. Reading the history – I can’t help but to giggle. Of course I feel sorry too. But it’s a bit ridiculous. Basically the ship sank few hundred meters from shore because of wrong design. Caused few hundred people to parish in one go.

After spending 2-3 hours or so at Vasa Museet, I decided to quickly drop by in the Spirit Museum next door. I wonder whether they are giving out free drinks ha ha… I don’t drink alcohol though. Walked in and basically it’s a collection of Absolut Vodka ads from different era. Apparently the brand is originated in Sweden. For some reason I’ve always thought they are from Russia. But then again, I don’t drink – so that’s my excuse for not knowing a lot ha ha…

I rushed to my next destination – Royal Palace – before they closed for the day. I took bus 76 that swiftly transported me in front of the gate. But then, it’s the restriction that I hated the most. No pictures. At all. Gah. But then again, on the bright side – it made me very efficient. I don’t really spend much time there. I still prefer the flexibility to shoot though. I can understand no flash policy. But I don’t get – “no pictures at all” policy. The Royal Apartments are great, but Tre Kronor, Gustav and Treasury are not really worth it in my opinion. At the Treasury and Gustav – I even asked the guard “Was that it?” and she hissed. Had it not been covered by my Stockholm Card, I’d probably prefer to keep my money.

Again I made mad dash to Storkyrkan next door. To my surprise, the church is very pretty. I like the “knight slaying the dragon” statue and other details. It closed at 4 pm though, instead of 5 as per their website. To end the day, I visited Nobel Museum – still in the Gamla Stan complex. I’m not familiar with Nobel prizes, so I did not expect much. At first, I find it boring. Just list of winners, years, bla bla bla. There is a cool ceiling feature where they list of winners are spinning around. But what is interesting to me, is the photo exhibit that happened to be there for the week. Basically the nobel winners were given a big paper and box of crayons – and they were asked to draw representation of their work. There are also interview bits that accompany the pictures – which were hilarious. One of the winners house was in jeopardy during the California bush fires. Obviously the couple was in Sweden to receive the awards. The wife got worried about their home. The husband just say – o try to call our own house – if the answering machine still answers, meaning our house hasn’t caught fire yet ha ha….

At the end of the day, I finally joint up with M – after our three days of independent itinerary. I was so tired, and hungry. I did not have lunch because I did not have enough cash. So I was just saving everything for dinner. Unfortunately that means I can’t buy chocolate for my husband either in Sweden. Originally – the plan was to buy him chocolates from every country I visited. I can’t buy fridge magnets either. Yeah, I know it’s cheesy. But hey why not?

M wanted to buy some jeans at H&M so I soldiered up and accompanying him. He particularly wants green and orange jeans. Number 29, to be exact. He’s more fashion forward than I am. I’m super tired, but I’m happy though to let him have his moments. I think we flipped the rack too much looking for that number 29, because minutes later the rack literally fell off ha ha… We walked away pretending like we didn’t know.

The night ended with watching the Simpsons together – luckily it’s in English. M and I catch up and apparently we have another common friend – besides the one who introduced us and walked away from both of us. While talking, I’m also chatting with my hubby in parallel. He got offered a great job and I need to console & convince him to take it.

Gosh. Long day. Hope the stupid fire alarm is not ringing again tonight; because we have a morning flight to catch to Prague. How much did I enjoy Stockholm? Enough to make me write in my work plan that I wish to be temporarily based in Europe – be it extended business trip or whatever. Living here, would be a dream come true.

---

Photos

The Magic Key!
Tips to visit Kaknas Tower: borrow the key from the cafe downstairs to open the pigeon holes