Sunny Sweden
Stockholm in pure summer - what could be better?!
[divider class="" ]How?
Back in the Spring, as we were plotting our summer travels, we spotted a dirt cheap fare to Stockholm. However, we hesitated... why you may ask? Because the flight landed at 1am! Yikes!! We contemplated and it last a whole day. Obviously, very quickly we booked our tickets and off we went to Stockholm!For our lodging, I decided to go the hostel route as everything else in Stockholm would be expensive. I found a very highly rated one called Central Station Hostel. Surprise, it was near the central station! I booked a private room and we were bunk bed mates for the weekend!Luckily, Stockholm has a great way to make the 40 minute drive to and from the airport go by much faster - a fast train! Although it does slow down, it make the journey really easy especially if staying near the central station![gallery columns="1" size="large" ids="2733"]
Fixed Costs:
- Flight: £200
- Hostel: 1360skr (whatever that means!)
- Meatballs: Yummy!!
[divider class="" ]Onto Stockholm
Everything was extremely easy compared to other flights. Hardly any traffic en route to Luton airport, security was breezy, MF was on time, what else could go wrong!? Our luck continued on the flight as there were no screaming babies and Mary Frances let me keep my noise cancelling headphones![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2731,2732"] We landed in Stockholm Arlenda around 10:45pm, and if we were lucky with security, we could make the 11:10pm train to the city! Unfortunately, our luck finally ran out and we missed the train by mere minutes... Thus, we waited in the surprisingly cold train tunnel! With this delay, it meant we were on the last train into the city and arriving at our hostel extremely late. It definitely felt weird walking through the silent Stockholm streets.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2734,2735"]
[divider class="" ]Saturday
Spending a Saturday in Stockholm, we had a full day of that classic Swedish sunshine! (Just kidding)
A Rainy Tour
Surprise! It was rainy for our tour! In classic fashion, we were running just on time for the Swedish walking tour with Free Tour Stockholm. Our guide was Ryan from Australia and he was instantly hilarious! Or perhaps we were easily amused because of the rain!
He described Sweden’s entertaining history quite well for a foreigner. To summarize, the Swedish were a powerful army dating back to the early 1600s. In the history books, it was usually them that helped turn the war. They were fighting everyone; however, back then, everyone was fighting everyone at some point! The most interesting story dealt with their Queen Cristina. Essentially, her parents originally wanted a boy, but never got the boy. That did not stop Cristina from acting like one![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2741,2743,2744,2739"]
Noble Prize with some history
Our tour continued to the famous market square which houses the famed Noble Prizes. The Swedes are very proud of this history despite the fact Oslo steals some of the show in their own Nobel Peace Prize! The famous prize began in the last 1800s as the maker of dynamite, Alfred Nobel, was worried how he would be remembered. In his will, he bequeathed $180 million to those who benefited mankind through the five categories - physics, literature, chemistry, literature, and peace. This is one way to be remembered instead of the dynamite maker!
Another well known person frequently visited Stortorget square? She is one of the few Swedish Hollywood stars thus they are very proud of her! I was one of the only people to guess correctly on the tour. Her name was Greta Gable, famous actress in the 1930-1940s. Hollywood discovered her working at one of the shops nearby.
I feel bad, right?
By far, the best story of probably any walking tour we have been on is the infamous Stockholm bank robbery in 1973. How is it famous? Well, it brought the phrase Stockholm Syndrome into existence! Basically, a bank robbery went horribly wrong as it then turned into a hostage situation. Long story short, the hostages were kidnapped for so long that they then felt bad for the kidnappers!
After it all ended, it became really strange. The hostages even tried to reduce the jail sentence. Not only that, the robbers and hostages now hold annual reunions and are rumoured to be close friends. Now that is Stockholm Syndrome!!
Parade
One of the best parts about the tour is it ends just before the famous horse guards begin their march to the palace. Similar to Buckingham Palace, the guards rotate every day, but by horse! From the tour’s ending spot, you can either settle for the best view and even follow them to the palace.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2690,2689,2688,2692"]I will always be partial to the English guards, but wow it is really cool! All on horse, there are the guards and then a marching band. Best news is we had front row seats!
Who's hungry?
Walking around in the rain all morning certainly makes us hungry. Since I didn’t know any of the local best spots, I did a quick search on Google to find a highly rated, affordable restaurant. We chose Le Riche, a upscale seafood restaurant.Thankfully, Mary Frances and I decided to split the meals so we both had a burger and seafood. One cheap and one expensive main! It was pretty good as the seafood was really fresh![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2747,2748"]
Such a Tourist Move...
Since I didn’t have any big plans and we were unsure what to do next, we went for the “obvious” canal boat tour advertised everywhere. Sweden is known for having lots of canals and islands so we wanted to explore a few without doing too much! Luckily, there are 2 main entrances and there are loads of boat companies so we just picked the first one we saw![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2746,2752"]The boat provided great photo opportunities! Surprisingly, it also gave us great napping opportunities. The tour guide's voice was incredibly monotone. Plus, I was warm in the sun and comfortable. Nevertheless, I still snapped great photos![photogrid ids="2751,2750,2749,2694,2695,2696,2697,2703,2702,2701,2700,2699,2698" captions="no" columns="two" fullwidth="yes" ]
Old Town Stockholm
After our boat tour, we had plenty of time left in the day. We decided to venture to old town as we weren’t sure about the weather tomorrow. Plus, I wanted to explore other areas of town more known for their food![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2704,2707,2706,2705"]As we strolled through old town, the streets are really cool! Laid with cobblestone, they are narrow and twist through the small old town. On the map, I realise the true Old Town is not that big. It is separated on an inlet so it must have been very exclusive in its heyday! Old town is extremely scenic and full of historic charm.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2709,2710,2711,2712"]With the great scenery, we obviously had to get great gelato. Luckily, I had researched ahead of time and found a boutique ice cream shop in Old Town! It is called StikkiNikki Gamla Stan and very tasty. Per usual, I had the chocolate while Mary Frances has vanilla. Wow, we are boring![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2754,2753"]While I still prefer Tallinn and it’s Old Town, Stockholm has a certain charm. With the narrow streets, it is easier to feel overwhelmed with the tourists. Granted, we are also tourists, but I feel like we don’t randomly stop in the middle of the road, whip out the iPad, and snap a photo of a pigeon.[gallery size="large" columns="2" ids="2713,2714"]
Swedish-American Meal
Now, I did loads of research finding the perfect place. I did not realise all these places would be far away from our hostel. Unfortunately, when I am hungry, I just want food. Thus, we opted for the hostel recommended Swedish place around the corner.Unfortunately, it was closed. But, what was not closed? The Texas Longhorn!! It is not the same as the US chain, but very similar! The restaurant has Texas memorabilia everywhere and serves good ol American BBQ.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2758,2757,2756"]Since we spent the entire day walking around Stockholm, we were famished. I was also borderline hangry. I ordered a full rack of ribs while Mary Frances had the steak wrapped in bacon. And we ate it all! Everything was really tasty and juicy. Normally ribs are hit and miss and it was a hit! Perhaps I was too hungry to notice the difference...
Sunset in Stockholm
To end our evening, I went for a sunset walk. I had a preferred spot in mind, but I could not walk quickly after that dinner! I decided to “settle” for old town shots as the sun set over the river. As the sky lit orange and pink, the town turned very beautiful![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2715,2716,2721,2720,2719,2717,2762,2760"]
[divider class="" ]Meatballs and Warships
On our lazy Sunday, we wanted to do two things: eat meatballs (not from IKEA) and see the Vasa museum.
Morning for Meatballs
Leading up to the trip, my highlight would be the famous Swedish meatballs. I booked a highly sought after meatball restaurant that supposedly is one of the best in the city - Meatballs for the People. I even began to hype the restaurant and meal to Mary Frances! After all, we have to eat these famous meatballs!After ubering to the restaurant, we walked into expected jam packed restaurant. Only - we were the first patrons and it looked like they were anxious and eager to see us. Did we even have the right restaurant?? It was a sad state of affairs as I expected this place to be very busy as the reservation was so hard to get even for a Sunday brunch! Safe to say Mary Frances spent the first 10 minutes making fun of me and doubting that this was truly the best meatball restaurant in Stockholm.
Luckily, after a few minutes, more people were coming and made the restaurant more busy. However, the proof is in the meatball as they say. I ordered reindeer meatballs while Mary Frances ordered normal beef and pork. Thankfully, they were really delicious! Both meatball sets were really good and the mash potatoes were also really good! Overall, Mary Frances was happy that we went there.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2765,2764"]
The Overlook
Since we were slightly closer to the overlook compared to last night, we walked from our wonderful lunch to snap some great photos. Of course this is Stockholm in summer and we were really hot pretty quickly! Thankfully we had shade on the overlook and it was beautiful. The old town was simply stunning in the backdrop! Although it would be pretty at sunset, around noon, with a blue sky, it was simply wonderful![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2722,2726,2727,2728,2729,2724"]As we sat on the overlook, we noticed the clouds were changing and we should hurry to the Vasa Museum. We literally power walked to an Uber pick up, drove across town, and managed to just miss the absolute down pour! If we stayed walking, we would have been in for a “Florida” style downpour. When in doubt, just uber![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2768,2767"]
The Vasa
Across all the tourist recommendations, there was a mention to the famous Vasa Museum. Since rain was forecasted for most of the afternoon, we decided to go to it although there could be better things than a museum. Instantly, I knew we were wrong once we walked through the front doors and were met with an enormous wooden ship. In the height of Sweden’s powers in 1628, the King commissioned this powerful warship that was suppose to change naval strategy. Within an hour of sailing in the maiden voyage, the Vasa sunk in the harbor.
While I do not want to give away any cool secrets, the Vasa sunk so quickly because they put too many cannons onboard and did not have enough ballast. In layman’s terms, they were very top heavy! The slightest wind, which they needed to sail, would send the boat upside down. Of course, everyone was shocked that the ship couldn’t even make it out of the harbor and it was free entertainment for everyone on land.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2769,2770"]After many years, people forgot that a near perfect 1600’s ship lay in the harbor. Thanks to the technology advances in the 1950s, they found the ship again in mint condition! To raise and not damage the ship, they had to dig tunnels under the ship to drag steel cables. We saw a demonstration and it looked like a classic “Dirty Job.” Once the cables were beneath the ship, they slowly raised it to the surface using these man made docks. It was a feat of engineering![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2772,2771"]Because the ship sank in the harbor and the Baltic isn’t as salty as the Atlantic, the ship is extremely well preserved, including the contents within the ship! The insides of the ship provided a wealth of information into daily life in the 1620s. Probably my second favorite part is the detail on the outside of the ship. Back in the day, ships were well decorated in sculptures, painting, and artistic flair. These warships were works of art![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2774,2773"]
Sunny in Sweden
After the downpour ended, we decided to make a break for it and walk along the canals. In the summertime, a perfect pastime is a rose or wine white on a fancy canal boat. I researched the fanciest boat, Angbatsbryggan, to give Mary Frances a special treat![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2778,2779"]We ordered ourselves some wine and fancy goat cheese appetizer and watched as the rain returned. Somehow we kept getting lucky with the weather in a weird way! Regardless, the views were still fantastic and we happily enjoyed our afternoon cocktail.[gallery columns="1" size="large" ids="2780,2782"]Since we had plenty of the time before the flight and the weather was finally cooperating, we decided to slowly walk in the Swedish sunshine. We weren’t entirely sure what we could do before the flight, but knew we had to soak in the sunshine while we could![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2783,2784,2785"]
The Long Night
After we collected our belongings from the hostel, we went to a ‘famous’ chain pasta called Vapiano Kungsbron. Apparently it’s a cheap dinner, but after we received the final bill, it was an expensive cheap date! I was slightly disappointed especially when Mary Frances told me it is a chain rather than a speciality Swedish-Italian place.Since Vapiano is right next to the train station, we hopped on the airport train and I believe we were the only people on the train! Great for reading, running up and down the carriages, and taking pictures of everything.[gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="2787,2786"]Once we arrived at the airport, very late at night, we learned the even better news that our flight was not only the last one out of the airport at 11pm, but it was delayed by over an hour! Since the lounges were closed, we had to slum it in the sports lounge and tried to get some sleep. It was going to be a long night… Safe to say, Mary Frances was not a happy camper!PS - We arrived home at 2-3am, I honestly don’t know the time because we literally just passed out as soon as possible!
[divider class="" ]The UnChartered 13 Summary:
Mary Frances and I enjoyed our time in the Sunny Sweden! The beautiful architecture, meatballs, and impressive history make it for a fun weekend!
- Vasa Museum is a must-see as it is one of the few warships and isn’t that boring!
- I wish we had a chance to explore the islands surrounding Stockholm. Old Town is nice, but spend as much time outside in the summer!
- Meatballs are excellent!