Arrival in Stockholm

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Flying out of LAX, we flew non-stop on Norwegian Airlines to Stockholm. Norwegian Airlines is one of those budget airlines where you pay for everything in order to try and keep the fares as low as possible. We chose to not pay the $40 for 2 meals so we had to endure a 10 hour flight with just the snacks we brought for ourselves. Arriving in Stockholm, we took the Arlanda Express for the quick ride to Stockholm's Central Station. From here, we caught a taxi to our nearby hotel, the Best Western Kom Hotel. We settled in and freshened up before heading out to do a little exploring. Using public transportation, we rode the Metro to Gamla Stan, Stockholm's Old Town. It was almost 4pm and upon arriving, the first thing we did was grab something small to eat. Afterwards we walked around the Old Town following a recommended Old Town walk in a Rick Steves guidebook. We passed some landmarks in the Gamla Stan including the German Church before making our way over to Stockholm's Oldest Square, Stortorget. The square was quite picturesque and reminded me of the main square in Cesky Krumlov. It was a bit cold this evening in Stockholm so the square was a bit dead so we decided to continue walking around in the Old Town. We made our way over to Vasterlanggattan, the main drag in the Gamla Stan. This narrow street was filled with all your typical touristy types of shops and of course was packed with tourists. Being that we hadn't even been here a few hours, we just walked around and checked things out. Making our way up to the Royal Palace, the fatigue from travelling as well as jet lag started to kick in. We walked around the palace's courtyard checking out the cannons and the guards before walking back down to Stortorget to stop for a coffee to hopefully wake us up a bit. For dinner tonight, we just went to a nearby German beer hall where we had sausages and beers before calling it an early night.

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